WYDAH

Hi,

Just wanted to share my latest build with the group. This is the House of Balsa .20 43" WS P-51 Mustang
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXM398&P=ML]Kit[/link]. It's powered by a GMS .25 BB [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDXL9&P=7]Engine[/link]. Deviations from the kit include: Moving the firewall back approx. 3/4" to fit the engine, Retractable Landing [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?&I=LXUY32]Gear[/link] ( cant have a warbird with the gear hanging down. ), Fully sheeted top surface wing, Seperate Left/Right ailerons with HS-81MG servos, Full wing fillets, and Williams Bros Pilot figure. Expertly covered ( hah! ) in MonoKote chrome, Ultracote yellow and black. The dry weight comes to 3lbs 3ozs.
It had been on and off the bench for awhile now, and I finally put the work in to get it finished up. Hopefully I will find some time to make it out to the field for the maiden in the next week or two.

Anyone have any experience with this plane? Pointers on achieving a sucessful maiden flight are always welcome. I did read where it can be a bit squirrly on the ground...

mainegold

My Feedback: (1)

That looks great! Chrome must have been a pain to work with but that came out nice.
Keep us informed on how it flies, please.

Good luck,

Jack

WMB

My Feedback: (1)

I concur, that looks AWESOME. How was the build? That plane is on my wish list. Let us know how it goes.

Good luck and have fun! MikeB

WYDAH

Hi,

Thanks for the kind comments. The build was quite easy overall. The hardest parts were trying to squeeze the GMS .25 in the nose. I think the GMS engine is just bulkier overall and is a very tight fit in the front. I had to move the firewall back as well as extend the nose ring a bit to get it to fit properly. The 2nd hardest thing was fitting the retracts. This was my first time with mechanical retracts, and it took some time to get everything to fit and work just right. The kit was not designed for them, so I had to improvise, but I think they turned out well and should work fine. The wing goes together fast, and the fuselage is not bad either, though there is some carving/sanding to round out the front and rear turtle decks but balsa sands and shapes pretty quick. Tail fins are just slab balsa, so nothing to making them. Overall it turns into a nice kit for the $35 I paid for it last year. I see the price has gone up a bit to $45 now. I think it cost me more for the covering than it did for the kit itself.
Well, I might try to break in the engine with a few tanks of fuel this afternoon. Checking the weather forecast for wind conditions for tomorrow. I'll have to check with my flying buddy and see if we can make it to the field on Sunday.
If anyone is interested, I have many more pics of this build, along with the rest of my hangar at my website located [link=http://fire.prohosting.com/wydah/]HERE![/link]

SDM

My Feedback: (9)

Nice job ! They fly great as I have built 2 of them over the years. With the 25 it should really scoot ... If I remember correctly
I think I had a OS 25 FP in mine and it was plenty. Just make sure your CG is set up in the right spot and double check your
control throws as per instructions and you should be fine. It can get small pretty fast as it is a fast little plane but will slow down
nicely if throttled back.
Have fun with it
Sam

blvdbuzzard

I have crashed several of these planes. I have powered all of them with a polished Magnum .25 engine. I had one that tipped the scale at 2 1/2 pounds. It hauled some mule!!!!!

All had a bad habit of getting air born before they were up to flight speed. It is like the prop wash would just push it off the ground. None of mine had any bad habits on the ground. I would ease the throttle up until it was rolling, then power up to about 3/4 throttle until it lifted off the ground then go to full throttle and let it climb like a rocket.

I built one with flaps. That really helped the landing speed with this plane. They do fly pretty fast so just be ready for a small dot in the sky.


Dru.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I have got to fly them A few times and no bad handling problems at all, the ground handling was good, way better then I thought it would be. Like the other guys say, it get's small in A hurry.
I ordered mine at the first of the month from Tower but it is on back order but should be here around the end of the month.
I went to order it first from HOB but the price at Tower was WAY cheaper.
I would like to install retracts but I'm keeping the cost down on this one, it's going to be my toss in the car plane just for fun. I also have the OS .25 FP for it and plan on using any covering I have on hand so it will be A custom racer instead of scale.
Yours came out better then the others I have seen at the club and those looked good so be very proud of the job you did. It's outstanding!!
Gene

WYDAH

Thanks guys,

Just an update. The maiden flight was postponed due to weather...windy and I had some issues with the engine/fuel delivery during the breakin this weekend. I think I have an air leak in the line somewhere. It started right up for me, but only had it running a 4 - 5 mins while adjusting the high needle but then it quit and than could not get it to start again. I know the plug was still OK, but suspect I was not getting fuel to the carb. I need to check all my fuel lines which are also crammed pretty tight in that nose section. Maybe something is just getting pinched.
You guys are just scaring me with all this talk about how tiny this thing gets when it's zipping through the sky! [X(] I just hope I'm up to the task.

Later.

jspencer

My Feedback: (6)

Wydah-

I assume that you are going to try and maiden this weekend? I'm interested in hearing your results. I'm looking to do the same as you, but I'm looking for speed. I will put a TT 25 with a pipe and see how it does. Probably have to do some reinforcing to make it stronger to handle the engine weight and speed, that's what CF tape is for.

Edit:
What retracts did you use? Are they the .10 size that GP makes?

