1960's Top Flite 'Hurricane' Build

crankbndr wrote:It always amazes me you have so many great photos from  the past, mine are all lost somewhere along the line. Partly cause most photos back then were slides. Nice lookin model too!

Thanks man! With the exception of a few rare color "Land Camera", all of our photos were black and whites from Brownie Cameras, with their film sent off to Skrudland in Chicago.

My early-life hording tendencies saved many, along with the ones Aunt Jo enshrined in her albums, and eventually got scanned to digital.

Kim , the Top Flite Hurricane is somewhat of a rarity. I've built two of them and I can say with experience that the death won't be a result of a bellcrank pull out but rather it will shake itself to death. The wing is very good in the Hurricane. In fact, I think it's the Flite Streak ribs. You get one extra in the die cut sheets and I always wanted to compare. The stab though is a bit small. The problem with the kit is the engine crutch. When the shells are wrapped around it, it has very little glue area, only the ply formers which quickly break loose causing horrible vibrations all the way to the handle. It's a MUST to fiberglass from the nose ring to the leading edge. Even with a Fox .35, I had to add a decent size chunk of lead in the tail. A OS .25 would make the nose slightly heavier but the choice is a good one. The next issue is the tank being buried and essentially having the fuse built around it. If I was to do it again, I would make is accessible. More importantly though is making sure the pushrod doesn't flex inside. I have one kit left and I'm debating on building it. Nonetheless, a very cool plane that flies quite well.

Thanks Ken!

Will do on the fiberglass, I'd noticed the tiny glueing area and intend to add some 'fill' between the bulkheads in the form of some hard balsa square stock, sanded to match the fuse's sides.



There IS also a chance that I'll go with a Fox .35 with the Hurricane...gonna be one of those 'Mood-at-the-Moment Decisions' !!

I remember that very ad in MAN Kim, and my eye immediately went to the P-40 and Hurricane stunters, especially the Hurricane. Maybe it was the way they were presented and photographed but I was smitten. Regrettably, I did not buy one opting for a profile Sterling P-40 instead on which I hung an Enya .19. I still have it.

I hope that you document your build here Kim. I live vicariously through others within this hobby.

rsv1cox wrote:I remember that very ad in MAN Kim, and my eye immediately went to the P-40 and Hurricane stunters, especially the Hurricane.  Maybe it was the way they were presented and photographed but I was smitten.  Regrettably, I did not buy one opting for a profile Sterling P-40 instead on which I hung an Enya .19.  I still have it.

I hope that you document your build here Kim.  I live vicariously through others within this hobby.  

Will do, Bob!

Once again working on a 'Nostalgia Project' I spent yesterday evening popping the ribs and other parts from it's sheet stock. Both the balsa and ply look to be in REALLY good shape, though the ply parts looked to have just 'a suggestion' of die-cutting...these parts will have to be band-sawed from their sheet stock. I'd have been hard-pressed to cut them loose and in good shape back in the day.

One 'practical mod' I'm considering is to make the landing gear removable for stooge launching/flying from thick grass. The sucker ought to look REALLY streamlined with no wheels hanging down!

My Breezy Hill Flyers bud, Billy, says he built the P-40 version back in the day, and I'm gonna hit him up to see if he has any surviving photos.

A note about my writing---I often copy notes to other sites and Facebook pages, so if I occasionally 'over explain' some stuff, it's because I try to ride the line to make it worth reading here, and also understandable to those outside the hobby.

Later Dudes !!!

Kim, while I see your picture, I used the same tank. Here's what I have to offer, the Perfect tubing tends to split, it's not a seamless tubing. Even a pressure test won't reveal a split pickup tube. At the least, I would repipe the pickup tube with a piece of copper tubing. The pickup tubes of a Perfect tank are not soldered so the only solder joint your pickup tube has currently is the one where it's exiting the tank. Essentially the tube is jammed all the way into the back corner, BUT it's sitting on the floor of the tank as you show it pictured which is technically incorrect. The pipe tends to vibrate the pickup work hardening it and perpetuating the split. There's no simple solution to getting into the tank bay as I'm sure your aware . Your going to need to extend the filler and over flow pipes anyhow so soldering is imminent here.

             Bob, I have the P-40 and the others of that series. The P-40 is built and it uses a Enya .15. The Thunderbolt is also built and I have a Mccoy .19 in it. I like the Mccoy but it's worn out and it causes problematic starting. These planes are much smaller and they offer a more scale like appearance. I have the Mustang and a Thunderbolt not built. I just sold the P-40 on Ebay mainly for the wing spar and shells. My kit was damaged due to a broken water pipe and I had all intentions of building it but it's been sitting for nearly 35 years so I figured IT"S OUTTA HERE. Very cool planes and while they don't stunt like the Hurricane Kim has,  they look awfully cool. These would make a very good 3 line performer due to having the needed room for the J-Roberts bellcrank.

Looks and sounds like a fun model , there sure isn't much to glue to there for the engine rails and tank mount . Be watching the build thread .. yea the ole die cut models can give you some time to think while cutting popping and so on .. My Sig Akromaster kit is die cut if i am not mistaken its not that old and from Brodack i opened it up when i got it and seen that Die stamping and just shut it put in the closet for a better days . LOL !

getback wrote:My Sig Akromaster kit is die cut if i am not mistaken its not that old and from Brodack i opened it up when i got it and seen that Die stamping and just shut it put in the closet for a better days . LOL !

Got that situation with a couple or more kits. My Sterling 'Flying Fool' kit seems to yell at me every time I walk past it, but turned to the Hurricane instead so THAT die-crunched dog is gonna have to wait!

crankbndr wrote:It always amazes me you have so many great photos from  the past, mine are all lost somewhere along the line. Partly cause most photos back then were slides. Nice lookin model too!

Ditto that! If you loose any of your photos posted here Kim.. I've saved many of them.. including this posts'!

Good luck with the build!

roddie wrote:

crankbndr wrote:It always amazes me you have so many great photos from  the past, mine are all lost somewhere along the line. Partly cause most photos back then were slides. Nice lookin model too!

Ditto that! If you loose any of your photos posted here Kim.. I've saved many of them.. including this posts'!

Good luck with the build!

Thanks Roddie !!!