G.F. Reid

My Feedback: (1)

ticketec,
Congratulations on a fine finishing and building job on your Mustang. The colors look right on the money.
Just curious, did you use the kit decals? The markings look painted on...and that's a compliment.
I've had the B-model kit in my basement for 7 or 8 years.
Best of luck with it when time to fly comes about!

gwong

My Feedback: (1)

Question for the group...has anyone had or heard of the stock elevator torque rod failing.

I am worried that over time the brazed joint may became weak.

Thanks,

Gord.

WarbirdAirRacer

My Feedback: (16)

I have never seen this happen before...but that doesnt mean it cant happen i guess. I have built and flown a number of these its not happend yet...... ***knocks on wood*** I also trash the stock 2-56 rod and use 4-40 with a ball link.

jeffk464

I cant imagine, its pretty heavy duty.

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Hey I B Buck,

I wanted to use the keleo exhaust but he doesn't make them for the O.S. 1.20 fs, so i would contact him first and make sure he can make them to suit your engine. he did say he makes them for the saitos though in the 1/7 mustang though.

Thanks

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Hey G.F. Reid,

Thanks mate. I went to a bit of trouble to get the colors right on her, and luckily the guy who worked at the paint place where i got my latex paints knew how to do his job really well because the color match computer was having trouble matching the olive drab color sample i gave him.

Yes, all the markings are airbrushed on and i got my stencils from Gary at getstencils.com. He was really great to deal with and really fast. If you plan on doing the shangri-la, you could ask him if he still has the artwork he prepared to me stored away. I used a number of references to get them as accurate as i could, like the top flight ones provided, net pic's and the tamyia 1/48 scale kit.

Thanks

tlgibson97

Got a quick question. I went out flying yesterday still trying to get my mustang trimmed and flying well. The question I have is this. I have the plane flying straight and level at about half throttle. The problem is when I go full throttle and pick up speed it wants to pitch up a lot. What do you think the most likely problem is? Is it too tail heavy? What do you think. I thought I saw something about this problem somewhere but I couldnt find it again.

chalre

Tig,

It's not an issue of being tail heavey, it has to do with thrust. Mustangs want to climb because of the wing design. I own two and both want to climb as throttle is increased. The best thing to do is to shim the top of your engine mounts to give a bit more down thrust. It' simple to do. All you do is tae two washers and place them behind your motor mount on the fire wall.

hornetcv64

Does anyone have a photo of how they mounted their fuel lines and tank. Also new to the hobby and picked a heck of a model for my first build. Pretty happy with it so far and I am getting close to glassing the wing and fuse just as soon as I finish putting in the retracts.
The overall forum is a wealth of information and you all have been doing a great job on your builds. Glad I finally signed up.
Will post some photos of my mustang if I can get the camera to work.LOL

tlgibson97

I'll try to shim it and see if it works out. My only concern is the clearance I have between the spinner and the cowling. If I can't get it shimmed I will probably just mix in some elevator with throttle to keep the nose down some. The only trick with that is it doesnt seem to pitch as much with throttle position as it does with speed. Eother way, thanks for the suggestion. I will mess around with it and see what works.

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Hey tlgibson97

chalre is right, the first thing you look at is the thrust line. Shimming the mount is the right way to go to adjust it.

Now, if you say the the trim change is more related to the airspeed and not throttle position, then it sounds like a decalage issue (angle between the wing and horizontal stab)

Is you have a few + degrees of decalage, then the faster you go, the more she will want to climb. If you CoG is right on, trim her for level flight and then I chop the throttle and dive vertically, if she starts to pulls out by her self, i'll be looking at the decalage.

Alternativly, if you have an incidence meter, check the DIFFERENCE between the wing and stab. i think the plan calls for +1 degree but 0 is also fine. anything that is a - figure, and she will tend to be a hand full to fly.

thanks

zope_pope

http://www.scaleaero.com/flitemetal.htm

Anyone thought of using this stuff instead of fiberglass? I am almost leaning that way as it sounds easier to apply.

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Hey Zope,

Flite metal is not a replacement of fibreglassing. In fact, it probably evem mroe important to glass if using flite metal.

