GLbiggles

I'd try a model car supplier, I think the 1/10 size have similar pitch pinions and they come in various tooth numbers, surely one would be the same.
The motor shaft hole would most likely be 1/8 or 3mm but this could be bushed with a short length of K&S tubing. I have'nt tried this for the PZ gearbox but a 14 tooth gear I have out of a car appears to have the same pitch as the PZ gears. (32P I think)

fiveliter8

Here is a pic of my metal pinion gear mod. I posted this earlier, but basically I used some thick-wall aluminum tubing (seen to the left of the gearbox in the pic) that I use as body mount posts for R/C cars, which happens to fit perfectly snug onto the shaft of the PZ stock motor. Using a file, while the motor was running, I shaved it down till a standard 12T/32P pinion (also for an R/C car) fit over it. Works beautifully!

Alex

stokeflyer

Thanks for the replys,
fiveliter8, does your set up all push fit together or have you glued it in some way? locktite or something?
Thanks again, I'm going to get to a local model car shop tomorrow and see what I can find, will keep you posted.
Rich

fiveliter8

Stokeflyer,

It is a press-fit. I actually tapped it on (there are minute splines on the motor shaft) and that with the pressure from the setscrew seems to be holding it in place. It probably wouldn't hurt to have put a little loc-tite on though.

Alex

darnold

Hey guys just wondering, I asked 3 questions over the last 3 pages that I was hoping to hear some insights on, hopefully I'll hear you guys fire away.

The first question was for advise about using the PZ Spitfire servos and ESC/Rx gear inside of the Mustang and then simply using the Spit's Tx for both planes, will this work and is it a better intermediate upgrade path than buying all new equipment for both planes?

The second question was for opinion/insight regarding the use of the PZ Spit servo, and ESC/Rx gear inside of the Hobby Lobby F86 duct jet, would it work and how well in that application (this would allow me to have three planes with one Tx from the PZ Spit)?

The third question was for advise on which type of really inexpensive Lipo's, chargers and balancers to get?

gunracer

darnold,

operating multiple models from a single tx is definitely convenient...what you've suggested will work...you just need to get all your esc/rxs on the same channel as your tx...the things i would consider are (1) the quality and weight of the pz components and (2) the possibility that someone else will be on your channel rendering all of your models grounded...

if i were you, i would invest in an ss radio like a dx6 or dx7 microlite...

tclaridge

DArnold,
I recommend to not go cheap on the LiPo Charger and balancer. This is an area where you get what you pay for. The Electrifly line seems like it is good (Great Planes has a good reputation) and I use all Thunder Power stuff with great success. However, Parkzone does seem to be offering LiPos and a LiPo balancing charger for a good price. I guess the PZ LiPos and charger is the cheapest, and I know Horizon stands behind what they sell.

Can't get much better than this price:
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=PKZ1050

darnold

Thanks Gunracer and TClaridge for the advise, it is greatly appreciated, it looks like I will go with the PZ Lipo/battery before summers end. BTW, does anyone know what the benefits are of the Spit's ZX10 Tx vs. the Mustang's Tx?


I've noticed that most of the guys don't seem to fly on 27mhz at the airfield so I may take my chances with using PZ stuff inside of the Hobby Lobby F86 Sabre. One of the nice things about the PZ stuff is that it's so inexpensive, it only takes about $55-67 to outfit an airplane with an ESC, RX, and 2-3 servos (3 wire).

I'm used to Rx's alone costing more than that, and an ESC for planes from what I've seen tends to run around $30+, considering the range of the PZ stuff (about 1/2 a mile) and the fact that I've never suffered a glitch I think it may be a sound little investment for fun flyer stuff.

