P-51 Mustang Brotherhood
02-01-2016, 04:38 PM
#676
Just a quick suggestion here "radfordc".
When you are doing the construction of the landing gear mounting in the wing, beef it up considerably.
I loose track of how many of these "Top Flite" Mustangs and their other models, be them Gold Edition or Giant Scale that I have seen tear out this area on even just bad landings. And being a modeler in a typical club that has a lot of "Buy it and fly it" members, I loose count of how many of these aircraft I have repaired this area for.
It is very disheartening to have this happen to you. No reason, just a bad landing should cause you to tear out the gear mounting.
When you are doing the construction of the landing gear mounting in the wing, beef it up considerably.
I loose track of how many of these "Top Flite" Mustangs and their other models, be them Gold Edition or Giant Scale that I have seen tear out this area on even just bad landings. And being a modeler in a typical club that has a lot of "Buy it and fly it" members, I loose count of how many of these aircraft I have repaired this area for.
It is very disheartening to have this happen to you. No reason, just a bad landing should cause you to tear out the gear mounting.
02-01-2016, 04:51 PM
#677
I agree with you "Chad Veich". The "D" was made for higher viability with that bubble canopy and the addition of another set of guns.
The first one's came out without the dorsal fin for the rudder, but they found that it had instability problems now and they had to add the dorsal fin to smooth it out.
Another interesting thing about the "B" in comparison to the "D": The "B" was considerable faster, had a much better rate of climb and was more maneuverable due to it being lighter and cleaner lines without that big canopy.
Most aces who still had their "B"'s did not part with them until they had no choice. These features were more important to them than visibility and two more guns.
Ya don't believe me, look it up
The first one's came out without the dorsal fin for the rudder, but they found that it had instability problems now and they had to add the dorsal fin to smooth it out.
Another interesting thing about the "B" in comparison to the "D": The "B" was considerable faster, had a much better rate of climb and was more maneuverable due to it being lighter and cleaner lines without that big canopy.
Most aces who still had their "B"'s did not part with them until they had no choice. These features were more important to them than visibility and two more guns.
Ya don't believe me, look it up
02-01-2016, 05:27 PM
#678
Counter Rotating Units
Hi again Chad,
Here is a suggestion for you for what it is worth.
I have built two Counter Rotating units myself. The first one was RC/glo powered and in the "Macchi MC 72".
Needless to say(by the trophy) I was quite successful with it. I was even contacted by a fashion company in San Francisco who used it for a center piece in their fashion show. When I retired it, it want to a fancy restaurant in Carmel(one of those towns you go to visit, but can't afford to live in unless your name is Clint Eastwood.) But it is now hanging in the museum in Disneyland.
The second one is current and is electric. I too saw no reason to pay that price for one the size I wanted and it had no flexibility for spinners.
I designed this sport model around the "Bugatti", but made it trike gear to protect the unit. And this required me to rotate the tail structure.
I have and am still flying this aircraft a lot. Never had the unit fail.
And it really isn't that hard to make. Anyone with a lathe can do it. Using gears from RC Cars. I am turning (2) 3 blade 13" props here.
I have attached drawings of the unit here. I built it with the motors opposed, but it would be simple to set them beside each other to fit in a Mustang.
I can supply much higher resolution drawings if you are interested. Just let me know
Here is a suggestion for you for what it is worth.
I have built two Counter Rotating units myself. The first one was RC/glo powered and in the "Macchi MC 72".
Needless to say(by the trophy) I was quite successful with it. I was even contacted by a fashion company in San Francisco who used it for a center piece in their fashion show. When I retired it, it want to a fancy restaurant in Carmel(one of those towns you go to visit, but can't afford to live in unless your name is Clint Eastwood.) But it is now hanging in the museum in Disneyland.
The second one is current and is electric. I too saw no reason to pay that price for one the size I wanted and it had no flexibility for spinners.
I designed this sport model around the "Bugatti", but made it trike gear to protect the unit. And this required me to rotate the tail structure.
I have and am still flying this aircraft a lot. Never had the unit fail.
And it really isn't that hard to make. Anyone with a lathe can do it. Using gears from RC Cars. I am turning (2) 3 blade 13" props here.
I have attached drawings of the unit here. I built it with the motors opposed, but it would be simple to set them beside each other to fit in a Mustang.
