P-40 Warhawk (oz6766)

 

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User comments

This was the first balsa and tissue model I built, it was around mid-summer of 1958 and Mom and I were at the 5¢ & 10¢ (five & dime) Store in Oklahoma City when she saw it on a shelf and asked if I would like to have it.
After giving it some thought I decided, "why not" since I had a few friends who were involved ln flying ff's and knew they would help me if I had any problems.
When we got home I grabbed a Coke and the instructions and sat down at the table to "Study" them, several times, until *I was satisfied I could build it without too many problems.
I decided to build the vertical and horizontal stabs first to get familiarized with this new way of building - I'd been building plastic models since 1948, when I was six, so knew how much glue was needed to assemble a model without ending up with glue every where.
I took the build process all the way through to the covering process with Japanese silkspan (tissue) and was more than satisfied with the results so the next step was the wings which were completed in about an hour or so and then it was on to the fuselage.
I'd already cut, sealed and sanded the bulkheads to give them a little more strength during the 'build' and per the instructions built the fuselage in two halves and then assembled them; after that I covered it, which took a bit of 'finessing' to get the contours looking right.
The first flights were 'anti-spectacular' since I had No Idea what the letters 'C/G' meant until my buddie Donnie explained why the plane kept "stalling" and nosing-in to the ground - who'd have thought that 'one little thing's could make so much difference in whether a plane could fly OR Not, (!?).
I still build all of my models this way since it helps me to develope a "rhythm" during the entire 'build' and helps me to complete it quicker than I normally would.
I finally scaled this up another 50% and gave the original to a friend who flew it for awhile then displayed it from his ceiling since I had eventually detailed it to look like aircraft from a squadron his Uncle had flown with in the Pacific.
Build it per the plans and when establishing the C/G set the nose down about 1/8 inch down for best glide, etc. and it will give you a lot of satisfaction for a long time; one other thing, actually two, is I never mount the landing gear - in order to save weight and eliminate the 'drag' caused by the gear and wheels.
And lastly I use a lite-weight folding prop to further decrease drag caused by the prop itself.
All of my models have had mini RC systems for the last thirty years, even a few which I built with ' higher performance' rubber power, (with rudder only) and occasionally with flaps which are used to increase the glide or improve the landing.
Hope this helps some one else with their build and one more thing - with the amount of knowledge on the internet you have a Lot of help from people who are happy to help you when you have a problem or even to learn a new technique.
Larry M Whalen - 23/04/2022
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