 Living in south Texas has its advantages. One of those is year-round flying, as we have only three seasons: December, January and summer. "Year-round" flying means that we don't like to spend more time in our shops than we have to. In my experience, nothing builds faster or lighter than glass and foam kits, and this is the primary reason I became interested in the American Eagle* product line.  I
met Bob Neider, who owns and operates American Eagle, during the 1997
gathering of B-17s and other big birds at Bomber Field in Monaville,
TX. I had seen Bob's ads in the IMAA magazine, and I was quite
impressed with his inventory of giant-scale, epoxy/glass and foam WW II
airplanes.CONSTRUCTION This is a builder's kit. You must be familiar with model construction; however, you do not need to be a master builder. American Eagle offers a very good-quality fuselage, cowl, belly pan, foam wing-cores, canopy, plans and a basic instruction manual. Begin
by assembling the skins for the wings, stab and vertical fin. I used
3/32 balsa sheet on the wing, with l/16 balsa sheet on the stab and
vertical fin. When all skins have been made, figure out where the
servos and retracts will go and, using a straightedge as a guide, make
channels in the foam wing-cores with a soldering gun with a
1/2-inch-deep semicircular tip made of electrical house wiring. The
channels will allow you to run servo wires and retract tubing later.
Also, to strengthen the wings and eliminate the use of spars, run a few
bands of self-adhesive, fiberglass wall-joiner tape spanwise on the top
and bottom of your wing. Then, sheet the wings, stab and vertical fin.
The Bearcat plans show fabric on the flight controls, so I made
built-up structures using 1/8-inch balsa cut to flight-control shape,
3/8-inch balsa LE and 1/8-inch balsa false ribs on both sides. These
can be made quickly and easily, and they look good when covered in
Super Coverite*.No
bulkheads are required in the fuselage. I added a half bulkhead for the
Robart* retracting tailwheel I used and glued this in with Hobbypoxy*
Formula 3. When adding servo plates or rails in an epoxy/glass
fuselage, you can simply install them with thin CA. For added strength,
add a fillet made with Hobbypoxy 3.I
wanted to get in the air fast, so instead of installing a full cockpit,
I settled for a 1/5-scale pilot bust and then semi-detailed the area
within the cockpit.I
attached a plywood firewall to the glass firewall after bolting the
wing into place. I used a Quadra* Q-75, and the Bearcat's cowl is so
big that the engine and muffler are concealed.COVERING Let's do the fiberglassing first. The wing will be finish-sanded with only 100-grit paper and a sanding block. Use spackling or light filler to make everything level. Once all surfaces have been sanded smooth, lay 3/4-ounce cloth on the surface to be covered with the cloth cut slightly larger. Now use Hobbypoxy white paint and the gloss hardener that goes with it. Combine equal parts and then add Sherwin-Williams no. 54 epoxy reducer (used to clean spray equipment) until the paint is the consistency of milk. Brush this onto the cloth, painting the cloth down from the middle of the wing and working out. Then cover the remaining parts. Let everything dry for about 1 1/2 hours. Sand all the overhanging glass with 150-grit paper. Now, the glass can easily be cut, leaving a nice finished edge. Turn the parts over and do the other sides. The
advantage of covering with glass and paint is that you can totally
fuelproof even the most intricate areas just by painting them. Once
dry, sand the edges with 150-grit paper. Your wing and other parts
(stab and fin) should now be covered and ready for another coat of
paint. For built-up construction with open bays, I use Coverite
Supershrink and have done so for years. Sand the parts to be covered
with 150-grit paper and apply Balsarite* for fabric. Attach all
Coverite with the grain running spanwise and iron it down. When the
flight surfaces have all been covered, hinge them using Robart
3/16-inch large hinge points.With
everything hinged and sanded, we can now begin the process of priming
for paint. Paint will not hide poor preparation; whether it comes from
a can or a gun, it only emphasizes the surface it rests on.I
use lacquer primer, glazing putty, plastic spreaders and lacquer
thinner. Throw a portion of lacquer primer on the wing and spread it.
This forces it into the weave of the fiberglass cloth. When it's dry,
simply sand again with 150-grit paper. This must be done before you
spray the first primer coat. You'll be amazed at how good your first
coat of sprayed primer will look.Spray
the fuselage with one coat of primer to expose the pinholes that are
common in all fiberglass products. To solve this problem, mix some
primer with glazing putty in a 50:50 ratio. Thin this mixture with a
little lacquer thinner to ease spreading.All
lacquers shrink during the drying process, so you may need to use two
or three coats. Don't worry about weight, and continue to build up the
areas that have defects. You'll sand most or all of this off, leaving
only the filled pinholes. After everything has been sanded, spray
primer and fix only the areas that need attention. When all has been
done to your satisfaction, spray with a final primer coat and sand with
dry 220-grit paper to level the primer surface and remove any excess. I
final-sand for painting using maroon Scotch-Brite pads. Now the model
is ready for painting.I
use only lacquer auto paints for the base and Krylon Interior/Exterior
for all trim and color changes. When the entire model has been painted
and all trim colors have been added, wet-sand very lightly with
600-grit paper. Dry everything thoroughly, wipe it all down with a
tack-cloth, and then spray on clearcoat (lacquer or urethane). The
urethane clear will make the paint look very glossy and wet; the
lacquer will provide a more satiny finish. The Bearcat is now ready for
radio installation and flight test.AT THE FIELD I called a couple of my friends, and we headed to our flying field in Edinburg, TX. We have a 150x700-foot section for model use and also a 3,500-foot paved clearway on the end of the model runway in case we want to land a little hot! The
American Eagle Bearcat is one incredible flying airplane. If you can
fly a .60-size pattern ship, you will have no problem flying this
giant-scale WW II fighter. You must know how to build before you tackle
this project, but you do not need to be a master builder. If your time
is worth anything, you'll see that the amount of finished work in this
and other American Eagle kits makes them well worth the asking price.*Addresses are listed alphabetically in the Index of Manufacturers in the magazine.
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