RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the production line  
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All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> RC Warbirds and Warplanes >> RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the production line
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RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the produ... - 12/9/2007 9:03:04 PM   
v6goose



Posts: 647
Joined: 2/9/2003
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Haha! Ok, so including my pilot in almost every shot is a little overkill, but I have time to kill... forever waiting for parts to come in when I can finally afford them.

Good news is that my wife bought half the DL for my birthday!

Pilot will become more useful as the cockpit phase starts.

Sierra tailwheel unit is due in this week, so that will be interesting.

Cheers

Goose

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"Oh yeah, Kiwi''s can fly..."
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(in reply to Mikel-t)
       Post #: 26

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/10/2007 7:46:16 PM   
Mikel-t


 

Posts: 347
Joined: 12/9/2002
From: Ellicott City, MD, USA
Status: offline 		Sorry Goose, I could'nt help myself....Your doing a 1st rate build ( fast too!) I had purchased this kit NIB from Marketplace only to find out that the kit had been opened and sat around for a long-while. I got as far as the Hor.Stab with every jig-tab breaking in my hand...I can't imagine building an entire wing that way...So now I have the ARF on the table and the Rev 52cc ready to load!...BTW need any back-up pieces?????


_____________________________

Mike L
''The future?...well it ain''t what it used to be!"

(in reply to v6goose)
       Post #: 27

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/10/2007 8:47:21 PM   
v6goose



Posts: 647
Joined: 2/9/2003
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Hey Mike...

No worries... the family accuse me of playing "with my barbies again?" all the time... *lol*

Fast... not! I have to save up, order, wait for parts to come in before building.... argh! Oh well...

I'm not having too much trouble with the new kit... the fit of the parts is mediocre at best... man you should see the firewall I'm supposed to just 'drop in'...

Good luck with the Rev 52, its a good small formfactor... I hope your installing the manufacturers cooling fan and shroud to avoid the well documented overheating and vapourlock issues.

ha! I could have used 'spare parts' when building the stab as the laser cut trailing edge was the wrong stock, but you have already built it. I had to rebuild the former right behind the wing after not reading the instructions well enough, but all-in-all things are good.

Cheers! and lets see some pics...

Goose

_____________________________

"Oh yeah, Kiwi''s can fly..."
http://www.goosesworld.com

(in reply to Mikel-t)
       Post #: 28

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/11/2007 6:15:01 PM   
Mikel-t


 

Posts: 347
Joined: 12/9/2002
From: Ellicott City, MD, USA
Status: offline 		What made you go with the DA50...I thought your first post mentioned the Rev 52?. BTW: the fan & shroud are on order. I think the TF kits are fine but something about the way they word their directions vs. Great Planes or Sig suits my comprehension level better. Keep up the mighty fine work, I'll be watching.


_____________________________

Mike L
''The future?...well it ain''t what it used to be!"

(in reply to v6goose)
       Post #: 29

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/11/2007 7:03:25 PM   
v6goose



Posts: 647
Joined: 2/9/2003
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Hey Mike...

I have looked at every engine possible for this ship and posted polls asking what everyone else were using. One of my primary conditions was to not cut the cowl to pieces nor to have half the engine hanging out.

The R52 is a small form factor and from the pictures I gathered, seemed to fit well, but I was worried about reliability with the reports of overheating etc.

I got the DL because of the good reports about performance, power, weight and best of all it was on special. In my position I still think its a good deal, but as they say, the proof is in the pudding...

As for the kit quality as I said, its pretty mediocre. The wood density varies wildly and I have replaced a good few sheets already. The fit is OK at best and reqires a fair amount of stuffing around with parts to get a good fit... in some cases a 'good' fit is impossible but you get what you pay for. The kit is cheap, its not a competition ship and perhaps my expectations are a little high, hence my not complaining too much

I have seen many gorgeous examples of this kit and strive to be one of those, so it may need more work, time, money to get there, but it will get there. All part of the fun...

Cheers

Goose

_____________________________

"Oh yeah, Kiwi''s can fly..."
http://www.goosesworld.com

(in reply to Mikel-t)
       Post #: 30

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/12/2007 2:22:11 AM   
duber3



Posts: 133
Joined: 10/6/2005
From: QC, QC, CANADA
Status: offline 		Hi Goose!!

last year I've built the Top-Flite GS Corsair, this was my first kit ever and I found that very hard to built, like you said the parts need
some sanding to fit each other but I liked the build, this year I will take a break, but next year I plan to built the P51 GS,
I looked in the manual and it seems to be more easy than the corsair, my only concern is the firewall, it seems to be a little
thin, on my corsair I made the firewall 5/8" thick.

I forgot, I liked the pics with your pilot

Bye!!

Eric


< Message edited by duber3 -- 12/12/2007 9:25:23 PM >

(in reply to v6goose)
       Post #: 31

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/12/2007 2:27:04 AM   
mobyal


 

Posts: 864
Joined: 1/2/2006
From: Lexington, VA, USA
Status: offline 		Good thread...

