babram

Long story short.... my first RC plane was the H9 P-51 Mustang RTF. The guy at the hobbie store strongly sugested i get someone from the local club to train me,which sounded like a good idea to me($400). I got in contact with one of the trainers and set up a date. He went over the plane with a fine tooth comb and into the air it went...after swetting bullets for about 5 min of trying to trim it out, he landed the plane..collapsed the antana and headed to his truck and pulled out his club trainer...My P-51 had been banned from the skys. I had a blast flying the trainer around but was depresed i couldn't fly my plane. After about 5 flights over the coarse of 2 weaks i felt i knew enough to solo my P-51(i now know i didn't know squat...) Crashed the P-51 on take off...My pride stripped from me i piled the pieces in the corner of my work room(spare parts i thought) I bought a trainer like the club had and have been flying it for about a year now. The other day as i was cleaning my trainer after a few flights, my P-51 caught my eye. Getting a little bored with the trainer, i picked up the P-51 parts and thought to my self This thing could fly again....It really wasn't busted up as bad as i thought. Ok ..Ok..my point...Like a noob i threw all the loose pieces of the cawl and firewall away....What would be the best way of building a new firewall...should i try to find some specs..or just fabricate one to fit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

NorfolkSouthern

How are the wing and tail surfaces? If you can remove the elevator and rudder, you could probably order a new fuselage and cowl, then transfer the other parts. Do you have any photos? Also, you may want to get something like a Pulse XT or Goldberg Tiger 2 while you're working on the Mustang.

NorfolkSouthern

babram

Well the fuselage is actually in great condition...just the firewall was ripped off(sory no pictures). I could easily just order a new Fuselage, but i wouldn't learn much that way. I would much rather get the experience of a rebuild PS. ty for the reply

outdoorhunting

The best sequence of doing this hobby would be; (1) high wing trainer,(2) low wing trainer, maybe something slightly airobatic, (3) something fairly fast w/full airobatic capabilities, (4) warbirds. It sounds like you started off on one, but then grew impatent. I did the same thing. A warbird is sooo cool looking it's hard not to try it that way. I'd suggest getting a kit, something like a 4* 40 or 60. Building it for the experience. By the time you're done with it, you'll be able to tackle the repair on the warbird without much problem.. Good luck !!

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Well, I guess you could go down to the local hobby shop and beg them to let you trace out the firewall shape, off a new one in the box, so you can repair yours, in the deal you would be buying wood and new covering from them to do the repairs, don't forget to buy the fuel lines and motor mount, ect,ect.....

babram

Thankyou both for the replies Outdoorhunting you are probably right the Mustang should stay grounded a little longer. The sad part is..it is a PTS....sold as a Trainer....BLaaa!! And having it rebuilt sitting on the shelf would be alot of temptation. I would hate to learn the same hard lesson all over again lol.... Planebuilder66 that is a great idea i never thought of that, but the kit comes with the motor and cowl pre-installed..it would require me to dismantel a brand new RTF plane...unless they are sold in ARF form now i'll check it out though thanks for the tip Any other ideas out there?

Sharpeye22

My son is learning on the H9 P51 PTS. It is a great aircraft. With all the training gear installed it flys slow enough to make several mistakes and still recover. My son has progressed to the point of removing the landing gear air spoilers and installing a two bladed prop. The dropes are still on but the flaps are now operational so he can raise them after takeoff. With flaps down all he has to do on takeoff is keep it straight down the runway with rudder. It lifts off on its own and climbs out at a gental angle. Landings are equally gental. He comes in at 1/4 throttle till over the threshold then cuts power, it settles in on its own. We have been very pleased with the aircraft, however training is best with a buddy box no matter the aircraft.

They do sell an ARF version of the plane and they sell the fuselage alone. I would suggest getting a new fuselage. That way you would have a sound airframe. You could still try your hand at repairing the one you have but would have the advantage of being able to use the new fuselabe as a pattern.

Sharpeye

andernamen

My Feedback: (3)

Get some aircraft grade plywood, about 3/8" or so, trace out the outline of the firewall, cut it slightly large, then sand to fit. Glue it in with epoxy and triangle stock. I've done this on my first few trainers. You should be able to find someone else with a PTS mustang, or as was suggested, go to the hobby shop and see if they will help you. Good luck

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

in leu of tracing a firewall off of another Mustang,which would be the best way to redo your firewall.

if the fuse is intact you can use some stiff cardboard to make a template of your firewall area then you can cut a new part out, the tricky area is the engine mount holes, throwing the cowl and firewall away was a bit of a mistake but can be overcome by getting another cowl.

while holding the fuse upright, place the engine and mount, without the prop and spinner on it, on your newly mounted firewall.
place the new cowl in its proper place on the fuse over the engine, and use the spinner back plate to align the engine with the cowl opening this will give you a location for your engine mount bolts.

remove the cowl carefully, and mark the holes in the engine mount on the firewall these are your new mounting holes, drill your new holes and install some blind nuts and mount your engine.

if you can trace this off of another plane it would make life alot easyer though.

babram

Wow you guys rock.....thankyou all. These are all great ideas. I'm going to keep my eye out for another mustang. In the mean time i'm gunna order another cowl and try my hand at fab'ing up another fire wall. Thankyou all once again