RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
I to would like to hear about progress from anyone. ??? My project is in a holding pattern till fall. I went to Joe Nall in hopes of catching a look at a t-50 but none were there that I saw. Not many multi engine planes. Only a few "twins" (B-25, P-47, and a 310), then a gas B-29 and elec B-17. No T-50. Did get a chance to talk to the "Down and Locked" folks about converting my gear. interesting trip. Joel
Posted on: 6/15/2012 4:56 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11119635

RE: AVRO LANCASTER
Return of the "chicken". Love it. I think I remember that chicken croping up in the B-25 build ?? Great work. I can wait to see it fly, the plane that is [;)] Joel
Posted on: 4/10/2012 12:27 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11035603

RE: AVRO LANCASTER
looking good normand. thanks for the updates. I assumed you had been busy with it over the winter. Glad to see it progressing. I'm continualy impressed with your level of craftmanship. the avg flyer has no idea what it takes in time and dedication to do a project like this. Thanks for sharring with us. Joel
Posted on: 3/8/2012 5:37 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10991190

RE: AVRO LANCASTER
Missed the updates during the "flying" season. I assume the "building" season is approaching up there. Looking forward to watching the continued progress with the Lancaster. Thanks for sharring your adventure with us. BTW are you still logging any hours on the B-25 ?? Joel Hughen
Posted on: 10/7/2011 9:43 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10753153

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Great job on the paint and details. Is the lettering and stripes all decals or paint ? I like the little thin black stripe along the edge of the red. How was tha done ? Who made the "flying Crown" and songbird decals for you ?? again supper job. can't wait to see her in the air. I hope mine looks as good. Is there a servo on the door ?? Thanks, Joel
Posted on: 8/14/2011 11:07 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10670184

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Gotten really quite is RC universe subscriptions still working. I'm monitoring about 15 differnent threads and haven't heard a peep from anyone since 7/6 ??? Is everyone just out flying or building ?? Joel
Posted on: 7/22/2011 10:28 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10633599

RE: H9 Spitfire Build
Maverick, Thanks for the details and the pics. Very helpful. What kind of electric retract are you using ? Are those robart struts ?? will the electric retract lift them OK ? Thanks Joel
Posted on: 5/26/2011 7:43 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10542544

RE: H9 Spitfire Build
[quote]ORIGINAL: maverick11359  G'day jdhughen,<div style=''background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ''>       Her are more pics,I used 10minute epoxy
Posted on: 5/26/2011 7:44 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10541357

RE: H9 Spitfire Build
[quote]ORIGINAL: maverick11359 I should have mentioned in the above post , I use aluminum  from aluminum soft drink cans to refinish and seal the wheel wells (fuel and oil proof) [/quote] this is a great idea. With mine I slpit the plastic inserts and then , extended them deeper and filled in lenght with glass. It was a pain and I was never really happy with the result from an "looks" point of view. I recently had a tip stall on landing, recovered somewhat but it slammed down hard and ripped off the robart struts and whole retract unit (seems to be a familiar topic here [&o] ), and just ordered a replacement wing. Do you have any pic of your "soda can" job? How did you handle the seem between the can edge and the wing ? Joel
Posted on: 5/25/2011 5:37 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10539483

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
There is another pic of this plane at this link [link]http://www.flickr.com/photos/28042007@N07/3709587171/[/link] Shot in 2008. It looks like the # 12 has been removed ?? or is it just on the left side ?? Joel
Posted on: 2/18/2011 8:24 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10347009

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Rich, [quote]featured on the cover of the [u]July[/u] issue of AOPAPILOT[/quote] I can't find it. What year ?? Joel
Posted on: 2/18/2011 3:17 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10346282

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Chic, Thanks for the pic. Did you take these ?? Are those pics from a standard civilian T-50 or a converted military? I looks like a fuse/breaker panel next to the pilot where the radio controls normaly are in the military version ???
Posted on: 2/11/2011 7:01 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10329526

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Chic, thanks, they were just what I needed. Where did you find them? Good stuff. Details of the cabin are hard to come by I've only been able to find a couple of picture "sets" and they aren't the best quality. I'm really looking to get into one myself to take my own pics. Got any good shots of the radio controls on the left wall by the pilot (millitary version) ??, the radio gear on the rear shelf behind the rear seat , Close-up of a rudder pedal, Any of those wooden boxes in the millitary version ?? thanks Joel
Posted on: 2/10/2011 7:03 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10325617

