Another MS design - the Curtiss P-36

[mastermalpass]

Also don't want to forget my servo wire tubes. I made the ones in the P36 with just paper rolled double thick. The 'tubes' let you install the servos and wires after you fold everything up. Just fish an extension through, plug in the servo, and pull back through.

I always thought I'd want a nice clean channel for wires (the idea being I could put hatches on the wing for access), but these tubes are a much better idea!

You're an influencer twice over!

 

[bwarz]

I took some real liberties with the hatch/canopy lines without thinking thing through and needed to do quite a bit of rework. Still just a tad too wide as the top foam bends a little different than the sides and things don't meet up just right.

Real happy with how the lines turned out, not at all happy with how the front of the hatch mates up with the fuselage. I think all of the messy work and many glue and rip off of that one skin may have beat things up enough that the gap is way uneven and horrendous (No I'm not going to include a closeup of that ) I also forgot to glue my skewers in before putting the front skin on, so they don't work too well. Now to see if I can get the front of the windscreen worked out and have the hatch done.

I also think that in the build instructions I'll note to place the hatch on the fuselage and install the front skin flush with the front, then continue on with the second skin and the canopy (if using FB and not clear) - that way the gap won;t be so big. Oh yea - in the notes already but for someone who may remember it from here - glue in the skewers that latch the front of the canopy to the fuselage BEFORE gluing on the first skin

I'm thinking just a few loose ends to wrap up. Two skins on the cowl - or I'm thinking of layering five patterns together without paper and sanding them to a nice shape. Then the guns and landing gear covers for a few details. Cant' forget the modified hatch/canopy to permit installation of a clear canopy. I also still have the issue with the fuselage under the wing that I don;t want to design until I figure if the angle of attack that I baked into the wing position is going to be too much. Oh yea - and mark where the control horns should go. Build #2 won't start until I get a chance to fly this one.

Call me nuts, but I may redesign the wing and try out a few things:
-Extend the fronts a touch and design it so you tape the leading edged together and bend like the FT Simple builds. Need to figure out what to do out where the wing begins to curve back...
-with the above change, use full airfoil profiles in a few strategic spots and make the bottom of the wing curved. That would also serve to clean up the design of the fuselage below the wing.
-make the ailerons full size - meaning part on the top of the wing and part on the bottom. The shallow cut on the split flaps turned out to be easy, so why not?

I know that a lot of people like to just build quick and get it in the air ROFLMAO: I'm one of those in the summer...) but with this one I'm trying to really reach for prototype design for some reason. I'm just having fun seeing what I can accomplish I guess! Maybe the major wing mods will be after a second build and I get plans put up for anyone else that might want to give it a go...

 

[The Fopster]

Before you make another wing, have you tried the hot iron trick? You could curve and smooth the leading edge in 5 minutes - and it also covers the bare foam before painting. Worth a try?

 

[bwarz]

Before you make another wing, have you tried the hot iron trick? You could curve and smooth the leading edge in 5 minutes - and it also covers the bare foam before painting. Worth a try?

Thanks for the tip! I have done the curve method with some success (I do need to practice it more though) , also had someone suggest adding a curve with a narrow piece of foam with 3/4" strips or paper hanging off, then ironing that round and gluing the paper flaps down. (I have not yet tried that one). What I'm thinking though is with a curve on the top and bottom of the wing, assembly might be easier if you could just fold the wing instead of trying to line it up and get it right. I don't remember who right now said it, but I may also try gorilla for for the wing top skin instead of hot glue to give much more working and adjusting time. Always an experiment.

 

[bwarz]

Took the P36 our for a test flight this afternoon. Detailed in "What did you fly today" but I figured I'd drop the video here too.

It weighs in with a hefty AUW of 911g, although I may have put too much weight in the front as I'm thinking now the maiden was nose-heavy (pay no attention to the ramblings in the video)

11F but no wind - I was itching to see it fly!

So now I think I will just continue with the rest of the plans and give it another go when I have a bit warmer weather and a bit more than 5 minutes for a flight. We'll see later if the wing needs adjusted, but for now I guess it stays!

 

[Off-topic jes]

I love your flap system and those 2 x 4 and the wing genius did it cause center of gravity problems looks kind of hefty but strong

 

[Off-topic jes]

Risking to sound stupid here but did you design it or is in this in original FT master series

 

[bwarz]

Risking to sound stupid here but did you design it or is in this in original FT master series

Never a stupid question! This is my second MS design. I'm just working out some tweaks in the plans before doing a second build and then I'll upload them. The pic with the wood in the wings for the gear supports was my BF109 - I actually have not flown the one with gear - I'm still flying the original build. I've put blocks in a few wings (13th Squadron F6F, FT MS Corsair, and the FT MS P47) and with it right about the CG it didn't make any problems. Just adds a little weight.

I still need to settle out the CG on this one and wish I would have gotten the flaps done before its maiden. I can really slow down the BF109 nicely

 

[bwarz]

Well I've gone and committed to building #2 with the build-ruary challenge. Perhaps that is the quickest way to get me to wrap things up. I printed the plans as-is at this point and the build is staged behind the others. I'm rushing to get them built and out of the way so I can have most of the month to focus on the P36. I'm confident, although there is one or two pieces still missing (and I really really really want to get the parts laid out for the clear canopy). Speaking of the clear canopy, I designed in the recesses for pilot rear visibility clearance in the plans, but the first build didn't include them. I'm still not entirely sure how I'll work them out, but I guess we will know before the end of February! Holy cow it's 3:30AM

 

[bwarz]

Time for the Beta build from the plans. Coming in at 6 sheets of FB. I think I may be missing one small skin at the front and a few 'trim' parts. Also I've seen a few P36 pics with an intake under the cowl - I might go there too.

