Revisiting the #502 FW-190

[MKelly]

The Guillows #502 FW-190 was the first stick and tissue model I built, back in the mid-70s as a kid. A gentleman that works at our new flying field gave me one with the fuselage built during our December flying session - he felt the sticks were too small for him to enjoy building the rest of it. I started on it the day after Christmas and truly enjoyed the build - used the kit wood, tweaked things where I felt like it and didn't worry too much about what it'd weigh or whether it'd be competitive. I printed flight simulator graphics on the kit tissue and experimented with chalking the back of that with white PanPastel to make the tissue more opaque and make the printed graphics more vibrant. I even found the cowl blisters from my original 1970s build (I'm such a pathetic pack-rat) and used them on the model.

It's quite portly at 32g without motor. Saturday I loaded 8g (2x24" loops 1/8") of rubber into it and took it out to play - was pleasantly surprised with how it flew despite being shall we say kind of dense. Still needs more trimming but let's just say it looks and flies a bit better than the one I built back in the 20th century...

Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGOCGsrtR34

Mike

[kittyfritters]

You Fw-190 is masterfully done...and it flies!

The 500 series Fw-190 is not a bad representation of the aircraft. Try the 400 series version. It was lauded by one of the scale model magazines, one that mostly reviews plastic models, as the finest representation of the Fw-190 available in a rubber powered kit.

KF

[Gorgar]

Very nice, Good Job!

[MKelly]

You Fw-190 is masterfully done...and it flies!

The 500 series Fw-190 is not a bad representation of the aircraft. Try the 400 series version. It was lauded by one of the scale model magazines, one that mostly reviews plastic models, as the finest representation of the Fw-190 available in a rubber powered kit.

KF

Thanks Howard! I was quite pleasantly surprised with the flights given the weight of the model. I'm going to move the cg back just a bit and retrim the stab angle, in hopes of mitigating the mid-flight porpoising and improving the transition to glide. I've also noticed a bit more washout on the right wing than the left, will see if I can tweak that out and tame the spiral dive during glide. I think with full winds it should be possible to get better than a minute out of the model.

Mike

[Oldyzracer1]

Wow, that is the best looking flying model I’ve seen. Nice work!

[MKelly]

Flew the 502 FW-190 again today with a reduced-cross-section motor, longer loop length. It seemed to like the change, was able to break a minute on 1600 turns. Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlLAZA5w50Y

Mike

[Bill Gaylord]

Nice job! The 190 looks much better when people take time to detail the side vents and gun access cover.

[MKelly]

Nice build Bill. How does it fly for you?

Mike

[Bill Gaylord]

Thanks. It flies well, but it's one of those models where you fly it reasonably carefully. Given the small size and weight, it would be difficult to recover from much of an out of control scenario. Here's the video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w47tnwSghR0

[DavidPayton]

Hi Mike.

I’ve just joined this forum and admit to being awestruck with your tissue paint scheme on the FW-190.
I’ve built a few Guillows models in my early days and have always struggled with prepping plain tissue once mounted on the models. Decals don’t adhere unless tissue is thoroughly sealed, resulting in a leaden model which rarely flies well if at all.
I’d love to learn more about your tissue technique.
Thx.

David.

[MKelly]

Hi David,

Sorry for the delayed response - I hadn't checked this forum for a bit. Aeromodeller magazine published an article I wrote on doing the tissue for this model in their most recent issue (Issue 1009, June 2021). If you have access to a Kindle reader you can get the magazine digitally (including a free trial period) here: https://www.amazon.com/AeroModeller/dp/B06X9P3B9G/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=aeromodeller&qid=1622057621&sr=8-1

Cheers,

Mike

[Ray Klein]

Awesome build. Be great if you did a printed tissue tutorial ,,, printing and application on the model.

[Ray Klein]

Any more recent flight videos? I saw the youtube one from the link you posted.

[MKelly]

There's a second FW-190 video and a few flights in some of the contest videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrDJLKAOVOet8iW5BDzBgA/videos

Mike

[Ray Klein]

That's a great link, thanks