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| Warbirds Place to discuss anything Warbird Related..... Fighter Planes, Fighter Jets, Fighter Helis and All Warbird Builds, etc. |
Topic Review (Newest First)
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| 03-29-2017 07:01 AM | |
| mwavesdave |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition The US still flew P-39s till end of the war, the P-63 King Cobra was mostly an export aircraft, but more due to trying to cut down on the far too many types of aircraft to maintain in theatre. Don't forget, in most fighters, there was a couple of hundred pounds of radio gear, directly behind the pilot's head. High speed crashes into terrain were ill advised on any fighter. While many pilots were concerned about sitting over the driveshaft, there were no issues that occurred, and the P-39 was an excellent aircraft at low level, excelling in the desert campaigns, as well as the Eastern Front. Many a top Russian ace flew the P-39, and later P-63. |
| 03-29-2017 05:23 AM | |
| bbbair |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition I was discussing the P39 with a friend of mine (retired RCAF pilot) and he was quick to point out one of the great flaws of this aircraft. The engine was behind the pilot - a 'NEW' concept that allowed the placement of the Nose gear. Great - BUT! If there was a crash of any means; the engine had a nasty habit of trying to compress the Pilot into the Spinner.  So the US decided to sell/give them to the Russians. Go Figure. |
| 03-18-2017 03:51 PM | |
| bearcatflyer |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition I've seen these fly, nice flying stable airplane |
| 08-30-2016 05:19 AM | |
| mwavesdave |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition Haven't seen any King Cobra models either. US never used them in combat, but the Russians certainly did. |
| 08-29-2016 02:15 PM | |
| CF105 |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition Not enough P-39's around! I always thought they'd be a perfect warbird for R/C, being trikes and all. Couple of ideas for a 1/5th scale: The first is the only Airacobra to serve in the RCAF. The second is an RAF bird, with a squadron code that's just too good to resist! |
| 08-29-2016 01:57 PM | |
| mwavesdave |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition 5 flights now, and the handling is superb, thank goodness. Gear worked flawlessly, she's fast, and pretty impressive with the OS 75 AX up front. I'm very happy with the performance. The paint scheme, and the fact that it's a P-39, certainly makes it a topic for conversation. Love to do a 1/5th scale one now. |
| 07-03-2016 07:12 PM | |
| mwavesdave |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition So, while we're not exactly certain of what caused it, the 1/16th upper sheeting was starting to separate from the ribs, and along all the sheeting seams. The aircraft was stored in a garage for a couple of years, prior to my taking possession once again. The wing was fully sheeted at the time, but not glassed, so I might have trapped some moisture. All ribs had nice lines from the CA, so wasn't a lack of glue. One wing also had far less washout than the other one, so I stripped all the top sheeting, clamped the wings in position with proper washout, did a bit of reinforcing, went over all the bottom sheeting glue joints, and then re-sheeted the top of the wing, but this time with 3/32"balsa. Got that all done, then fibreglassed the wing, and today, got 2 coats of primer applied. She'll be re-painted, and re-test flown next weekend. |
| 06-25-2016 08:12 PM | |
| mwavesdave |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition Thanks! |
| 06-25-2016 06:54 PM | |
| CF105 |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition Congrats! She looks good sitting on the ramp. |
| 06-25-2016 06:33 PM | |
| mwavesdave |
Re: Top Flite P-39, Gold Edition A shot of the P-39, on the flight line. |
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