New to the forum

[gordonfan24]

Hi everyone. Thanks for accepting me to the forums. My name is Chris and I'm 43. I live in Southern Indiana and have always enjoyed the hobby. Albeit, I haven't done much over the last couple decades but I'm getting back into it quite heavily. I have a Spitfire 403 kit I've been working on for a while. I just purchased the Vought F4U-4 Corsair 1004 kit and the B-17G Flying Fortress 2002 kit but I want to finish the Spitfire first. Just built a workbench today and I've included a pic. I have a few questions that I'll start specific threads on later . I look forward to learning from the members here and hopefully being able to pass the knowledge gained on to others someday.

[Mitch]

Welcome to the group!

You have a great start with a nice work space!

I commend your efforts on the 400 Spit. The 400 series is my favorite, but I think the Spitfire is the most difficult to get to fly well. Mine only flew for a few seconds. Wow... and you next model is the Corsair. We need to talk. I just built the Hellcat not to long ago. I have the Corsair kit.

Okay... I just looked under my desk.... I have the Fortress also. But I am not planning on building that soon. I live near Seattle and as soon as we have flying weather I plan to test fly my new 400 FW 190. I expect we should have good weather at the end of next week.

Mitch

[gordonfan24]

Thanks for the warm welcome Mitch. I look forward to picking yours and others collective brains! I'm going for the R/C conversion on the Corsair too! HAHA! Thankfully, I've been a welder/fabricator for over 20+ years who is now doing only pipe work and I really enjoy building things. Although, I must be honest, I'm not used to such detail. That's one thing I will have to teach myself....patience and restraint. I tend to rush things at times, I guess due to my mindset at work. Get it done fast but get it done right. My motto has always been, "If you can't find the time to do it right the first time, where will you find the time to do it right the second time?"

[gordonfan24]

They're heeeeeeeeeeere!

I'm not going to do anything to the B-17 except admire the box. As for the Corsair, I'm going to read everything in the box and wait until I talk to Mitch and anyone else that has any advice.

[BillParker]

The Chance Vought F4U-5N Corsair Guillows Kit #1004

This kit is alot of fun to build. It looks complicated, but it isn't really... Ask lots of questions, and post lots of pictures... We can't wait to help you with your project!

For .049 Cox U-Control



90" wingspan, same kit blown up...





Build photos:

http://www.parkerinfo.com/ap49.htm

One more time, but ran out of blue paint... Or... The Confederate Navy version...





bp

[gordonfan24]

Thanks Bill. I really enjoyed your post. I'll be asking a bunch of questions for sure. Just doing a bunch of reading right now. I almost forgot, I'm doing the RC conversion on this. Where do I start?

[Coloradoken]

Good looking work space. Enjoy its neatness. It will get real busy real quick.

[Coloradoken]

question for Bill. Great BIG model. What do you do with them when they are done?

[BillParker]

Might help some:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HEo_VOv8fM

and:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9HHYIfyw7o

um... good luck! Gulp!


bp

[BillParker]

Great BIG model. What do you do with them when they are done?

Give em away... I've built about 20 of em now...

The Guillow's Grumman F6F Hellcat Item Number: 503 120" wingspan...




bp

[gordonfan24]

Those big ones are way cool Bill, thanks for sharing. I won't be scared to try one either after I get a few under my belt. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I'm trying to get my daughter into it but it doesn't look like it's in the cards. Have you ever flown any of the big ones?

[gordonfan24]

BTW Bill, I was sitting here staring at that huge Hellcat and a thought popped in my head. I wondered how hard it would be to shape the leading and trailing edges. What in the world would you use? I then wondered if you'd ever tried a 4 1/2" angle grinder with a flap wheel like this? http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/tools ... Ak7r8P8HAQ Just thinking out loud.

[BillParker]

They are shaped. That guy in the background made them out of a pine 2 x 4 with a table saw...



Here's the 500 series P-40



You can see the shaped LE on that one too...

Once the fabric covering is on it covers all sins...



As for flying these big ones. Probably wouldn't work very well as designed. These are 16" planes that have been blown up to 10 foot. They're made of 1/4" pine ply wood, and some chunks of 2 x4 pine where needed. Haven't weighed one yet but I'm going to say they're about 60 pounds. (For you guys who've seen these before, they're all three covered. As soon as it warms up, I'll shoot the cotton muslin covering material with several coats of ;lacquer, then exterior latex color.)

If you want to fly a big airplane, you'd want to get a plan for a big r/c plane. By the time that you've got a big one flight ready you'd have so much invested in it, time and cash, that you'd better have a proven design. It'd take a chevy small block to get one of these in the air...

[gordonfan24]

Beautiful work. I bet it's fun to build those big ones.

[BillParker]

Yes it is fun... It's good to be me!