I can supply much higher resolution drawings if you are interested. Just let me know
02-02-2016, 08:53 AM
#683
All Oak in the kit should be replaced with much larger sized pieces, The outer piece should span from the leading edge to the spars The inner pieces should also span from the leg back to the spars. I then make more ply doublers to glue to these new oak mounts.
02-02-2016, 09:15 AM
#684
Since I have the ARF version and it was assembled by someone else, it appears I may have some difficulty doing what is suggested. I looks like the builder did add some reinforcement to the plywood mounting plates.
Would it be a good idea to remove the gear well liners to get access to the spars?
Would it be a good idea to remove the gear well liners to get access to the spars?
02-02-2016, 09:31 AM
#685
I found this: an individual posted his fix (page 51, post 1263 I think)
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-warbirds-warplanes-200/1158439-tf-1-5-scale-p-51-arf-assembly-1st-mishap-51.html
Looks like I will have to do some surgery.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-warbirds-warplanes-200/1158439-tf-1-5-scale-p-51-arf-assembly-1st-mishap-51.html
Looks like I will have to do some surgery.
02-02-2016, 10:32 AM
#686
It looks like it to me too. It actually looks pretty good. The final choice is up to you. If you fell comfortable with it, I would give it a try.
Very difficult to get into areas that have already been constructed to this level. It looks to me like he has even coated the area with epoxy.
Very difficult to get into areas that have already been constructed to this level. It looks to me like he has even coated the area with epoxy.
02-02-2016, 12:36 PM
#687
Giant Scale ARF's
I do not build giant scale model aircraft. Too big for my shop and too big for my vehicle. Been there, done that.
There is also something else to consider with these giant scale aircraft. They are basically built out of the same materials as the standard size, just larger pieces.
And here comes the rub: "Golden Edition" P-51 = finished weight 10 to 12 pounds. Giant scale P-51 = finished weight 20 to 30 pounds.
This weight and mass has the tendency to break itself no matter how well you fly it. Even when beefing up areas, it will just break itself outside of these area.
And the ARF's Let's see now: The kit cost $320.00. That is without covering, spinner, wheels, etc.etc. The ARF: That cost $600.00. Includes all the above and comes completely built and finished.
OK we have a $280.00 difference. Now let us think about this one. Where do you find someone who will build this giant scale kit, including all the items not in the kit, and will do all this for $280.00.
You know as well as I do. China. And I can assure you they have cut every corner they can.
I had a battery pack loose it's solder joints from one cell to another in my Corsair. "Manufacturers Defective Product".
Being I make all my models by laying up a fiberglass fuselage off the actual fuselage, All I needed to do to the fuselage was lay up another front section off the plug and graft it to the rest of the glass fuselage.
But I do need a new wing. I priced all the parts off the price list from Top Flite that I would need to make a new wing. It came to more money than just buying a whole new kit and that is without the money for their wing sheeting. Isn't that nice !!!
I decided to just buy the ARF wing they sell. Already built and about the same price.
It was a real joke. I first remove all this cheap plastic covering off the wing. The alignment of the ailerons and flaps is so far out it is unbelievable. And guess what else? The glue used to build this wing is "Hot Glue". Now if anyone thinks they can get a good glue joint with this stuff, I feel sorry for them. The whole wing is full of filler and all the construction is as bad as you would expect from some coolie in China that just came out of a rice field because he could glue two sticks together. I had to pull as much of this hot stuff out and re-glue as much of the wing as I could get to and beef up the retract mounting too.
But as luck would have it, this Corsair went down due to a Spektrum receiver failure. A friend had given me this receiver, I put it in this Corsair, It failed, I sent it back to Spektrum, they informed me that it was not a Spektrum receiver, but a China copy.
My third F2G Corsair is something to see.
So there you have it if you did not know already. Top Flite ARF's are built in China and as cheaply as possible. You get what you pay for in this hobby.
There is also something else to consider with these giant scale aircraft. They are basically built out of the same materials as the standard size, just larger pieces.
And here comes the rub: "Golden Edition" P-51 = finished weight 10 to 12 pounds. Giant scale P-51 = finished weight 20 to 30 pounds.
