Warplanes for the World

War Aircraft Replicas decided to turn the problem around and try to do it right; that is, purposely design and develop authentic looking fighter replicas that would fly well and safely as sport planes. In addition, it was decided to pick a scale that would combine low construction cost, readily available materials and equipment, rapid construction techniques that the majority of the current and new he’s confident he can handle, be proud of, and spend more time FLYING than building. With the technology and materials available today, we rapidly concluded that actually achieving these goals would result more from our determination to see this approach through than any other factor. So the concept of the authentic looking, half-size War Aircraft Replica was born.

The first major step toward our goal was to build an engineering mockup in the same manner as the flying aircraft would be built. This was considered well worth the cost since it enabled not only working out all the construction methods, design details, equipment locations, weight and balance, etc, but also provided a finished looking product with which to assess home builder and pilot reactions.

Since the Focke Wulf 190 was our unanimous favourite, it was chosen as the first model, constructed, and given a full Luftwaffe camouflage paint job.

The War Aircraft Replicas are essentially half-size versions of the real machines. It should be recognized from the start that these are NOT half-SCALE replicas; rather, half-size. There is a distinction because one cannot simply take the real machine’s dimensions and blissfully cut them in half. You immediately run into problems with Reynolds Number, scale effects, area problems, moment arm problems, weight-and-balance problems, mechanical/physical layout problems, airfoil problems, etc. As a result, these replicas are new aerodynamic designs that have been properly proportioned at half­ size to look like the real machine to the human eye. Certain design “liberties” have been taken, but you have to know what you are looking for to detect them.

War Aircraft Replicas provides a whole new class of homebuilt aircraft. Now the average pilot and homebuilder can afford to own and operate an authentic looking, classic WWII fighter aircraft. War Aircraft Replicas incorporates a new construction concept that greatly simplifies the process, ensuring each homebuilder a beautiful, authentic looking replica that he can proudly fly. These replicas can be built easier and quicker than most regular homebuilt designs available, but still retain the authentic fighter look.

As such, the FW-190 and other War Aircraft Replicas possess seven main qualities:

1. Scale authenticity, down to the smallest detail
2. Ease of construction so you can get on with the FLYING
3. Strength ( + 6Gs)
4. Economy (construction and operation)
5. Performance (155mph cruise)
6. Maneuverability (after all, it’s a fighter replica)
7. The classic look of a real WWII fighter aircraft.

While the FW-190 replica is the first in the new War Aircraft Replica series, the next three in order are replicas of the F4U Corsair (bent wing, 90-degree swivel gear, and all), Hawker Sea Fury, and the P-47 Thunderbolt. Beyond these, replicas of the Mitsubishi Zeke, Curtiss P-36, Tank 152H (long-nose FW), F8F Bearcat, F6F Hellcat, Fokker D. XXI, Macchi C. 200 Saetta, and Lavochkin La. 5 are well underway.

As of this date, War Aircraft Replicas has been concentrating on radial-engine fighters to exploit the readily available VW and Continental 0-200 engines, simply because no reliable, adequately scaled in-line engine is known exist in quantity.

The estimated cost to complete one of the current fighters would be somewhere between $4000 and $8000 (US). Depending of course on the powerplant cost and the amount of work dune by the builder on parts and components. Naturally this can affect the time required by an average homebuilder to complete his aircraft. An estimate would be approximately 3000 hours.

The wood fuselage box and wood spurs were selected over steel tube type construction mainly because, we felt, most builders feel more comfortable working with wood and it lends itself better in conjunction with the foam and fibreglass method of shaping.

The construction drawings (plans) are for the most part drawn full size. Many parts are built directly on the plans, similar to a large model airplane. Drawings are blue line and a 40 page construction manual accompanies all plan sets.

Fun flying is what the War Aircraft Replicas are all about. Fighter aircraft were designed to manoeuvre and so were our replicas. They don’t come designed for prolonged inverted flight, but hey are ready to perform all the basic combat manoeuvres. The +6g air frame, is designed for normal aerobatics. The War. Aircraft Replicas combine a reasonable spongecake,good stability and control, responsive controls, adequate power-to-weight ratio, and full maneuverability to enable flying any of the standard aerobatic manoeuvres (IE, inside loops, barrel rolls, changeless, immensity, cuban eights, split, etc).

By mid 1978 there were seven FW-190 and two F4U Corsair aircraft actually flying. Future plans call for suitable in-line powerplant types such as the ever popular Mustang and Spitfire, etc in addition to twin engines, two place types of the P38 class. In a world where so many things are stereotyped and dull it is retire of these great little aeroplane which truly put a capital flying. Further details may be obtained by writing direct to War Aircraft Replicas, 348 South Eighth Street, Santa Paula, California 930, USA.

Specifications (approximately the same for all fighter replicas)
Scale – approximately one half
Span – 20′ 6″. Length – 16′ 6″
Empty weight – 600/b. Gross weight,_–900/b-­ Wing loading – 12lblsq ft
Cruise – 155mph. Stall speed – 55mph. Approach speed 70-
lSmph
Take-off run – 80011000ft. Rate of climb – 1200fpm Manoeuvring capability – Aerobatic, 6G plus and minus internal structure
Engine – Continental 0-200 (100hp).