Building a 1/12 scale P-51  
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All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> RC Scale Aircraft >> Building a 1/12 scale P-51
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Building a 1/12 scale P-51 - 6/10/2008 10:42:56 PM   
ChillPhatCat



Posts: 22
Joined: 6/4/2003
From: NY
Status: offline 		I've got a recent fascination with small electric planes and at the same time scale models. I know this is probably some dangerous dabbling, but that's what makes the sport fun.

Anyhow, I recently purchased a House of Balsa P-51 (36" span, .05-.10 glow) with the intent to change a few of the design parameters to make the plane as scale as possible. The lines of the body are pretty spot on, and with the addition of some wing strakes at the front of the wings and slightly sweeping the leading edge of the horizontal stab and giving it a small airfoil, I believe it will come pretty close to scale. I'm planning on functional semi-scale retracts with doors and flaps too (total of 5 HS55 sub-micro servos in the wing and 2 HS81 micro servos in the body). Along with these changes, I'm planning to power it with a brushless outrunner on a 7.4V Li-Po pack with around 125Amps/lb.

Anyhow, I'm just looking to hear about experiences with the smaller scale planes and if anybody has dealt with small P-51's specifically. I'm estimating the flying weight will be about 2 lbs which gives it right around 22 oz/sq ft. wing loading. Am I crazy? I've been doing this for 15 years, so I'm fairly confident if it's flyable at all that I'll be able to keep it in one piece.
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RE: Building a 1/12 scale P-51 - 6/11/2008 1:37:07 AM   
vertical grimmace


 

Posts: 1143
Joined: 3/13/2004
From: ft collins , CO, USA
Status: offline 		I had one of these and it flew great. I think it may be a little small to get too carried away with scale but they are great fun. I lost mine on a hand launch snap with too little power. Just have fun with it. I would leave the airfoil alone though unless you go to a high lift section like an Eppler 203. Also have washout in the tips.

(in reply to ChillPhatCat)
       Post #: 2

RE: Building a 1/12 scale P-51 - 6/11/2008 2:00:55 AM   
ChillPhatCat



Posts: 22
Joined: 6/4/2003
From: NY
Status: offline 		Ahh yes, almost forgot about washout... good idea. I definitely want to get some retracts in this thing, but I'll have to see how the weight fares as I get it more framed up. Anything more than 2 lbs and I think it's gonna be a handful.

(in reply to vertical grimmace)
       Post #: 3

RE: Building a 1/12 scale P-51 - 6/11/2008 4:25:48 AM   
vertical grimmace


 

Posts: 1143
Joined: 3/13/2004
From: ft collins , CO, USA
Status: offline 		What engine? A friend of mine has the next size up with retracts and it works fine. I think in this day and age you will have no problem getting retracts for it. I also think you will be OK if you get to about 2.5 lbs.

(in reply to ChillPhatCat)
       Post #: 4

RE: Building a 1/12 scale P-51 - 6/11/2008 4:38:15 AM   
ChillPhatCat



Posts: 22
Joined: 6/4/2003
From: NY
Status: offline 		I'm thinking of a Rimfire 35-30-1450 motor http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&W=000422798&I=LXLWU1&P=K I want to run this on 7.4v to cut down on heat... and I'd like some decent speed out of the plane. I've got a set of retracts advertised for a .10 sized plane, they've got 1/8" wires.

(in reply to vertical grimmace)
       Post #: 5

RE: Building a 1/12 scale P-51 - 6/11/2008 2:51:09 PM   
TFF


 

Posts: 723
Joined: 10/30/2006
From: Memphis, TN, USA
Status: online 		The plane is pretty over built. Loose weight every where you can. I built one in high school and I built one about 5 years ago. You have more power than I had. Last one with a thunder tiger .074 runs great with no power. If you had too much elevator pulled in it would snap and it wanted to roll in on a turn. Mine was in the high 20s -low 30s oz range. It needs to be in the low 20s. Now you have made me want another one.

(in reply to ChillPhatCat)
       Post #: 6

RE: Building a 1/12 scale P-51 - 6/11/2008 10:09:12 PM   
51-D GUY


 

Posts: 131
Joined: 12/28/2004
From: Franklin, LA, USA
Status: offline

Here's a few pics of a Project i'm messing around with,

it's made from blue foam

span is 34 inches

power will be an OS .10

I'm not sure yet if i will make the rudder functional ,

everything so far has been completely hand made, useing only a 3 view of a P-51

I made the wing first, then took it to the libary with some poster paper , I traced the outline of the side view onto a sheet of clear plactic then enlarged it using the projecter, i basicly held one wing panel up to the enlarged drawing on the wall until the fuselage fit the size of the wing, then traced the outline onto some poster paper, doing a side & top/bottom views, i now had my templates for making the fuse , also the fuse is made of two pices of foam that are just spot tacked for now, later i will seperate to hollow out for the radio, also will use a dave brown firewall mount / ply firewall & hand made glass cowel, the plug is already made, it's the front lower half , of the fuse. tail feathers will be balsa sanded to an airfoil, the blue foam will be glassed with a thin layer of resin & 3/4 oz cloth.

so far just three hours of work involved, not including the time spent tracing lines for templates

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(in reply to ChillPhatCat)
       Post #: 7

RE: Building a 1/12 scale P-51 - 6/13/2008 1:11:49 PM   
eroc144



Posts: 463
Joined: 10/4/2004
From: Downingtown, PA, USA
Status: offline 		CPC - You're not crazy, but you will have your hands full during takeoff and landings at that weight and wing loading!

I fly mainly 1/2a stuff (.049 - .15) and my experience is that weight is the most critical consideration at this scale - it's amazing the difference a few ounces can make in a plane's performance and I've learned this the hard way. More power helps in the air but the higher wing loading requires "hotter" landings, and wheels are normally more trouble than they're worth at this scale unless your runway is paved. 1/2a retracts and wheels adds around 2oz, which just increases the weight penalty. They do look cool though!!

I built an HOB P-47 1/12th scale a few years ago - AUW is 22 oz and it flies very well (eg, scale) with a Norvel .074. I fly off grass so it's a hand-launcher and belly lander. It has a large wing, and very gentle flight characteristics, and it floats in for easy landings. Hope this helps.

EG

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_____________________________

Nothing is impossible when you don''t know what you''re talking about

(in reply to 51-D GUY)
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RE: Building a 1/12 scale P-51 - 6/13/2008 6:20:22 PM   
ChillPhatCat



Posts: 22
Joined: 6/4/2003
From: NY
Status: offline 		Some cool projects there My calculations show that the electric power package will save me 2-3 oz versus a .10 engine and full 2 oz fuel tank. The 2 micro servos will come out to about 1 oz and the 5 sub-micros about 1.6 oz and reciever another .4 oz. really the only additions in weight will be rubber tires, the retracts and 1.6 oz of extra servos, so that's about 4 oz extra weight... 1-2 oz total over the original. Of course things never work out how they do on paper, so the finall determination will be the weigh in.

I've got the fuse half framed and I started working on the tail feathers last night... managed to get a nearly perfect scale profile by trimming off a very small amount from the stabilizers. Progress is waiting for the motor and some other goodies to arrive. I'll have to start a pics thread soon.

(in reply to eroc144)
       Post #: 9

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