HANGAR 9 P-51D: MISS AMERICA

Model Airplane News, Apr 2005 by Hampton, Scott

"... the Miss America has - one of the most beautiful color schemes ever to adorn an airplane."

IN 1944, THE MUSTANG WAS CREATED at North American's plant. After the War, it was modified from the North American P-51D and went on to become one of the fastest and most recognizable Mustangs around. No wonder; with its smooth lines and easy curves, I can see why they named it "Miss America."

When Hangar 9 came out with a .60-size version of the Miss America, I just had to have one. I have come to expect top quality from Hangar 9, and in my opinion, the Miss America is one of its most impressive warbird ARFs.

IN THE BOX

Everything was well packaged in plastic bags and nicely sealed. Even inside the box, the plane looks beautiful, and as to be expected, the covering job is topnotch. I took the wings out of the bags and noticed that the retracts looked much stronger than those included in past Hangar 9 kits.

I inspected the fuselage and found the covering to be impeccable with very few wrinkles. All of the hardware was included along with a well-written and photoenriched construction manual. All I needed to complete this plane was a radio, motor, glue and fuel line. n

WING ASSEMBLY

The first step in the instruction book is to glue the hinges into the wing. I used thin Zap for this. After the glue had dried, I test-fit the wing joiner into both halves of the wing. When I was satisfied with the fit, I used 30-minute epoxy to glue the wing joiner and the wing halves together. Now it was time to build the retract servo tray and install it into the wing. I used a Hitec HS 77 BB low-profile servo for the retracts so 1 would be able to use my computer radio's endpoint-adjustment function to fine-tune the control throws. I then cut the retract wires to the proper length and installed them. I cycled the retracts a few times to make sure that everything worked correctly and that the retracts firmly locked in both the up and down positions.

Next, I built the aileron servo trays. I used Hitec 425 BB Deluxe servos with a 12-inch servo extension. I glued the mounting blocks to the trays with 30-minute epoxy and mounted the servos on them using the screws provided with the servos. I then pulled the servo wires through the wing and attached a short Y-harness on the end of the wires. The last step for wing assembly is to hook up the ailerons to the servos. I used the provided hardware, which fit perfectly, to make a solid and responsive connection. The entire wing assembly took me about two hours to complete.

FUSELAGE ASSEMBLY

Begin by installing the tail section. I slid the horizontal stabilizer into the slot and marked where I had to remove the covering. I used 30-minute epoxy and glued the stabilizer into place, double-checking its alignment by measuring to a reference point at the front of the fuselage. After the glue had dried, I set the vertical stabilizer into the precut slot and marked where I had to cut the covering. Again, once I had removed the covering, I glued the vertical stabilizer into place with 30-minute epoxy. I used a 90-degree square to set the vertical stabilizer perpendicular to the horizontal stabilizer. I hinged the control surfaces using thin Zap.

The rudder and elevator servos are screwed into the servo trays and mounted onto the back of the fuselage. I used Hitec 425 BB Deluxe servos with a 12-inch servo extension.

ENGINE INSTALLATION

I began by gluing the servo tray for the throttle servo inside the fuselage with 30-minute epoxy. I attached the engine to the supplied aluminum engine mount and then mounted the entire assembly to the firewall with bolts and blind nuts. For power, I used a Magnum XL .91 RFS 4-stroke engine. The width of the engine matched the predrilled holes on the firewall, and that made installation easy. I assembled the fuel tank and installed it in the nose of the fuselage with foam packed all around it to keep it in place. I installed the throttle pushrod and made adjustments at the transmitter so that the carburetor would open and close completely.

FINAL ASSEMBLY

When everything was installed and hooked up, all I had to do was set up the cowl and canopy and balance the plane. I attached a paper template to the fuselage, which extended out over the engine. After cutting out all of the holes for the exhaust pipe, needle valve and glow plug, I removed the engine and put the cowl in place. I made the cutouts in the cowl and reinstalled the engine. I had to make some small adjustments to the cutouts, but overall, the fit was pretty close. I like the look of aluminum spinners, so I decided to use one instead of the supplied plastic red spinner.

I cut out the canopy and glued the backrest along with the canopy to the fuselage using canopy glue. The last and probably most important step is balancing the plane. The instruction manual recommends a starting point of about 4 ¾ inches back from the wing's leading edge. I was able to move the battery to achieve the balance point without having to add extra weight.