This weight and mass has the tendency to break itself no matter how well you fly it. Even when beefing up areas, it will just break itself outside of these area.
And the ARF's Let's see now: The kit cost $320.00. That is without covering, spinner, wheels, etc.etc. The ARF: That cost $600.00. Includes all the above and comes completely built and finished.
OK we have a $280.00 difference. Now let us think about this one. Where do you find someone who will build this giant scale kit, including all the items not in the kit, and will do all this for $280.00.
You know as well as I do. China. And I can assure you they have cut every corner they can.
I had a battery pack loose it's solder joints from one cell to another in my Corsair. "Manufacturers Defective Product".
Being I make all my models by laying up a fiberglass fuselage off the actual fuselage, All I needed to do to the fuselage was lay up another front section off the plug and graft it to the rest of the glass fuselage.
But I do need a new wing. I priced all the parts off the price list from Top Flite that I would need to make a new wing. It came to more money than just buying a whole new kit and that is without the money for their wing sheeting. Isn't that nice !!!
I decided to just buy the ARF wing they sell. Already built and about the same price.
It was a real joke. I first remove all this cheap plastic covering off the wing. The alignment of the ailerons and flaps is so far out it is unbelievable. And guess what else? The glue used to build this wing is "Hot Glue". Now if anyone thinks they can get a good glue joint with this stuff, I feel sorry for them. The whole wing is full of filler and all the construction is as bad as you would expect from some coolie in China that just came out of a rice field because he could glue two sticks together. I had to pull as much of this hot stuff out and re-glue as much of the wing as I could get to and beef up the retract mounting too.
But as luck would have it, this Corsair went down due to a Spektrum receiver failure. A friend had given me this receiver, I put it in this Corsair, It failed, I sent it back to Spektrum, they informed me that it was not a Spektrum receiver, but a China copy.
My third F2G Corsair is something to see.
So there you have it if you did not know already. Top Flite ARF's are built in China and as cheaply as possible. You get what you pay for in this hobby.
Last edited by George Miller; 02-02-2016 at 12:41 PM.
02-02-2016, 05:34 PM
#688
Thats how I feel about ARF too, but in some cases, they are the only thing available in a certain plane. I bought two SIG ARF last 2 years, a T-Clips and a Something extra. Both are well made, but made as light as possible. There are areas for improvement, but overall quality is much better than the Top Flite P-51. I also have one of those and its very stall sensitive, it snaps over with up elevator no matter what the speed is, have to dial in a lot of expo to desensitize it. There isnt even a lot of throw which concerns me. It is also balanced nose heavy. I think it has to do with the slight twist the elevators have in them.
If you want it built right though, you have to build it yourself..
If you want it built right though, you have to build it yourself..
02-02-2016, 08:09 PM
#689
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Hi again Chad,
Here is a suggestion for you for what it is worth.
I have built two Counter Rotating units myself. The first one was RC/glo powered and in the "Macchi MC 72".
Needless to say(by the trophy) I was quite successful with it. I was even contacted by a fashion company in San Francisco who used it for a center piece in their fashion show. When I retired it, it want to a fancy restaurant in Carmel(one of those towns you go to visit, but can't afford to live in unless your name is Clint Eastwood.) But it is now hanging in the museum in Disneyland.
The second one is current and is electric. I too saw no reason to pay that price for one the size I wanted and it had no flexibility for spinners.
I designed this sport model around the "Bugatti", but made it trike gear to protect the unit. And this required me to rotate the tail structure.
I have and am still flying this aircraft a lot. Never had the unit fail.
And it really isn't that hard to make. Anyone with a lathe can do it. Using gears from RC Cars. I am turning (2) 3 blade 13" props here.
I have attached drawings of the unit here. I built it with the motors opposed, but it would be simple to set them beside each other to fit in a Mustang.
I can supply much higher resolution drawings if you are interested. Just let me know
Here is a suggestion for you for what it is worth.
I have built two Counter Rotating units myself. The first one was RC/glo powered and in the "Macchi MC 72".
Needless to say(by the trophy) I was quite successful with it. I was even contacted by a fashion company in San Francisco who used it for a center piece in their fashion show. When I retired it, it want to a fancy restaurant in Carmel(one of those towns you go to visit, but can't afford to live in unless your name is Clint Eastwood.) But it is now hanging in the museum in Disneyland.
