Here’s what comes in the BNF (Bind ’N Fly) version of the P-47 (above left). It is pretty much set up to add the retracts and flaps options but they need to be
They have a good long servo cable that gives enough excess length to easily plug the two cables into the Y connector while mating the wing to the fuselage. The Y connector, for the flap option, comes with the P-47 kit. And they’re sized just right for the flap servo bay molded into the wing.
As the wing comes there is some minimal
work to prepare the flap which comes fas- tened in place. At the aileron end of the flap there’s a “wedge” of molded foam that has to be removed. It’s an easy process with a very sharp #11 X-Acto knife blade, that won’t take more than a minute. Gently stab and slice the foam away. Later, some Model Master Silver acrylic paint blended the white foam back to the silver of the airframe. At the other root end of the wing, a small Zona saw blade can easily and quickly sever the attachment between the flap and the root of the wing. There may be some foam scrap dust there but a little bit of sanding with 180 or finer grit sandpaper—I used an emery board
for filing fingernails—will
eliminate any vestige of friction but still leave a pretty close fit.
Unlike wood planes that can have the flap horn screws secured in the wood itself, the flap horns on the P-47 really need a reten- tion plate on the upper surface of the wing. These are provided in the hardware pack- age of the model. But to try and just use
them as is
purchased separately. A simple balance charger (above right) for 2- or 3-cell Li-Po batteries is included as well as a 2200 mAh 3-cell Li-Po.
will invite later frustration.
These plates need a little preparation, and need to be pretapped.
First operation is to use an X-Acto knife
to lightly bevel the two holes in the bottom surface of the plate. That will let the screws for the plate get a “foothold” in the hole. Us- ing a pliers the fastening screw is pushed into the hole and the screw turned until it catches a few threads. Then it’s a simple matter of turning the screw until the thread is complete.
Next operation is drilling the holes for the fastening screws in the flap horn seat in the flap. Their location is already set with dim- pled recesses in the flap horn seat. A 5⁄64 drill bit works best for drilling the hole but it isn’t a matter of chucking the bit into a drill and pulling the trigger. No drill recommended here. The best drill is two fingers. They “twizzle” the bit down the hole with more gentle control without risking a cavern if a regular drill bit were used.
Once that’s done, the servo needs to be in- stalled. The manual offers the choice of epoxying or taping the servo in place. I find the former less desirable in case a servo needs to be replaced. Taping doesn’t appeal to me either but I found a foam tape that does the trick. It’s the tape used with plastic wall mounting brackets for small light- weight items. The tape used is pretty tena-
cious on both the foam and the servo. Sta- ples and other home goods stores carry these.
With the fastening plate pretapped and the hole drilled it was pretty easy to attach the flap horn. From start to finish each flap took no more than 10 minutes. The manual’s instruction on setting the flap servo up is pretty good. And for all the servo/pushrod connections there’s a chart that illustrates the factory default holes used for each sur- face and servo.
If the flap setup was easy, the retract op- tion is even easier, especially when using the drop-in E-flite .15–.25 size electric re- tracts. There’s no sense trying to shoehorn mechanicals, or pneumatics. The E-flite re- tracts work well and spare a lot of grief and aggravation if adding this desirable feature, especially in a plane this size.
There are plastic fittings already installed for the stock fixed gear and they’re easily re- moved. The four screws come in two differ- ent lengths. The front ones are the two longer, while the back ones are the two shorter. When mounting the gear the same setup should be used but the manual has a discrepancy and calls for the two shorter screws in the front mounting holes. Use the longer in the front.
The retracts come with a Y connector, and a strut and axle for each. That means ad-
A wedge of foam at the outboard end of the flap (above left) anchors it to the wing and needs to be cut away with a good sharp hobby knife. The flap horn
FLYING MODELS
uses a retention plate (above right) on the top side of the wing. It really speeds installation if one of the flap horn screws is used to pre-tap the holes.
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