Official Nexa 1570mm (61.8") P-40 Warhawk

[James]

Nexa P-40 Warhawk 1570mm (61.8") Wingspan - ARF

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter of World War II, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation's main production facilities at Buffalo, New York.

The Nexa P-40 Warhawk is a .60 size electric or gas option scale series warbird with a 1570mm wingspan, constructed primarily from balsa wood and covered with a fuel-resistant covering. This ARF requires assembly and installation of your choice of servos and power system, and includes split flaps, center drop tank, painted pilot, machine gun, antenna and other scale details. The large battery hatch affords ample room for either electric or gas setups. To complete the scale appeal of this beautiful P-40, the model includes electric retracts and scale struts. Impress at your flying field with this iconic stunner!

Click here to visit the Official Nexa P-40 Warhawk 1570mm ARF Product Page for more info

isit the Official Nexa P-40 Warhawk 1570mm ARF Discussion Thread on HobbySquawk.com for additional photos, videos, reviews, and customer Q&A.

Fully Covered and Detailed The Nexa P-40 Warhawk comes fully covered including simulated panel lines, rivets, nomenclature and weathering detail.

Scale Details Throughout There is no shortage of scale details with this P-40 including functional split flaps, machine guns, painted pilot, electric retracts and metal main struts.

Prehinged and Installed Control Surfaces All control surfaces come out of the box fully prehinged and installed for your convenience.

Large Battery Hatch The P-40 has a large battery hatch area to fit an array of LiPo battery sizes.

Features:

• Complete Balsa and lite-ply construction for rigidity and durability
• Covered from tip to tail in scale details including weathering, functional split flaps, printed simulated panel lines and rivets
• Fiberglass cowling for strength and durability
• The hand-painted pilot is ready for your added cockpit details
• Some control surfaces come out of the box pre-hinged and installed for convenience
• Large battery hatch allows for your chosen electric or gas setup

Includes:

• Nexa P-40 Warhawk 1570mm (61.8") Wingspan - ARF
• Electric retracts, wheels and struts
• Fuel tank, hardware and servo trays

[James]

Hey guys, wanted to get this thread started as I am in the process of assembling this P-40 and so far I really like the ARF Kit.

This is my first Nexa WW2 Warbird and I am very pleased with the overall fit and finish of the model thus far. I am following the instruction to the T and haven't run into anything yet that I think should be changed.

As far as electronics and components I am setting this up electric using the exact recommended specs on the webpage which are:

REQUIRES:

• Admiral GP10 5030-400kV Brushless Motor
• ZTW Mantis 65A ESC with 5A SBEC
• 6x Hitec HS-485HB Deluxe Ball Bearing Karbonite Gear Standard Servo Airplane Multi-Pack (6 Servos)
• 3 Blade Propeller (14x8 or 15x7)

The HS-485's just drop right in. No cutting or manipulating the servo slots are needed. Also, the Mantis ESC has the same size bullets as the Admiral GP10 so it's nice to not need to solder any bullets. I intend to fly this one with a 6000mAh 6S pack.



I unboxed it Monday and got the wings fully completed and the tail assembly together in about 5 hours (with filming pauses), then today I got the elevator and rudder servos installed and the motor mounted to the point where it clears the cowl. Tomorrow, I should be able to finish it all up. Just need to attach the ESC, mount the cowl, install the battery tray and put the decals on. Then set up the RX and I will then start figuring out the CG. I assume I will need nose weight, but we will see how much tomorrow. Then hopefully I can maiden her on Thursday and show a lot of the assembly and flying footage on Friday's youtube live show.

I am excited. She is just about the size of the FlightLine Spitfire and Corsair and will fit right in. But after I get pictures and video, I think I will be painting this one and calling Callie, but we shall see.

[cruiser]

James, I'm glad you are working on this bird. I have the same interest to use 5000-6000 batteries. How is the fit and CG working out?

[James]

Hey cruiser, I finished her up, just waiting for a battery strap to come in to secure the LiPo and it's maiden time.



So with the 6000mAh 6s Admiral Pro 50c LiPo battery, she totals 9lbs 10oz.



I didn't realize she came with a 3 blade spinner, so i ended up grabbing a master airscrew 15x7 prop (painted the tips and balanced). Based on the Admiral motor shaft length, with this prop I had to use a spade bit to just take off a bit of the hub width to get the prop nut on with a washer. And the width of each blade was larger than the spinner blade grooves, so had to dremel those open a bit. But all good.



Putting the Watt meter on it, I am got a max amp draw of 63+ on the table, but it was 55amp steady for 1 minute. So should only decrease in the air. the total watt power was 1536.2



The battery compartment fit a 6000mAh perfectly, easy in and out and she CG's perfectly at the book 4" - 4 1/8" CG location. No extra weight needed.



So overall I am happy, but I'd be happier if the weather looked good for a maiden this week. Maybe have to be next week. But we will have videos coming of build assembly and flying when that happens as soon as we can.

[cruiser]

That looks great James. Thank you for sharing. I have yet to order my plane. Will be something to do since I need to wait for the Iowa winter to get over with.

[Twowingtj]

Looks good James! Good luck with the maiden.

[Chalredline1]

How did the maiden go? I'm building this now and going electric. Seems like you had to adjust the motor quite a bit above the guide lines that were printed on the mount to center the motor in the cowl.
Thanks

[James]

Chalredline1 - the maiden went well in the sense she flew, but I needed to do more fine-tuning. I flew her about 4 times the other day and after the first 2 flights she was just pretty pitch sensitive, so at the field, I adjust the control rods on the horns, lowered my rates, and while it made it a little better, it still was pretty pitchy. So I took her home and realized that where I had initially installed the elevator servo that it was just too far away from the elevator rod. So I moved the servo in and put the rod on the innermost hole of the servo arm. I hope now the resolution will be much better and it should eliminate the pitch sensitivity.