The second one is current and is electric. I too saw no reason to pay that price for one the size I wanted and it had no flexibility for spinners.
I designed this sport model around the "Bugatti", but made it trike gear to protect the unit. And this required me to rotate the tail structure.
I have and am still flying this aircraft a lot. Never had the unit fail.
And it really isn't that hard to make. Anyone with a lathe can do it. Using gears from RC Cars. I am turning (2) 3 blade 13" props here.
I have attached drawings of the unit here. I built it with the motors opposed, but it would be simple to set them beside each other to fit in a Mustang.
I can supply much higher resolution drawings if you are interested. Just let me know
02-02-2016, 10:31 PM
#690
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my 1st big plane was a Redbox P-51B, I was 19 then. I've got one on my list of 2 to get now, the other is a Top Flite RV-4.
The P-51B met it's doom b4 it ever gone completed, my 4 year old twin brothers, it never even got to see an engine :-(
Got room for anther in the P-51 Brotherhood ?
The P-51B met it's doom b4 it ever gone completed, my 4 year old twin brothers, it never even got to see an engine :-(
Got room for anther in the P-51 Brotherhood ?
02-16-2016, 01:20 PM
#694
Here is "Lady Alice" ready to fly. This was a TF ARF that went through a crash and rebuild. I stripped the Big Beautiful Doll scheme off and redid her like this. The BBD scheme was just not appealing to me...(sadly the real BBD crashed last week).
The plane is powered with a DLE 55RA and weighs 20.25 lbs ready to fly. Markings and invasion stripes by Callie Graphics. Covering is Hobby King film and a little aluminum tape. Saturday looks like a good day for the first flight.
The plane is powered with a DLE 55RA and weighs 20.25 lbs ready to fly. Markings and invasion stripes by Callie Graphics. Covering is Hobby King film and a little aluminum tape. Saturday looks like a good day for the first flight.
02-20-2016, 07:42 PM
#698
I flew the Lady Alice today and she does fly very well. The landing was a problem...the retracts malfunctioned and one gear hung up and the other one was down but not locked. The plane landed smoothly and the only damage was a broken prop. I think I must have kinked the air lines or something.
02-21-2016, 05:52 PM
#699
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Bud Nosen P-51 Ol'e Yeller
I had the luxury of sitting in the cockpit of Lady Alice and helping the guys put panels on her in Chino. The Dr. actually let me stand next to her during a night run up with 3 foot flames bursting out of the glowing pipes - Everyone associated with that bird are great people. Great job of using the aluminum tape.
Brether'en of P-51's, I pushed the feathered edge last weekend copying the infamous Bob Hoover's roll after take-off using a Bud Nosen P-51 w/G62 in Ol'e Yeller markings.
(Maybe easy for you, but a gutsy move for me)
Unfortunately the camera guys only got 1/2 of it - The video camera caught 1/2 and a still photographer caught 1/2 the roll with gear up.
I pieced it all together using YouTube's editor (so forgive the cheesy) but I hope you enjoy the attempt.
Vid = https://youtu.be/Rf1edAT4-Fk
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rf1edAT4-Fk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brether'en of P-51's, I pushed the feathered edge last weekend copying the infamous Bob Hoover's roll after take-off using a Bud Nosen P-51 w/G62 in Ol'e Yeller markings.
(Maybe easy for you, but a gutsy move for me)
Unfortunately the camera guys only got 1/2 of it - The video camera caught 1/2 and a still photographer caught 1/2 the roll with gear up.
I pieced it all together using YouTube's editor (so forgive the cheesy) but I hope you enjoy the attempt.
Vid = https://youtu.be/Rf1edAT4-Fk
<iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rf1edAT4-Fk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Last edited by simple; 02-21-2016 at 06:42 PM.
02-21-2016, 06:24 PM
#700
When I was a teenager I watched Bob Hoover fly the original Ol'e Yeller at an airshow in Tulsa, OK. He was the master of all planes he flew! The most impressive maneuver I still remember in awe was a 16 point roll done at an altitude that had to be no more than 100 feet. You can see him perform the maneuver in this video: https://youtu.be/D8FYFfCL3J8
Last edited by radfordc; 02-21-2016 at 06:47 PM.