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Rich, I'm working on a decal graphics and looking for some pics of the labeling of the tab control unit and the fuel tank selector switch box. Would you happen to have any detail pics of those pieces where you can read the labeling?? Thanks Joel
Posted on: 2/10/2011 4:32 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10325376

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
great tip rich thanks joel
Posted on: 1/26/2011 7:57 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10289721

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Bill [quote]ORIGINAL: slither46 I was thinking about a set of 240 Geminis. [/quote] For that kind of money you could put 3 cyl radial Satios (170). the DS plans call for .90 glow, so the 170 would be plenty of power for scale flight, and they would completely fit in the cowl with no holes in the side. Talk about sounding sweet.... you can get all the fiberglass parts and plans from precision cut kits. Joel
Posted on: 1/25/2011 8:12 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10288802

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Welcome Bill, Lots of t-50 goodness here. how did you happen upon Don's T-50. Was/is there a general auction of his planes going on some place ?? thanks Joel
Posted on: 1/25/2011 5:03 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10286664

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Murphey, I believe the original 18 episodes that used the original T-50 songbird (the one in the picture) were shot in 1951-52. the series started shooting again a few years later but the original songbird (the one pictured) had been sold. the production company aquired another but continued to use the B-roll footage of the air to air shots of the original T-50 which they still had. Mike seems to have the whole story and all the aircraft used. the plane currently own by Mr Larson in Washington State is one of the planes used when the show went back into production until they switched to the 310. Also according to documentation the original Songbird was equipt with 9 cyl Lycomings I made a scale T-50 3d "realflight" model with scale props and I can land it wheels up with no damage to the props. I did say in the caption of the photo that there was light damage that was repaired. My guess would be bent landing gear since when retracted you arent getting any shock action from the oleo struts ???? Joel Joel
Posted on: 1/24/2011 9:50 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10286330

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Hey Rich. nice work. no stone unturned. I assume you are looking to compete at scale events or are you just bitten ?[:)] or both [;)] Do you have a ball park idea of what your all up weight is going to be ?? Good stuff Joel
Posted on: 1/20/2011 5:15 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10277029

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Murphey, There is a Stringer down the center on the bottom on original equipt T-50's. You can see it in the parts manuals. You can also see it in some of the restoration photos on the T-50.org site and you can see it in the "scale" 3d model that Mike James did. Joel
Posted on: 1/6/2011 6:07 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10244656

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Murphey, I've seen a few different accounts about C/N 6117. most end up in Missouri and also said it was in pieces , and one said the guy offered to sell them the pieces but he either couldn't or wouldn't produce the data plate. read the whole account. [link]http://www.skyking.info/articles/search_for_sky_king_doc.html[/link] and another...in this BBoard thread are is another account of 6117 ending up in Missouri in pieces. [link]http://www.aerobats.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=112&PHPSESSID=2c8ec5eaa72248feabb[/link] there are several others and I believe Mr McMurtrey can confirm this also. Apparently Mr Ferro has kept up the registration in hopes of making a buck. It's a shame. If I had 100Gs I'd buy it and restore it but I don't think much of it still really exsist. Now all that said I did find one bit from a aircraft data base that had it geting a airworthlyness certificate in 2000 so that could be a mistake or fruadulent entries [link]http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N67832.html[/link] I'll let you be the judge, but I'm more inclinded to think it's in pieces myself. I would have to think if it was still together and airworthy that there would be pictures and more info on it all over the web ?? Joel Joel
Posted on: 12/20/2010 7:43 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10208903

