octane-link

I ended up using speed tape to secure the panels. Looks great!!!

I can't wait to see this bird fly either!

Greg Covey

I plan to fly the P-38 on Labor Day weekend.

Since I did not install the landing gear, I needed to add 1/2oz of lead to the nose to make up for the steerable nose wheel. This made my P-38 balanced perfectly in the middle of the recommended CG range. Note that you could also use half of the supplied 1.1oz clay that comes with the kit. I also decided to install the drop tanks.

Greg Covey

My P-38 Lightning was Ready-To-Fly at 36oz. (2.25 lbs). I'll measure the current draw next and harden the bottom areas for belly landings on grass.

calvino

looking good.

Glacier Girl

My Feedback: (4)

Looking good Greg. Question though. You think the belly tanks are going to hold up to belly landings?

Greg Covey

I don't see anything to worry about. They seem strong enough to support the whole plane with the battery installed and are easy to reinforce if needed. The drop tanks will also help keep the large 2-blade props from breaking.

I spread some Aileen's Tacky White Craft glue along the bottom surfaces that will likely skid on the ground. The glue is much like Elmer's Glue-All in that it dries hard and clear. The finish ends up being a bit glossy on the hardened areas.

calvino

looking good.

Greg Covey

I measured 32amps and 340 watts at full throttle. That's 340w/2.25lb or 151w/lb which will provide an awesome power level for the P-38.

The ThunderPower 25C 2070 eXtreme Series LiPo pack can deliver up to 52amps continuous so the 32amps needed at full throttle is a very good fit.

Looks like I'm ready to test fly, photo, and video the P-38 this Labor Day weekend...

calvino

[X(] that is powerful, should be nice and fast

Greg Covey

The E-flite P-38 flew fantastic! The only issue we had was that the canopy flew off on the maiden flight which may have been caused by the rather thick ESC wires pressing against it. On the second flight, as a simple field modification, we used a rubber band to help keep it secure.

photos by Papa Jeff Ring

Greg Covey

The counter-rotating props eliminated the roll torque. The wing loading was incredibly light which allows the P-38 to slow fly much like a kite (watch the video) and the power level was simply incredible!

When compared to two other P-38s of similar size, one no longer sold and one still being sold, the E-flite model flew the best.

Video coming soon...

photos by Papa Jeff Ring

Greg Covey

The P-38 flies for about 7-10 minutes depending upon wind conditions and aerobatics performed.

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/reviews/P38.wmv]E-flite P-38 Video[/link] (9meg)

Stalkmoe

Greg- big fan of yours thanks so much for all your excellent and thorough reviews. Some of my recent success (.25 size J-3 Cub from E-Flite) was because I was armed with a color copy of your review. I'm starting the soldering on my E-Flite P-38 and now I have a question. What do I do about the 2 Rx plugs coming from the ESC's? The E-Flite directions are good, but they don't mention this. Can I 'Y' harness them into the 1 Rx 'thr' throttle slot ( using an AR6000 rx)? What if I use a separate Rx battery? Thanks for any help- sorry if I missed this earlier in the thread.

Stalkmoe

Greg- Thanks, Found my answer, you already had written it... just what I needed to know!

You wrote- The wires are fed though the pod and into the center section as before. I soldered both red and black wires to a single Dean's Ultra connector. The control cables are plugged into a Y-harness and fed to the throttle channel. Note that you must disconnect one of the red (+) wires on the ESC control cable going into the Y-harness so that only one BEC is used to power the receiver and servos. The BEC from the other ESC is not needed.

I don't think that y-harness is mentioned in the parts list at the begining of the section or in the initial parts needed. I will definately cut one red wire from one of the ESC's. Again Thanks.- Tim

Greg Covey

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the kind words.

It looks like you found the answer to your question. Also, when using a separate Rx. battery pack, you need to disconnect BOTH red wires from the ESC before connecting them to the Y-harness.

You are also right about a few parts missing from the Required Parts section of the Brushless Motor Installation. I found that I needed a Y-harness and two 12" servo extensions to properly connect the Phoenix-25 ESCs to the receiver throttle channel.

Good luck!

