Brodak 1/2A F4F Wildcat almost complete!!

rogermharris wrote:Well git er dun!  Looks like a fun little plane. Never owned a tee Dee.  Good looking engines.

Actually it's an medallion with a TD high compression head. I have a Tee Dee as well great little engines feeding them can be kinda touchy though with their reduced fuel draw. The medallion is just as easy if not easier to start and run than a Baby Bee won't run backwards, has good power and don't really care about where you put the tank. (Bandit)

I have a lot of catching up to do on all the cox engines. So many styles and configurations let alone mods. Never played around with performance upgrades at all. Never even thought about it to be honest. Always ran stock engines. It a whole new way of looking at things.

Hey Bandit, If you have a 3/4 oz tank, I think that would probably suit it best.

RknRusty wrote:Hey Bandit, If you have a 3/4 oz tank, I think that would probably suit it best.

3/4oz That's whats on it. I've got to come up with a proper tank strap too. I'm going to run it in a day or so to give the paint a little more time to harden. Top Flight Lustercote. (Bandit)

Form in place piano wire with rubber bands always is a winner. You might have to adjust the tank height if you plan to stunt it though. Going lean, or stalling inverted sucks.

Solder on tabs and screws are also good choices. You can slot the tabs so you can move up and down. Similarly you can glue to a piece of thin plywood and slot that for screws and adjustment.

Everything seems a variation of those three methods.

Phil

I used a perfect 3/4oz long wedge on a plane powered with a Medallion a while back it did quite well drawing fuel and never hiccuped on me, ever.

The tank surprised me as it shouldn't have worked, the fuel pickup was out of the top of the tank. Pickup was not soldered to the rear of the tank and it stuck out too far. It worked great though so you may get lucky.

Plane turned out nice. Enjoy!

rogermharris wrote:I have a lot of catching up to do on all the cox engines. So many styles and configurations let alone mods.  Never played around with performance upgrades at all.  Never even thought about it to be honest. Always ran stock engines. It a whole new way of looking at things.

I understand that! At the time when I found this forum I was the same way only I didn't know how valuable some of the engines are and did a lot of tinkering with them as a kid and came up with several Frankenengine combos in the past some ran well, some didn't lol. Whats neat about these engines is they are quite tolerant to being tinkered with and as long as the proper fuel is used last dang close to forever. (Bandit)

That's a nice looking airplane, I really like the colour scheme

Looks nice and straight , should fly good for you Bandit

Excellent Wildcat! My local TV 'side channel' has been running (and re-running) "Wake Island", this past week, with low-flying formations of the little 'Cats'. Think I'm on my fourth or fifth viewing of the movie, but still let it run while I'm out in the shop.

Looking forward to seeing this one fly !

Kim wrote:Excellent Wildcat!   My local TV 'side channel' has been running (and re-running) "Wake Island", this past week, with low-flying formations of the little 'Cats'.   Think I'm on my fourth or fifth viewing of the movie, but still let it run while I'm out in the shop.

Looking forward to seeing this one fly !

I going to try to get it airborne by sometime next weekend I don't have a stooge as of yet so I need someone to help me launch. Next Saturday is our club meeting and fun fly so hopefully I'll have someone to help (Bandit)

FUN FLY !! O yea !! What the name of the club you are in ?

getback wrote:FUN FLY !! O yea !! What the name of the club you are in ?

GAMA (Georgia Aircraft Modeler's Association) which is the host club for SMS (Southeastern Model Show)
Primarly RC club but it has a C/L circle Bob Dixon if I remember is a member there. (Bandit)

TDbandit wrote:I've got to come up with a proper tank strap. (Bandit)

Hi Bandit, I've had pretty good luck with installing pairs of 1/8" diameter hardwood dowels approx. 1/2"L. in the nose; top and bottom.. about an inch apart (depending on your tank's length..) The ply nose-doublers act as a drill-guide for drilling in the balsa. Leave about 1/4" of dowel exposed when inserting with CA glue. You could alternately use round wooden toothpicks; cut short and "stick" the pointed ends down into the balsa..(again.. with CA)  which would be really easy.. and would be fine for a 1/2A sized wedge-tank. Small rubber-bands install quickly and securely over the dowel-heads to hold you tank tight against the fuse.



I also use foam padding behind my tanks. The polyurethane replacement filter-media for window-type air-conditioners is fuel proof.. "spongy".. and helps to isolate the tank from vibration that can form bubbles.

I have also been troubled with this .. I just recently came up with but have not tried it out , but Flashing for your roof is very light and bendable One strap two small screws a couple of piece's of window stripping seal ( the thin rubber stuff with sticky backing ) and your done ... this stuff   Will bee easy to work with

Never though of galvanized roof flashing. May try that after I find the correct position that the engine likes which i will find as soon as this crazy rain stops. I'm more than likely going to put the tank on an adjustable mount, Roddie's peg idea is a great idea as well and I may use that one for my staggerwing since I'm planning on using my TD in it. the wildcat's fuselage is pretty wide and would spread the bands out too far if the pegs were installed on the edges of the fuse. (Bandit)

I'm surprised the Brodak plans don't show this. A standard way of tank mounting is to locate your tank top and bottom. With a piece of music wire .055 or slightly less drill a hole above and below the tank. Drill a set of holes above and below the tank in the front and also the rear. Having a long enough piece, bend a 90 deg at the same location as your hole spacing. Send the U shaped piece through the doubler from the inboard side and bend a hook on the outboard side. Install tank and hook a rubber band from hook to hook. It doesn't get easier than that. Leave enough space between your hooks to allow for up and down movement if needed. When you find the proper location, clean the back of tank with alcohol and also the doubler. Install sticky Velcro pads on the tank and also on the plane's doubler. Reinstall the rubber bands and once the optimum location is found the Velcro will keep the tank from shifting up and down while the bands hold it on. Ken

Ken Cook wrote:            I'm surprised the Brodak plans don't show this. A standard way of tank mounting is to locate your tank top and bottom. With a piece of music wire .055 or slightly less drill a hole above and below the tank. Drill a set of holes  above and below the tank  in the front and also the rear. Having a long enough piece, bend a 90 deg at the same location as your hole spacing. Send the U shaped piece through the doubler from the inboard side and bend a hook on the outboard side. Install tank and hook a rubber band from hook to hook. It doesn't get easier than that. Leave enough space between your hooks to allow for up and down movement if needed. When you find the proper location, clean the back of tank with alcohol and also the doubler. Install sticky Velcro pads on the tank and also on the plane's doubler. Reinstall the rubber bands and once the optimum location is found the Velcro will keep the tank from shifting up and down while the bands hold it on. Ken

Can you take some pictures of that please?
Phil

I think this is roughly what Ken is talking about except I didnt leave much room for adjustment.
Phil

Phil,

Here is a picture of my Ring. Not the best picture, but you'll get the idea.

It's really simple, just bend the wire at 90 degrees push through the drilled doublers and bend the hook.

As Ken mentioned leave yourself some wiggle room should you need to adjust the tank up or down.

That's A pretty easy way for sure I like ,, Cribbs what is the wood on the front or the tank for ?

Crash protection.

The tank slides forward when you nose it in. The piece of ply protects it from dents and punctures.

That Ring was my introduction to full size CL ships so Ken made me a tank that would be rugged.

Ah. Velcro instead of shims. Good idea. I like using wires through the doubler and fuselage as well. Sealed in with some fuel proof glue like epoxy the tank hooks do not prove a location for fuel and oil intrusion into the wood.

My Dad liked threaded cup hooks. They made an awful mess as the plane aged.

Phil