Speed,Combat,Scale,Racing > Scale Models

1/2A Ki-61 Build

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Jake Moon:
Hello everyone, this is my first post!
Attending the NATS this year reignited a long-dormant interest in flying. Though I enjoy judging, attending contests, and being at the field, flying has never been something I've done with any regularity. With this new found excitement for flying, I decided to start small and build a 1/2A scale plane.

The question was: what do I build? I have basically no experience with 1/2A engines, so I'll stick with just one. Also, I've never built a plane by myself from start to finish, so it should be relatively simple. So that got me to a single-engined, inline-engined (no perfectly round radial fuselages) fighter plane. I decided to go with the Ki-61—a classic. I found a Walt Musciano plan for a .09-sized Ki-61 and sized it down 33%.

My version has a 20-inch wingspan and is powered by what I'm pretty sure is a Cox Super Bee.


The basic structure. It's a twin keel fuselage using 1/8" balsa keels and formers. The fuselage is built around a 3/16" spar with 1/8" braces.


The airframe put together. It has a Perfect 1/2A Bellcrank in it. This photo has a clevis for the pushrod connector but I later had to change this to a ball link for clearance. It's a tight fit in there! The first former is the firewall and made of ply. I fitted as much balsa block as would clear the bellcrank between F1 and F2 so hopefully that's enough.


A view from the top. The wing is sheeted with 1/16".


With the fuselage sheeted with 1/16" as well. A first-time builder's mistake is visible between this photo and previous one: I sheeted the wing before installing landing gear! I cut back into the bottom of the wing, epoxied the gear to the main spar, and then braced with a mountain of epoxy and wood.


One of the challenges of the smaller size is fitting leadouts. The plan called for them running the length of the inboard wing internally, which just wasn't possible in the downsized wing. So now there are two cutouts in the fuselage to clear the bellcrank and also some further down the wing where the dihedral meets up with the height of the bellcrank, and then aluminum eyelets in the wingtip.


The part I was most nervous about: the cowl and canopy! Thankfully since they were so small, they weren't too challenging.




As you can see in the photos, the bottom of the nose is glued to the fuselage. And then the top half can be removed. It's a very tight fit to get to the bottom two screws for the engine mount, but with a skinny screwdriver it just barely fits.

That's it for now. This has been a fun and educational couple of weeks of building.
Jake

Ken Culbertson:

--- Quote from: Jake Moon on August 31, 2023, 11:58:13 AM ---My version has a 20-inch wingspan and is powered by what I'm pretty sure is a Cox Super Bee.

--- End quote ---
Looking good!  Glad to see you flying.  I think, but not 100% sure is that you have a Cox Black Widow.  They came in silver, gold and black and combinations.  You appear to have a late model combination.  If it runs it will have plenty of power for your plane.

Again - welcome back!

Ken

944_Jim:
Hi Mr. Jake,
I'm digging your build! I especially like the fuselage construction.

While I'm not advocating "stealing a new member from SH," I do want to advertise another site that is heavy in my four site rotation...they'll LOVE to see this plane. Jump over to CoxEngineForum.com. Create an account...watch your spam folder for account validation email. The admin approves using an "admin*" account, which some email systems flag as junk mail.

I use the same username here, on CoxEngineForum and RCGroups. It just makes it easier to keep up with "who's who" between the three.

I'll be watching this one as you continue! Please keep posting your progress.

Thanks for sharing "small!"

SteveMoon:
Jakr’s progress has been amazing. I have no doubt this plane
will look great. Jake is an incredible plastic model builder and
a wizard with an airbrush.

Steve

john e. holliday:
I too will watch for the finish of this little plane.   Is this the same Jake that used to draw pictures at a contest? D>K

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