Posted Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Decal Application 

Cermark included a decal sheet that I put to fairly good use. The series of shots below illustrates how they go on. The kit came with the big USAF and United States Air Force and starts already on the wings and fuse, even though the decal sheet also had them available.

They are cut-out, peel and stick types. No big deal really. I searched the web for pictures of F16 Thunderbirds and after about an hour settled for what you see below. Hey, I mean if I was really concerned about "scale", I would have bought a turbine powered plane and dropped $5000+.

Why #2? My first jet was a Great Planes Patriot a number of years back.

Thunderbirds emblem also adorns the pilot uniform.

I was very disappointed with the poor fit of the canopy to the fuselage. There's no excuse for this. I ended up trimming the canopy with red pinstripe tape in an effort soften up the harsh line.

"Captain Rick" suited up, oxygen mask on. Kick the tires and light the fire big daddy! The pilot was purchased from Cermark for $14 at the '09 Toledo show.

Right side cockpit. This angle doesn't show the bad fit at the canopy-fuse but it's still there.

Weight and Balance

The plane CG is located 7 1/2" back from the leading edge of the wing. If your manual says 8 1/2", as do many, it is WRONG. With straight edge and ruler in hand, a line was drawn out to the leading edge from the root so I could pick up the plane to check the CG location. Without the lighting system battery installed, the CG came out exactly at the line. With that in mind, the final placement of the lighting system battery was critical. I decided to fasten the battery directly over the CG on the belly pan. Doing so would result in a net change in CG position of zero.

Battery for the lighting system sits right over the CG.

Cermark says the F16 propjet is spec'd at 9 pounds. Mine came out to 10 pounds, 15 & 3/4 ounces. Maybe they're using 9 with the .60. Who knows. I am using the Jett .90, (a heavier engine than any .60), an on-board lighting system, reinforced landing gear mounts and a 3000 mah receiver battery (also recommended by Cermark) to counter the weight up front of the engine. The good thing here is no lead was used to make the ship meet the CG requirement, but it's heavier than I wanted. The .90 should still pull it around well though.