New machine for 2024

[Dave_Trible]

Balsa dust has been flying in the Stunt Birthing Center.   Thought I’d show one of this years’ critters.  Hope I can get the pics shrunk enough to post.

Dave

[Dave_Trible]

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[Dave_Trible]

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[Dave_Trible]

Can’t seem to get the shot of the bottom to cooperate but anyway-  69 ounces,  RO Jett .76.  As yet not flown.  Will wait till after VSC.

Dave

[Dave_Trible]

The paint scheme is modeled after the base commander’s hack from early WWII at the Fighter Training School at Chanute Army Air Corps base Illinois.  The full scale is still airworthy.

Dave

[Dennis Adamisin]

YEAH MAN!  That is really cool.  NEVER get tired of good semi scales, especially a P-40!

[Joe Gilbert]

Well done Dave I like it.

[Dave_Trible]

Thanks guys!   

Dave

[George Grossardt]

So cool!  Well done.

[Paul Walker]

Quite a change for you Dave.

I like it. Hope it flies well!

[Dave_Trible]

Thank you George and Paul.   I’m most happy about getting the weight in a better place than in the past few years. 

Dave

[Dennis Leonhardi]

Absolutely beautiful, Dave!  What design is it?

Dennis

[Dave_Trible]

Absolutely beautiful, Dave!  What design is it?

Dennis

Thank You Dennis.   Well simply said-I'm a designer so that's what design it is!  Aerodynamically it's a close cousin to my "Only Vegas" design of about a decade ago.  I used the same airfoil templates I made back then.  I shortened the span a little then added the large round tips.  That one has a wing a little more capable of ably lifting a heavier airplane.  Naturally this one turned out lighter.....not complaining.

Dave

[Dick Byron]

Nice Dave.

[Dave_Trible]

Nice Dave.

Hello Dick!  Thank You.  I know you aren't staying out of trouble but I hope you are well.

Dave

[wwwarbird]

 Looks great Dave, those Robart wheels are way heavy though.

[Matt Colan]

Very cool Dave!!! I like it a lot!

[Dave_Trible]

Thank you Matt!  Wayne I looked long and hard for wheels that had 'the look'.  I picked these up at an RC swap meet.  I have MAXX wheels that weigh a fraction but will look silly on her.   The end factor will be if these create any problem with vertical cg.   If so I'll have to try making some hub caps for the MAXX wheels or some Dubro light wheels I have.   My other airplanes have wheel pants and struts which I know add up to over an ounce each so I'm thinking I can get away with these.   

Dave

[Steve Dwyer]

Dave,

Silver is one of the most unforgiving finishes, very nice job. Did you clear coat it with a two-part auto finish or is that Butyrate Clear?

Steve

[Dave_Trible]

Steve it is all Randolph butyrate dope on 'tea bag' paper-carbon veil on the fuselage for rigidity.  The top 'block' is 1/16" sheeting wrapped around bulkheads and needed some stiffening.

Dave

[Dave_Trible]

My experience with two part auto clear;

[Don Jenkins]

Beautiful plane Dave, excellent craftsmanship!  The P-40 has always been one of my favorites!  Hope it flies well for you!

Don

[Dave_Trible]

Thanks Don.  P40s are cool airplanes.  When I saw a photo of one NOT in camo (cause I can't see camo against the trees) I knew I had to build it.  Most likely almost all warbirds had at least one left natural aluminum or something else that would be visible.  I remember as a kid going to an airshow and seeing Jackie Cochran flying a PINK P40.  Couldn't quite bring myself to that!

Dave

[afml]

Congrats Dave! Very well done! 
Can't wait to see it mak'n its moves.
Stay safe! Stay well!
"Tight Lines!"
Wes

[Dave_Trible]

Hi Wes!  Thanks!

Dave

[Leonard Bourel]

Awesome airplane Dave well done. I dont think the big rojett will have any trouble pulling that .

