RedTwilight

Thanks for the suggestions guys![8D]
What is the range of the Hitec 05S RX?

L0stS0ul

over 1 mile. more range than you'll ever need

electriceye

check out this flight (not mine sadly but from 'Sport Aviator' magazine site review of PZ P51-It really flies and is (supposedly) stock!!


http://www.masportaviator.com/media/...rt%20Video.wmv

afpe45

Here is the review to go with that video that electriceye posted

http://www.masportaviator.com/ah.asp...&ID=88&index=0

afpe45.

electriceye

Hi afpe45.

Have you got a PZ Mustang? If so how are you getting on with it? the one in the clip (and LOstSOuLs) fly great, but I suspect that is because the pilots are confident/experienced. I suspect those that have had problems are less experienced (no disrespect meant) ??. Although you can only catch a glimpse of the guy launching it, you can see he really has given it some energy-From all the posts,it seems that to successfully launch this bird, one has to give it as much of a hefty 'throw' as possible? I have no experience and am just waiting for the weather to coincide with some free time along with the local Club's flying sessions so an instructor can help me out. So, although I have had it for 6 months, I haven't had the oportunity (or the 'bottle'?!) to try it on my own.

KingCobra79

Well, here is another story of crash and burn. I installed my Typhoon motor on my tried and true, never crashed frankie, and my flight lasted about say, 4 seconds. Several mistakes, I set too much UP trim ( I have two, so I was going to turn in off in about 5 seconds), didn't set any right aileron trim, and I set a LOT of travel on the control surfaces. Anyway, at partial throttle, I launched and it quickly started to climb and rolled left. I have been flying for years and I can't explain what happened. I even forgot the old rule when in trouble, Up elevator and power off. So here is the result. These parts exploded: prop, spinner, cowl, gearbox, gear, firewall, battery door, fuse plastic frame. These parts bent: battery, E-flite 40A ESC. These parts flew off: frankie, cockpit. Guess what, wing and stab are A-OK. I have all the other parts, so a new bare fuse is on the way to try again.

Anyway, I should have read the page 68 stories first. More power needs more care and caution-it doesn't make it easier!

kahloq

Sounds like what happened to my second PZ P-51. Sorry to hear. AS you can atest, having problems with the plane does not mean you are new to flying.

KingCobra79

Thanks. I have got to try again-but-I also ordered the Hyperion OD Green P51. I like the PZ P51, but I need landing gear. I was really hoping the Typhoon motor would improve the hand launching, but it looks like it will always be a fine art getting a good launch.

kahloq

I agree completely about hand launches being a fine art....either you get it right, or your pick up pieces. A little stressfull in my opinion. SO, if you havent seen, I did put landing gear on the PZ P-51 with full rudder control as well. I now put landing gear on everything(did same with PZ FW190). The typhoon motor definitely is a vast improvement over the stock 480, but like you said, you still have to get a successful handlaunch in order to enjoy it.

That Hyperion is a really nice plane and I have thought about getting one, but I already have so many planes sitting around now, I dont have room.

L0stS0ul

Check out this video. With all the people having problems launching the P-51 I made a tutorial.

http://www.rcgroups.com/gallery/show...cat=500&page=1

I just flew mine again today. I love the plane. Well over 120 flights now and just have fun with it. It's become my beater plane and I'll do anything with it. I'm not afraid to crash it. I still fly it completely stock on the nimh packs. Great fun.

traxxboy

Can we see pics of fw-190 with landing gear Kahloq

afpe45

@electriceye,
Sorry, I missed your post with all these QUOTES taking up the space Its getting hard to keep track, and I wasn't automaticaly informed for some reason.
Anyway. in answere to your post.
I have been flying slopers "ONLY" for two years, I got a P-51 replacement airframe for around £55 and am going to do the mods to it that are mentioned in this and other threads (and forums), all I have done is think about it so far.
I think it must be one of the first batch as the foam is only 2mm thick, I also got one off ebay yesterday, brand new and stock ,only been flown once for £75 (a bit high for ebay prices but when other people are bidding you have to go with the flow if you want it) on this one the foam is 5mm thick.
I keep looking on ebay for one that has been modded(in England) but I never seem to find one. anyway with this one I am going to just charge the batteries and go up the "slope" with it to answere some of my own questions(posted in other posts and forums) .
I will take my video camera with me for the maiden flight I will have to set it up on the ground so I will only get the launch and what ever else is in frame, I can't see having any problems with it , it only weighs 800grams thats lighter than any of my slopers .
anyway the video will prove my right or wrong.

