Go Iron Werks go! I'm along for the ride as usual...

Thanks gents for the compliments... 🙂

Today I managed to get some more work done on these two...

The fuselage halves are assembled and elevator / stabilizers installed.

Now there is not a gap. When I build the other wing, I'll take some good pictures of how I did this. A picture is worth a thousand words...

As usual, comments are encouraged.

That upgraded cockpit is really nice. Looks like it is rather mindboggling to assemble that wing. I might steal your concept and start my future builds simultaneously, (ironwerks fashion) but I really do not know how to keep them apart as it is.

Hey, Brother CDAT, @lgardner

Great thread! I just found this since I now only spend about 10% of the time I used to spend here - before Billie got ill. Anyhoo ... I'll be following from now on!

I really love the whole F4U series, and have for decades. I asked Dad if he ever flew one, but he said no - he'd only taxied a couple to re-park them. He called them real "Hot Rods." I think that's pretty high praise since he had flown the F6F many times and it's a pretty capable aircraft.

Great thread so far, Buddy!

Hello George, @gblair

I simply took my time with it and glued the upper wing halves together. I glued the outer wing sections on the lower center wing next, and allowed these three components to sit overnight. This allowed me to look at both sides of the wing fold joint, and get things nice and tight with no gaps at all. I still plan on posting some pictures of the procedure when I build up the other Corsair's wing assembly. It worked out perfect, and is nice and strong. No need for additional bracing so far... I accidentally dropped the F4U and it survived intact. So far so good.

Hey Jeff @mikegolf
Always good to hear from you. The Corsair happens to be my all time favorite plane... It sounds like your Dad had a lot of "stick time" in numerous types of planes. I'll bet taxiing the F4U was harder than flying it. The pilot couldn't see over the nose, so they swung the plane from side to side to see what was ahead of them. When the plane was going in one direction, the pilot would look out over the opposite side to "see" what was ahead of him.

If you have ever seen one doing this you will know exactly what I'm talking about. The pilot used the rudder pedals to steer the plane.

Unfortunately sometimes the pilot would accidentally hit the landing gear retraction lever with his foot when doing this. It was located in a position where the pilot's foot could make contact with the lever on the early Dash 1's. So they ended up installing a "safety clip" over the retraction lever to keep this from happening. It would be a bad day if the landing gear retracted, while the plane was moving on the ground. That big prop showed no mercy...

There's no such thing as gravity... The earth sucks.

Sorry to hear about Billie... I'll keep her in our thoughts and prayers. Hang in there buddy.

Cockpit looks like you could sit in it. The sea blue will really make the cockpit, and rest of the plane, look great.

Hey Jeff, @mikegolf

Here's a picture that shows the landing gear retraction lever in an early Corsair. Notice how close the pilot's foot is next to it when the right rudder is applied ... and how this particular plane has been modified. It now has a metal bracket that will help keep this from happening. Even still, it's awful close to his foot !

Hope things go well at the "Horse Pistol"...