I haven't used it, but from what i read, it seems to be a rather laborious task to apply it, BUT it's the best looking aluminium finish i have seen bar the plating process that Metalmorphous does..

Here a long running thread on the application of it.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_2383762/tm.htm

SHe would look a million bucks if you did it this way. Maybe on my next 'stang

Thanks

skylarkmk1

ZP,

If you read the application instructions for application over wood it reads "Wood surfaces should be hardened with epoxy resin (diluted 50% with denatured alcohol). For best results your airframe should be covered with a single layer of 6/10ths ounce fiber glass cloth and diluted epoxy finishing resin (Z-poxy)."

To me that means you need to glass your wood surfaces first and then apply the "Flite-Metal". You are not really making things easier althought the look is great when the time is taken to apply the individual panels.

Glassing, with built up painted panels, produces nearly the same effect under a fully painted surface. For a true aluminum suface though, with either polished or natural (weathered) panels, Flight Metal is hard to beat.

I would be concerned with the overall weight build up though. The choice is up to you.

chalre

Zope,

The gentleman who is standing towards the nose of the F-100 is Mark Taylor. He flies out of the club here in Fresno and is a retired fighter pilot,. I have only seen his F-100 once during the jet rally here in Fresno. He flies his BVM King Kat more than anything which looks awesome as well. Mark had some help with the detail work on his plane by a guy named Ernie. Ernie is an excellent modeler and is a wiz at detail work. I can ask him the best way to get the metallic look you are looking for if you are interested.

zope_pope

Hey Guys,

thanks for all the replies. I didn't realize that fiberglass was needed before applying flite metal. I think this bird is too small given that, but if you have any suggestions on getting a truly metalic look, let me know. I am going with the Big Beautiful Doll scheme (I know its been done quite a bit) so as you all know quite a bit is just bare aluminum.

Update on my build:
Still working on the elevator linkages. I decided against trying to get my part from TF again, so I bought dubro strip aileron linkages to use on the elevators. I can't seem to fit the linkages into the skinny tail though, so I am modifying them a bit. I plan to go dual mini digitals on the elevator (overkill, i know), so servo mounts to be built tomorrow. I'll post pics as this will show some progress on my plane. Also keeping the elevator servos, and tail wheel servo in the tail to make up for the 140dz that i want to throw in. :P

skylarkmk1

ZP,

Mustangs in "natural finish" had their wings painted silver to insure the laminar flow to the wing airfoil. "...At the factory the wings were primered and finished with airfoil smoother..." I refer to pg. 16 of "North American Aviation P-51 Mustang", by Osprey Aviation, Production Line to Frontline, Vol 1, ISBN 1-85532-703-1.

A picture on page 39 of P-51 Mustang in Action, Aircraft No. 45, by Squadron/Signal Publications, ISBN 0-89747-114-8, has a caption that reads "...Notice that the main wing panels are painted in primer, prior to being sprayed silver. All P-51Ds were painted in this manner..." A painting of Big Beautiful Doll is on the cover.

Most pictures at the time were B/W and do not show the wings to the best advantage, usually taken from the tip, leading edge or from the ground looking at the underside in shadow, so this painted wing feature is not generally noticed.

The Mustang in the attached photo is owned by a gentleman at a local airport and is painted as Lt.Col. Meyers "Petie 2nd". The Blue Nose and rudder are much lighter than this photo shows when seen in sunlight. The whole plane is painted, no natural aluminum is exposed.

S_Dave

Hey, Adam,

Good-looking work on your Mustang model. Are you planning to strengthen the wing sheeting at the wing joints with any fiberglas and cloth?

I saw one of these planes, some years ago, that my friend built as his first plane. He simply glued the wings together while building (didn't have this forum or experienced friends to guide him then) and didn't know to strengthen the wing-panel joint. On its first flight, he came in fast and pulled out right in front of us. I'll never forget it--the sunlight glinting off the windshield and spinning prop, the howl of the Enya .90 engine as it came diving down, the snap and crack as the right wing shed itself from the plane, the ever-increasingly rapid spin that begun with only one wing, and finally the torpedo-like run along the ground until it ran out of momentum and big enough parts. I can tell you, it was PRETTY exciting having all that coming at you. My poor friend was pretty sad for a while. He continued to build more beautiful models, and he glassed the wing centers on all of them after the Top Flite Mustang.

