FRANK'S 1/2A F4U CORSAIR BUILD

[Frank v B]

A customer gave me a kit that he bought over 20 years ago when he visited Japan.  He said he would love to see it fly and would like to be there for the maiden flight.  Tough assignment... but since the customer is always right I have to build it.

Please note the beautiful custom spun aluminum cowl.

It appears to be about 35 inch span.  Trust me, it will be overpowered.

Marutaka apparently was bought up by Royal quite a ways back.

Will start it when the Chica is ready for covering.  Gotta keep making balsa dust!!

Frank

[BJROB]

This Kit looks good
Can't wait to see the process of building,
then to see it in the air,
Aluminum cowling sounds interesting for CG  

[Frank v B]

BJ,

re: "Aluminum cowling sounds interesting for CG "

The cowl is probably a dollhouse cooking pan with the bottom cut out.

Frank

[Frank v B]

Just had to confirm that the plane was 4 channel... with ailerons.  Pulled out the plans.  Yep!  Good.... but then Cadez will probably pressure me into adding flaps. 

May just add flaps for the fun of it.

[Frank v B]

Holy sh...  I thought this was going to be easy.  This plane will be real work.  It is built like a .60 size airplane with liteply formers, stringers and sheeted fuse.  No instructions.  Just two parts drawings.

I thought this customer was being nice to me giving me this kit.  He was probably trying to punish me.

Followed the first 7 steps of a build project per Bruce's PT 19 thread:
Photo 1 Clean the workbench off and find the project
Photo 2 Found the project
Photo 3 Make sure it is the right project
Photo 4 and 5 Make sure all the parts are there and identify the kit's inspection certificate so you know who to blame when you can't find a part
Photo 6 Get prepared to lay out plans on work bench surface and to protect them from messy over-glue. I use waxed paper.
Photo 7 Determine what part of the plane to build first - I'm going to start with the fuselage.  Review and consider plan instructions.


I may modify this kit significantly.  Thinner sheeting, reduce the amount of sheeting, adding stringers.  Adds a whole new dimension to Bruce's comment "Review and consider plan instructions. (Unlike Frank, I will likely follow them.)"

Stay tuned.  Check my pulse periodically.   If you notice a change in me at Wednesday's meeting, sign me up for Anger Management courses.

Frank

[Frank v B]

Re: Anger Management:

How would you feel if these were the only instructions you had??

Photo 1) The extent of the construction instructions. That's it.   That's all.     A more detailed construction summary would be "glue all the wood pieces together in the correct place, sand, cover, install the electronics, go fly.  Thank you for buying Marutaka"

Photo 2) the fuse pieces.  All are liteply.  Two formers have already broken.  I re-inforced them with balsa.

ARRGGGHHH!

Frank

[Andy Hoffer]

Excellent!  Another photo session in the making!

Andy

[electroflyer]

  Frank,
  What a cool little kit, I love the spun cowl!
Always a drag when the little pieces break, but once joined together it will all be good...if not, I can lend you my brick..LOL

[Frank v B]

Glenn,

Thanks... but I will probably need the rest of your driveway as well.

Frank

[Frank v B]

...well... every journey starts with a single step.

Started with the bulkheads/firewall.  Required a fair amount of digging since the cut-outs for the stringers were semi-circular and the longerons were square.  The old square peg and round hole trick.

Photo 3- the fuse as it stands after the first attempt.  Life was made much easier when I cut the two balsa cross pieces to keep the firewall sides up against the formers.  These were just force-fit.  The stringers were rubber banded together at the back so the Formers can be inserted once this assembly dries.

Photo 4- close-up of the glued nose area.  The balsa spreaders are clearly visible.

Photo 5- close-up of Former 7 showing the rounded slots.  All of them need to be made square.

Gotta put the project aside so I can prep for tomorrow's Pilots Meeting.

Frank

[Frank v B]

Back to building after last night's Pilots Meeting

Photo 6 - had to put re-inforcements on all the formers after two broke.  Also, when inserting them between the two stringers, they would bend so I put 3/16 square pieces across them.

Photo 7- The formers were all glued in place and held with rubber bands while the glue dried.  No attempt was made to cut them to length.  Easier to do when the glue is dry.

Photo 8- Photo from the top.

Photo 9- more stringers in place, ends trimmed.

Photo 10- The two wing saddle pieces.  Marked Port and Starboard. 

Photo 11- Held under the tap to wet them.  Then slipped a wet paper towel in between them so more moisture soaks up the exterior side to make them bend.  They will bend away from the wettest side.  They get glued in once the main fuselage is dry.

Frank

[Frank v B]

Photo 12- side view of the middle fuselage sheeting.  Both port and starboard were done at the same time.  Only the bottom of the sheet was glued.  It is pinned to dry.  This way when I go to bend the wood, the bottom will stay in place.  I will let this dry overnight and then pull the top part of the sheeting in place. I do both sides at the same time so the fuse stays straight.

Photo 13- view from the top.  It shows that the top of the sheeting is not attached to anything.  Also showing is the outline of the top front hatch for battery and plug access (behind the firewall).  Also the motor mount box has the top and bottom closed for strength.  Also put a floor under the battery hatch so the battery stays in one place and the Velcro can be stuck to a flat surface.

Power: have decided to power it with an E-Flite 450 purchased at last Wednesday's Club Auction. This motor is longer than the second option which is a Supertigre .10 out runner.  The .10 is quite a bit shorter and easy to install.  Will make the final motor decision prior to the maiden flight once I have a chance to weigh the final model.  It may have the flight qualities of an aerodynamic brick.

Yes, am planning on a 3 bladed prop for scale-like looks... also bought at the Club Swap Meet.

Frank

[octagon]

Back to building after last night's Pilots Meeting

Photo 6 - had to put re-inforcements on all the formers after two broke.  Also, when inserting them between the two stringers, they would bend so I put 3/16 square pieces across them.

Photo 7- The formers were all glued in place and held with rubber bands while the glue dried.  No attempt was made to cut them to length.  Easier to do when the glue is dry.

Photo 8- Photo from the top.

Photo 9- more stringers in place, ends trimmed.

Photo 10- The two wing saddle pieces.  Marked Port and Starboard. 

Photo 11- Held under the tap to wet them.  Then slipped a wet paper towel in between them so more moisture soaks up the exterior side to make them bend.  They will bend away from the wettest side.  They get glued in once the main fuselage is dry.

Frank

Frank, If I had not known before I could tell you are a sailor. Port and Starboard wing sadles, LOL!

[Frank v B]

Rob,

re:"Port and Starboard wing sadles, LOL!"

Left and right is a direction.  Port and Starboard is an orientation... relative to the pointy end of a boat or an airplane.

Sorry to be picky and detailed.  Heck, Andy must be starting to rub off on me.  Oh no!

Frank

[Frank v B]

Back to work,

Photo 14- side view of the fuse with the midsection, turtle deck and half of the top sheeting done.  The plane looks like a pin cushion!
The small structure under the plane is the cut-out section for the battery hatch on the top deck.  Once the top sheeting has dried in front of the cockpit, I will cover the hatch.

Photo 15- Top view of the pin cushion.  I could not bend the wood over the top stringer as per the plans because balsa does not bend that much in such a short distance.  I glued a piece of wood (approx 1/4"sq) onto the top stringer and butted the sheeting up to its two sides.  Once dry, I will plane/sand it does and round it off nicely.

Note: in the sheeting and stick work- no attempt was made to make ends line up.  All pieces were left long, even in the cockpit area.  Once everything is in place, it will be trimmed properly and symmetrically.

Tomorrow- the hatch and bottom sheeting.

Frank