Kit Review: AEROTECH P-47 THUNDERBOLT

By Jim Sandquist

"If you wanted to have your picture taken so you could send it home to your girl, you sat in the cockpit of a P-51 Mustang. If you wanted to survive in combat, you climbed into the cockpit of a P-47 Thunderbolt". This was a statement often made by the men who flew the P-47 Thunderbolt and it reflects the rugged dependability of the P-47 that brought many pilots safely back home after sustaining battle damage that would have destroyed almost any other fighter. The Thunderbolt was not only more survivable, it could dish it out as well. It was the most heavily armed single-engine fighter in WWII. It had twice the firepower of most Mustangs and fifty percent more than the P-51D Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, F6F Hellcat, or the F4U Corsair. Though the Mustang was sleek and certainly had considerable eye appeal, there were those who believed that the large rugged appearance of the Thunderbolt better exemplified what a fighter should look like. As a modeling subject, this may be one of the most popular and best flying airplanes you could ever consider building. With its large number of variants and many armament configurations, the choices for a modeler are very numerous, assuring that your model will look different from any other P-47 that might show up on the flight line.

The Aerotech Models P-47 comes available as either a B or D model. My preference was for the D version but since building my D version I have also had a chance to fly the B version. Both planes fly virtually the same so choose the plane that you prefer. When you open the box, the first thing you will notice is the high quality and completeness of the kit. Besides thorough instructions and a 2 ½ hour construction video, the kit comes complete with all hardware needed to complete the kit. Molded scale scoops, hoods and inner gear doors. Robart retractable main and tail gear, the engine mount, canopy, gas tank, radial engine, 5 ½ scale wheels, servo trays and three view drawings, for those of you who are competition minded. In addition to the completeness of the kit, you will be stunned by the accuracy, quality and the amount of detail that is molded into this kit. This kit is designed as an exact scale representation, including rivets, Phillips head screws, dzus fasteners and all panel lines. All of these details are molded into the Grey gel coat surface of the carbon fiber fuselage. The fuselage, wing, and all control surfaces have the same attention to detail from the manufacturer.

BUILDING

Before outlining the building process, I think it is worth noting that this airplane kit builds very fast. I had my airplane fully constructed in about 50 hours and the fully painted model was in the air in about 80 hours! If you like great looking model airplanes but don’t think you have the time to make one, this model will be a pleasant surprise.

Wings - When you take the wings out of the box you will see that the ailerons and flaps are all molded into the wing. They are pre-cut and pre-hinged from the manufacturer. This step being complete is almost worth the price of the kit alone. The ailerons utilize Robart Large Point Hinges and the flap hinges are an exact scale miniature recreation of the flap mechanism that was used on the full sized aircraft. The Fowler flap mechanism has to be seen to fully be appreciated. It is the neatest setup for a flap that I have ever seen. When I show it to other modelers they tend to shake their head in disbelief. It is that good!

The mounting locations for the aileron and flap servos are pre-molded into the surface of the wing. You cut out the openings with a good Exacto knife or a Dremel Tool. The part you cut away serves as the hatch cover when completing the servo installation. After cutting this open, the wooden mount for the servo is visible and ready for the installation of the servo! It is really nice to have these pre-installed and to have the servos installed in a way that is not only functional but also maintains the scale outline required for competition.

The next thing to do is to mount the wings to the fuselage. This is a bit of a tedious process. Not difficult, but it is important to take your time in order to assure accurate installation of the wing. Each wing half has two aluminum spars that slide into an aluminum channel that you mount into the fuselage. The bulkheads, that these channels mount to, are also pre-installed in the fuselage, so locating the place to attach the channels is quite simple.

Once you have the wing mounted to the fuselage, the last remaining step is to install the Robart retractable main gear into the wing. Like the servos, the area for the retracts is cut away with an Exacto knife or Dremel tool. When the surface is cut away you will see the metal landing gear plate is already pre-mounted and cut to size for the retracts. To mount the retracts you will have to drill and tap four 4-40 holes in the plate for each of the main gear. If you have had difficulty with previous retract installation, you will be pleasantly surprised by the way that Aerotech has designed the installation. You cannot install the gear incorrectly!