_____________________________

MobyAl

(in reply to duber3)
       Post #: 32

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/12/2007 2:12:33 PM   
v6goose



Posts: 647
Joined: 2/9/2003
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Cheers guys...

Yeah the firewall is three laminations of 1/8th ply and certainly looks fragile.

I have bought a prop-driver extension for the DL through Sierra that will move the engine back 1 1/2". From there I plan to use short standoffs hard mounted to an engine box that I will make out of 1/4" plywood and bolt to the firewall.

I'm not sure of the exact details yet, I'm kinda figuring it out as I go.

Any better ideas?

Cheers

Goose

< Message edited by v6goose -- 1/3/2008 2:12:35 AM >

_____________________________

"Oh yeah, Kiwi''s can fly..."
http://www.goosesworld.com

(in reply to mobyal)
       Post #: 33

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/23/2007 10:40:33 PM   
v6goose



Posts: 647
Joined: 2/9/2003
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		So Santa's (Darrell at Sierra) helper flew by my house yesterday, just days before xmas to drop off some goodies

First four pix show the Sierra tailwheel unit which is an amazing little piece of engineering and finally gave me some time to think about the trouble I have got myself into.

I am opting to install this in the scale manner, ie: the tailwheel retracts forward instead of backwards and introduces the following issues:-

  • Figuring out how to mount it, probably rails at this stage.
  • Replacing the air ram for a LADO electric unit. You can see from the retracted pic that I need more throw to get the wheel up inside the fuse.
  • Steering servo mounting design to allow that 50mm+ movement up and back.

As you can see it is fairly large but only weighs 193g (6.8oz) Adding the Lado unit (2.6oz) puts quite a bit of weight as far back as it can go which needs attention.

The fifth pic shows the Sierra prop drive extension which helps the weight problem by 108g (3.8oz) and moves the DL50 backwards 38.22mm. I have a slight issue with the prop stud extension, but I think its just differing threads, we will see.

So thats the update for now, lots to come!

Have a great xmas guys...

Goose

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< Message edited by v6goose -- 12/23/2007 10:42:32 PM >

_____________________________

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       Post #: 34

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/29/2007 3:27:26 AM   
v6goose



Posts: 647
Joined: 2/9/2003
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		A little more progress tonight...

The stock Sierra air ram is removed for replacelent with a Lado unit (dont look Darrell)

Pilot buddy helps establish the scale location for the tailwheel axle. Doing it on paper was OK but too many questions, so I opted for my favourite CAD program and worked out how to do this.

There are a couple of unknowns in this drawing, the actual diameter of the Glennis scale tailwheel, the stroke of the Lado actuator etc which will change the mounting design a litttle.

This will be the basis for the plywood former that the Sierra unit will be connected to and will span the two formers... both of which will be modified for all this stuff. Sierra is a horizontal mount vs the vertical Robart unit.

The biggest issue right now is how to steer this unit and is consuming quite a bit of thought... yes a servo, probably a metal gear micro and probably up and to the right of the Lado acuator. There is a whisker that straightens the steering arm when there is no load so right now I'm thinking that the connection from the servo to the steering arm (cable) will be slack in all positions except when the wheel is down.

Any alternative ideas here?

Cheers

Goose

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_____________________________

"Oh yeah, Kiwi''s can fly..."
http://www.goosesworld.com

(in reply to v6goose)
       Post #: 35

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/29/2007 8:37:57 PM   
v6goose



Posts: 647
Joined: 2/9/2003
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Hey guys...

In trying to postion the steering servo, I have come up with 3 options.

Option 1: create a bracket connected to the retract arm to keep connections short and simple. Downside is most of former 10A will be removed and a hole made in the crutch for the retracted position.
Option 2: Servo in same space as retract. Downside is steering cables may get caught in the mechanics. Springs may help here.
Option 3: Servo in next bay towards tail. Downside is a small amount of weight way back. Upside Cables less likely to get caught.

I haven't decided which to do yet, interested in your thoughts... which one would you choose, or do you have another idea?

Cheers

Goose

PS. Higher res version of the picture is here if RCU compresses it too much to see clearly.

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< Message edited by v6goose -- 12/29/2007 8:43:29 PM >

_____________________________

"Oh yeah, Kiwi''s can fly..."
http://www.goosesworld.com

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       Post #: 36

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/30/2007 9:54:17 PM   
Racer944


 

Posts: 14
Joined: 4/26/2006
From: Greely, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Sorry, don't know the kit that much but... is there enough room to mount the micro servo sideways to avoid having to cut 10A as much?

Eric

(in reply to v6goose)
       Post #: 37

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/31/2007 3:40:25 AM   
v6goose



Posts: 647
Joined: 2/9/2003
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Hey Eric...

Good idea... its pretty damn skinny back there, but will see how that pans out.

Cheers

Goose

_____________________________

"Oh yeah, Kiwi''s can fly..."
http://www.goosesworld.com

(in reply to Racer944)
       Post #: 38

RE: Another Top Flite Giant P51-D rolls onto the prod... - 12/31/2007 4:40:30 PM