When the Z model from Italari first came out I was all hot and excited. Whoo hoo!
Well Igot the photos from Randy Smith , mostly preproduction drawings, concepts, some CAD type artwork, mockups and retouched photos of the FourBladeWhiskey. The kit is closest to the FourBladeWhiskey concept aircraft. I worked the kit over, made as many of the mods as I could, dressed it up, took it to the Regional and got it back home. A couple of weeks later, the rollout photos of the first pre-production machine came out.
MAN did they miss the mark! its a LOT different from the kit, and the most current version of the machine with the horizontal Y-ducted exhaust is completely different than what I had installed using a Cobra update set for the Whiskey.
Later I got some tethered flight shots. Very revealing, and quite interesing layout, and again much different than the kit.
When you decide to build the kit up, be ready for the rotors to break multiple times. Drill out the hub and the shaft as deeply as you can and epoxy wire in there to help absorb the load...the original connection is very thin and very prone to breaking. I robbed a TR off of a crashed Apache and modified it to fit. It is underized but close to the right configuration.
Also the apache donated the new Martin BAker seats which I modified to suit, as well as HOCAC controls. I used MDFs from Reheat and a ton of other things to make it look somewhat passable.
David
Build to please yourself, and don't worry about what others think!
TI 4019 Jolly Roger Squadron, 501st Legion