JHH F-4 Phantom

Preface
Ten years ago, if you asked anyone that knew me (in the model world) if I would ever build a jet they would have answered "NO WAY". At the time, I would have agreed with them. I was a WWII fan... almost exclusively. Probably 75% of what I built was WWII iron, with an occasional glider or sport model thrown in. I never really like ICDF models, though my exposure was light. My father had built an Airforms F-86 back when the K&B 6.5 was a hot engine (he powered it with one of the RK "kit fans"). That plane never got off the ground. Years later we upgraded to a Turbax with a 7.5 but lost interest in that as well. In the early years of ICDF pilots were replacing glow plugs at least once every 3 flights. They just never seemed that reliable to me, so it was easy to avoid them. I'll also pass on the true turbines. Having to obtain an AMA waiver seems a pain and I didn't like the cost and complexity (though things have gotten much better over the years). The lure that brought me in was the EDF advancements. Back in 2001 I read about someone building an Airworld Me262 for EDF. Now there was an interesting piece of WWII hardware that was acceptable in my book. At the time it was out of reach due to limitations on the nicads (power and weight didn't allow for grass field operations). Then I read about schubeler fans and lipo batteries and the seed was planted. I could only resist for about a year and then I had to build one. That is well documented here. I enjoyed that plane so much I just had to continue... but with what plane. I'll admit I'm more attracted to earlier jets (Korea/Vietnam) that the later entries. It also had to be big... the variety of (roughly) 5" fans make larger jets much more attractive. I like the F9F (panther and cougar), but I don't see too many good kits available (that is changing too). Maybe an A-4 or A-6 intruder... but the F- Phantom finally caught my eye. At first, it had to be a BVM kit, but looking hard at that option cut too hard in the wallet. I could probably have justified the cost but I was afraid that I'd never fly it for fear of what might happen to it. Yellow and JHH caught my interest, and I finally settled on the JHH version. Though the Stumax fan sounded like an interesting power plant for this plane, I decided it would be better to just go JHH all the way.

March 24, 2008
Well, the order has been placed. I called Jet Hangar Hobbies on Good Friday, knowing that they might not be there... and they weren't, so I left a message. I had also left a PM for Chris to tell him that I was ready to order. Chris and I had exchanged messages about two weeks prior, me asking questions about the JHH F-4 and him encouraging me. Well, Monday afternoon a very nice young lady (Larry's wife??) called me back and I logged on the the PC and started down my laundry list of items to order. They included the plane, retracts, and a 12s version of the eBax. She also gave me the name of someone that will manufacture a nice set of scale struts (RC Crafters). As a side note, I also ordered a set of 10s batteries for a eBax that I purchased a year ago for my Father's F-86, which is finally getting ready to fly this summer. Of course, my timing is terrible on this purchase. Everyone is getting ready for the Toledo show next week, so delivery will not be until the end of April. Until then I've started purchasing all my documentation. I've got books on order from Amazon and HLJ, which if nothing else will give me something to read while I wait.

March 26, 2008
I e-mailed RC Crafters and got excellent response from them. I've got a quote in my had for the scale struts, modifications to the pivot block, and wheels. In order to get them I have to mail them the retract units, so nothing can happen until I receive them in late April. Which works out fine since RC Crafters is busy until that time period anyway. Paint scheme is still a little up in the air. I was originally thinking of going with VF114 Aardvarks, which has a nice orange stripe on the top... handy for visualization top/bottom. There are a lot of images on the web of VF114 phantoms, plus some side views in books.

VF51 Screaming eagles (at the top of the page) has enough color topside to help with top/bottom visualization too, and is a classy paint scheme. The CAGs ride is more colorful, and Pro-Mark has dry transfers for this scheme, although they are for the larger size phantom from BVM. I think they could "shrink" them for me easily enough. I'm leaning toward the VF-51 scheme... it's just so cool!

April 14, 2008
I had to call JHH this morning to check on the estimated ship date, not because it's "getting late" but because I'll be out of town for a few days and I didn't want a package sitting on my porch with no one to bring it in. Well, it was a nice surprise to hear that they will be shipping it today or tomorrow. I can't wait !! I'll have my father stop by a few times, just in case, but I expect I'll be back just before it arrives.

April 21, 2008
Right on time... DHL stopped by the house today at 1:09PM with a large box that needed my signature. Of course I wasn't available, so he left a note on the door with a request for release signature form. Missed him by 10 minutes. I could have kicked myself!! Fortunately, he stopped back about 4:00. Said there were some packages that he just didn't want to haul back and forth (I could have kissed him! Well, almost.). I didn't get a chance to open it until today and I must say that JHH did a fine job of packing it all up. Lets see... first impressions. Kit appears complete, nice hardware package. The formers look nice. I haven't checked the foam cores yet but I don't expect any issues there. The glass work on the fuse looks nominal (nominal is good... means I got what I expected with no surprises). Time will tell if there are a lot of pin holes, but it looks pretty good. I'll have a little work to do on the seam but that's expected. It's not a huge model but I'll bet it will look great in the air. The instructions look complete with a nice set of rolled drawings.

May 19, 2008
Today I received the 12s fan.

June 18, 2008
Some interesting things have happened over the last month. I've sent my landing gear off to RC Crafters to have a set of scale gear made for the F-4. Their communication has been great, though they are not fast (and I'm not complaining, I was told up front that these are custom made on an "as ordered" basis). I expect to see them later this month or early in July. I also looked harder at the Stumax fan. I just love the sound (or lack there of) so much that I just had to order one. I already have the e-bax 12s, so I'm not sure what I'll do with that yet, but I think I'll be pleased with the decision to go with the Stumax. It will require a little modification to the duct work... hope I'm up to that. As for the JHH kit... I've been pouring over the plans, now neatly laid out on the pool table, and I've read through the instruction 3 times at least. I'll probably start construction on some of the minor items next month.