world models: Fairchild PT-26, The

Model Airplane News, Nov 2001 by Van Tassel, Bob

classic favorite

in ARF form

The PT-26 Fairchild is a highly recognizable and popular variant of the classic PT-19 primary trainer. Its distinct look and excellent flight characteristics make it a favorite among pilots of both full-size and model aircraft. Until now, if you wanted a model of the PT-26, you had to build it yourself. Now, thanks to The World Models Mfg. Co. and its U.S. distributor, AirBorne Models, you can have a 40-size version of this plane in the air in no time.

The 57.5-inch-span Fairchild features top-quality balsa and plywood construction and includes all the necessary hardware and accessories The model includes a dummy cowl to aid engine installation; the real cowl is fiberglass and nicely painted. The plane comes with its iron-on covering expertly applied, and a provided set of fuelproof decals completes the scale look. Painted pilot figures are even provided to dress up the cockpit, and the kit comes with a nice, polished-aluminum spinner. World took some liberties by equipping the Fairchild with retracts, but they come already installed, and I think that extra detail just adds to the fun.

ASSEMBLY

I enjoy building, but it's hard to compete with the excitement of openiing a box containing a well-constructed, beautifully finished airplane such as this, I also have to be hionest with myself and admit that I would spend many hours in the shop and probably still not be able to compete with the quality of this airplane. I found no wrinkles in the coving; the hinges are all pre-installed and glued; the covering has been removed in the areas of the tail feathers where glue is to be applied. The manual does lack a little detail in areas such as where to apply decals. This should not be a problem as long as you don't throw away the box; the pictures show the decal locations.

The first step in the manual detail the installation of aileron hinges and retracts, but both of these are already done for you. All that is left to do is to attach the two yellow landing-gear panels by snapping the brass clips over the landing-gear wire and installing two 4mm screws. a drop of CA secures the assembly.

Next, I remove the covering where the aileron servos were to be installed; I used Futaba 3003 servos. The servos are attached to two balsa panels and secured to the wings with eight, 2x12mm screws. Monofilament drawstrings had been installed in the wings to pull the servo leads to the center section, and two holes were predrilled in the top center section. I just cut the covering and routed the servo leads up through them. I joined the wings using the dihedral brace and 5-minute epoxy. They fit perfectly and only required a few strips of masking tape to hold them together while the epoxy dried. Next, I installed the retract servo with the servo arm toward the rear. (A dedicated retract servo is a must for clearance.) This required a few tries to get it aligned; I suggest that you connect the servo to your radio and check out its movement, and position the servo arm the way you want it before final assembly. The whole wing assembly took about two hours, including the time I spent on the wheel retracts.

To assemble the tail, simply remove the filler blocks from the fuselage (this nice touch holds the correct spacing during covering). The hinges are all preglued, and the covering had been removed in the areas to be glued. I aligned the tail feathers and epoxied them into place. The rudder is sheet balsa with dummy ribs. Attach the tailwheel to the rear of the fuselage, and insert the tiller arm into the underside of the rudder to complete the assembly of the tail feathers.

I installed the supplied 320cc tank using three lines: one fill line, one pressure line to the exhaust and one line to the carburetor. I used blue tubing for the carburetor and red for the pressure line. I use this color-coding to avoid mixing up the lines at the field. Red reminds me of "hot," so I use it for the exhaust.

The instructions show an upright engine installation with the cylinder head extending through the top of the cowl. After measuring, I determined that I could install my O.S. .52 4-stroke engine inverted and minimize the amount of cowl cutting required; this makes a cleaner installation. I installed the engine with proper clearance for the supplied spinner and prop. Using the dummy cowl as a template, I made the necessary cuts. I mounted the cowl using four 3x12mm screws. I used fuel tubing in the holes in the fuselage where the cowl screws are attached; this minimizes vibration and makes installation easier. I built the pushrods per the manual and installed the three servos in the fuselage. I attached the pushrods to the servo arms with a piece of hardware called a "linkage stopper." The battery and receiver are inserted into a piece of foam rubber (supplied) that has been cut specifically to accept them.

The elevator and rudder are connected to the pushrods in the usual manner. Mounting the wing on the fuselage requires the use of two 4x33mm screws. The holes are predrilled in the wing, and I attached a reinforcement piece to the wing's underside trailing edge. The wing's forward section is attached to the fuselage with a plug.