refurbishing a .60 size P-40 Warhawk- IC to electric conversion

[Frank v B]

Canopy build finished.  Now the painting.

F.

[Frank v B]

Canopy painted and re-assebled.

[Frank v B]

Da Wing!

The wing has flaps and ailerons.

Problem: both the flaps and ailerons were operated on a single servo each.  This was back in the '90's when a standard servo (Futaba S148) was $28.00 each. They commonly used a single servo for the ailerons and a single servo for the flaps.  The wings had 90 degree belcranks and pushrods came out in the centre of the wing.
They're horrible to set up and adjust.

Solution: cut out the centre part and glue a servo in place at each of the 4 pushrods.  Each servo has 32 oz/inch power.  The single standard S148 had 42 oz/inch.  So were are better off.

The first photo shows how the old standard size servo was installed.  The second photo shows the two flap servos glued in place.  Letting the glue dry before attacking the ailerons.

F.

[Frank v B]

All 4 wing servos in place and connected to their pushrods.

[Frank v B]

Last wing thingy to do.  One aileron was butchered.  See photo 90

- cut it off straight using a metal ruler and XActo knife. See photo 93
- glue a random piece of wood in place... as long as it has one straight side and is the thickness of the fattest part of the tapered aileron.... and let it cure.  See photo 95

Once cured, sand it with a block sander to follow all the proper contours....after dinner.

F.

[Frank v B]

Finito!

F.

ps. yes, I will look for a larger spinner.

[Frank v B]

.....and now for the politically correct portrait.


F.

[Michael]

Nice P40

[electroflyer]

  Frank,
  Nice restoration! let me know what size diameter spinner you require. I will see what I can find.
  Glenn

[Frank v B]

Glenn,

Thanks for the offer.  It looks like it needs a 3" or 3.25" spinner.  Happy to buy it if you find one.

Frank

Sure miss those Swap Meets for stuff like this.

[Gregor77]

Frank is this one ready to fly now?

[Frank v B]

Greg,

Yep.  It is ready to fly with minimal cosmetics.  Want to see if it makes it past the maiden flight before I spend any time prettying it up.
If it gets past the first flight, I will glue all the seams in the wing skin, do work on the cowl (Rob D. donated a fibreglass one.) and re-paint it.

Frank

[electroflyer]

    Frank,

   I do have a spinner for you.

  Glenn

[Frank v B]

....3 months later...  Despite yesterday's snow, spring cannot delay any longer.  It is time to prep airplanes for the nice weather.

Hooked everything up on the P-40 (ESC, servos, programmed the transmitter/RX combo, checked the CG) and decided to heed Gregor and Rob D's warning to make this thing nose heavy or she will be a beast to control.  The battery bay can hold a 6S 5000 mah Lipo.
Also took Gregor's comment seriously that this plane tends to nose over on landing.  Instead of offering up the pre-painted brittle plastic nose with the shark's teeth, I built a temporary balsa hatch for the maiden flight.  Built it out of square balsa rails and 1/8" balsa sheeting.  The closure is a pair of rare earth magnets.

Here are the photos.
103- the temporary hatch in place.  Note the waxed paper sticking out the front end- to stop the glue from permanently locking the hatch.  It is between the two magnets.
104- the hatch held open.  Note the magnet at the front of the hatch and the corresponding magnet behind the firewall.
106- the new balsa hatch in place with the painted plastic one that would explode in a nose-over.

Ready for the maiden flight now.

Frank

[Frank v B]

Tried to maiden it today with mixed results.  The take-off was marginal, some inputs were missed so landed it again at the end of the runway.  It gained the magnificent altitude of 12 inches but tracked straight and landed straight.

Suspect a problem with the 4.8 volt nicad RX battery pack.
David spearheaded a re-calibration of the ESC and it has about 20% more power.  Next thing to check is the prop size.  May go larger per Peter's recommendation.

Thanks for all the help on this one.

Frank