In answere to your comment.
I agree that it is probily down to experience as to the succsess you have with it. we will see how my first time with electric power goes in a few days, maybe next week.

afpe45.[8D]

kahloq

Same setup as the PZ P-51. I do not have a pic of the FW190 at the moment.

electriceye

good luck!! let me know how you get on.

cloudancer03

My Feedback: (22)

I finally flew my P51 and its a great plane ..my issue this time was that I couldnt get it to range check properly.I heard chatter and then when I was maybe 30 feet out the motor would start and stop.I couldnt figure what the heck was going on.fortnuately I was patient and our club electric guru offered to look things over.when I removed the wing he noticed that the aileron cable and antenna wire were interwined.yeah thats a no no.so we we got it staightened out and taped each to separate sides of the inside cavity.got it back together and viloa! no issues.he hand launced while i manned the controls.It flew flawlessly and I trimmed in some down and right aileron and being my first I switched back to lo rates for a while till I was comfortable..really nice electric..I do think though for my second electric I will buy things separately and put the next plane together with my computer radio rather than plug and fly..I prefer a std.4 channel rig and using my own interchangable components..I love mustangs for sure and may just get the hobby lobby one as well..other than a poor wiring job at the factory the plane flews great!!

afpe45

point to note from cloudancer03,
"I removed the wing he noticed that the aileron cable and antenna wire were interwined" could be some others had the same problem without realising It
which could account for a lot of the false storts we hear about.
afpe45.

mbj

I flew Mine for the First time today with the help of my brother.
Before we left the house I told my wife we should get pictures because it probably wont look like it did by the time I get back.
She let me know it better come back the way it left!
Nothing like putting the pressure on us!

I have Zero experience by the way.

Just alot of reading on this forum and watching videos and listening to all the great tips from people here.

I purchased it from ebay for around $78 Plus shipping of course.
I flew his Firebird freedom one time for roughly 5 minutes and that is what experience I have.
That and the Realflight G3 Demo.

I recieved the plane today.
I charged the battery called my brother and away we went to a nearby airstrip.
Thier is a wheat feild right next to the grass runway and that is where I chose to fly the thing.


I had the controls and per the advise of Lostsoul I gave it up trim and had him throw it...
LOL thats what it looked like too! for some reason it went right and landed in the wheat with no damage.
I then had him run and toss it.... again into the wheat feild it went but almost made it out of the right turn stall.
We made an adjustment...
I then decided I would throw it since it was mine. And that is my normal Job when he has taken me to fly with him.
I threw her hard, harder than what it looks when Lostsoul throws it...and away she went.
The thing is a little akward to hold by the way!
I went ahead and let him fly it around since he has had 3 succesful flights on his Firebird freedom.
(Much more experience than I! LOL)

He succesfully flew and landed in the wheat. He was very smooth with the controls
we checked it over then I hand launched it again and took the controls.

Dumb luck? Probably but anyway I was able to fly it just fine, not smooth.. but controlled.

I circled around a 3 or four times in a very large area and then made my descent. It came in nicely and seemed very controlled I had low power and tried to flare it at the end but miss calculated and it caught the top of the wheat before landing softly.
The plane is fine with no visible damage I checked all screws when I came home and all is well!

Why am I writting this?
Well I wanted too Thank all of you for sharing your expierences and sharing tips for those that have problems or have yet to take the maiden flight.


