Well I am finally complete with this build. From September 2016 to March of 2017 I spent a few good hours building and getting the electronics to behave like they are supposed to. And not going to lie but I am overwhelmingly satisfied with the results. March 27, 2017 my buddy Steve and I went up to the local model airfield and Steve had the honor of maidening the bird. I had full faith in his abilities to bring back the butcher bird in one piece. And he did!

First thing we noticed on the very first maiden flight was the ailerons jittering when flying into the wind. Steve immediately recognized the symptom was caused by the gyro gain being adjusted to high. So only a few seconds later did he bring her down safely and we entered put her on the operating table to adjust the gain down to maybe 3-4%. So now this time we took her up and she performed beautifully. Just so smooth in the air, and flying very much scale on 3s batteries. I was greatly enjoying watching her fly after all that time and effort of giving her a nose job and butt extension.

Now it came down to my turn. I was nervous and excited. The grass hadn't been cut or rolled yet so the plane has a bad tendency to nose over and knowing this I was holding elevator up all the way. So when we got up I was porpoising up and down until i got some speed and everything was fine. She flew like I had dreamt for so long. I was no longer just staring up at my ceiling where she hangs but up in the clouds where she danced. It was a wonderful feeling and a lot of joy. Now I'm anxious to build something else of my own. That's the delight of the hobby is the endless possibilities to create and explore the physics of flight.

This is the second flight video after adjusting the gains

March 29, 2017 (3 min 59 sec)

And the third flight of that day when I first flew her myself

Parkzone FW190 mod to D-9 3rd flight (3 min 23 sec)

Made a nice save on that landing.

This mod to make a Dora 9 out of a Parkzone fw 190 began as a spare wing that I had lying around in my workshop for the pz fw190 that I already had and loved. I wanted to do something I had never done before, something that would be fun and exciting as well as challenging. So I purchased a brand new fuse and chopped the tail and nose off. Crazy, but now I had to make something out of it.

The inspiration began while flipping through a book on aircraft detailed cross sections and i saw the fw 190 D9 compared to the A8 and it struck me that there were only a few subtle differences between the two. The tail was lengthened and the radial engine replaced with an inline v12, and everything else was more or less the same. Same wing, and empennage. "Ok, I can do this", I said and two weeks later I had a fuselage in my hand and a sawblade .

Five months on and off, lots of insulation foam, coffee and patience and I have got myself a long nosed Dora. The paint job was airbrushed with Walmart bought acrylic paints thinned with Windex, and the "decals" were actually done by me using Windows Paint and printer paper then mixed white glue/water to adhere the cut out "decals" to the model. Lastly, I hand painted the writing beneath the cockpit that translates from German to "In Defense of the Reichs Railways".

I'm not sure if I want to place a swastika on the tail. I used to have one painted on my fw190 A but it felt awkward walking outside the house with a plane that had a nazi symbol on the tail.