Funny thing, I just found out when I was showing my father in-law my Mustang that I am going to have to buy a new fuselage because I discovered that the heat from leaving it in the car kinkled one side from the cockpit back (sucked it in), it's only $27 and a little work but while I'm at it I'll also put on a new cowl for $5. So make sure you guys don't forget your PZ stuf in the car this summer or else you may get a warped plane!!!!

evetsepop

After 8 flights my mustang is dead. On launch it nosed into the ground hard and took out the prop, cowling, fuse and wing. I wish I had done more research prior to buying it. Due to the cost and time involved in repairing it I've decided to go down a different path. PZ/HZ makes an ok airplane. My son and I have flown them for going on 5 years. We both started with fighterbirds and worked our way up to extremes, which we still fly. We both have Strykers (him an A and me a B) and enjoy them immensely.
On a whim I went to the hobbystore and bought both the P-51 and the supercub. All of our planes up to that point had been rear prop and we were looking forward to flying the front prop models. First launch of the 51 resulted in a nose dive into the ground. New nose cone and we were up and going again. We have had a couple of very nice flights with the 51, but without landing gear the landings have slowly been tearing it up. (The supercub has been awesome!!) After the fatal crash I jumped on the internet and finally did my research. Hobbylobby international has a P-51 that has landing gear. It is a 4 channel unit. (http://hobby-lobby.com/mustang.htm). With an extra battery it came in at $233.00. Hobbyzone seems to focus on the low end of the market. After reading post after post it seems pretty apparent that, shortly after purchase, everyone is looking for ways to upgrade their planes. I don't get a lot of time to fly, and when I do I'd rather be out flying than inside repairing or improving on their designs. I will update the post when I've flown the new mustang. High hopes....

TVLmole

My Stang is also dead after 10 flights, 6 good, 2 nose-dives, 1 awesome, then bang. Lined the node cone, wing leading edge and front of fuse with sellotape. Replaced the stock motor with a Eflite Park 480 1020kv outrunner.

The 2 nose dives were as a result of launching with a low angle, overhand throw with no wind. The underhand launch seems to be easier. Was going inverted and "thought" Frankie could do an inside loop instead of a roll and the groung rushed up and attacked!

Have ordered a replacement kit and will rebuild Frankie.

johnpcunningham

I have the Spitfire and the Mustang. You can't intercahnge the controllers.

Well, you can, but the servos controls are reversed. The Spitfire left and right makes the Mustang's elevator move up and down. The Spitfire's TX up and down stick makes the Mustangs Aeilerons move left and right.

One option would be to swap out servo connections on the Mustang - the ones going to it's RX. Then the Spitfire's TX could be used on both planes. Simply pull the two servo connections at the end of the Mustang's RX and swap them.

Hope this helps,

JC

darnold

Evetspop- Sorry to hear about the crash, the majority of PZ Mustang pilots seem to start with severe problems regarding the hand launch techinque and not having problems definitely seems to be a minority thing, you may want to reconsider giving up on the PZ Mustang as a new fuselage, prop and cowl = about $35 and the wing may be repairable but if not for another $35 or so you can be up and running with a very fresh plane.

The most consistent aspect for a good launch seems to be 3 VERY Important points:
1. Put the Elevator Trim to full up
2. Put the Aileron Trim to full right
3. Walk 5-7 steps until the airplane feels like it wants to (or almost wants to) fly out of your hand and then gently toss it at about a 30deg climb INTO ANY Wind that is blowing, of course if it is absolutely calm then it doesn't matter on that part.

These three steps are what seem to work for roughly 80%+ of the pilots. Regarding the landings I haven't had any problems with it causing damage to the plane, if you can find a little more grass to land on then that should help.
Either way please let us know how your other Mustang fairs.

darnold

Johnpc- Thank you very much for the information, my plan was to simply put the Spit's Rx and servos into the Mustang but if you are saying that I can use the electronics already in the Mustang and I only need to buy some type of adapter that PZ sells to make the Mustang servos work properly with the Spit's Tx then that's $25 (price of 2 Spit servos) and an additional $25 less (price of a Spit Rx/ESC) that I have to spend so I'm all for it! Where can i get the adapters at?