Thanks for sharing the pictures and keep up the great work!
Best regards,

Dave

hornetcv64

Hey all. Do you mean glassing in and around the dihedral brace? I do plan on glassing my entire airframe to not only strengthen it but also to primer and paint. I was told by a local builder that it created a much better finish but I did have a concern about the weight. I will take some photos of my build tonight and get them posted tomorrow.
As for the information that I am getting out of this forum, well it it priceless.
Joe
Still looking for photos on engine hook up, ie lines and linkage as to how you all did it.
Thanks again

zope_pope

On the paint and primer info, i didn't know that about the mustang. That is awesome to know. Thanks!

I do plan on glassing the entire airplane, so hopefully now wing breaking for me.

So what am I doing right now? Still playing with my elevator linkages. Has anyone put an access hatch in the tail? For the tail wheel, tail gear servo, all that other good stuff? If so, any pictures are greatly appreciated. I'll definitely be making an access panel, but I am not sure where or how.

BTW - for solder clevises, use a butane torch. Much Much better than solder irons. It heats it up to temperature within 5 seconds. Awesome!

saramos

What I did on my TF Spitfire was to make one of the scale hatches functional. This houses my air filler, battery charger, and volt meter.
Unfortunately, I don't know of any comparable hatches on the Mustang. Perhaps you could have the rear radiator hinge open in a scale manor to provide access to accessories there.

Scott

zope_pope

sexy.

I like that. I was considering the rear radiator opening. I am now trying to figure out where I can mount everything for easy access. If i knew adding these things to a predesigned kit was this hard, I would have scratch built the entire thing! Anyhow, I'll quit complaining, as I think I almost have this figured out.

saramos

I had an idea, but it may be too complicated to make work. I wonder if it could be designed tohave the accessories mounted to a board that would swing down as the radiator door is lowered to provide easier access.

hornetcv64

The hatch looks great. As far as the tailwheel actuator I put it in the fuse area close to the selector valve and ran a long push rod to the tailwheel lever. That way if something goes wrong with the actuator I don't have to tear the rear of the fuse apart to get to it.
I know that I am new to the forum but I still need help on the fuel tank deal. I would appreciate any help at all. Here are a few pictues of my build so far as well. As you can probabely see I had to tear part of the skin away to install my air lines after the fact. Thank God I have enough balsa to reskin when completed.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Hornet:

You want to get your fuel tank right up behind the firewall, as close to the engine as possible.

With an inverted engine such as you have, it is critical to get the centerline of the stopper somewhat below the spray hole in carburetor. On four strokes like you have, the spray hole is at the same level as the high speed needle valve. I would suggest trying to locate the tank such that the centerline of the stopper is 1/4" below the centerline of the high speed needle. You can run the engine with it higher than that, but you'll have no end of problems with fuel siphoning and flooding on the ground, and getting the needle valves set correctly will be twice as difficult. It's worth the effort to do what is necessary to get the tank at the correct height. I just finished about a month's worth of experimentation with a fuel system, and I am very familiar with the effects of incorrect tank height.

I have one of the Gold Edition 1/7 Mustang kits, but have not yet started on it. I took a look at the plans just now, and the fuse drawing shows a side view of an inverted four stroke engine and its fuel tank, which is mounted too high. You can easily see that the stopper c/l is higher than the needle valve.

I have a whole pile of fuel tanks in a box, so I did some experimentation to see what could be done. The Sullivan 6 oz round tank (Tower Hobbies item LXFU36) is 4.5" long and 2" in diameter. There is room in the fuse to get two of them side by side behind the firewall. You'll have to plumb them in series, which is not a huge big deal.

Whatever you do, build the tank and airplane so that you can get back in there and change it, or repair it, or whatever, in the future. Don't make it impossible to work on. Rule number one of RC aviation is the same as Rule number one in combat: "No plan survives enemy contact unchanged."

Here's a crude drawing of how to do it. The short piece of brass tubing in the clunk setup is so that the clunk can NEVER get turned around and stuck up in the front of the tank. That can cause you to go insane trying to figure out what's wrong with your engine.

Did you say this is your first RC kit? Do you have any flight experience?