cthomasmurray

aadams1278, my heli is at least six years old and it looks like we fly just about the same maneuvers, competent but not hard core 3D. I haven't flown it since we moved to Texas two years ago. I'm still waiting for a few perfect days in a row to fly the P-51's maiden flight. Hope all is good with yours.

Tom M.

aadams1278

I like how you explained that. Competent but not hardcore 3D. I've gone through phases where I fly more often and get more confident at slightly more aggressive maneuvers, and then don't fly as often and back down and fly more conservatively.

As as for my P-51, I discovered that both gear struts were bent and possibly one of the gear trunions, so I ordered more parts, should be here Tuesday (the day I go back to work of course). I've replaced the switches and I'm working on repairing the canopy (haven't heard back from Russ yet). Weather has been terrible again lately. No rush though. Definitely going to make sure I get things done right this time.

shafs

Hay I am thinking of getting another one of these mustangs' sold the first one and never flew it. So my question is are there problems with the gear doors coming down during flight?

cthomasmurray

It depends on you activator installation, the door is preinstalled but it's your call on what you want to make it operate it. there is enough info in this forum to figure out a system that will prevent the inner gear doors from being pulled open in a high speed pass.
I have robart air retracts and activators on inner doors with small magnets for additional support. I have not flown my P-51 yet but I don't anticipate a problem.

Tom M.

cthomasmurray

Anyone have a AeroWorks P-51D wing bag the want to part with? Would like to get a wing bag to protect that big wing!!!! Any suggestions? AeroWoks doesn't have them.

Thank.s, Tom M.

aadams1278

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trai...Green/34109022

aadams1278

I finally got my (second) maiden flight done a couple weeks ago. I tried to post about it here but it didn't save successfully somehow.

Definitely an interesting feeling to not know how a plane is going to handle with every move I make again. (it's been a while since I got a new plane)
The main observation I had was it lands way too fast! Even with full flaps and "spoilerons" I set up. I had a hard time getting it on the ground. At first I thought my prop pitch was to blame and there was nothing I could do about it, but after talking with someone else about it, I looked closer at my throttle linkage and found some slop with the clevis at the throttle servo so I wasn't able to get a reliable and consistent idle rpm low enough for slow landings, and it definitely wouldn't sit still on the ground at idle during taxi so stopping after landing wasn't possible either. I ended up having to kill the engine to make it stop after landing.

I do have video this time but it's not pretty. The landings are bad and one even resulted in the prop dragging the ground a little. I inspected it and there's no damage, only pride hurt there. I've since installed a 23x6 prop and tightened up the throttle linkage with a ball link rather than clevis. That combination hasn't been flown yet.

Skip to about 2:00 for the landings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NldkEQiQQ-M

cthomasmurray

aadams 1278, You had me worried for a while. I had;t seen any posts about your P-51 since your 1st maiden flight. I.m very glad to see all went well on your second maiden attempt. Plane looked great on the ground and in the air. I hope my bad landings look as good as your's. I hope to maiden my P-51 soon! It's been ready for a while, but we have had a lot of rain and lots of wind. I'll post my maiden when it happens.

Great Job aadams1278.

Tom M.

aadams1278

Unfortunately today's result is a step backward. Still having lack of confidence with the engine. Needles are still as from the factory.

Broke the 23x6 prop on the first flight today and bent the gear struts slightly again (not as bad as before, it will still retract, but don't trust it to be reliable). More details in the video description.
https://youtu.be/SfOcneW7iEg

My advice to you would be get the idle as slow as you possibly can and make super low long landing approaches at full idle to get it as slow as possible. I've been trying to use full flaps to get it as slow as I can, but after only 4 landings I haven't had enough chance to experiment with less flap to see if that allows a higher pitch on landing to prevent nosing over.

cthomasmurray

aadams1278, Thanks for the video's and the good advice!!! I have acouple DLE engines on some of my other stuff and had a problem getting the idle down on one of them. The fix was to slightly ritchen the low end needle just over 1/8 of a turn. what do you think is the cause of the landing gear bending, to hard of a landing or tail to high on touch-down or something else intirely?

Thanks again,

Tom M.

aadams1278

The gear bent this time because it nosed over and hit some bumps as it slid to a stop so the front of the gear took the force instead of straight up on them for the shocks.

aadams1278

Update: The gear struts DIDN'T bend last time from that nose over. The attachment points in the wing (L shaped metal brackets) were loose enough to move slightly to give the appearance of bent struts. The bolt and locknut holding that bracket in was just loose enough to move. The bad thing is, you can't get to the other side of the bolt to tighten the locknut and mine were just spinning freely rather than tightening up. So I put fiberglass around the bottom of the brackets to fix that.

Looks like my engine troubles are largely due to the long throttle linkage with the Z bend in it. Today I ran it with an experienced friend with the cowling removed and saw the throttle body actually moving back to idle slower than the servo. It's either due to the bend in the linkage or the rod rubbing the choke servo on the way back to idle. It is possible to push the throttle body with my finger and make it move slightly while the servo remains still. That doesn't happen on the choke which has the short linkage with no z bend. I'm going to switch the position of the throttle and choke servos so the throttle is up in the nose and the choke is next to the fuel tank. Throttle accuracy is far more critical than choke.