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
All, I have what I believe to be some anwsers to some of the Songbird questions. I know some of you have had contact with Mike McMurtrey over the years. For me he seems to be one of the main historians on the subject of the T-50. I recently re-connected with him after a couple of years and talked about some details on the Songbird. Below is what said and it matches with the research I've done. When asked about the planes used in the TV series... [quote] [i]The plane you see in all the air-to-air shots is N67832 - C/N 6117 (built as a UC-78B), the "hero" airplane owned at the time by Paul Mantz. It was definitely white (top surfaces), gray (undersides), and red trim. The white and gray are known from entries in the aircraft log, and the red comes from reliable testimony of three certified Airframe and Powerplant mechanics who saw the airplane in years after it was used in the series. There were at least three other T-50s used in filming Sky King: an intact airplane on the sound stage, used for entry/exit shots and painted identically as the real N67832, and a partial airplane (fuselage only) used for cockpit close-ups. The identities of these two are unknown at present. The series was cancelled after only 18 episodes. When it was renewed and production resumed three years later (with a differnent production company) , the producers had a problem: all three of the airplanes used in the first 18 episodes were no longer available! Mantz had sold N67832 (C/N 6117) and the other two had been disposed of, probably scrapped. So another T-50, N4571N (C/N 3305, Built as a AT-17B), was acquired (on 29 July 1955, to be precise) and painted as Songbird in a simplified version of the original's paint scheme and used for ground shots only. This airplane was white with dark blue trim, and the blue was not repainted, probably because the new episodes were to be shot in black-and-white like the first 18 and because air-to-air stock footage of the Mantz airplane (N67832) was still in their possession. This is probably the source of the accounts that Songbird was white and blue. The stock footage of the Mantz airplane was used with new footage of this second Songbird in the second series of episodes. N4571N is currently owned by a gentleman in Washington active in the T-50 restoration community, and he insists that all Songbirds were white and blue like it, but in fact they were not. [/i][/quote] The "Gentelman in Washington" is Jon Larson. He owns the White/Blue songbird pictured earlier in this thread that was used in ground shots when the series went back into production in 1955. And BTW, Mr Larson was the founder of the Sky King Fan club in 1959, but was not the producer of, or involed in the production of, the Sky King TV series. All the above jives with everything I've been able to find out over the last few years. It also explains why in later episodes (after ep 18) you sometimes see one plane in the air and a different one on the ground. I wrote Gloria Winters a couple of years ago for conformation of the color scheme but never heard back. At any rate, now it seems like all the "eye witnesses" have since passed away. I personaly am going with this White/Red/Gray scheme for my songbird. I also asked Mike about the Info I had found that the Songbird had Lycoming (9 cyl) engines instead of the Jacobs, and if so, about the "scoops" that you can see in the pics Rich has posted but not in any "Sky King" footage. He replied... [quote] [i]N67832 (C/N 6117) was re-engined with Lycomings between 6-Mar-47 and 18-Jul-48 (the form which records the exact date is missing from the FAA file). N4571N had its fixed-pitch wood props replaced with/Hamilton-Standard constant speed props at the time of its conversion to civil status 15 May 1949 but kept its Jacobs engines. I'm not familiar with the scoops you mention. There were a couple of approved Lycoming conversion kits for T-50s, the most popular of which seems to be one developed by AgAir Engineering, but so far I've not been able to find any copies of the engineering drawings for this conversion.[/i][/quote] So appearently the Songbird did have Lycomings but not did have any scoops (at least none that can be seen), so I can only assume that "they" get around the scoops some other way when they do a conversion from Jacobs. ?? I'm not sure what I'm going to do here about dummy radials since the only shots or stills where you can actualy "see" the engines it's the plane that was used for "ground" shots (which had Jacobs (7 cyl)) and not the "Hero" plane which did have Lycomings (9 cyl). I guess if you were doing a serious scale you could argue either way ??? Mike also included the following pics (which I'm sure most of you have seen before) with his and some of my observations.... Pic 1 This is the original N67832 (C/N 6117) "Hero" Songbird (White, Red, Gray). You can see the 3 color paint job. Also notice the Spinners and the relative size of the flying crown logo. Pic 2 and 3 This is the replacement plane (N4571N) use for ground shots in shows shot starting in 1955. Notice the 2 tone paint job, The absence of the spinners, and the relative size and placement of the flying crown logo. In pic 3 you can also definitely idenify the engines as Jacobs. Also on page 8 of the "Bamboo bomber club newsletter #5 (Jan 1997). You can read more the Sky King T-50s. In that issue Mike had idenified the paint colors as Brolite Synflex 302B (white) and Brolite gray 34-D. no word on the red color. [link]http://www.cessnat50.org/media/manuals_and_newsletters/BambooBomberClub%20Newsletter5.pdf[/link] BTW Rich, I was browsing some of the original cessna manuals posted on the Cessna t-50 ORG site and noticed that the tire issued with the millitary version (UC-78/AT-17) is the "knobby". Those manuals make fun browsing material. [link]http://www.cessnat50.org/media/manuals_and_newsletters/parts_manual/131-158_gear_prop.pdf[/link] I'm trying to locate paint chips or samples for those colors but I don't think that company (Brolite, in Australia) was sold years back to some folks in India. I will probaly have to "wing it" [;)] Joel
Posted on: 12/20/2010 2:13 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10208248

