akleader

Thanks for the help guys.......................anyone have a cockpit (nice & detailed) that they have used successfully?

serge760

the manual say 2 inches and a half for the flaps,is that enough , and there is some play when the flaps are down

any help,thanks

serge

ROGER RUSSELL

My Feedback: (12)

Having a ASSEMBLY party/cookout this coming Saturday (Jan 22).
Getting somethings ready for the experts to do so.
Wings are almost done, added some sliver paint to the exposed wood.
Will try and take some ASSEMBLY PICS in between cooking for all of them, STAY TUNED.


PS:
Not to excited on the way the wheel covers are attached, used douple stick tape for one side, will wait and see what the EXPERTS say.
Yes I know, might need easy access to the retracts, BUT hope I never have that problem...LOL

gsmarino2000

My Feedback: (2)

A couple of times I have seen it stated that you need to make cut outs on the side for the slimline muffler. I switched from the socket-head capscrews to pan head screws. That gives me about .08" clearance with the front screw; no cuts except to the bottom of the cowl.

My flap fit is not perfect (about 1/8" gap in the center) but I'm going to live with it. I installed the stock (non-retractable) tailwheel as the robart unit is still on backorder.

Greg

youngguy

My Feedback: (7)

I had at least 1/4" gap on mine. Made new flaps using ply and carbon laminate and used the orignal rib structure.

akleader

Robart retracts (the ones built for this plane).......has anyone used them.....

The guys at the field share horror stories.

My ? - are the robart retracts reliable? & are there other options for this plane......retracts are a must IMHO.

I have done a lot of research.....it would appear that electric retracts are not an option yet for this giant P-40.

Any help is greatly appreciated....

jimkim

We used Robarts through all of the flight testing including very hard / bad landings that were done intentionally to stress the landing gear and the landing gear rails and mounting ribs. We never had a failure of the Robart gear, I consider Robarts to be very high quality and recomend you use them. There may be other brands but they were never installed or tested by Top Flight.

bassindon2

I can't speak for the electric retracts but will say that I have used Robart systems for many planes of all sizes with good results. I think that you will find that in most cases it is not the gear that is the problem, it can usually be traced to the installation/set up being the cause.

In short, with a good installation these gear are as reliable and trouble free as any other you will find.

crashproof

Robarts Gear are Fine. I have used nothing but in many different GS Warbirds. Never a problem. If you slam down on any gear you will have some sort of problems. Kevin.

D_wilbur

My Feedback: (8)

I used the Sierra Giant Scale retracts from my crashed Sky Shark P-40. Had a friend of mine add 5/8" to the length to fit the Top Flite kit. Cut the wood block down 1/4" and used flat head screws to hold the aluminum mounts I made bolt to the wood block. Then drilled and tapped the aluminum mounts to fit the Sierra Giant Scale gear. It was cheaper than $400.00 for the Robart gear.

propchief

My Feedback: (65)

Was it cheaper because you had the Sierra gear or are they less expensive out of the box?

crashproof

How's it going John. At retail price I doubt the Sierra's would be cheaper. Kevin.

ace1726

I have the Robarts on mine and they are fantastic... I only have about 10 flights on it so far, but I will have many more after tax season is over... I have no complaints about the gear thus far...

akleader

Robarts - thank you for all the information re: the Robarts (made for this model). Very much appreciated. Robarts it is, and I have ordered them.......

gsmarino2000

My Feedback: (2)

Don't know how you would get that large a gap with a Slimline muffler ... could our geometry really be that different?

I'd looked at my flaps last night and they are worse again - near 1/4" gap on the left side. Ribs have seperated from the sheeting in one area. Looks like I am going to have to rework them. I'd be interested to learn more about your carbon laminate method. Do you mean a carbon / ply laminate? How thick was it and who makes it?

Thanks for the help,
Greg

JeffH

My Feedback: (43)

Unless you have a top and bottom sheeting, using ply for a split type flap will eventually warp or curl. I built some for an AT-6 that had 1/8 square carbon tube as spars and they still warped. I finally gave up, built them from hard balsa sheet, and they were fine. If I was to do all over, I would use G-10 so that I could keep the flap nice and thin

Hellcat716

My Feedback: (2)

Anyone have a problem with the right gear when retracted, the tire hits the right side of the wheel well? The left gear is well centered in the well. The gear will retract and extend, but the wheel still makes contact with the wheel well. I am sure as the tires wears a bit it will be fine. These are the stock foam wheels.

youngguy

My Feedback: (7)

Have you tried using two layers of 1/32" ply with a carbon cloth center? I have been using this for some time on split flaps and they have never warped. Both sides of the ply have to be finished with resin to stabilise the structure. Just finished doing this for the TF P-40 using the orignal rib structure from the old flaps and they are as thin as the orignal flaps and not a sign of any warping. Also, it got rid of the unsightly 1/4"+ gap at the trailing edge on the orignal flaps. This type of contsruction also gives a very stiff product.

dpav8r

My Feedback: (6)

Hey akleader,
As for electric on your gear:
downandlocked.com
Call Mitch at 828 817-0412
He will set you up, he's a good guy to talk to.

I have these on my 102" Meister P-47.

Dave

akleader

Robarts Question.  I ordered the recommended Robarts via Tower.

 

Robart has 2 sets of retracts on their website:

 

1)  Item # 150B (Lg. Rotating Retract (Byron / <place><placename>Iron</placename> <placetype>Bay</placetype></place>)
2)       Item #150HD8 (Heavy Duty Rotating Retracts 8" Struts)

 

I am not a tech guy (at all), but I was looking at the dimensional drawings on the Robart website.  The heavy duty retracts look like they have pretty much the same dimensions as the ones I bought.

My preference would be to have “heavy duty” if they would fit.

Any help would be appreciated big time.

Thank you! 

propchief

My Feedback: (65)

akleader - I'm sure you could fit those heavy duty retracts in, might take some modification but it shouldn't be that difficult. However, for what it's worth I think that the weak link in the system is going to be the air lines/vales/etc rather that the metal/mechanics. Also in my observation I've seen more ground loops, stalled take-offs, missed approaches, and crashed landings versus retract failure. JMHO

serge760

video p40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCKrd-ifNNY

akleader

Serge - awesome. That gets my blood pumpin.....how does she fly?

serge760

amazing!!!!!!!!!

bassindon2

Nicre landing. Looks great in the air as well.