P-61 Black widow

P-61 Black widow 

From Fly'n Foam RC

Previously Beyond the Wheel RC

It's been some time since I last posted an article here on Flite Test. Two years to be exact! I apologize for my absence, but in November of 2015 I suffered another heart attack, and the recovery time was more than I anticipated. Shortly before that I had reached an agreement with Blackbeltrrf to design the P-61 Black widow. I ambitiously agreed because it was one of my favorites as well. A few months ago I decided it was time to start designing again and created the initial layout. I notified Blackbeltrrf that I was in the process of finally getting the project under way and he immediately offered to help, so this was now a combined effort. I want to thank him for his input, support and dedication to the completion of this project. I would also like to thank Flying Penguin for the flat shot power core that helped make this project possible, and Nerdnic for the symmetrical tail surface idea Also as some of you may already know Beyond the wheel RC has long since been shut down due to my health issues, and will re-opened as Fly'n Foam RC on January 8, 2017. Visit my Flyin Foam Facebook page for updates on new designs and projects. You will find a full build module on the widow there as well as a build thread here by Blackbeltrrf.

Let's take a look at the Widow!

• Wing span: 57”

• Length: 43.25”

• Wing Area: 485 sq. Inches

• Wing loading: 17 oz per sq ft   

   

I designed the widow around the Power Pack C (fixed Wing Large) – Twin Engine available right here at Flite Test, and used the flat shot power core from Flying Penguin to mount them. This makes this project extremely convenient to build. It is sheeted almost entirely with DTF and using black DTF will aid extremely when adding the final paint job.  

Tail booms:

I started with the booms which were basically a combination of the power core mount, main gear mount and rudder system all in one. 

 The flat shot power core from Flying Penguin.

One servo in the Starboard boom controls the elevator, and one in the port boom controls both rudders.  

The vertical tail unit is reenforced with a CF rod for strength, and the elevator is a fully symmetrical flying surface.

The elevator is a fully symmetrical flying surface. Thanks goes to nerdnic for this idea. 

The booms are sheeted in DTF, but the center sheeting isn't applied until after the boom is mounted to the wing. 

The nose rings are created out of Owens 1” pink or blue foam insulation board.

Wings:

The wing is the standard flat bottom DTF wing design.

With the high camber wing tips. 

Again I use the Fly'n Foam method of creating the upper surface curve by removing the paper from the inside surface and curling the sheet. 

Dihedral is achieved only on the outer portion of the wings Just enough for some stability, and jigs are provided with the plans.

The completed wing with wiring.

The canopies are created from standard paper printed with the templates, window sections removed, and laminated with 3mm laminate. 

The front canopy is held in place with rare earth magnets using BBQ skewers for alignment.

The front canopy mounted on the fuselage to check alignment. 

The rear canopy is part of the wing assembly and just fits down over the rear of the fuselage. 

The gun turret is made from 1” insulation foam and four BBQ skewers.

 Fuselage:

The fuselage is built around the electronics bay using formers and an upper stringer like most of my designs. 

It incorporates the Du-Bro ½ A steerable nose gear catalog # 234 controlled by a single servo in combination with the rudder servo.

The fuselage is then sheeted with DTF in three sections to give it the classic look of the widow. 

The nose block is created by laminating four sheets of 1” foam insulation.

A battery cooling intake on the bottom works quite well.

The electronics are then connected, and the booms are mounted to the wings using the tabs in the power core mount.

The landing gear struts are Glued into the wings. 

The struts are then secured to the boom with rubber bands. 

The center skin is then mounted to the booms.

Both booms are permanently mounted to the wings.

The rudder and elevator servos are accessible through the holes provided for adjustment.

The cowling flaps are made from black poster board and glued in place last. 

The fuselage can then be painted solid black.

Like all of my designs it comes with printable decals of the infamous “Lady in the Dark” The Lady was credited with the last official kill of WWII.

Including the actual tail number from the Lady.

Detail:

It can be detailed in any fashion you like but here are a few pics of the model created by Blackbeltrrf. 

He added a WWII pilot bust to the cockpit.

With a little bit of pin striping and some red paint he created a very realistic version of the Lady. 

A great job indeed! 

The battery pack is installed, Radio check, and final balancing. 

In all It was a great project, and I fully enjoyed working on it. Blackbeltrrf was a great help with suggestions and technical advice for some of the applications. As well the battery compartment was re-designed to add more room and accommodate a larger battery. The use of black DTF made painting it much easier, but I did notice the quality of the board is slightly less than that of the white. IE the paper is not glued to the board as well. I wouldn't recommend the Widow for the first time builder though. Many of the build techniques are somewhat advanced, but if you want to build something that looks as good as it flies, and has many prospects for detail, then I would recommend the Widow. 

Be sure and visit us at Fly'n Foam RC on Facebook for the Black Widow Build Module

and

Flyin Foam RC to download your own set of plans the Black Widow and others.

Black Widow Tiled Plans

Black Widow Full size plans

 Here is the maiden flight of the widow by Blackbeltrrf. From first lift off to final adjustment. It turned out to be a very stable Flyer!

 Enjoy!