[Dan McEntee]

Thanks Don.  P40s are cool airplanes.  When I saw a photo of one NOT in camo (cause I can't see camo against the trees) I knew I had to build it.  Most likely almost all warbirds had at least one left natural aluminum or something else that would be visible.  I remember as a kid going to an airshow and seeing Jackie Cochran flying a PINK P40.  Couldn't quite bring myself to that!

Dave

   There are some out there with other color schemes. Pink was a desert camo in WW-2!! i remember seeing a full scale pained like that and with the other national insignia and such it looked pretty cool!! I think there were some post war Cleveland racers in civilian schemes also. As for the wheels, find the foam tires you like, and make your own hubs if necessary, even turned from wood and add your hub caps. Take the tires off the hubs and attach them to your hubs. A bit of work but I agree, the wrong wheels will NOT look right no matter how well the model might fly!!
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[john e. holliday]

Looks awesome Dave.   Now draw one up fo an LA 25 and I'll make it pink.

[Dave_Trible]

Thanks Leonard.   Yes the 'John Deere' .76 will pull the ship in a four cycle.   
Dan I think and hope I'm good with the wheels I have.   I don't think they are THAT heavy compared to other airplanes with wheels AND wheel pants etc.  I'll see....I also got a couple sets of the Kraft wheels I used to use a lot that have the smooth front hub.   Little did I realize how heavy those are/were.  Nearly twice what these Robarts are.  Most all the old wheels we commonly used ,  Perfect, Veco etc.,  are tremendously heavy compared to what we use these days-we just didn't know that!

Dave

[Dave_Trible]

Looks awesome Dave.   Now draw one up fo an LA 25 and I'll make it pink.

I just bet you would!

Dave

[john e. holliday]

Remember I used to have a 64 Ford Fairlaine 2dr that was pink.   

[wwwarbird]

  Wayne I looked long and hard for wheels that had 'the look'.  I picked these up at an RC swap meet. 

 Dave,

 If you can find a set Kraft made wheels that were a foam based tire and had a solid smooth wheel cover. Another benefit for our use was that they're also slightly streamlined in overall shape for a bit less drag. They're tough to find but are the ideal wheel for a semi-scale P-40 IMO.

[Dave_Trible]

Those look good Wayne.  I wonder about fitting a foam tire on the Kraft hubs???  I'm going to fly it and see if there is really any issue,  then deal with it if needed.  I'm more concerned about the hub cap staying on in the grass.  It is glued on with plastic cement.  I could end up practicing at home with normal wheels then mounting these for contests....I'd have to get the caps off though to change them.   If that's all I have to worry about then I'm in good shape.

Dave

[wwwarbird]

 For the most part I think you'll be able to trim fairly well for the heavy Robarts but I bet you can shave some noticable weight with something else. It is what it is, just never hurts to save some OZee's. 

[Steve Dwyer]

Dave, back to the clear coat...  the results look like a chemical problem occurred with the mix. Were you using the single rattle can clear coat that may have exceeded its shelf life after the initial shaking or was this a two-part mix?  I've only used clear coat it once on the nose for raw fuel protection with good results. We all know a two-part clear coat adds more weight than we'd like.

Steve

[Mark Gerber]

Very nice Dave.

Mark Gerber

[Sina Goudarzi]

Gorgeous Dave
-s

[Dave_Trible]

Thank You Mark.
Steve this is Nason two part.  The bad part I sprayed two new airplanes in the same few minutes and ruined both.   One I was able to strip and refinish a couple weeks before the Team Trials.  It flew VERY well.  Then my usual TT luck- a total flame out in a bad spot and crashed the plane just before leaving for Houston.  The second airplane is still in hiding behind a couch in the stunt lounge (aka living room).   Hard to say the exact cause.  It was a very hot day.  I set the planes up outside on the patio to spray with a big fan blowing the overspray away from me as much as possible.  The paint I kept inside (in the a/c) until I was ready to use it.  I donned the body suit,  breather mask and goggles and went to it with a brand new compressor and spray gun-untested.  The goggles fogged up in the heat and I was wringing sweat in the paper suit so that I could hardly see what I was doing.  SO:  not sure if it was
1. spraying cool material in the heat
2. not having the gun/compressor set correctly- the air regulator wasn't working so I had to control pressure from the tank outlet gauge
3. though mixed exactly as the instructions say,  the mixture was too thick.   I've been told that was likely but with what and how much do you thin it?  The manufacturer says nothing about thinning it.  Once ready to spray it appeared as thin as water.
I bought a gallon of the stuff and hardner at nearly $200 and it sits there in the shop to remind me never to use it again. 