WYDAH

Hi Jspencer,

Doesn't look promising for this weekend. I still have an issue with the fuel feed that I haven't looked at since last weekend. I might get a chance to look into that a bit tomorrow, but Sunday is busy with other things. I never seem to get a chance to fly! I have a growing number of planes now, only because I do find time late in the evenings to work on them when the kids are in bed. (My only free time lately.) It is kind of hard to fly when it is dark out.
As for the retracts, I actually used the .40 size from Great planes. They have a bit beefier struts I believe, which should hold up better on the grass.

Things tend to slow down for me as Fall approaches. Maybe it won't be too long before I get out to try this beauty.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

If you can could you take A couple of shots of your retracts for us and post them. Your plane is so clean and smooth I would like to see your gear up and down too. 40 size gear?? That must have been A lot of work getting it to fit in that thin little wing. Did you use A gear servo or just use the rudder servo to drop and raise the gear?? Also, what size servos did you use.

WYDAH

Hi Gray Beard,

I've got lots of pics on my website. Check out my web link by clicking [link=http://sky.prohosting.com/wydah/]HERE[/link]. If there is still something you would like to see a pic of let me know.

I went with a separate retract servo (Hitec HS75BB). As you can probably see in the pics, I initially cut into the spar to place the retract servo, but then thought better of it since it seemed like it would weaken the entire wing. I later move the servo toward the leading edge and reinforced the spar with ply joiner. After that, and the fact I sheeted the top side it seems very strong now. Only other issue I reallly had was with the linkage to the retracts. Where I had to bend the rods to get them to operate smoothly resulted in them interferring with the fuselage sides when I mounted the wing. I had to cut out little pockets in the fuselage sides where the bends of rod were hitting. This is later hidden by the wing fillets I made, so it is not noticable, and works great.

jetnfast

My Feedback: (2)

Nice looking HOB .20 Stang. Here is a pic of mine, I am running an old OS .15 FP which pulls it around the sky pretty good. - Aaron

Joe Ortiz

My Feedback: (75)

Nice, I have one in the box, what size prop are you using with that .15?

Joe[8D]

WYDAH

Nice job!

How much does yours weigh with the .15 ? Mine is 3lbs 3oz which is a bit heavy I think. Can't wait to see how it flies, but I still have not got the engine running correctly.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

That's one of the better web sites I have seen to date. After looking at your gear set up I think I may install A set in mine. It is A little crowded in there but they still fit in there very cleanly. I have never set up A plane to date with them but have been offered about A half dozen sets from A friend. I think I may as well give it A try on this little plane, it's just A for fun plane and weight isn't A real factor to me but the cool factor is too much to pass up.
I will have to have A friend check out your site tonight, he and I will both be doing the build at the same time so we may be picking your brain on this one.
Gene

jetnfast

My Feedback: (2)

I have been running an APC 8x6 but that one is a little chewed up so I have replaced it with an APC 8x4, havent flown it with that yet. I would guess my stang weighs around 3 Lbs, never wieghed her. The .15 seems plenty. It sure can be a finicky little engine sometimes but when it runs, it pulls it along at around the 40-50 mph range I would guess. I am running dual micro aieleron servos in the wings and mini's in the fuse for rudder, elevator and throttle to keep the weight down. Its a fun little plane for such a small kit for only $30 bucks! --

Aaron

Dragonslain

Isn't 3 pounds a little heavy? I mean, my uproar is about 3-1/2 with about twice the wing area. I guess I need to get used to these scale planes.

I'm in the process of building one, but got stuck in the engine selection, I have a magnum 15 but I think it may not be enough, what do you guys think? I was also thinking about a 30 four-stroke, but that may be too heavy.

Also, what did you guys use for push rods? Thankyou.

WYDAH

Hi Dragonslain,

Yes, I think that 3lbs is pretty heavy for this plane. I added a lot of extra weight with the retract install, separate aileron servos, sheeting the top wing surface, and wing fillets. Not to mention the bigger .25 GMS engine which weighs in at 11oz. Probably going to regret some of this extra weight
As for push rods, I used Sullivan Flex Rods for Elevator and Rudder (#505's, Blue/Yellow)[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFU92&P=7]HERE[/link] . The aileron servos are mounted directly in the wing panels and I used short 2-56 rod for those connections.

Hope this helps.

flyinggorilla

Here is my HOB .20 Stang. Its sheeted and fiberglassed with a os la .25. Hand painted except for the stars. Flys great, but fast.

flyinggorilla

Cant get picture to upload, sorry.

Strykaas

Wydah, come on, it's doable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKHIFDW7VoA

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

hob plane is a lot of fun,, this is mine from over 15 years ago
It had retracts too, os 25fsr



I got bored with one engine so I built this from 2 hob kits
2-32fsr,, super fast

jeffie8696

OK what happened? Video?

WYDAH

Hi,

Well I finally got the GMS .25 fuel feed problems figured out and have it running like a top. I had a chance to bring it out to the field once the fall of 2006. The problem was it just won't take off from the grass field I fly at. Keeps nosing over. I've got 2" wheels, and the struts are bent forward to be nearly even with the leading edge of the wing, but it just does not want to roll. The place where we fly has really rough grass though. I think my only hope if I ever want to see this thing fly is to try to take off from the short dirt road that leads into the field. Even contemplating trying to hand launch, but would have to belly land on the air intake on the bottom.
I really love this hobby, but the past few years I've been only out to fly a few times. Only one half day total in 2007! Lots of weekends doing the kids sports things and so forth. I'm hoping to get back into it more this summer... of course I'll have to get my Kadet LT trainer out and learn how to fly all over again lol....

Let me know if you have any questions on the build. I'd be happy to help if I can.