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I
have built and flown a variety of PSS types in recent times,
and like many began with an Andy Conway Hawk. This was
swiftly followed by the Jim Strain Victor and a Ron Collins
Mustang. All excellent choices for all conditions.
At some point along the way discussions came round to the
somewhat challenging prospect of trying a P-47D
Thunderbolt. John Plumbley had already successfully used
Brian Taylors' plans for a largish FW-190 and enquiries soon
established that a suitably sized plan was available for the
P-47. Both John and I decided to go for it, and were
excited by the prospect of a fine
pair of Jugs on the slope. (I've
often admired the Jugs at events around the country myself!!
Ed.)
The
success of the 'Jugs' as a subject for PSS is now well known,
and despite their apparent bulk and blunt front-ends, they are
an absolute delight to fly.
After some happy times with
the P47, I looked around for another subject and became
taken with the Tempest V. Although a similar size to the
P-47, the Tempest is somewhat more
streamlined and has a more slender
fuselage. This had to be a winner I thought, and so
proceeded to order the said plan, cowl and canopy from Brian
Taylor.
So,
what is the Tempest V all about...........?
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Gareth
Logans' Tempest V is launched at the Hole of Horcum
event - April 2000 |
The
plan notes show that the prototype
model (c.1973?) weighed in at a
healthy 9 1/4 lb. which included
3/4 lb. of nose ballast. The designer states that with
care, particularly at the tailend, an all-up weight of 8 1
/2 lb. can be achieved. Given the intentions to
slope-soar the model I considered that even at 8 1 /2 lb. it
would be too heavy. I therefore needed to save as much
weight as possible and by building carefully was aiming (or
hoping!) for something like a finished weight of 6 or 7 lb.
The
construction method is very similar to that on the P-47D
Thunderbolt, also based on a Brian Taylor plan. The
fuselage is built with a central
box, around which formers are set
to produce an accurate scale outline. The box consists
of 1/4" solid balsa sheet at the front and extreme rear,
each end being connected by an open ladder type structure
built from 1 -4" square balsa. AIthough the model
would not be subjected to the stresses and vibration produced
by a 'big noisy thing' at the front, I was wary of building
too lightly, as we all know - slope landings can be somewhat
abrupt affairs at the best of times.
All
things being equal however, I considered that all the
1/4" sheet and square balsa used in the fuselage could
safely be substituted with 3/16". All the formers
were left as 1/8" sheet, but most were hollowed
extensively.
The
fin and tailplane are all built up as per the plan, and again
all ribs were lightened by cutting suitably sized holes in
them. All the tail-end is sheeted in 1/16"
balsa. The elevator on the plan uses solid balsa so this
was substituted with a lightly built-up affair. A
working rudder was considered unnecessary, so this was built
as part of the fin. Omitting rudder hinging, control
links and associated strong points helps in a small way to
keep tail-end weight down. The omission of the steerable tail
wheel (or any wheel!) must also have contributed greatly to
the weight saving.
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The
fuselage was partly planked to ensure a degree of rigidity
whilst work progressed on the wing seat areas. A change
in wing section was considered essential and the fairly thick
semi-symmetrical original was replaced by E205, and the wing
incidence was kept the same.
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Before
progressing further I now had to construct the wing in order
to achieve a good fit on the fuselage, and to assist in
finalising the method
of mounting. The plan shows
metal retaining brackets at the leading edge and two
substantial bolts at the rear. I decided to adopt a
standard kipper type method of a dowel peg at the front of the
wing and a single nylon bolt at the rear.
Building
the wing over the plan using the flat-bottomed E205 ribs
proved straight forward apart from some fun with the
outer-panel dihedral. The wing is built in three parts,
a flat centre panel and separate outer panels which are glued
on at the appropriate angle. A dihedral joint template
is shown on the plan so this was used, but I had to take into
account the thinner wing when measuring the dihedral at the
wing tip. At one point the wings were beginning to
resemble a Gentle Lady before I managed to sort out what I
believed to be the correct angle.
Inboard
lower trailing-edge flaps were omitted for simplicity and to
reduce weight. The ribs on the outer panels were also
hollowed-out for the same reason. Brian Taylor plans
often
show scale-like aileron
arrangements in terms of hinging. I followed the plan in
this respect to achieve a reasonably neat setup using brass
tube and piano-wire to provide hinging at each end of the
aileron. I decided to extend the ailerons inboard by one
rib, as this slight deviation from scale is not too noticeable
but would hopefully improve control authority.
Whilst
working on the wings, the natural interruptions required for
glue to set etc. were used to begin thinking about the cockpit
area. My interest in the Tempest had prompted me to
acquire a reprint of the official 'Pilot's Notes', and these
showed the instrument layout to good effect. I used the
tried, tested and simple method of white plastic card cut to
the shape of
the instrument panels and painted
matt black. The instruments details were scratched out
of the matt-black using a scalpel blade, allowing the white
plastic to show through in a rough representation of the
various dials and switches. A simple balsa bucket-type
seat for the 1/8" scale Pete's Pilot was made up and
fitted, and the rest of the cockpit made up using bits of
scrap balsa. The fuselage planking around the cockpit
area was then finished. I probably completed these
details in only 2 or 3 hours and was quite pleased with the
result. A sliding canopy was achieved by using small
square-section plastic tube with slots let-in lengthways to
form square 'C' section rails which are attached to the
cockpit sides. The canopy was fitted with pieces of
plastic "H" section which run in the square 'C'
channels.