Stalkmoe

Greg-

All is well, thanks. So nice to have access to your insights. I powered up the the Rx (AR6000) from a fully charged 3 cell Lipo pack ( the recommended ThunderPower pack) and had to re-bind the Rx (since earlier in the build I had used an NiMh pack to power the Rx for servo centering) to the Tx. The ESC's beeped with glee and both motor's spun up in the right respective direction's as I eased the throttle stick forward!! This hobby is so fun:-) That was the most soldering I've ever done. The 14g extension wires to the Deans Ult plug were tricky for this newbie- but it all seems to be working. I'm doing a full build- both rudder's and gear (mains and steerable nose gear), plus drop tanks. The park I fly at has a hard pack dirt runway. I've painted my Spinners and prop tips Yellow (saw a review article in Backyard Flyer and there were excellent pictures of the finished model ( ie. almost as good as yours') plus a picture of a real P-38, which the author had flown and was type rated in. It followed this paint scheme, and looked choice. I should finish this bird up tonight, but may only do taxi tests until I have more low wing aileron stick time. My model building skills have surpassed my piloting skills which is a bit odd in this Calif weather. We just have regular afternoon wind which can gust a bit much for my piloting skills. I have to quit sleeping in on weekends[X(]

calvino

also a big fan of your reviews, vid looked good, I am currious why you are a fan of hand launching and electrics, with hand launching you have to find a way to get the motor running...

scadman

do I need a BEC to use 6 servos? If so can you give me a wireing diagram/

Stalkmoe

Scadman-

Greg would be the best one to ask. In the specific case of my P-38, I did not use a seperate BEC with my full 6 servo build and I have had no problems. I used the recommended e-flite S-75 servo's and disconnected the middle BEC wire from one of the ESC's and left the other ESC intact. I read that if your running 5 or 6 big servo's ( ie. retract servo's that draw alot of current) you must go with a seperate BEC, otherwise using the BEC built into an ESC should be fine. I think the real consideration is current draw. Apparently some of the new micro-servo's draw more current then you might expect, so it's best to do the current draw math to know for sure. Again my P-38 has alot of flights now and is running like a champ using only the built-in BEC in one of the ESC's. Hope that helps.- Tim

scadman

thank you I was reading the instructions and they used s-75 esc's but it sounded like they didnt remove the wire and run them in parallel. Do you see a need for the rudder control?

Stalkmoe

Scadman-

Since I did the full build, I've had the S-75 rudder servo's starting from the first flight, but I have performed some "in-flight" experiments, turning and banking the plane with out using the rudder's and the P-38 turned fine without rudder input. ( Of course like most War-birds it turns even better when using rudder). I also use the rudder to keep her lined up when on final landing approach. Since it is an option, you should be fine without rudder. Hope that helps. Happy Flying. -Tim

scadman

thank you again. Does Greg follow this thread or would I have to email him?

scadman

wow, after asking around I have a lot more questions. One person said that at this altitude ( 5600ft ) that I should go to the 480 brushless motor. Would it fit and do I realy need it? I have flown glow fuel for a few years and know that the elevation does affect them. Iam very new at electrics ( know nothing ) and would like some input from anyone. Not many hobby shops in Wyoming the closest is over 150 miles away. I dont get to run down and ask the local dealer about things. I do have a friend in Riverton Wy. that is real good with electrics. But he hasn't setup a p-38. Hope someone can help.

donwojtas

Hi Guys

I have an E-flite P38 using the Eflite 450's. I am using 6 servos so have added an external BEC requiring the disabling of both controllers BEC's. I would recommend using the rudders which come in very handy for countering assymetrical thrust should one of the motors fail for any reason. The P38 will fly ok on one motor to get to landing but not very well without the use of rudders. Fun Plane.

bdbruce

The P-38 has always been my favorite WWII warbird, I bought one from MNhobbies on E-Bay. The USPS put a big "dent" in the box, which broke the model into several pieces, the USPS paid all but the $11 handeling fee. I got another one from the same vendor and it arrived in perfect condition.
I set it up with the Park 450s and a Spektrum receiver, no rudders but a steerable front wheel. My first flight was great, lifted off smoothly and required very little trimming. On my second flight I tried some outside loops and barrel rolls, it loops fine but the rolls were slugish and tended to "corkscrew". On my third flight it flew well except after about 6 minutes into the flight I was flying level and from my left to right about 50 ft away and 50 ft up, when for no reason the entire tail section just in front of the vertical stabilizers snapped off with a "poping sound" and the tailess plane plummited to the ground breaking into many pieces.

I sent a e-mail to Horizon Hobby about this, and they requested that I return the model to them for evaluation. So for $10 and change I shipped the broken parts to them with all electrics removed. Two weeks later I received a new replacement model at no charge. I inserted 3mm carbon tubes into the tail/boom sections and glued them in place for increased strength. After at least 10 flights with this model, I took off on what I thought was a fully charged Li-Po 11.1V 2100mA/hr, it took off slowley and I got it out about 50 yards and every thing quit motors/control and it plunged to the field breaking into at least 20 pieces. I've been slowly glueing it back together with foam safe medium CA. I'm not sure how airworthy it will be, but it is a great looking plane on the ground and in the air....anyone ever have any luck with flying a massively repaired foam plane?