AETCBoom4

Can you please explain this? I have both the Stang and Spit and I don't see this. You should be able to integrate the spit radio system to the stang. The new PZ radio setup has reversible mixing switches on the ZX-10 controller. You sholud be able to reverse the throw direction
from the spit tx.

TVLmole

My "Frankie" has been withdrawn from office duty and is back on the service roster.

I manufactured a battery holder from 3ply that fits where the original holder was and presses against the motor mounting to hold everything in place. I straightened out my home-made outrunner mount and reinforced the cracks in the cowl with card and sellotape.

The crash was of sufficient impact to put a slight bend the 4mm outrunner shaft. Hammered it out on a smooth surface.

Flew twice yesterday with no problems.

johnpcunningham

You don't need to buy anything. Simply use what is already int he mustang. Just swap the connections where the two servos plug into the RX. Here is how:

Unplug the two servo connections from the Mustang's RX. Then, put servo 1 in the connector where servo 2 was......and put servo 2 back in where servo 1 was originally connected. Now you can use the Spitfire's TX on both the Spitfire and Mustang - given they are on the same channel.

Make sure not to fall back to the old transmitter because the servoes are now reversed.

JC

tclaridge

I did the same thing with the Fw-190 and the Super Cub. Now they all run off the same Tx as the Spitfire!

bianca121

Question for those of you who have changed the electronics on your P-51... How many amps ESC are you using???? I used a castle creation pixie-20p with a thunder power TP2100 and stock motor and the ESC fried in less than 5 minutes at half throttle.. I am wondering how many amps the stock motor draw ?????

gunracer

bianca,

did it burn out on the bench or in the air?...bench testing for more than 10-15 seconds gets the components really hot...i have a couple of cc escs and they run hot compared to other brands...the stock motor draws no more than 16-17 amps peak in the stock gearbox along with the stock prop...

bianca121

Thanks gunracer, it fried in flight, after about 5 minutes of flight. I just had the time to trim the aircraft, that was it first flight with the new electronic and new fuselage, and then i lost control of it. it just went to full throttle with no servo control. The ESC went so hot that when the aircraft hit the trees, all the soldure melt and all the IC went through the fuselage foam.....

I changed it for an Electrifly 35 Amps and this time, did a bench test and the ESC stayed cold.

I have contacted Castle Creation and they are willing to give me another one even they think that it draw more than 20 Amps.

I just want to verify with you guys if this is the case....For sure, it's seem that there is no problem with the 35 Amps...

What kind of ESC are you using ?????

gunracer

my setups in the pz warbirds are brushless using e-flite, gws and cc escs ranging from 25-40 amps...when i was running the brushed motor, i used a gws lipo esc 15 amper...never had a problem...yeah, i think that cc esc was defective...

bianca121

Thank you, i will let them know that and i will ask for an exchange....

darnold

Johnpc- Awesome, thanks!

Bianca- It's been posted before on either this board or another one for our planes that a good 20 amps will do you, however I can't say if this is the peak rating or the constant. In RC Racing our typical competition esc's are rated (at the FET's) about 10x more than the peak current that we actually pull on the track (12th modified = 50amps, 4wd TC, modified can pull 75-80amps at a start and off of the corners), with the mean current value for a run being 35amps and 45amps respectively. We STILL burn esc's out!!!!

A general thought, what do you guys think? -

I'm not saying that PZ's electronics are "all of that and a bag of chips" but I do think that they are better than we often give them credit for, just think about how many times we crash these things for whatever reasons (since it's not always due to pilot error) and the servos don't miss a beat typically, neither does the Rx/Esc combination, it simply continues about its job.

Is the PZ ESC the most propotional ESC out there? Of course not, it doesn't hold a childs birthday candle to what I'm used to in my cars, but it DOES work consistently well and take a lot of abuse, the reported failure rate of this unit is far below what goes on in competition RC Racing!!!