Since this is a 2022 buildruary build, it should be in the air by March! (that is if the plans are close enough... I think they should be - I hope! )

 

[bwarz]

Every time I look to the DTFB MS planes and look at the vert stabilizer and rudder I want to do better than a single piece of foam board. I think I might try to mock up a piece to dress it up. It will stray quite far from the simple folding of the foam with peeling paper on the outside of the rudder and sanding it to a taper, but I just want to see how it turns out!

 

[bwarz]

I am nearing the start of the second build from plans and the wing angle has been bugging me. I'm not sure if the flight response is as a result of it or not, but I guess we'll find out...

I decided I'd rather tear this one down and see if it is going to be a problem before I go ahead with the second build to check the plans. If this helps then I only need to cut out a few parts and not all of them! When I designed it I gave it a slight angle on the wing, so this takes most of that out. I think Sunday morning looks to be promising weather (wind yes, cold no) so I should get another flight in and see!

 

[bwarz]

I got the P36 out again today in the frigid freezing temps to see if the adjustment to the incidence on the wing helped. It behaved a bit differently, worse glide slope, but flew again. So I had been doing more reading and decided before I went that if that didn't help, I'd give it a nudge of down thrust. One little field mod later she was in the air again and behaving much better! I think build #2 is going to leave the wing as is with a touch of angle to it and give it a touch of down thrust.

I did get to give the flaps a go as well and they works beautifully! Although there was a hair raising few moments when I tried to dial them back up (radio in a radio glove cuz it was so darned cold) and I nearly totaled it into a storage container I'll have to see if I got that on video!

Looks like building to resume again tonight!

 

[bwarz]

I do have video, but seeing the white DTFB airframe against the gray later afternoon winter sky is nearly impossible! Perhaps I will edit the video and get a few highlights. It's funny though- the flap incidnet felt liek an eternity while it was happening - but it was only like 2 seconds on the video

 

[bwarz]

Got some time to build this evening on beta build from the plans, so we're moving along. There have been a few tweaks necessary, so there will very likely need to be a build #3 to finalize things. Maybe I'll just build a third fuselage I have been having that annoying issue of squashed ends of the content on the printed paper - my printer feed rollers could probably use replaced. That makes it tough to audition changes to skin plans especially when you're tweaking a millimeter here and another there.

But I did get to see how the indents behind the cockpit would work out. The method wasn't terrible and is definitely repeatable.

I'm thinking it'll look pretty cool with a clear canopy!

 

[cyclone3350]

Got some time to build this evening on beta build from the plans, so we're moving along. There have been a few tweaks necessary, so there will very likely need to be a build #3 to finalize things. Maybe I'll just build a third fuselage I have been having that annoying issue of squashed ends of the content on the printed paper - my printer feed rollers could probably use replaced. That makes it tough to audition changes to skin plans especially when you're tweaking a millimeter here and another there.

But I did get to see how the indents behind the cockpit would work out. The method wasn't terrible and is definitely repeatable.
View attachment 219002
I'm thinking it'll look pretty cool with a clear canopy!

Before I read your post, I was looking @ the indents U put behind the cockpit bulkhead & was thinking the same thing. Like seeing how others do it, 'cause I suck @ making those things.

 

[The Fopster]

I got the P36 out again today in the frigid freezing temps to see if the adjustment to the incidence on the wing helped. It behaved a bit differently, worse glide slope, but flew again. So I had been doing more reading and decided before I went that if that didn't help, I'd give it a nudge of down thrust. One little field mod later she was in the air again and behaving much better! I think build #2 is going to leave the wing as is with a touch of angle to it and give it a touch of down thrust.

I did get to give the flaps a go as well and they works beautifully! Although there was a hair raising few moments when I tried to dial them back up (radio in a radio glove cuz it was so darned cold) and I nearly totaled it into a storage container I'll have to see if I got that on video!

Looks like building to resume again tonight!

I’ve found all my planes need downthrust to some extent. Glad you’ve got it flying well - it looks great, and the indents behind the windows are a fantastic additional detail that will make such a difference.

 

[bwarz]

Before I read your post, I was looking @ the indents U put behind the cockpit bulkhead & was thinking the same thing. Like seeing how others do it, 'cause I suck @ making those things.

It really wasn't that bad. I had planned it out and it actually worked as well as I had hoped! I did start a build video, but with a few changes I might need to wait until build 3 to release. I ended up planning the formers for it in advance, stuffed the uncut skin over the formers and glued it into place, then marked it and carefully cut it out. Trimmed the last former and made it fit. The worst part was the concave curve on the FB but with patience it went OK.

 

[bwarz]

Holy crap I think it worked out quite well!

I wouldn't want to find that part to cut out in any plans (see the part a few posts back) but it works out quite well. It still mounts like the old vert as it is actually 3 layers thick at the base. The main section is paper outside, none inside, while the rudder is paper inside, none (and sanded to a taper) on the outside. I'll probably try ModPodge to seal the rudder before paint. And yea - no decals on the rudder... going to need painted by hand...
The last two pics are the standard rudder and the new on side-by-side

 

[bwarz]

Also, making some headway on this buildruary evening.

I'm contemplating navigation lights and trying to figure out a good repeatable way to glue up the top wing skin - that's a lot of glue bead to lay down! I managed to get away with it last time, but I'm not sure how