Being
somewhat lazy and far from a perfectionist I tend to favour a
representation of a cockpit rather than a faithful
reproduction, particularly as much remains hidden from
view. I must admit that I get somewhat fedup and can
rarely go all out for 100% finding that my attention span
wanes somewhat as 90% is reached. The last 10%always eludes
me!
After
completing the wings, the mounting points and lower fuselage
areas were completed and the rest of the fuselage planking
finished.
A
fibreglass cowl was obtained with the plan and this proved to
be a reasonably good fit on the completed fuselage. In
the absence of an engine and associated mountings, the
fuselage central box was extended forwards within the cowl,
and a suitably strong bulkhead fitted at the very front.
A hardwood spinner was turned by a friend and a 5mm. bolt let
into the back. This was used to secure the spinner
through the front of the cowl into the front bulkhead,
retaining the cowl in place at the same time.
It's
always interesting at this point to stand back and view the
assembled model and to consider the implications for balancing
the aircraft. After installing the elevator servo at the
very front of the cowl and a single, central wing servo
driving the ailerons, a battery pack and receiver was roughly
positioned at the front. Going for broke, I initially
dumped some 12ozs. of lead up front and checked
the balance point. This was
disappointingly rearwards and another 8oz. was finally
required to bring things in line.
Covering
a model is often a chore for me as I am always itching to
finish the thing and see if it flies. Having previously
used Solartex and been disappointed to see it blister on hot
sunny days, I plumped for a change. After much debate on
the merits and alleged simplicity of using white paper pasted
on with diluted PVA, I took the plunge with some
trepidation. As things turned out the process was quite
straight forward. A light coat of sanding-sealer was
applied and an approximation of panel lines drawn on the
surfaces. The paper was cut to fit (more-or-less) these
panels. Thinned PVA was brushed onto the surface of the
model one area at a time, quickly followed by the paper panel
which was first dunked in water. On applying the paper
the wrinkles were smoothed out with a dry cloth dabbed on the
surface. Working methodically over the model probably
didn't take much longer than it would have if I'd used an
iron-on film. It must be said however, that the final
result did not inspire me, it just looked like what it was,
loads of pieces of paper stuck on! However, once a grey
undercoat was applied the appearance was transformed and I
began to look forward to the rest of the painting.
Humbrol enamels were sprayed on, using a colour scheme
based on an aircraft from No.3
squadron circa. Jan. 1945. Some aircraft at this time
still retained invasion stripes on the lower surfaces, and I
decided to apply said stripes to the underside to aid
orientation in flight.
Being
too mean to shell-out for decals I hand-painted the RAF
roundels and squadron markings. Interestingly, I was
unable locally to find a suitable
Humbrol blue fur the roundels. Some
rummaging around in the shed followed, and I found an aerosol
tin of Halfords Acrylic Rover Nautilus Blue which was roughly
suitable, so this was used to good effect.
On
completion of the painting some 'weathering' was added and a
couple of light coats of Satin varnish was applied. The
balance point was not noticeably affected by the covering and
painting, and it was then that I decided to weigh the finished
model to find out how successful my weight
saving efforts had been. I was very pleased to find the
weight to be comfortably under 6 lbs. and eagerly awaited an
opportunity for a test flight.
The
Hole of Horcum April meeting was only two weeks away and this
proved to be the first opportunity to fly the model. As
they say, she flew straight off the board, albeit in less than
stunning conditions. A degree of caution had
therefore to be exercised on this first outing, but it was
readily apparent that the handling was every bit as satisfying
as expected, with no real vices. Of course, flying this
size of model with wing loadings around 25oz. does mean that
if you do something silly, the aircraft can lose a lot of
height alarmingly quickly! As long as a modicum of
common sense prevails (yeah, right!) the Tempest is a delight
to fly, almost like a big kipper. Rolls are sweet, and
although not as fast at the P-47, probably more scale-
like as a result. Particularly impressive are those
low-level passes across the slope where the Tempest seems to
be most realistic, representing it's role as a low to medium
level fighter. Typical of a model of this size, I think
that the weight and shear presence contribute to a very solid
looking aircraft and I can't wait
to get her out in better conditions.
I
consider myself a very much average builder and am adept at
hiding all manner of 'agricultural' construction beneath a
sheet of 1/16th balsa. It was
very satisfying therefore to find
that the model was so well regarded at the Hole of Horcum
meeting, winning a much appreciated first place. All in
all, 1 have been most impressed with
the Tempest, and would recommend
this size of model and type of construction to anyone with a
modicum of experience building and flying PSS.
Wingspan:
61 1/2"
1/8th. Scale.
Fully built-up construction.
Planked fuselage and sheeted
wings - Eppler
205 wing section
DESIGNED BY BRIAN TAYLOR for 10cc. ENGINES.
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