Maybe the servos aren't as "silky smooth, proportional and have awesome centering properties" as other servos like the HiTech 55's or other JR servos, but hey they have more than enough torque even when going to the extra power of Lipos (and in some cases people have used them with brushless motor upgrades as well), and they are consistent enough that when the trim is set the planes fly straight until we head into some good cross winds.

The Tx's may not give us 2 miles worth of control (only about 1/2 mile = 2500+ft) but pilots seldom have "glitching" issues, they don't have all of the bells and whistles but they DO include some features that aren't normally found in turn-key solution park flyer packages such as dual rates, elevon-mixing, and Lipo readiness. Sure it would be great if they included exponential, 3 model memeory settings, a regular left side gimble for 4 channel control and orientation, and removable crystals (although the Rx's DO have these so you SHOULD be able to change their frequencies if PZ sells them seperately), but hey, this is budget ground chuck with some frills, not fillet mingon.

The biggest problems that I see on the two boards that I follow have nothing to do with the stock electronics but usually have to do with rusted aileron cables, constant loosening motor mount and firewall screws, battery hatches that constantly fall off in flight or on landing, and inconsistencies in the foam molding process that miss-aligns the plane, and the pretty weak Z-foam that PZ uses which krinkles when you look at it funny!

These problems seems to cause inconsistencies in how well the planes actually fly, pilots have actually bought new PZ Stang complete kits and had them either fly markedly better than their other one or markedly worst and it's the same plane! By far the greatest problems with our PZ Mustangs and Focke Wolf's (the jury is still out on the Spit) is this inconsistent quality control but the PZ Electronics have been remarkably and surprisingly solid if not admirable, and they are WAY, WAY, WAY cheap!

nitrobomber

I agree, the PZ electronics are durable. The only problem I have ever had was the battery hatch. I love the way the plane flys, and it handles wind that would ground other park flyers. I have never had problems with hand launches. I just throw it and everythings beautiful.

Libertarian

Well put darnold! I say put a set of Deans connectors on em, lube the control wires, and strengthen the wing with a CF spar or Therm-o-web adhesive laminate along the bottom, add a LIPO battery and it's fine. I also usually add an Axi outrunner brushless and 4 blade prop but thats not necessary.

I used an E-Flite 40 amp ESC and a $30 Powerzone module to use the stock servos, Tx and Rx cheaply.

Oh yeah and to whoever asked, YES when the LVC (low voltage cutoff) cuts off the power to the motor the elevator and ailerons still work. In fact I usually fly until it does as I enjoy gliding down to a landing after circling to head upwind. Don't do this in high winds though as you need power to pull the plane down to a smooth landing then.

Now, on to disaster [X(]

Bought a slightly wrecked P-51 off ebay that turned out to have a bad battery hatch door that required me to use duct tape to insure the door stayed closed (I always did that anyway as the tape matches the stock lower area pretty well and never fails). The main wing had a chunk missing and the elevator was junk so I ordered new ones from Red Rocket hobbies along with a new 2200 PZ LIPO battery. I ended up using my old standby CF reinforced and lubed wing instead. The V-27 BL motor is still on back order so I hadn't gone brushless or 4-blade on this plane yet. I still hooked in my selector switch to the J3 jumper so I could also use my NiMH batts (see pic) and installed my Multipod 5 in 1 camera and went off for a first flight yesterday.

Although a little gusty I was having no problems and rolling, looping, flying inverted, etc.
I had to keep the cows away from us (me and my dogs) by yelling at them and as I was buzzing them kinda low the plane got away from me as I could not tell which way was up in the fading light and found out up was down. [:@]
The video is about 54 meg but its pretty entertaining.

Enjoy. [link=http://rcuvideos.com/item/NJ7DY938792G3VKH]First and last flight[/link]