Dave

Just saw you Sina-thank you as well.

[Steve Helmick]

Dave,

 If you can find a set Kraft made wheels that were a foam based tire and had a solid smooth wheel cover. Another benefit for our use was that they're also slightly streamlined in overall shape for a bit less drag. They're tough to find but are the ideal wheel for a semi-scale P-40 IMO.

About the Kraft streamlined wheels...I think I have a NIP pair of those hanging in the shop. The reason they're NIP is because they're heavy as heck. Dave Brown wheels are THE BEST, IMO, and the spoked wheel hubs look pretty ok if you paint them silver. They also give a better landing, if that matters!  Steve

[Jake Moon]

Beautiful work, Dave! All the little added 3-dimensional details like the exhaust stacks, landing gear bumps etc. add a lot to the realism. It looks very cool.

[Wayne Smith]

Dave,
Good looking semi scale

[EricV]

Looks great, nice work Dave! I see what you did here, distracted us with wheels so we wouldnt notice all that extra side area you snuck in up front. 
EricV

[Dave_Trible]

Jake and Wayne,  Thank you fellas!   I made new handles and lines,  as well as finished a new batch of props for it and the rest of the fleet.  Can't wait for some decent weather.....
Steve those Kraft wheels ARE heavy.   In the later 70s and 80s they were my favorite wheels of choice.  I finally wore out what I had.  Not too long ago I thought I found a goldmine when I bought some new ones on the bay.  Geez was I surprised at how heavy they are.   Back then I ran 2" I think since I flew on pavement.  These I got are 2 1/2" -maybe 2 3/4" and it seems these wheels approach 4 ounces for the pair.    That compared to 3/4 of an ounce for a pair of Maxx wheels-another one that went extinct. (the aluminum hub ones)   Fortunately I bought six or seven pairs of those when I had the chance.  I recently got some very light wheels off the bay from China.  Only thing is they are plastic hubs-like pvc plastic.   I don't think they will take much abuse. One came apart on my grandson's little Akromaster with a not-so-graceful landing.   I have a couple pair of the Dave Browns but they are both 2" -too small for the turf I fly from.

Dave

Eric ....you caught me!  Thanks buddy!

[Steve Dwyer]

Dave,

  Out of curiosity went looking through my weel stash and came across a pair of VECO wheels. Nothing like the hub of the Kraft you describe but very heavy. I'd compare them to the wheels on my lawn tractor. Why weren't builders back then more weight conscious?

Steve

[Dave_Trible]

Well actually they were in most ways.  They understood how to pick the best wood  (talking about those with some experience past just a few kits).  They top fliers learned to sort of go skimpy on the finish as well to trim the weight.  Most were using engines with far less power than we do today ( Fox,  Johnson,  McCoy and K&B .35s) so weight management was always a big deal.  However there were those things you couldn’t do much about like the common wheels and spinners of the day.  Real rubber and aluminum were about all the materials used to make these things and of course no cnc machining for thin tolerances.  Most had to simply use what they could buy at the local hobby shop.  Even so very many of these guys flew airplanes in the 38-42 ounce range.  The down side is these airplanes didn’t generally last very long.  One good season was sometimes all you planned on getting.  Oil soaking,  vibration and stress cracking all over was normal past a point.