You can see the maiden here in Friday's live show:

[Chalredline1]

Thanks. Looking forward to the assembly video.

[James]

Just an update, 2 of our 3 video series on this P-40 are now live. Part 1 is the Unboxing and Spec and Part 2 is the step by step assembly

[JamesonC]

I am absolutely getting this P40 or the Nexa P47 within a couple weeks. But, having an incredibly hard time deciding between the two. I'll definitely be going gas and using the NGH 17cc. Decisions, decisions.....

[James]

I am absolutely getting this P40 or the Nexa P47 within a couple weeks. But, having an incredibly hard time deciding between the two. I'll definitely be going gas and using the NGH 17cc. Decisions, decisions.....

I hope to join you on the 17cc front. I think my next Balsa bird will be the Nexa Hellcat on that engine.

[James]

Flight video is live:

[Chalredline1]

Thanks for posting the videos. I notice the aileron throws you start with are much greater than what the manual states. It states 6mm. I’m thinking that is going to be too little. Any thoughts on that? Thanks

[Chalredline1]

Well my maiden went great. Plane flew beautifully however there seems to be an issue with the right side landing gear. On 3 successive flights the gear collapses on touchdown. We are talking about it doing it on a nice soft landing. Upon inspection I was able to move the gear up and down by hand. I can cycle the gear and it does appear to lock in the down position. Upon the next take off it stays locked. I tried cycling the gear in the air as well as leaving it down but again on touchdown it will collapse. This only happens with the right side gear. Any suggestions?

[Bob Crawford]

I bought the Nexa P-40 and I am not very happy with it. The covering is not fuel proof and it is a very low temp film. It melts at a very low temp. The glued joints were not very good. I had to go over a lot of the joints and re glue them. The fuel tank would not fit. The hatch would be up over 1/2 inch. It looks good but I felt the quality was very poor.

[Skavage]

Hi James,

I'm a little late to the show here but having just bought this plane today I have a couple questions if I may.

First, what size is the tri-blade spinner that comes with the plane? Second, how are those Hitec 485HB servos holding up? I'm considering whether to put some digital metal geared servos in but I'm still on the fence a bit. Having had it for nearly a year now do you have any suggested modifications or such that should be considered? And lastly, if you don't mind can you tell me what brand your blue airplane stand/cradle is in the build pics? I have a DIY PVC one but I'd like something I can adjust for various size projects I've got going on.

Thanks so much for your thread here as it went a long way towards helping me make the decision to buy. Can't wait to put this one in the air!

[Mach351]

bought the Nexa P-40 last fall for a winter project and waited a month to have a day of calm wind to make the maiden flight.
finally put it in the air and thought i'd revive this thread by sharing some of my build. overall, the build was fun and i like the plane.

everything is packed nicely for shipping.

i'm currently using the power system for a Flightline 1.6m Spitfire - 5055-390kv motor, 80 amp Hobbywing ESC and 16x10 4-blade prop. (the which-of-why for this is it was already on-hand)
this P-40 is not super-fast on this setup, but it is adequate.
thought about using the 18x12 3-blade prop, but the blade tips were kinda close to the ground when then tail is up and the plane is level. i didn't want to risk a prop strike in the first flights. and the nose cone for the Spitfire aligns nicely with the P-40 cowl so it aesthetically looks way better than the prop for the Corsair.

no issues with the installation or performance of the Hitec servos recommended by Motion RC.

went a little different direction from James's video by mounting the motor directly to the firewall without using the wood stand-off.
in doing this, had to trim 10mm off the back of the cowl with a Dremel and sand a bit off the crossmember on the bottom of the fuselage to get the front of the cowl to line up with the front of the motor.
(probably not the recommended method for those uncomfortable fabricating stuff)

the cowl is actually a really nice piece made from fiberglass, not molded plastic.

everything else went together easily.
though if i had one thing to do over, it would be to cut a hole in the flap servo mounts for the servo horn to come out of the bottom of the plane so that a straight pushrod can be used in the same manner as the ailerons. this would have been much easier than trying to figure out the bends to make the pushrod come out of the bottom of the wing.

the maiden flight went okay, except i had the CG a little too far aft and the plane porpoised up a little a few times. (used Admiral 4000 mah batts on the first flights)
for the second flight, moved the battery forward and everything went well in the air - the landing approach may have been a little too slow and the plane set down a little hard on the airfield... aaand both retracts collapsed.
so if you have seen Ron White's skit on getting tires put on his van at Sears... that's kinda where i was at for a moment.

yeah, it is a heavy plane for solid struts and weak retracts. is it a grass airstrip?... yes, well manicured grass. and i have never seen this happen before. once in a while an EDF will pull a gear mount away from the airframe, but a prop plane collapsing both retracts is a first.
wouldn't it be nice to have struts with a spring dampener... but wait, the Freewing F4U Corsair has rotating gear with spring dampeners on the strut... would a crossfit even be possible... on our next suspenseful episode of ...

[rifleman_btx]

I went with the eflite rotating retracts on the hellcat because I had the same issue with collapse with that plane. Got the eflites and been happy ever since

[Mach351]

I went with the eflite rotating retracts on the hellcat because I had the same issue with collapse with that plane. Got the eflites and been happy ever since

thank you, sir.
found them on Horizon's website. in true Eflite / HH fashion, they are proud of those little buggers pricewise.