Official FMS 1500mm P-47D Razorback Thread

[Grossman56]

Dave sent over a six pack with Dave Schilling, the boys say, "Thanks Dave"

BTW, the pics are a great example of how the leather jackets have evolved and each has their own look as I'm sure they did in reality.

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[jetfool]

Better have Dave send over a couple more cases of beer for those guys. They all look great Dan.
Best Regards, Rex

[Grossman56]

Dave Schilling is coming along, got the silver parts done, now its a matter of letting it dry and going over the myriad touchups. I gave him a break to have a beer with his buddies...





Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan

[davegee]

progress to the end product coming along , prior to going to the vac formers

Thanks for the update, James. Looking good. I am still looking into a powered canopy, have checked into several companies that make specialized linear servos that "could" work, but I really need to have the canopy in hand before I purchase any so I can get a better idea on the exact tolerances I have to work with. If it was for a larger airplane, it would work great, but I may not have the room inside the removable cockpit part to make it work. Regardless, I plan on having a openable canopy of some sort, whether it is powered, or not.

Appreciate any updates as to when I will be receiving the finished vacuform canopies. They should work fine for this airplane. The fuselage is coming along well, I have primered it and put several coats of Minwax and sanding to make it smooth as possible. Wings and tail already done and ready to go once the fuselage and canopy are completed.

Cheers

Davegee

[vrosi1963]

progress to the end product coming along , prior to going to the vac formers

[davegee]

Work in process. Beginning to fit the wires and find tweezers and magnifier hood makes it easier to put these small pieces together. After 2 hrs. plus I had to take a break or go nuts. Still need to install the harness and wires for the top cylinders. Rex

Coming along Great, Rex. I know that is tedious business doing this, but the results are good. It is complicated by the way the cowl/engine is molded making the upper parts more difficult to impossible to improve. But at least the lower parts of the engine will be very viewable, and the fact that you have a big fat prop in front of it reduce the amount of scrutiny the viewer can give to it! I think I and probably Danger Dan, too, also feel doing a little detailing to the round engine parts is well worth it, especially for contests like Toledo.

The R2800 is one of my all-time favorite radial engines during WWII and afterwards. My favorite three warbirds all used the R2800: the P-47, Corsair, and F6F Hellcat. And they saw their way into many postwar aircraft like the DC-6, Convair 240-440 series, Martin, and many others.

Cheers

davegee

[jetfool]

Work in process. Beginning to fit the wires and find tweezers and magnifier hood makes it easier to put these small pieces together. After 2 hrs. plus I had to take a break or go nuts. Still need to install the harness and wires for the top cylinders. Rex

[davegee]

Grossman,
Plan to take my computer so I can post while at the show. Cash prizes this year so the competition should be pretty tough. Not worried about placing just enjoy the people and seeing what's new in the hobby. You guys helping makes it feel like a team entry Wish you guys could go.
Best Regards, Rex

We're all very proud of you for taking the effort to compete in this event, Rex. Best of luck, but probably more importantly, have a great time!

Cheers

Dave

[jetfool]

Grossman,
Plan to take my computer so I can post while at the show. Cash prizes this year so the competition should be pretty tough. Not worried about placing just enjoy the people and seeing what's new in the hobby. You guys helping makes it feel like a team entry Wish you guys could go.
Best Regards, Rex

[Grossman56]

Great to hear Rex, Dave and I are really excited to see how you make out. Take lots of pics!!

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[jetfool]

Outstanding work Dan. He should look great in Daves new Bubble Top P-47. Bobs says to tell the guys hello as he will be traveling on Republic Aviation business to upper Ohio for a convention shortly..
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Whipped out the Canon, better pics.



Obviously not done yet, but maybe 80%??

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

Looking great, Dan!! I have the oxygen mask ready to install hanging from his helmet to finish it off for display when you're finally finished with it. No rush, still a lot of work to do on the fuse, especially cockpit and canopy when it comes, hopefully soon!.

Cheers

Davegee

[Grossman56]

Whipped out the Canon, better pics.



Obviously not done yet, but maybe 80%??

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[Grossman56]

Finally felt well enough to do some work on Schilling....



Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[jetfool]

Thanks Dave,
We are leaving for Toledo early Friday morning (3 am) April 10, about a 4 hr drive from our town. Have the room at the convention center reserved for Friday night. Hotel costs are crazy.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Added the back cylinders to the engine and making up the ingnition harness and wiring. Need to paint before assembly. Think it will look ok when installed.
Best Regards, Rex

Thanks, Rex. The last time I flew Fire Ball was in 2008 at the US Scale Masters Contest in Sarasota, FL. We were cruising to a first place finish in our division, Team Scale, and then Disaster Struck! We could get through most of our routine, and then the motor would thin out and quit. It became a nail-biting conclusion to see if it would crack up or not. We got all our required maneuvers in, or most of them, but we just couldn't figure out why the motor was doing that, a DA 50. On one of the rounds, Bob, the pilot, landed a little short with a dead engine, and it hit hard, tearing at least one main gear out of the airplane. Not to be deterred, I worked all night in my hotel room with Fire Ball to get it flyable again. In the end, we dropped from a sure first place prize to fourth place, but we still got a trophy. On that last flight, the engine quit again, and the whole crowd yelled in unison: "GO FIRE BALL, GO !!!!" It was touching.That last flight, Bob brought it down for a perfect dead stick landing with no additional damage.

I took it home and did a proper repair after that. I gave the DA 50 to Bob to take to the manufacturer to see why it did that. When the airplane was restored, that's when I made arrangements to take it to Florida to the museum where you saw it.

That drop tank was rare, and special. It was a scale 215 gallon "flat" tank of the type used by the 56th FG on their M models in the last months of the war in Europe. It was released on each of our flights as part of the routine we did for the competitions around the country. On the real airplane, they were able to get to Germany and back with that tank on, as they had gotten orders to remove the wing pylons. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they got that order, as that now meant no more low level attacks, which were considered much more hazardous than high altitude fighting or bomber support missions.

Your engine cowl looks great, and I would hazard no one else will have such scratchbuilt details on their entries.

When are you leaving for Toledo?

Best of Luck!!!

Cheers

Dave

[jetfool]

Added the back cylinders to the engine and making up the ingnition harness and wiring. Need to paint before assembly. Think it will look ok when installed.
Best Regards, Rex

[jetfool]

Davegee,
Your P-47 in Florida is a masterpiece. I remember the tank on it. I took lots of pictures that day of it to use some of your ideas on my Yellow P-47 when I got home. Keep thinking about a P-47M and after yours is completed I may order the conversion parts to have on hand for a later build. Dave Platt rule #7 (Scarfology) Get it while you can.
Glad I'm just taking one model to Toledo; I have been adding the engine parts like yours and every time I look at it I see more little things. Same with the Phantom so will take my time on it. Talked to the event director about the static rules (same as AMA) and he said they are adding cash prizes this year in hopes to entice more entrants. I know of 4 guys going so the competition should be pretty tough this year.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Good job!

Thanks, that should dampen out any undesirable movement in the air stream until it is released from the EFlite bomb/tank drop. My team scale partner back in the day just HATED droppables, but I loved and still love them. On our blue camo Fire Ball that you saw in Florida, we did drop that very large scale 215 gal. tank (over 16 inches long in1/6 scale) in a very realistic manner and looked spectacular as it tumbled down end-over-end to the ground, always undamaged. It was the same one that you would have seen mounted on the plane in its display case in Titusville.

Cheers

davegee

[jetfool]

Good job!