Tall grass is a must for the first flight otherwise I dont belive I wouldve had a very good experience today. First two tosses wouldve killed it, I am Sure of this!


The thing is hard to see as someone had stated...It was a little stormy and it blended in at a fair distance.
We flew it around 75 to 100 feet to be safe and I am glad we did.


I know it is not reccomended to choose this plane as a first.
I figured my brother and I could both learn too fly his plane then we could work on flying mine.
But when it arrived we couldnt resist the urge to throw the thing in the air.

We will probably continue to practice launching and landing over the wheat field untill we are both very comfortable with the plane.

We were all smiles when we left

Thank you everyone! your advise is much appreciated.

gunracer

mbj,

welcome to the wonderful world of rc flight...sounds likes you and your brother had a great and fun time and that's the most important thing...planes will always come and go...fond memories will always stay with you...enjoy your p51...

electriceye

mbj wrote: "Dumb luck? Probably but anyway I was able to fly it just fine, not smooth.. but controlled. " Well done for having the 'bottle' to do what I have been procrastinating over for months, being like you, a really green newbie (no experience of R/C but lots of aeromodelling experience, but it was over 35 years ago so that probably doesn't count)!! When asked why I haven't flown my Mustang yet I blame the weather, being too busy, etc, but your experience has inspired me to just go and do it. I guessed a long grassed field, wheat field or somewhere similar was a definate requirement!!!

Please can you tell me-Did you:

Use mode 1 or mode 2 for the control surfaces?
Launch at full power or 3/4?
did you set any aerolon trim to counteract torque as recommended so often?

Any other little 'hindsight' tips or recomendations you can think of?
It is really interesting that you say you had to give it a good, strong throw-From most posts and checking out the successful flight videos also, it looks like you have to give this 'plane a bit of initial help (in stock config) to get it up to flying speed, but if reached, off she goes.

Well done mate-I'll let you know how I get on this weekend (if I don't chicken out again!).

cloudancer03

My Feedback: (22)

aint rc fun?lol...I went to our club field yesterday despite warnings of heavy rains coming.I beat the weather and nobody was there as they had enough sense to stay home..I thought okay I have flown this bird several times so no big deal.welllll I learned there is something to a good hand launch..getting a good grip on the mustang wasnt easy and I should have just driven the 10 minute ride home and wait .nahhhhhhhhhI gripped it best I could figuring I had ample power if I used enough elevator.dummy me after all these years of flying my toss was as bad as randy johnson and it went into the ground.fortunately I just cracked the cowl and broke the prop.fortnuately nobody was present for that embarassing display but I will fly over the weekend and someone else will launch it so I dont repeat that nonsense again.damn maybe you guys are right in putting on landing gear.lol

KingCobra79

Kahloq,
I got my PZ51 re-built and flew it today with the Typhoon motor. Wow, it was great. I launch at half power and it doesn't even dip. Anyway, a few questions for you. When I first tested the Typhoon motor, I installed the pinion 75% on the motor shaft, to give it more connection with the gearbox. At full power indoors, the pinion failed on the motor shaft. So the current one is completely on the motor shaft, but only engages the gear half way, so I limited my max power to 70%. Did you do anything to correct this?

What did you do to beef up the inside of the wing for your landing gear. It looks like it will rip off easily. Have you tried landing in grass? How does it work? Thanks.

kahloq

I pretty much put the pinion gear on the motor shaft about 95% and locktited and added some CA to it as well. This gives me a good amount of hold on the motor shaft and gives me more then half bite on the gearbox. Ihaven't gone full throttle as I havent ever needed to , but so far, no issues with the pinion coming off. You could also put a drop or two of Gorilla glue on the pinion(on the side facing the typhoon motor) so there is more grip on the motor shaft. You might try scuffing the motor shaft a little to get some bite for the glue to adhere too. Other then this, I haven't done anything extra special.

