P47 Thunderbolt mod build
- Thread starter Beavis
- Start date
Grifflyer
WWII fanatic
Ooh, Ouch:black_eyed: what happened?
The park I go to has an occasional "dead spot" where I sometimes lose signal for a second or 2, and the plane is not responsive. It wasn't responding, and got in a mildly weird attitude. When I started regaining control, the shadows confused me, and I thought I was looking at the top instead of the belly. Brain became inverted, and it pounded the ground hard.
My dad's a TV repairman. He has the ultimate set of tools. I think I can fix it.
Gonna need some major surgery.
My dad's a TV repairman. He has the ultimate set of tools. I think I can fix it.
Gonna need some major surgery.
Quote from Jeff Spicoli, Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
My Dad has very little mechanical inclination. Stuff like RC planes would be frustrating and impractical to him. I am the dad in the equation. My 16 year old son offered his encouragement, tho. He has seen the murder I have visited upon my Simple Scout, and I was still able to make it fly each week.
The park has a cell tower at the end of it. I only encounter oddities when flying in that half of the park.
My son flies a mini-scout. I approached him tonight about maybe doing a mini-Bolt. The mini planes have a better strength to size ratio, and seem to survive mishaps better than the big'uns. I am going to pull out my plans, and see if I can reduce the wing and the tail to mini sizes.
I didn't fly it into the sun, but it was in that direction such that shadow fell on the side of the plane in my view.
I hand launch it for takeoff. The ground at the park is a little rough. But it lands very nice. In fact, coming in from the maiden I laid down my best landing ever.
Will do for sure. This one I made sure to scan my mods to the plans so I can replicate and/or share later. There shouldn't be any kind of top hatch, so I should be able to simplify the cockpit and upper rear fuselage. It will be 4 channel.
I will first try building with the single fold air foil wings that the mini Scout uses, but will see how that holds up. I look at the FT mini mustang, and that has the layered folded wings. We'll see if it will hold up.
I'm not sure I will ever put as much detail effort into a future plane. The ROI didn't seem to add up after it was all said and done. Maybe simpler aesthetics would be best. I'm still a little numb after the flight disaster.
But that's why we play the game.
I will first try building with the single fold air foil wings that the mini Scout uses, but will see how that holds up. I look at the FT mini mustang, and that has the layered folded wings. We'll see if it will hold up.
I'm not sure I will ever put as much detail effort into a future plane. The ROI didn't seem to add up after it was all said and done. Maybe simpler aesthetics would be best. I'm still a little numb after the flight disaster.
But that's why we play the game.
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Thought I would share my progress on the new "Mini-Bolt".
I decided that I wouldn't irritate myself with tiny details on scale shapes, etc. IMO, the defining characteristics of a P-47 are the fat fuselage, wing shape, and rudder/elevator shape.
In dealing with a "fat fuselage", I just used the pure stock mini scout fuselage design. The only difference was lowering the slots for the wings. Since the wings were lower, the rudder/elevator servos had to be above the wing, and staggered slightly fore/aft of each other. To facilitate easier servo install, I made the cockpit opening larger. It would be covered up later by the posterboard.
Wings were roughly the same width and length as the mini scout, but obviously shaped different. The airfoil fold stayed the same, and the wing construction technique matched the mini scout. The wing slid into the fuse just like it was supposed to, and squared up easily.
Rudder and elevator shapes were simply modded cuts of the mini scout patterns. Both control surfaces aren't totally scale, but it easily lends P-47 to the imagination. You get the idea.
The turtledeck and cockpit areas actually weren't that bad. It required only 2 pieces of posterboard: One from the nose to the cockpit, and one from the tail up to and including the cockpit. It required the custom creation of a taller former for the front and back of the canopy, and used one smaller former from the mini scout to secure the posterboard in from of the canopy. I sandwiched a taller former with the smaller one to make my transition to the sloped front of the canopy.
Here is the turtle deck construction in stages. The front deck starts first:
I decided that I wouldn't irritate myself with tiny details on scale shapes, etc. IMO, the defining characteristics of a P-47 are the fat fuselage, wing shape, and rudder/elevator shape.
In dealing with a "fat fuselage", I just used the pure stock mini scout fuselage design. The only difference was lowering the slots for the wings. Since the wings were lower, the rudder/elevator servos had to be above the wing, and staggered slightly fore/aft of each other. To facilitate easier servo install, I made the cockpit opening larger. It would be covered up later by the posterboard.
Wings were roughly the same width and length as the mini scout, but obviously shaped different. The airfoil fold stayed the same, and the wing construction technique matched the mini scout. The wing slid into the fuse just like it was supposed to, and squared up easily.
Rudder and elevator shapes were simply modded cuts of the mini scout patterns. Both control surfaces aren't totally scale, but it easily lends P-47 to the imagination. You get the idea.
