E-flite 1.2m P-39

[davegee]

Here you go Dave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-x5mRK5FAM

Thanks! What an ingenious breakthrough for painting foam planes!

Cheers

davegee

[davegee]

Many more mods now completed. Getting ever close to paint.

- Extended the nose gear out to scale. Created a new nose strut based around the Freewing Panther main strut wing and machined a nose gear fork to fit it.

- Added 2 5g servos for the nose doors. All efforts to trigger then mechanically triggered the shutoff current for the retract.

- Designed and installed inner gear doors (mechanically triggered by main retracts)

- Designed new more scale looking split flaps

- Designed new spinner with a more correct outline.

F106DD: do you know which unit flew this aircraft and where they were based in WWII? The pilot who flew a famous iconic P-51D named LOU IV that I did earlier flew P-39s out of bases in Asia, just curious if there might be some tie-in there.

Cheers

davegee

[F106DeltaDart]

F106DD: do you know which unit flew this aircraft and where they were based in WWII? The pilot who flew a famous iconic P-51D named LOU IV that I did earlier flew P-39s out of bases in Asia, just curious if there might be some tie-in there.

Cheers

davegee

The P-400 that I modeled was based on Guadalcanal with the 67th Fighter Squadron. Great article on its exploits here: https://armahobbynews.pl/en/blog/202...l-70049-70057/. They were quite successful in the ground and shipping attack role, and the one I modeled also had a air-to-air kill of a rufe.

[jetfool]

F106DD,
Plane looks great! I had a new one and my test pilot took off and it was proposing up and down. He was really fighting it but every time he corrected the c/g shifted. It was a total loss. post mortem- We think the battery tray had not locked in and every time he tried to climb the battery slid back. It damaged fus. and wings beyond fixing. $300 dollar mis-adventure. Loved the plane.
I do have several parts that I salvaged, cockpit, stab/ele, etc for free, and if you you can use these your more than welcome to them. No charge except shipping. Pm if interested
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

The P-400 that I modeled was based on Guadalcanal with the 67th Fighter Squadron. Great article on its exploits here: https://armahobbynews.pl/en/blog/202...l-70049-70057/. They were quite successful in the ground and shipping attack role, and the one I modeled also had a air-to-air kill of a rufe.

Yes, that was the same unit! The pilot who later flew LOU IV in England was Col. TJJ "Jack" Christian, Jr., and flew the P-400s for 18 months before getting sent stateside for reassignment. He was tapped as the new CO of the 361st Fighter Group, based out of Bottisham,England. He was killed while leading a dive bombing attack on Nazi held train terminus in northern France on August 12, 1944. I sold my E Flite P-51D to the author of a huge book called "The Blood of Stonewall" which details the life of Stonewall Jackson and all who came after him, like Jack Christian, Jr., who was his great-grandson.

Quite a coincidence.

Cheers

davegee

[F106DeltaDart]

Very cool Dave, that is quite the coincidence! Your Lou IV turned out beautiful too!

Sorry to hear about that Rex, but I'm more than happy to take any leftover parts that survived. Not much in the way of spares left for these, so its a good precaution. Will be double checking my battery tray on maiden day though for sure!

[davegee]

Very cool Dave, that is quite the coincidence! Your Lou IV turned out beautiful too!

Sorry to hear about that Rex, but I'm more than happy to take any leftover parts that survived. Not much in the way of spares left for these, so its a good precaution. Will be double checking my battery tray on maiden day though for sure!

Here's a photo of Christian, Jr (seated) and another pilot when they were flying P-400s early in the war. They were sporting beards at that time!

Good luck with your Airacobra maiden when it comes up. I'm sure you'll get some fabulous in-air pics!

Cheers

davegee

[F106DeltaDart]

Completed the maiden flight today and found the model to be quite well behaved. Handles very nicely air the air and still has plenty of power even with the lower pitched LX B-25 prop. Makes a very satisfying howl at full speed in a pass. Only thing to look out for is that on landing it needs a good amount of power holding a scale nose high attitude for touchdown and it can be easy to get behind the power curve. 2 flights completed so far and looking forward to more! Thanks to Thomas B for taking the sticks so that I could shoot some photos of it in the air.

[davegee]

Completed the maiden flight today and found the model to be quite well behaved. Handles very nicely air the air and still has plenty of power even with the lower pitched LX B-25 prop. Makes a very satisfying howl at full speed in a pass. Only thing to look out for is that on landing it needs a good amount of power holding a scale nose high attitude for touchdown and it can be easy to get behind the power curve. 2 flights completed so far and looking forward to more! Thanks to Thomas B for taking the sticks so that I could shoot some photos of it in the air.

Awesome, F106DD!! Plane looks great!

What camera settings do you like to use for your rc airplane photos? I like the blur on the propeller blades. Not too much, not too little.

Cheers

davegee

[F106DeltaDart]

Awesome, F106DD!! Plane looks great!

What camera settings do you like to use for your rc airplane photos? I like the blur on the propeller blades. Not too much, not too little.

Cheers

davegee

Thanks Dave! I just use a Nikon 5300 set on sort mode with a good lens. I've tried manual, and shutter priority (around 1600) works ok, but the auto sport mode seems to be the most consistent.

[davegee]

Thanks Dave! I just use a Nikon 5300 set on sort mode with a good lens. I've tried manual, and shutter priority (around 1600) works ok, but the auto sport mode seems to be the most consistent.

Interesting! I"ve had a number of cameras over the years, prefer Nikons, the one I've been using for years is a D810 and some extra lenses for close up and telephoto work. One of my pet peeves is people who use the wrong shutter speed, usually too fast, and you get the "stopped" look of the propeller turning. That is something I got away from a long time ago and I usually do some trial shots before to be sure I have the right amount of "blur" in my photos. It's a great hobby or profession for those into photography. You do very nice work with your subjects and I enjoy seeing your pics when you post them.

Cheers

Davegee