As far as the landing gear. No, there is nothing inside the wing for one good reason. IF I have a really bad landing, I would rather the gear tear off right there, then take a whole chunk of the underside of the wing. So far though, there has been no problems at all on roughly 20 landings(on pavement). I have not tried on grass as I do not have a field that is grass to fly on. You can, however, use a thing sheet of metal(aluminum) or other flexible material and have a large square piece under the landing gear to spread out the torsion effect. So, you could use some screws or something to attach the landing gear to this flexible material(or gorilla glue or cA) and then glue the bigger flexible piece to the wing itself. Might not look so good, unless you painted it or made it black and white to match the stripes. FSK kits include a nice black flexible plastic piece that would work great for this.

If the grass is well cut, I think you'd be fine, just be careful.

KingCobra79

Thanks. Then I am ok on the gear since I did what you are currently doing. All my options are grass, because all of my pavement options have light poles. I guess I will slit the wing and insert a thin piece of plywood, then gorilla glue it. I rarely have a bad landing. It is usually a mechanical failure that does me in, in which case it doesn't matter how it is held, since the plane becomes toast anyway.

mbj

gunracer,
Thank you for welcoming me into the forum and into the world of rc flight.
The enjoyment I recieved was well worth it, even if the next time results in a major crash.


cloudancer03,
Your right about the thing being hard too grip!
It just doesnt feel comfortable...I dont think I could get it in the air if I tried to launch it myself and fly! I will continue too take someone with me for a long while.
I wouldnt have tried to even fly it if thier were people around, Just because the embarrassment factor would have put that little extra bit of pressure on me, as if thier already wasnt enough the way it was!
Sorry too hear about the damage I am sure my day will come sooner than later!


electriceye,

I used Low Rate A and full throttle, trimed the elevator on the radio all the way down on the 2 succesful take offs, probably not recomended but I was also tossing it with the wind "not" against it, just because that was where the wheat feild was located. I know these techniques are all wrong according too the manual.
I was throwing it approximatly at a 20 degree angle into the air.
I practiced throwing it a couple times till I felt it wanting too lift the nose of the plane.
If I had thrown it against the wind It probably wouldnt take as much effort but I would still wait till I feel the nose want too lift before Letting go of it.
Once I felt like I knew how much effort I had too put behind it is when I went ahead and threw it.
I had too hold onto it just behind the wing and tilted the nose slightly upward at the 20 degree angle.
I have been practicing in the backyard today just too get the feel of it a little better, I am sure the neighbors think I am crazy but ,Oh well! LOL
You can feel it and you will know when its wanting to take off out of your hand without the motor on.

The plane didnt seem to want too roll left but it may have been the wind at my back!
I was expecting it too roll left but It was rolling right. We made an adjustment to the left aerolon It wasnt set right I think it was down about an 1/8th inch mustve knocked it out of whack during transport. Once it was centered it flew pretty much straight.
The controls seemed very sensitive.
Any turn I made... I had to correct it as I was exiting the turn. Alot different than my brothers Firebird Freedom!
Hence the not so smooth flight charicteristics I experienced. I am sure I will get better with the inputs.
The wheat feild was very forgiving since its planted so close together its about 3 feet tall.
I would definetly have someone launch it for you if you have someone that is willing too throw your new plane...That takes alot of nerve too especially if its not your plane your throwing..LOL

Having the tall wheat too pad the crashes helped since we were able too make the nessacary adjustments, I just had to remember that when it hit the wheat, too kill the motor otherwise it had a tendency to loosen the nut on the prop. So make sure you check that each time for sure!

Landing and launching seems to be the hardest part! As long as you have the basic understanding of flight I am sure you will do fine in the air.
I didnt keep it in the air for very long just too keep from ruining a good first experience.

I hope you have as much fun as we did...
We are getting ready too take it back out here in a few minutes I will let you know how it goes.
I will post back tonight or tommarrow.

gunracer

just like with the full scale planes, take-offs and landings are the most critical times for the models....the low wing warbirds will not self-correct out of a roll or turn...they will continue to roll until given a different control input...stability is traded off for aerobatics...