Parkzone P-47 Thunderbolt:

What can I say?  I’m a strong supporter of the Parkzone’s foamie warbird series and when the Thunderbolt was released I had the 2^nd one in the shop built up and ready to fly within a few hours! 

But, being it was the holiday season, I didn’t get to fly it for a week or so ...  In the meantime, I added the E-Flite electric retracts and have been very pleased with the results.  These retracts installed very easily, when compared to mechanical retracts.  Although, a newer builder might appreciate extra instructions on the retracts in addition to the already very good kit instructions.

The main difficulty with installing the retracts is routing the wires.  Some extra foam needed to be trimmed away for everything to fit.  A couple of extensions were also used, but nowhere in the instructions does it remind you to get these (so I’m reminding you now!)

This plane flies a little different than most of the Parkzone series.  More like the ME-109 in the fact it has a more live feeling in the air, my guess would be its more neutrally balanced than the Corsair or any other offering.  Parkzone is known for nose heavy, forgiving airplanes, this one just ending up different I guess.  Not a bad thing, just more lively than some might be used too.

Takeoffs need a little more rollout, and once it’s aloft it looks great in the air.  There’s no mistaking the P-47 shape in the air!  On 3 cells, it flies very nicely.  On par with the Corsair and T-28, maybe be a little faster.  It will groove much better at higher speeds, feeling more solid in the air.

On 4 cells, it starts to come alive!  I‘ve run 4 cells with the stock ESC, but plan to upgrade to a Phoenix ESC just for safe measures.  A 1800mah ThunderPower 4 Cell fits nicely in the stock location, by mounting the battery on its side.  The plane does feel more “planted” with the extra nose weight and seemed to settle in for landing much better.

I haven’t installed flaps yet, but the P-47 still lands very well.  I’ve found that on final, keeping the throttle up one or two clicks off the bottom, just slightly on power, will really make the P-47 settle in nicely.  Once comfortable with the plane, a long rollout after touchdown, with the tail in the air, will look very scale and impress the crowd.

Once again, the boys at Parkzone have done a fantastic job!  Thank you for the great products!

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