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I made this airplane rocker as a gift for a relative's firstborn child (due May 2012). It's still a surprise and significantly early, but I hope they like it and have room to store it. The P40 is the soon-to-be grandfather's favorite aircraft.
Enjoyed designing and putting this one together. The P40 maybe wasn't the most popular aircraft of its day, but it has distinct, recognizeable features that make it unique. The assembly was much like my P51's, except with practice has come proficiency. Getting the "sharks mouth" just right was a challenge for my painting skills. It scaled down nicely to just the right sized rocker.
Probably need to make a couple of flightline deliveries before filling any new orders.

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Now that is pretty cool. It should make some little pilot happy. Thanks for sharing.
 

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These rockers are really cool! Great job!
 

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That is really a great rocker. I am sure it will get a lot of use
 

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too bad you didn't enter that in the toy contest…ida voted for it
 

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This is the coolest of the group of your rocker planes you've made.
 

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I am loving all of them. Maybe a Spitfire next???
Just wondering if an adult would fit on these…really, just wondering:)
 

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Well done! Lucky kid.
 

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These are great. My son would have loved something like this. Being an ex-aircraft mechanic, I'm partial to the one in the last picture. Thanks for posting these.
 

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My son started flying sailplanes when he was 8 years old. He's 30 now and is an airline pilot. When he has children, I'll have to make one of these rockers for my first grandchild.
 

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Red Bull has a nice F4U that still is airworthy.
 

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General Chenault would be proud of you.

For my kick at the suggestions, how about a bit of a challenge? A Corsair, in honor of the navy and marine pilots.

Then of course there's the Stearman AT-17.

Paul
 

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BigTiny - He already did the Corsair in an earlier post.

What I want to see is a C-130H3.

Real Planes Have Props.
 

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I'd really love to have plans for something like this. Friends of mine recently had a baby. He is one of the best C-130 pilots God and the USAF ever made and she is a C-130 Navigator, so I'd like to make a C-130 version. I don't need specific plans, just a general idea for overall methods, particularly the rocker itself.
 

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Hi Rob,
I gave 'mattshack' a rough idea on how I go about design/build via comment #17 on my P51 Mustang post. The C-130 would take significant scaling down and a little creativity with the engines and the high wing. Locating the pilot seat and rocker base for best CG with USAF baby on board would take some thought. If you take a closer look at any of my rocker pics, you'll see the base is very simple. Once you get the C-130 scaled down a shortened base could go just below the landing gear bay. This plane may work well with a "thru" cockpit similar to my F16 rocker, too. If I keep going, I'll have it designed for you and ruin all your fun. It looks like a great one to pursue.
-Gary
 

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Gary - is the fuselage two or three layers of 3/4" ply? And how do you figure the curve/size for the rockers?
 

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that's gotta be thee best rocker I've ever seen. really kool. is that u flyin the real one??
 

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Rob - three layers of 3/4 plywd for fuselage. The center ply will include the vertical tail and the out plys blend in as required. Two 2X pieces provide wingspar support for 1/2" ply wings. There's a bit of trial and error on the rocker curves. I'd like to provide a nice radius and you'd be set, but you need a 'flat' spot for the neutral position. I think I started from a store bought rocking horse plan and adjusted from there. The rocker for pitch (fwd/aft) movement is 4.5" wide and 28" long. For roll movement, I've used 2X lumber that spans 31". A very gradual curve gives a surprising amount of rocking with a 6 foot long plane. It's easy to build a small mockup and test it out. Unfortunately, the true test is when the pilot goes for the first flight. Hope this all makes sense.
-Gary
To Roger: I wish! It's fun on the flight simulator on the PC shooting up the enemy. I'm only VFR on Cessna 152's and haven't been up for awhile. Need to get my priorities straightened or something…
Thanks-Gary from Montana
 

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thanks Gary - all makes sense.
I think I'm going to try the "through seating" you mentioned so the seat is centered at the wing root.
 

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That's just PLANE cool!
Tracy
 
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