FUSELAGE AND POWER PLANT

The difficulty with almost any scale model is allowing good access to the interior of the fuselage while still retaining all of the scale outline and detail. The all carbon fiber construction and innovative approach to the design of this airplane provides ample room inside of the fuselage. A self locking belly pan on the bottom of the fuselage extends from the firewall all the way back to the tail gear. When it is removed you can literally get both of your hands and arms into the fuselage. This is very helpful when installing the servos, tail gear, pull-pull system for the rudder and the cockpit interior.

The fuselage comes with all of the bulkheads installed as well as all of the servo trays. You will spend some time attaching wooden blocks that are used to secure the belly pan to the fuselage. This is not difficult but does take a little patience in order to get a good fit of the belly pan to the fuselage. The servos are easily installed in the correct position inside of the fuselage because the wooden mounting trays are already installed and ready to receive the servo of your choice. The elevator is controlled utilizing a carbon fiber rod. The rudder and tail gear are controlled with a pull-pull system. All of the required hardware is included in the kit.

Like the bulkheads, the firewall is also pre-installed and ready to have the aluminum engine mount installed to the firewall. You can order the P-47 with the mount for the Brison 4.2 or the Zenoah G-62. I chose the Brison 4.2 because of the number of years I have been flying them and the way that have performed for me over the years. That coupled with the fact that I wanted to be able to have good vertical in climbing, military maneuvers made this the best choice. The Brison 4.2 really allows this aircraft to perform very scale like whether you are in cruise or a climbing victory roll! One of the nice options available for this kit is an internal muffler system. This allows the engine and the muffler to be completely hidden inside of the cowl and fuselage and allows the exhaust residue to escape in a scale outlet!

TAIL SURFACES

The stabilizer, rudder and elevator are made from carbon fiber just like the rest of the aircraft. This allows Aerotech to complete the detailing of these surfaces with the same attention to detail as is on the rest of the aircraft. When assembling the tail surfaces it is necessary for you to hinge the rudder and the two elevator halves using Robart hinge pockets and hinge point hinges. The tail surfaces are the only part of the model that are not pre-hinged.

The stabilizer is installed through the tail of the fuselage. This requires that you cut an opening in the fuselage. This opening is clearly indicated in the instructions and is easily removed with a Dremel tool. This makes for a very clean installation of the stabilizer to the fuselage. The elevators are tied together with a torque rod that is effective and easy to install.

ACCESSORIES

As previously mentioned, this is a very complete kit but in order to keep the price down some of the more scale items are optional. By finishing your model out with all of the options you certainly can build a contest winner. Some of the items available to complete your model include: Full Cockpit, full body pilot, Fiberglass bombs and drop tanks, optional dummy radial engine (either the Hamilton Standard or the Curtis Electric), molded pylons and stabilizer arms, aluminum flying spinner, Hamilton Standard or Curtis Electric 4 bladed static propeller, sliding canopy and the Aero Detail book on the P-47. Don’t misunderstand, the basic kit allows you to build a model that is incredibly detailed, these options just allow you to do that little extra that separates a really good model from those that are extraordinary!

PAINTING AND DETAILING

Even though so much of this model is already detailed, there are some finishing touches that you may want to consider. Some of the scale components are made of ABS plastic (inner gear doors, wheel wells, etc.). Because they are vacuum formed it is difficult to get details such as rivets and fine panel lines. This area you may want to give some attention to if you really want to go to the maximum level of detailing. Prepping the model for paint is about as simple as you can get. The entire airframe has a Grey gel coat on it so the bulk of the airplane only requires a light sanding with 400-grit sandpaper to get it ready for paint. There are a few areas that will require some attention with a little bit of Bondo and primer before the painting process can begin. This includes the seam down the center of the fuselage and the seam on the leading edge of the stab and vertical fin. I found that once I had the airplane together it only took about three hours of preparation to be ready to paint.

Once all the preparation was completed, I used an automotive acrylic lacquer to create the final finish. This was my paint of choice because I found the aluminum that was available was a good match to the weathered aluminum of the old warbirds. Because of the gel coat finish on the model, very little paint was required to finish off the airplane and virtually no primer was required. Not having to use very much primer also served to keep the weight of the final finish to a minimum.