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Did all the lycoming engines have the "scoop"?? I've studied the TV series footage a lot and I also can't find any shots where you can see any scoops, but according to several differnet sources N67832 C/N 6117 had Lycoming engines, and this is the plane that seems to be the one believed to have been used in the show (there were several). So there seems to be some inconsistancies some place. Maybe the engines were changed out at some point. I definitley have at least one set photo of Kirby Grant in front of the Songbird and you can see the jacobs in the nacelles. i think the Jacobs are what I'm going with [;)] Thanks Joel
Posted on: 12/18/2010 10:07 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10205583

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
These are all renderings from Mike James's T-50 project. It really is a small t-50 community out there. I'm sure we have all had contact with a lot of the same folks when doing our research. I conversed with mike when he was starting this project and he followed closely the real life restoration project spearheaded by Terry Sullivan. It's a great read for both story and there are tons of photos documenting the process. [link]http://www.cessnat50.org/index.html[/link] I'm trying to locate a T-50 I can visit to take the photos I need to build texture "maps". Mike did a very detatialed and accurate job the t-50. every detail of very piece of the aircraft. I have a detail question for you... according to my research the original songbird had the lycoming engines and not the jacobs. what are the differences in them ?
Posted on: 12/18/2010 8:18 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10204389

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
speaking of silkspan and covering. what are any of you using or planning on using to cover the "Cloth" areas of the t-50 and are you planing of glassing the other areas ?? Mono/utra coat ?? thoughts ?? Joel
Posted on: 12/17/2010 3:10 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10203243

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Wisconsin ???, that's about 1300 mi further than I was thinking of driving [;)]. Joel
Posted on: 12/16/2010 7:39 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10201819

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
thanks Rich, I'll drop him a line. There are quite a few "air shows" that come thru this area and I'm hoping to get lucky without having to travel too far. thanks Joel
Posted on: 12/16/2010 6:33 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10201692

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
The GWS model is always ON and works like a "stabilizer". it will go into action to correct for sudden changes in yaw that is not input by you. besides engine out it will also help with crosswind gust on landings etc. The higher priced models will allow you to control them (rate, function, and on off, as long as you have the extra channels to spare). most of them have a "heading lock" mode which, if properly used, can assist in arrow straight take-offs (some claim to use it on landings also, but it have not). It's like Norman said, pick one out and figure it out as you go. there is lots of info on this thread about using one. I have a 401 in my b-25, but recently but one of the lower priced piezo models in a spit that was giving me fits on take-offs. There are folks out there that will frown on their use, but I'm totally sold on them. I put too much time and money into my models these days not to take advantage of any technology that helps keep them safely in the air. my $.02 Joel
Posted on: 12/16/2010 5:59 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10200445

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
Does anyone here know of a registry or listing of bobcats and there current known location? I would love to be able to get some close-up detail pics. I'm in Camden, SC. Joel
Posted on: 12/16/2010 5:35 AM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10200421

RE: Don Smith Cessna T-50
[quote]ORIGINAL: rhsmrt50 the other problem is setting up the gear to allow for toe-in........ Rich.   [/quote] Just how much toe-in do you think it needs ?? Also.... Studying the plans I do see that they don't call for any down or right/left thrust. In fact I don't think I have a plane that doesn't have some amount of DN thrust. I know that my B-25 has both down and "out" thrust, the left engine has 3 deg left thrust and the right engine has 3 deg right thrust. When I was told this was to help control the plan in the event of an engine out condition. While down thrust is not called for in the plans it does look like the nacelles are parallel with CL of the fuse while the wing has a 1.5 deg incidence. Does that account for down thrust ? Joel Joel
Posted on: 12/15/2010 8:17 PM by Author "jdhughen" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - General"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10199977