Dave

[Ken Culbertson]

I was like a lot of the fliers back then that flew mostly on paved circles used small (1 1/4") thin hard rubber racing wheels inside wheel pants.  Today I use the cheap Chinese foamies with the plastic hub and an aluminum bushing.   They work fine if you don't land in a pipe puddle, that makes them go flat on one side.  So does letting them set in one spot for a long period.  So since they are were about 50 cents each, I change the "rubber" frequently.  Without the bushings they roll forever and are too noisey.

Ken

[Dave_Trible]

I was like a lot of the fliers back then that flew mostly on paved circles used small (1 1/4") thin hard rubber racing wheels inside wheel pants.  Today I use the cheap Chinese foamies with the plastic hub and an aluminum bushing.   They work fine if you don't land in a pipe puddle, that makes them go flat on one side.  So does letting them set in one spot for a long period.  So since they are were about 50 cents each, I change the "rubber" frequently.  Without the bushings they roll forever and are too noisey.

Ken

Don's racing wheels were popular in the 'day'.  They were knife edge sharp but not really light because the rubber needed to be hard rubber.  Small diameters made up the difference.  Very many of us had paved flying sites in those days and never gave a thought to grass flying.  The airplane I designed and built in 1983 (Pillar to Post) that I just got back from a friend after close to forty years has wheels that are about 1 1/2" streamlined Perfect wheels I think.  This would be impossible to fly from my grass field.  When we lost our last paved site years ago I thought we were doomed.  I had to find ways to adapt.  As it turned out a longer- to about 1 1/2" prop clearance- and stiffer- 5/32" wire instead of 1/8" wire,  and minimum 2 1/4" wheels can get the job done well as long as the grass is kept cut short and you keep the moles and ant hills down.  Have to do about as much field maintenance as flying these days but that's the price.....

Dave

[Pat Johnston]

Terrific plane, Dave. I love the “B” model. I made a P40K for my ST60 and it was a great flyer. In fact I scaled it down to 560” for the RSM version. The second P40K had a fuselage 1” deeper with the wing lowered to a more scale like location and 1” of dihedral added. Rod Claus has it now and loves it. In so many ways, the P40 was the quintessential American fighter with the shark mouth, flying tiger on the side and cheesecake Hells Angel babe on the nose. Kind of hit all the notes
(BYW, anyone who wants to look at the PDF’s for either version of the P40K, feel free to holler and I’ll send them in Email)
Pat Johnston
Idaho Skunk Works

[Dave_Trible]

Thank you Pat..

Dave

[Dave_Trible]

Thank you Pat..

Dave

A number of years ago,   just before I jumped into the .61 and larger airplanes I designed a series of RO Jett .40 powered semi scales I called 'series 5' since they basically constructed around aerodynamics I considered my fifth major design 'package' of airfoils, etc. I came up with since -dirt.  In the series I designed i think four airplanes-built and flew three of them.  First was a Macchi 205 then a P40 B/C and finally a Hawker Hurricane.  Also did a Tony but it never got off the paper.  That P40 I brought to a Nats many years ago.  It flew great but was done in the Flying Tigers paint and so I totally lost it visually when flying against any trees or even hills.  I turned it over to my son in law and it lasted about a week since he couldn't see it either.  Always wanted another P40.  The Hurricane still exists and in fact I just built a new tank for it after it hung at the son in laws house for all these years.  I will fly it soon-then turn it over to family for 'pipe training'.   

[Dave_Trible]

…the Hurricane.

[Pat Johnston]

I totally get that problem with seeing camo paint schemes with trees in the background. My P40’s had the Flying Tigers paint and that was when I discovered how hard the pullout was to get with trees in the background. Since then I’ve used my red, white and blue paint schemes with the Eagle on the side.  This scheme was on three Bearcats and two Mustangs. Bright and showey. The judges love it and I get way more flying points than I deserve. My last Bearcat 617 is done up in the “Beetle Bomb” yellow base coat with blue and a little silver trim. It almost seems like it scores better than the previous versions.
Bottom line is go bright and the results are worth it.
Pat Johnston
Idaho Skunk Works