Also, I don't think I mentioned before, the 6 bolts that hold the cowling on will work loose if you don't use loctite. I did use loctite but didn't put enough on one bolt. It worked loose but only came about halfway out. I retightened it between flights and it came loose every time.

cthomasmurray

aadams1278, Thank's for the reports. Hopefully I'll send some flight reports of my own if it ever quits raining and hailing around here in Texas. If it doesn't stope soon I might go back to San Diego. Never have that there. HA-HA

pacoflyer

My Feedback: (23)

Has anyone modified the wing on this beauty to make it 2 piece/plug in?

Thanks,
paul

Whiskey Bravo

My Feedback: (31)

x2^

cthomasmurray

Whiskey Bravo, how much for a wing bag? Is it Aero Works?

Thanks,
Tom Murray

aadams1278

Tom,

Did you ever get your plane flying? I've had continual engine issues all along the way and still have not completely nailed it down. All seem to be fuel related.

First I thought it was the clunk, then I thought it was the long throttle linkage, then I found air getting in the carb line from the fuel filter.

While all of those are problems and I fixed all of them, last flight I still had the same weird engine issues. I found the fuel tank itself had loosened in the Velcro straps and could slide around on top of that black firm foam included in the kit. I just now replaced that foam with some good quality foam rubber and put zip ties on the fuel tank so it's not going anywhere now. I hope that was causing fuel bubbles and will solve my problem finally!

Also I originally had the fuel vent line along the bottom of the exterior of the tank because that's the only side you can get to due to how it's mounted in this plane. I tried my best to move that to what is the top of the tank when the plane is right side up. Maybe that will help in some way too.

As for my gear retraction issues, my latest theory is it might be from G forces as the gear gets to the upper most point in the retraction cycle. The retraction time on the electric robart gear is around 7-11 seconds if my memory serves me correctly off the top of my head. That's about the same length of the flying field I fly at so the upper most point of the retraction happens during a turn at the end rather than level flight. I'm going to try flipping the switch at a different part of the pattern next time to see if that resolves my problem. I've removed as much binding as I can find and it works flawlessly on the ground.

cthomasmurray

aadams 1278, I have not flown my P-51 yet! We just widen our fields runway and added 2 taxi ways and I'm getting more confident the runway can handle me and my P-51!!! I have gone through every system I can think of and have checked everything at least 100 times. I guess there are no more excuses not to fly it except that it's to hot and to windy.
I had the same thoughts and concern about the location of the fuel vent line as you do. look back at manual and some of the posts on this tread and it looks like they all put it on the bottom of the tank. It seems to me that would not help the anti-siphoning of fuel, but that seems to be where everyone put it. I'll let you know when I fly it. Good Luck, Tom

cthomasmurray

aadams1278, What is the length of the runway at your field? I'm trying to figure-out if the 45' X 300' runway at my field is enough to land and for the roll-out. It is a smooth surface runway and a grass overrun that is, maybe 50' and marginally smooth! What do you think. Let me know.

Tom M.

badarkstar

My Feedback: (28)

I probably only use about 300 feet or less when I land my friends with a DA 50 in it.
I don't know that I would want to test fly it with only that much margin though.
Bill

cthomasmurray

Bill, Thanks for the reply, That is pretty much what I think also. I'm also using a DA 50.

Tom M.

aadams1278

My field is 475' x 90' with a 200' overrun and about 400' of clear space to make an approach before the beginning of the runway. Now of course you're going to have to consider my circumstances in what I'm about to say, and that is that I've had issues with too high of an idle in the beginning as well as engine reliability issues (most likely due to fuel), therefore I still haven't been able to fine tune my approach and landing technique. I'm still yet to be able to play with different flap settings to find what works best for me. That being said, in my experience i've found that a long low approach path to let it slow down is probably the best thing you can have for this plane, particularly while getting accustomed to it. Even considering that, I've used just about all of that overrun once or twice when I had issues. In my limited experience so far, you basically HAVE to land it 3-point to keep from nosing it over, so that means you have to get it slower and probably eat up more runway distance in the process. Keep in mind, my best success so far has been with flaps at about 2/3 deflection (20 degrees) and I haven't been able to effectively experiment with more/less flaps.

As said above, I personally wouldn't want to be test flying with only 300 feet available, especially if you don't have a long approach path to use prior to that. This thing is heavy and has a lot of momentum with it (compared to what I've flown in the past).

Good luck

(I've had some things come up at work that have kept me busy the past month or so, keeping me from working on my plane so it will probably be a few weeks before I'm back at it again.)

cthomasmurray

aadams1278, Thanks for the detailed information, It makes it easer to make a decision not to maiden my P-51 at my club field. I guess I'll look around for a for a field with a little more room in San Antonio Texas.If you fly out this way let me know! We can go fly some of my planes.

Tom M.

cthomasmurray

Maiden flight today with my AW P-51D at Old Kingsberry Aerodrome at Kingsberry, Texas. It is an aviation museum and old time aerodrome that has allowed the local club to use it's grass runway. Very Nice!!!
I flew just before the start of the TCF Warbird Fly-in.
The flight was great for the first 4 or 5 minutes then my DA-50 quit and I had to make my first landing a dead stick landing. It was a great no flap landing because I had not yet had a chance to test the flaps in actual flight. The engine quit at 3/4 throttle on the down wind with very little warning. I think I need to move the ignition box away from the muffler. Hopefully that will take care of the engine quitting problem. The engine started up easily and ran great until it quit. Still a great first flight, the plane is a great flyer,it did need a little more right rudder at the factory low rate setting. VERY HAPPY!!!

flyboy2610

My Feedback: (1)

As long as you didn't re-kit your plane, it was a good landing!