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Hasegawa P-51D


ruzlkampf

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No, no, no...please don't feel that way, buddy! :) One of the reasons I'm doing these builds is because a lot of people don't follow or know about these air racers, and I'm trying to generate some interest. That's why I'm including a few pics of the racers. As a motorcycle racer, and auto engineer, you could really appreciate the technology and aerodynamics that's under these shiney paintjobs to make them push over 450+mph.

There is a Bearcat called 'Conquest 1' that took the record of 475mph from the Germans in WWII in the ME-209 for a closed course speed run. Then, the Griffon engined RB-51 'Red Baron' raised that to 499mph, and that racer ya'll see with the blown motor...'Dago Red' raised it to 517mph. Then it was broken yet again by 'Rare Bear' at 528mph. Not sure what these racers would do at high altitude just going flat-out. At the closed course altitudes, a propellor becomes a solid disk aerodynamically around 500mph, so these planes are pushing what is possible with a PISTON engine. What is that Russian bomber/patrol aircraft...a Tu-114(?) ironically called a 'Bear' bomber in the west...it goes over 500mph with contra-rotating props and turbo-props, and it's huge! :blink:

I think Reno Nevada is at 5,000ft. density altitude, so these racers are set-up with their blowers, prop gear ratios, and fuels to run best at this altitude for racing. Fastest racers are averaging about 475mph for about 15 minutes. They are faster at altitude, but FAA record attempts are expensive and conditions have to be perfect(wind/temperature/weather, ect.) for them to do an 'official' speed run. These things run exotic fuel blends-nitrous oxide injection-nitro methane, and stuff like that, so it's kinda like holding a grenade out in front of you with the pin pulled. It's not a matter of IF it'll blow...just when! :P If you have any questions about these racers, feel free to ask. It's actually pretty fascinating stuff. Russ

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Whups, got me so distracted I forgot to post some preliminary visualization pics for this build. Got a slew of plans enlarged from various sources to show where I'm going with this. Here's a pic of the Hasegawa fuselage on some plans. Top of the pic is a stock Mustang....going down the page thru various mods. Bottom is 'Miss Ashley II' with the cut-down carbon-fiber NACA scoop in place of the stock design. I probably won't even have this, as my radiators will be in the wings.(so far) This build will morph into whatever it's going to be. Gonna go where the mood takes me.

 

post-4413-1229690758.jpg

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Closer view. Notice there's no air intake scoop for the Griffon on the bottom pic. It's got a recessed NACA duct on the top of the cowl instead. I've been looking at all kinds of wing configurations(including a delta, and F-86 wings!), but I'm leaning toward cut-down stockers with the radiators in the wing. Dunno why. I like those Mk.XIV Spitfire type rocker covers on this design. Hmmm,just happen to have some practice doing those. Already had the Revell Mk.22-24 kit nose up against this to see what it'd look like...and it'd work. Oooh,my. 5-bladed prop might look good on this too. hmmmm.

 

post-4413-1229691354.jpg

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Hey Russ,

 

that indeed sound most interesting, I wish we had such races around here...

I agree with you, there must be a lot of good engineering and knowledge into those modifications.

As per your question on what speed those birds would be able to at altitude... considering they have elevators instead of wings... I am not too sure they can go too high indeed :huh:

I can not wait to see you work on that one!

Cheers,

 

loic

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  • 1 month later...

Great stuff Russ.

 

As a friendly correction to a few things stated above, the Messerschmitt 209R record was 469 and Darryl Greenamyer broke it at 483 in 1969. It is a 3 KM record flown at a maximum of 150 feet AGL.

 

Frank Taylor's Dago Red record still stands as it is a 15KM record flown at an altitude of at least 3000 M and is very difficult to establish as the pilotage required to hit the camera timing the runs is rather demanding. A few have tried since, notably the owner of the same airplane in 1996, David Price.

 

Steve Hinton's Red Baron record and Lyle Shelton's Rare Bear record are 3KM records and the Bearcat broke it twice, once at 515 and the next day at 528. The fastest single pass was 540mph. Theoretically it would be able to go faster with the three bladed Orion/Constellation hybrid propeller they ran later, but it wasn't ready for the 3KM attempts.

 

Thanks for building some racer types, I like them myself and have several mid build. Modding them is a pain because of the canopy molding that i don't do (yet) but markings are available for several hot racers through Red Pegasus Decals. Google them and check it out. I also just got some Airacobra conversions with decals from XS Models in Germany. Good stuff.

 

Chris...

