Clunkmeister

Will run from Jan 1 - July 1, 2023. I’m not planning on any extensions. A prize will be awarded to the favorite completed build od my neighbor’s four kids. In the case of a tie, their Mom will choose the winner. If she can’t figure it out, I’ll figure something else out. The idea here is fun, guys. Let’s get building, and we’ll have fun. Happy New Year y’all, I’m going to bed!

Mike, I really need to finish mine up. And yours is looking absolutely amazing!

It all had to do with the rudder, yes. The rudder pedal travel felt like about 3 feet deep, way longer than our legs. We’d run out of leg long before we ran out of pedal travel, so we were taught to use the throttles. If you were light and on a slippery taxiway, you were at the mercy of the wind. The key on takeoffs was to let the tail fly itself off. The locked tailwheel and differential power was more than enough to keep you straight, but if you tried to lift the tail, you’d quickly head for the hinterland. But if you let it fly itself off, you had rudder authority. On landing, a tail slightly low wheeler was preferred, then again use the throttles until the tail came down, which happened pretty quick. I never flew DC-3s, just the C-46, and our Chief Pilot said that’s why he put us straight into the 46. DC-3 guys had big problems transitioning because of the rudder on a 3 was so much more powerful and they’d rely on it. The 46 was also extremely slippery, believe it or not. You get the nose down, and speed builds quickly. It could and did catch a few guys napping. But it was a real pleasure to fly. Actually light and quite balanced on the controls, believe it or not. Not fighter response, but you didn’t need to manhandle it like others of similar vintage. I’ve heard it said that the B-24 is a two person airplane. Two people on the controls. So is the 46, but simply because one can’t reach that far, and there’s a lot to do.

Notice the oh so British exhaust pipes, definitely added during it’s BOAC wartime Service.

Exactly. Like Peter said, a trailing link is great for absorbing shocks from unimproved strips. The C-46 came directly from this one aircraft, the ONLY civilian CW-20 to be built. It literally was pulled straight from Curtiss who was told to cease and desist civilian development and immediately militarize it. At the time, it was the largest twin engine aircraft in the world, and remained so for many years. It’s a bigger aircraft than the B-17, and can haul twice what the C-47 hauls, and do it at almost 30,000 ft. It’s also faster and more efficient if fully loaded, but burned a lot of gas and was very expensive to operate if not fully loaded. A C-47 sipped fuel in comparison.

Check out the complicated main gear.

The CW-20 was a one off civilian airliner that eventually ended up with BOAC. The C-46 was a militarized CW-20. No pressurization, strengthened main gear, floor, cargo door, Pratt 2800s, etc

OH WOW!!! talk about a grand entrance! Stunning, stunning work! Welcome to the forums!!! Oh, and I took the liberty of moving your thread to the LSM completed builds.

Curtiss Wright CW-20 prototype. Built to compete head to head with the Douglas DC-3. It was designed to carry twice the load of the DC-3, up to 40 passengers, or 30 first class passengers, was fully pressurized and equipped with two stage superchargers in order to fly over most weather, and was a real winner. But, the world situation interfered and the Army had other plans for the promising design. The rest, as they say, is history. The twin tails were changed early on to improve low speed directional stability and handling. The Army removed the pressurization system along with the fairings to disguise the double bubble fuselage

Damn! That’s brutal. Everytime I see a fast moving civilian helicopter around here, I say a silent prayer. CareFlight is VERY busy around here. I’ve seen sled dogs struck by propellers of taxiing airplanes, and it’s an absolutely brutal scene.

Looking awesome as usual, Peter. Nice, nice, nice! I DO love your choice of pilots. I met Tex Hill many years ago, and he was as salty as they come. He has a Middle School named after him in San Antonio, and he’s a real Texas Legend, much like Happy Jack Ilfrey.

I meet a lot of “Vets” these days who like to “add on” to their Service Records” and tell me they were an operator. Every single time, I look them square in the eyes and say “for AT&T or Southern Bell?” Lying sacks of crap.

You guys funny! I laid a quick coat of Sea Blue on the top. That’s it. Now we do the all important middle color

And, just for Harv… Some airplane porn, just for him..

Martin sure knows how to slap a guy down with massive trauma and self loathing, and then shock him back to life again. Honestly, I’d rather build 100 Anigrand and Amodel bubbly resin kits than a Trumpeter P-40. Especially now with all the great options out there for P-40s… AND, to get me cussing right at first, he wrapped the box for shipping using transparent blue cellophane. I started the death wishes the moment it showed up on my doorstep. I figured it was payback for the Chernobyl Boy incident in Phoenix.

The prop is friction fit on. Because it looks bloody awesome!

Not ready for public consumption yet…. Hopefully in a couple days we’ll do the Intermediate Blue, then start fading it out

In the paint shop. Stay tuned

And ignore the Helldiver in the background. It’s in the paint shop.

But wait, there’s more… Martin said that friends don’t give friends Trumpeter… He then quotes Isaiah 64, which immediately got my attention. Then there is Unicorn Cat… standing watch over a Wingnut kit

I have received a Christmas gift from my good friend Martin.

Only one oil leak? What about the oil gusher back on the sideways fan thingy back on the long pointy end?

Well, they’re shot full of holes of various calibers, so I’d expect they don’t help. 🤣 I did read that the holes were added to cure a buffeting problem while diving. So they obviously did something for airflow.

No it was an original design. T-37, Tutor, and Jet Provost all came out around the same time and all followed similar schools of thought. The prevailing train of though on jet training back then was a side by side arrangement and straight wings. I do remember reading that the goal in designing the Tutor was to mimic the P-51 in size, performance, and handling, but with pure jet power. When the design was started, the P-51 was seen as an ideal stepping off point into the cockpits of high performance jets. The Tutor used a single GE J85 turbojet, which was also used in the F-5 series as well as the T-37. The J85 was and is the biggest drawback to the Tutor, and is by far the leading cause of airframe loss. I used to do supply runs to Moose Jaw, Sk, home of 2 FTS, and there were always 100 Tutors on the line and another 50 in the shop, split in two behind the wing with their engines pulled and being rebuilt. I once had an old CF-5 jock tell me that if it wasn’t for the second engine, the RCAF would have lost their entire CF-5 fleet within 10 years of introduction. The Tutors were less stressed, not having an afterburner and all, but every year it seemed like they lost one or two due to engine failure.