The turtledeck and cockpit areas actually weren't that bad. It required only 2 pieces of posterboard: One from the nose to the cockpit, and one from the tail up to and including the cockpit. It required the custom creation of a taller former for the front and back of the canopy, and used one smaller former from the mini scout to secure the posterboard in from of the canopy. I sandwiched a taller former with the smaller one to make my transition to the sloped front of the canopy.
Here is the turtle deck construction in stages. The front deck starts first:
And the almost final product.
Side view with aileron servos. Servos are centered on the fold for the wing airfoil. They make nice reference pads for CoG testing. Landing gear will attach under the wings, outboard of the servos. This is a departure from the mini scout build. Doing this will make it a little more representative of a P-47, and will give a nice wide base for takeoff/landing stability.
I'll be running the A pack motor and 2s battery that powered my mini scout. Once I get things dialed in, I will likely install the slightly hotter F pack, and/or consider going from a 2s to a 3s.
And finally, a side by side comparison of Mini-Scout with Mini-Bolt:
Side view with aileron servos. Servos are centered on the fold for the wing airfoil. They make nice reference pads for CoG testing. Landing gear will attach under the wings, outboard of the servos. This is a departure from the mini scout build. Doing this will make it a little more representative of a P-47, and will give a nice wide base for takeoff/landing stability.
I'll be running the A pack motor and 2s battery that powered my mini scout. Once I get things dialed in, I will likely install the slightly hotter F pack, and/or consider going from a 2s to a 3s.
And finally, a side by side comparison of Mini-Scout with Mini-Bolt:
Thanks!
Gear attached, ready for maiden. I used .078 wire, and some 1.86" wheels from my local hobby store. I also used some thin flat coffee stir stick under the wire when I glued it under the wing. I wanted to add a touch more surface area where it attached to wing.
We'll see how the weight comes in. It might be a tiny bit more than the mini scout, but can't be that much. Balance is still just a hair nose heavy, so still good there.
Gear attached, ready for maiden. I used .078 wire, and some 1.86" wheels from my local hobby store. I also used some thin flat coffee stir stick under the wire when I glued it under the wing. I wanted to add a touch more surface area where it attached to wing.
We'll see how the weight comes in. It might be a tiny bit more than the mini scout, but can't be that much. Balance is still just a hair nose heavy, so still good there.
Yes, will post this weekend. I had a small scaling issue when I scanned my mods to the tiled pages. When they were printed, they came out a tiny amount smaller than the originals. I have to work through that, then I can post.
Here is the maiden:
It started out pretty tail heavy, and had to be brought back in. It actually got to the point where I lost all of my elevator trim trying to compensate. After moving the battery, receiver, and battery alarm as far forward as possible it became doable.
This plane was using the mini scout power pod (A pack?), and definitely needed some heavy throttle. I will probably do the F pack that the mini mustang uses. I have one on hand.
Here is the maiden:
It started out pretty tail heavy, and had to be brought back in. It actually got to the point where I lost all of my elevator trim trying to compensate. After moving the battery, receiver, and battery alarm as far forward as possible it became doable.
This plane was using the mini scout power pod (A pack?), and definitely needed some heavy throttle. I will probably do the F pack that the mini mustang uses. I have one on hand.
My full size bolt is now totally dead. I repaired it, and was somewhat proud of what I was able to achieve. First flight out it pitched over to the left right after launch (wing balance issues?), and was so difficult to control I couldn't get it trimmed before it crashed. This finished it off.
But my mini-Bolt is still kicking it. I'm running the F pack now, and this is kinda my "go to" mini. I warm up on this plane, and then move to a bigger plane after burning through 2+ batteries. I actually did my first intentional sustained inverted flight with this plane, and it performs great.
I gave it a little bit of aesthetics treatment, like a quick gray spray paint, stars/bars on the wings, highlight of cockpit/canopy, and stripes on the rudder/stabilizer.
A couple of weeks ago it came in a little hot on the landing, and broke off both landing gears. It turns out it's a fantastic belly lander, so the gear stayed off, and I save some weight.
But my mini-Bolt is still kicking it. I'm running the F pack now, and this is kinda my "go to" mini. I warm up on this plane, and then move to a bigger plane after burning through 2+ batteries. I actually did my first intentional sustained inverted flight with this plane, and it performs great.
I gave it a little bit of aesthetics treatment, like a quick gray spray paint, stars/bars on the wings, highlight of cockpit/canopy, and stripes on the rudder/stabilizer.
A couple of weeks ago it came in a little hot on the landing, and broke off both landing gears. It turns out it's a fantastic belly lander, so the gear stayed off, and I save some weight.
My full size jolt is presently absolutely dead. I fixed it, and was fairly glad for what I had the option to accomplish. First trip out it pitched over to one side just after dispatch (wing balance issues?), and was so hard to control I was unable to get it cut before it smashed. This polished it off.
https://creative-arcades.com/collections/cocktail-arcades
https://creative-arcades.com/collections/cocktail-arcades
Maxx
Active member
Congrats dude ! Very nice plane !