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Steve Hinton's Red Baron record and Lyle Shelton's Rare Bear record are 3KM records and the Bearcat broke it twice, once at 415 and the next day at 428.

 

Chris, are those figures right (the ones I bolded)? Should they not be 515 and 528 respectively?

 

;)

 

Kev

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Hey dude,

 

this sound pretty like a mad machine indeed!! Any idea what speed the real deal is capable of?

An other great project of yours that I will follow closely (if I manage to be fast enough ;) ;) ).

 

Loic

 

 

 

Loic,

I'd love to see you model a real racer!

The fastest speed ever clocked for Precious Metal in the Griffon form was in 1988 at Reno where it qualified at 454 mph.

It is a kind of copy of the 70's Red Baron which had flown as fast as 440 on the course and set the 3km recod of 499 average of four passes of which two were over 500 mph.

Frank Taylor's Dago Red record still stands as it is a 15KM record.

The 3 and 15 KM records are done in accordance with the FAI International rules sanction.

In the USA the NAA is the aero club representing the FAI. The speed records at Reno and other pylon races in the US are national records.

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I'm thinking maybe 70% of this kit is going to go into the spares box. Maybe less, depending upon what it morphs into.

I don't know if everybody here follows the truly decadent American sport of 'Unlimited Air Racing' at Reno, so I'm going to include a short pictoral presentation of where I'm going to be going with this kit...and beyond. Anything is possible in plastic, and I'm only limited by my imagination.

Here's what I call a 'phase 1' Mustang mod. Cut down canopy and wingtips, cleaned up airframe, and a fancy paint-job. Lotsa internal mods, but we won't go there for now, OK?! Here's some examples;

 

post-4413-1229513472.jpg

 

 

 

I love this picture. it's of my buddy Frank Taylor in his very own P-51 racer going out for a cruise! Taken on a lovely evening in 1985 at Chino, CA. He sold it off but still holds the 15KM record of 517 mph.

 

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

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Speaking of going FAST. I took one of my 1/1 scale model cars out to the desert today. (rainy on the coast where I live, snow in the mountains, cool 'n clear out in the desert on the other side) I built this car last year on a "design whim". I wanted to put an aluminum Chevy 350 C.I. crate motor V-8 in a mid-engined configuration for handling, in the smallest package aerodynamically possible, with the bigest brakes I could stuff into it. (I don't just put bigger motors into, and modify plastic model airplanes. ;) )

16" rims, with Porsche 911 front suspension(it bolted right on) and brakes, 944 Porshe rear calipers, 4-speed trans-axle outta a Turbo 930(4-speed matches the HP and torque of the V-8 perfectly instead of the 5-speed), Momo seats/steering wheel/5-point harness, aluminum radiator in the front trunk, blah blah. It's quite the little go-cart. Only weighs a little over 2000 pounds, with 300hp, gets 28+ mpg, and I don't have to smog it. Exhaust system is not even 3ft long. heh heh.

My daily driver is a perfectly restored 1961 40hp, 6 volt VW beetle, and I envy no man when I'm driving it....but this is my 'get out of town and cruise' vehicle. It's fun! ;) This was this morning outside Gila Bend, Arizona as I was getting it filled up for the ride back to SD.

 

post-4413-1229607014.jpg

 

 

 

I've seen this car, Russ!

Chris...

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Alright Chris!!! , Thanks for all the cool 'insider' info on these racers! Really fascinating stuff. I'm really into all the tuning and aerodynamic finesse that goes into making these aircraft literally scream around these pylons. Amazing. I'm not easily impressed, but watching these aircraft at Reno literally raises the hair on the back of my neck. I'm just awed and whispering to myself,"this is WAY too fast, and LOW"!!! ;) Literally 'on the edge'. Whoa. Excellent pilots, and incredible aircraft.

One of the reasons I haven't been posting in awhile, is because I sold that car about a month ago to somebody in San Francisco. I've acquired a new 356 Speedster kit car that I've been building up as a 1/1 scale model car. Picking and choosing parts for assembly has been taking much of my spare time lately.

Don't think I'll have time to work on these Reno air racers before this GB is over, so I will have to finally venture over into the Members Builds and complete them there. Also hoping to build an F-2G sometime this year. Cleveland air racer? hmm.

Thanks for the interest, and the really great info! Russ

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Hi Russ,Wow! A Mustang,a Bearcat,and a 356 kit car when do you sleep? :blink: what kind of running gear are you using for the 356,VW? or something more exotic?you are truly an ambitious individual :lol: good luck with all your kits, maybe you can post some pics of that 1:1 356 as you go along with it.

Ed :lol:

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