P-40B Warhawk
Retract installation begins by positioning a paper template (above) to mark off the area of sheeting to be removed. The finished job with both wheel well areas removed (at right). A sharp blade is crucial for a clean cut.
accessories for several power options includ- ing 2- and 4-stroke glow as well as electric. I was provided with an Evolution .52NX 2- stroke whose installation is detailed in the manual. A firewall drilling template is in- cluded that ensures dead accurate engine placement for all the previously mentioned options. Bolt the engine to the mount with the proper spacing and you’re all done here. Depending on your power choice, two ra- dio trays are provided. DS821 servos are in- stalled for rudder, elevator and throttle con- trol. My Spektrum AR8000 receiver and flight pack was wrapped in foam and also at- tached to the tray with hook and loop straps. The included pre-assembled fuel tank is checked and installed and the radio tray fol- lows it into the fuselage.
Hangar 9 craftily designed a large hatch into the front of the P-40B, and the radio switch bolts right into the fuse below the hatch. I love to keep my airplanes clean and out-of-the-box hidden switches are really ap- preciated. Final installation of the fuselage controls is next on the list. Control horns on the rudder and elevator are installed and pushrods run for both of these and the throttle.
The beautiful fiberglass cowl for the P- 40B is installed next. If your P-40B is glow powered like mine, some cutting of the cowl will be necessary for motor and exhaust
clearance. To determine where to cut the cowl the manual explains the paper tem- plate method; this is how I have always cut cowls. It is always easier to take material away than to put it back, so grinding away a little at a time will make for a profession- al looking fit. Once everything fits correctly and the spinner backplate spacing is correct, four wood screws hold the cowl in place. The finishing touches on the Hangar 9 P-40B are all that is left between you and the maiden flight. The included plastic spin- ner has just one cut-out in it to allow you to choose between a two- and a scale three- bladed prop. I found that a sharp X-Acto cuts the spinner plastic easily. The two .50 caliber nose-mounted machine guns (which are simply black plastic tubes) glue into holes you drill in the cowl. The exhaust stacks are cut free from their molding and glued onto the cowl.
I painted and detailed mine for a scale touch. I was provided with the optional pilot figure, which is trimmed down and glued into the cockpit. A gun site, backrest and in- strument panel finish this area off. The canopy is glued on with canopy glue and left to dry.
Back to the wing and the four .30 caliber machine guns are mounted. The holes are not pre-drilled, so that is up to you. Mea- surements are provided for scale position-
ing. I used a drill with a built-in level to make sure the guns were square with the wing and aligned with each other. Finally, the decals are applied via your favorite method. There are only a few, so it goes pret- ty quickly. I chose Ken Taylor’s White 316. With the Evolution .52NX on the nose my Hangar 9 P-40B balanced right on the mon- ey. As with all models with retracts (and es- pecially one whose gear retracts aft like the P-40B) you need to balance the model with the gear retracted. I set the high and low rates per the manual with a “higher” third rate. All that was left was to get to the field! I prepped the Hangar 9 P-40B for the maiden flight and, with my camerawoman, Jenn, behind the lens, taxied onto our paved runway. I noted that the P-40B has excel- lent ground handling thanks to the large amount of tailwheel travel. On my take-off run, as with all taildraggers, I slowly let off of the up-elevator to get the tail off the ground, and then re-applied it to rotate. I had been curious to learn how drastically the flying characteristics of the plane would change with the gear up and down due to the weight of the wheels, but the transition be- tween extended and retracted was minimal. After the gear was sucked up I grabbed some altitude to get the P-40B trimmed out, which required exactly zero trim. That was easy!
After the E-flite electric rotating retracts are fitted, Chris elected to paint the wheel wells green instead of installing the included plastic bays (above left). In
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preparation of fitting the stabs the covering must be removed around the fuselage slots and on the stabs themselves (above right).
NOVEMBER 2012
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