A WORD TO THE COMPETITION MINDED MODELER

So often kit manufacturers and reviewers will tell you that a certain kit is accurate to scale without offering any proof that it really is a competition worthy model. Aerotech Models includes 3 view drawings in the kit. These are the three views that were used in designing the model. I have personally had my airplane in competition and found that the judges were hard pressed to find anything wrong in the outline of the model. In the National competitions that I participated in the static scores were in the upper 95-96 range. Is this plane capable of being a serious candidate for winning a contest? Yes! At the 1999 AMA Nat’s I flew one of the Aerotech P-47 B’s in Team Scale and won the competition.

CONCLUSION

If you love scale models the way that I do, I think you will find that this kit will more than meet your expectations. If you like a solid, good flying airplane with no bad characteristics, this would be a good choice. The combination of its looks, the way it flies and the reduced construction time makes this a kit worth your consideration.

FLIGHT PERFORMANCE

Not only did I have the opportunity to build and fly my own P-47, but I also had the privilege of being asked to be the test pilot on the very first prototype that was built by Aerotech models. From the start this airplane has been as solid a performer as I have flown. By the end of the third flight I was ready to head to a contest to compete. That’s how comfortable I felt with this airplane. When I put the initial flights on my aircraft I followed Aerotechs set up for C.G and control throws. They proved to be about perfect for a scale warbird.

With the Brison 4.2 engine for power, this airplane performs like a very powerful fighter, which is what the P-47 was. For scale flying you can bring the throttle back to about 60% power, yet when you need vertical for loops and chandelles the engine really has the ability to make it happen.

For those of you who have not had previous flight experience with warbirds, the P-47 is a perfect choice because it is a very forgiving aircraft. The flaps allow it to slow nicely for landings. The plane goes exactly where you point it when flying your mission and for those of you interested in competition, it is as close to scale as I think you will find.

TAKEOFF AND LANDING

While taxiing out for takeoff, the first thing noticed was the nice wide stance of the landing gear. This gives this airplane very nice ground handling characteristics and makes it very difficult to ground loop under most any circumstance. Once I taxied to the runway centerline, a gradual application of power sent the plane down the runway with the tail coming off of the ground about 25% of the way down the takeoff roll. Whether the tail is on the ground or after it has come into the air the plane is very controllable. A slight amount of right rudder keeps the plane running straight down the runway. A nice gradual climb out following the takeoff really gives the impression that you are flying a heavy metal bird yet it really performs like a lighter weight aircraft.

When setting up for landing, the gear were extended on the downwind and full flaps were applied on the cross leg. The plane shows little or no tendency to balloon with full flap deployment. Final approach requires that you carry about 1/3rd throttle till just above the threshold of the runway. Once over the runway you can come off the power and the plane settles in very nicely. The plane really lands at its best if you land it on the mains. Three point landings are a bit harder to do consistently but certainly are possible.

GENERAL FLIGHT PERFORMANCE

The Brison 4.2 combined with a 22x10 propeller makes a great power combination for this model. Once airborne the plane does whatever you want to do. Big loops, military rolls, climbing victory rolls and my favorite, the chandelle. One of the best things about this airplane is that it really exhibits no bad flight characteristics. Stalls are not violent and very predictable with the nose simply dropping in a stall, and the wings stay level throughout the stall. I think you will really enjoy flying this model.

SPECIFICATIONS

Model: Republic P-47

Type: Scale WWII warbird

Manufacturer: Aerotech Models

Wingspan: 82 in.

Length: 69 in.

Weight: 31 lbs.

Engine Used: Brison 4.2 with CH ignition

Radio required: 6 channel (elevator, rudder, ailerons, flaps, retracts, throttle.)

Radio Used: Futaba 9 ZAWS, R129DP receiver, 8 servos

Price: $2895.00 (Basic Kit)

Features: Carbon Fiber Fuselage, wings and tail surfaces. Scale Fowler flaps. Plug in wings.

Comes with all panel lines and rivets molded in. Many scale options available for the airplane.

HITS

Well written instructions and a good 2.5 hour instructional video.

Complete hardware package

Includes Aerotech retractable main with Robart Struts and tail gear

5.5" scale wheels are included

Landing gear plates, Fowler flaps and ailerons are all pre-cut and pre-hinged

MISSES

There truly are none. This is one of best built model kits I have had the privilege of reviewing.

Photos of Jim's kit that he built while writing the review

02/21/2008