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Just getting started on this page. The plane is actually quite a ways along in the construction process. The pre-built wings and tail sections are glassed and primed. Next step is to cut the control surfaces out and hinge them. The fuselage has had the "flash" removed from the joints and the radiators have been mounted on the fuselage booms. I'll try to get some images up this month.

October 5, 2004
I've cut the ailerons out and will hinge them later this week. Once that's done, I'll run the servo leads and glue the wing panels on to the booms. I'm hoping to finish this project fast, so I can move on to the Me262.

October 7, 2004
The ailerons have been hinged and I'm mounting the elevator and rudder servo mounting rails in the fuselage pod. I used some CA hinges (first time ever) on the ailerons and they appear to work quite well. They go in pretty fast and seem to hold well. I'm not sure I'd use them on a 1/4 scale plane, but for smaller (slower) planes, like a trainer... or this electric P-38, I think they're fine. Now that the servos can be mounted for the elevator and rudder I can run the push rods back to the tail. Once that's done I will glue the wing panels on and fill them in. I can also mount the tail feathers.

October 11, 2004
Elevator is hinged, pushrods to the tail are in, one rudder has been cut (ready to hinge). Things are starting to move.

November 10, 2004
All surfaces have been hinged, pushrods installed and the wings have been glued in. I now need to decide if I want to fill the gap between the wing panels and the booms. It's not a bad looking joint now, but it sure would be nice if it just "disappeared". Might be more work than it's worth though, and if I do a bad job it will look horrible. I've test fitted the canopy "interior", which is really just a piece of ABS molded to fit inside the canopy. It doesn't fit well (it's too small) so I think I'll be making one from balsa. That would also give me a better structure to use as a hold down. From here... once I decide on the wing to boom joint and get the tail glued on... I'll be able to prime. Then I'll set it aside to get the Me-262 moving. Then I'll move both to the paint booth.

December 1, 2004
I'm 98% ready to prime this beast. The tail is glued on and I've fixed to cockpit interior. There is a little filling and sanding to do, plus installing the control horns. I'll handle all this as "ad hoc" work. My main emphasis will now be the Me262, so updates here will come slower.

May 2, 2005
I've played a bit with "smoothing" some edges and making things a bit prettier and now it's primed and ready to paint. I'll be using the last of my Chevron Perfect Paint on this one. I'll post some pictures when I'm done. Should be soon. I'd like to fly this one this summer.

May 6, 2005
Just a short update. I shot a little more primer on the glass parts and it looks good so I went ahead and sprayed the bottom light gray (Chevron perfect paint). It's probably a little too light for scale, but it will be fine for me. I've got to inventory what I've got and what needs to be bought so I can get this bird in the air.

May 10, 2005
She's all painted now. Not quite as nice as I'd like, but it will do. I didn't have the right hose attachments for a "semi-detail spray gun", so I had to use my larger paint gun. So over spray is evident. I could take my small detail airbrush and get rid of some of it, and probably will. At one time I made a nice fiberglass canopy frame for this plane. Well, during painting, I set it aside and then smashed it (accidentally). So I've started doing the frame with some metal tape that I can paint later. I've used this technique on my Me-109 and it worked well, it just takes a little time to do it. I have all the bits needed to complete this now (wire, connectors, etc.) so I'll start pumping the radio in now.

May 18, 2005
We're getting really close now. Motors have been run, radio is installed in the fuselage... and finally the canopy is ready to have the frame painted. The canopy has been hanging over my head for a while now (hey, I made a joke... canopy over my head... I crack myself up!!). I have been putting off getting the attachment method done, but finally it's complete. The only other thing remaining is to install the aileron servos.

May 27, 2005
Ready to fly. I almost test flew this past Monday, but decided against it. I have not weighed it yet, but it feels heavy. I'm contemplating getting a lipo for this. I'll make up my mind this weekend. After the first flight I'll add the markings and details.

June 10, 2005
First attempted test flight successful. Did it just this morning, around 10:30. Hot and humid... not ideal conditions. The only redeeming item for the morning was a nice breeze blowing right down the runway. Well, that and the fact that I was at the flying field with friends instead of at work! Remember this is a standard setup, as recommended by Hobby-Lobby (speed 400s, 8 cell nicad pack). I topped off the nicads, ran like the devil, and threw it nice and level. Flew off with no problems. The only issue I found was a little trouble controlling the elevator. My elevator does not quite return to center after an input. So, after giving it a little up and releasing the stick, a little up remains. Same for down. This lead to a little porpoising but was controllable. It did make for an interesting landing approach though. Other than that, it was very nice. Comfortable speed, good control... I just have a little work to do on that elevator. Overall, I flew for about 3-4 minutes with no real change in the power. Most of the flight was at 3/4 throttle. I'll get that elevator fixed, add the markings, and I'm good to go!

June 11, 2005
Quick update. I fixed the elevator problem (I think, I still need to test fly it). I installed a slightly larger servo (with 4 mounting tabs instead of 2) for better stability (it's a hitec HS-81 I believe). I also added more support for the pushrod exit guides. It's working better. I also added the stars and bars and a little nose art. Next flight will probably be this Friday, June 17th. I'll publish the promissed photos as soon as I can. I also have a new LiPo for this plane, from Esprit models. It's a 3S2P thunderpower pack. I may try this pack very soon, but I really should get a different ESC (with BEC set for Lipos). Only another $50.00... but I can probably sell the existing ESC to gain a little back.

June 14, 2005
Here are a couple of pictures of the "almost finished" plane. I still need to paint the canopy frame, do a little weathering, and put the squad numbers on.

June 23, 2005
This may well be the last chapter for this plane. I've got 4 flights now (maybe 5) all but one with the standard nicad setup from Hobby-Lobby. This is a great plane. It's pretty solid in the air and quite fast. Cooling air over the batteries/ESC is a minor concern as I only opened up the gun/cannon ports to get air over those components. My last fight with the nicads was more aggressive and the battery and ESC did get pretty warm. Flying aggressively like that I think I still get 6+ minutes. On my last flight I tried my TP-4200 3S2P lipo pack. What a pack. I could only go to 2/3 throttle before I started to exceed the ESC amp limit. The lipos also hold voltage better so I'm guessing that the motors arn't too happy about this either. But I took a short flight (just to check how warm the battery/ESC got) of about 3 minutes. It was an easy flight (power consumption wise) but it flew fine. I do think I could feel the weight difference (4+ oz lighter). If I get serious about the lipos for this plane I'll probably upgrade to a better ESC (and then the motors... you know how this goes). Last note, I love having rudder control, it's worth the extra weight. The plane has that P-38 look to the rolls, loops well, and has a good vertical line.

to be continued...
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Partial list of kit "issues" and/or things to do different next time:	Possible solutions
Wing support tubes too large.	Not a big issue, but it's been well documented. The wing tubes are too large to fit into the wing "socket" or fuselage "socket" (receiving tube). You can remove material from the brass wing support tube or sand the receiving tubes in the wing and fuselage. OR you can purchase a new smaller diameter tube.
No rudders (controllable).	I plan on including a servo and controls for the rudders. In watching the video available from Hobby Lobby, when the 38 gets slow in a turn the tail drops noticeably.

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