CRG

My Feedback: (3)

Regarding the landing gear connections and programming, there are some areas where the instructions are not as clear as they should be. We apologize for this. The aircraft manual is incorrect in at least one area.

-the tailwheel does not need to be connected for the system to function correctly, but G1 must be set to NO in the programmer. On p.56 of the online aircraft manual it says G3 must be set to NO, this is wrong, G3 is a main-gear port.
-after the tailwheel is installed and connected to the controller, G1 must be set to YES for it to function.
-the main-gear doors function from ports D1 and D2. So the mains are G2 and G3 with doors D1 and D2. Tailwheel (also nosewheel) is G1, D3 and D4.

I had the returned gear from someone in this thread on my desk yesterday and it worked fine once the port assignments were corrected.

Another point of potential confusion is the chart on p.56 of the P-51 manual. The chart is correct but it is for the final configuration after programming and all gear is connected. If you use those values without the tailwheel connected nothing will work correctly. The note under the chart is incorrect so that won't solve the problem.

We'll get the online version of the manual corrected, and the retract manual is attached here.

If you are having issues with the gear hanging up, relieving the area where the strut passes through the rib as mentioned above will likely solve that problem.

Craig

fhollahan

HH is sending me a new Retract Controller. No matter what combination I had connected, the Controller never recognized the Programmer. I cannot get to the "Gear Ctl Board Connect OK!" I have everything connected and can get my Retracts and Rear wheel retract to operate just fine on the radio. Just can't get the programming done. I'll report this week whether the new one solves the issue.

On battery draw for the retracts, my LiFe 2500 battery has no problem going 10+ times. I tested it after the operation and it is fine. You might want to check your battery. I am going with (2) 2500 mah batteries. I have a separate ignition battery. A power failure to servos is about the worst possible situation. Been there once and not good.

fhollahan

Correction to my last post. The programmer is what recognizes the controller, not the other way around.

Speed-RCU

My Feedback: (5)

I think I have read all of the posts and I have not read that anyone has successfully installed a DLE 55 RA in the P-51. If someone has, would they tell us if they had to cut the cowling, what standoffs did they use, and if any modification was made to the firewall to make it fit? Photos woul be appreciated.

David

fhollahan

Here is a video of everything connected to the Receiver and Radio with the Rear Retract and inner door servos sitting on the wing. I have not been able to program the controller yet given the problem with the controller not being recognized by the programming module. That said, it looks and sounds like the inner door servo timing is right even without the programming. I had asked the HH technician whether the controller defaulted to the P-51 program. He said, no, it needed to be programmed. I am going to wait until the new controller comes and try and program it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vw0PiajP84&feature=youtu.be

GR7Racer

speed rcu...

I haven't installed a 55ra in the mustang, but I did hand hold one in place and eyeballed it to see what would be necessary. I have a smaller muffler on mine than the stock one and it looked like it would maybe need a little work on the motor box to get the muffler to fit. It looks like you would either need to shorten the motor box and relocate the firewall back some, or possibly trim the bottom of the firewall and then recontruct the bottom of the box too. I will take another look at it when I can to verify that you need to modify the motor box. I can't help you on standoff lengths. If you are going to use this motor and rework the firewall/box, I would suggest you look at wrongway rc's single bolt prop adapter. It bolts on the front of the engine and changes it to a single 10mm bolt for holding the prop on... same as a Zenoah G62. It also adds 7/8" to the front of the motor and moves the cylinder back that distance when mounted in the plane. Using this setup, you can have the entire cylinder inside the cowling with nothing showing outside except the two exhaust tubes coming from the muffler. I used this setup on a Top Flite stang and it worked fantastic.

KennyMac

ForcesR

KennyMac; the DLE 55RA muffler will not come in contact with the firewall, therefore no modification is required to the firewall. Discard the standard DLE 55RA 68mm standoffs, use 12mm shorter standoffs (56mm) as is needed for the H9 P-51 installation; there will be 9mm distance between the muffler and firewall after engine installation.

Roger

fhollahan

Ok, I finally got the Retract System installed and working. I thought I had a bad Retract Controller but after having HH send me a new one and it did not work either, I realized I was using the balance charge connector on one of my batteries to power the Retract Programmer. It showed that it is was getting power but would not recognize the Controller when I connected them. Used the right power feed and it worked. A few things that were challenging with the retracts: Learning to use the Programmer takes some getting used to with respect to toggling thru the modes and setting/saving values. Had to put shims under mains where they mount to the wing to relieve binding that was mentioned in the thread. The inner doors had to be done carefully. I would suggest doing the assembly and testing in steps with the servos and arms not connected to the wing with the programming to get their movement correct. You don't want to connect them up and power them on the controller with incorrect tolerances on the wing and with the linkages. Once the cycle starts on the retract you can't stop it with out disconnecting power. Finally, I think I might put small screws thru the inner door hinges on the wing. They may be a bit weak once flying at the field in grass. Here is a pic of the inner door retracts and the final testing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVVIpgJGXG8&feature=youtu.be

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

What would the grass have to do with the inner doors?

fhollahan

We have high grass at the end of a short runway. But your right, my mistake, the inner doors would be closed so they should be fine. It would be the outer doors on the mains that would take the impact. That said, the inner door hinges don't look very strong to me. I assume they will be fine when they are down in flight. Have they held up well for you?

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

I was having some fun with you. No reason not to beef up that hinge a little.

fhollahan

Sure, fun for you. Your flying yours already and moved on. I am buried in the build process. But then again, building is all you can do in the north this time of year, especially with the weather pattern we are in. I need to head to your neck of the woods or maybe even further south with planes in tow! Thanks for keeping things light and humorous .

GR7Racer

I definitely would add some screws to the inner door hinges like I mentioned in an earlier post. It wouldn't hurt the strut cover hinges either.

It makes sense that the controller wasn't working with the balance lead from your battery. You were putting voltage into the signal line and locking it up.

KennyMac

nsyracuse

Hey guys, just ordered mine yesterday. I have a Top Flite P-51 with DLE-55ra currently. Has anyone finished one with a DLE-55ra or DLE-61 installed? I would like to use one of the two, but I've heard mixed messages/posts about them not fitting. Thanks!

ThunderBoat42

My Feedback: (1)

I am going with the KOLM 65 on this one. Nsyracuse you are close. I am in AL

TimD.

My Feedback: (207)

Has anyone tried to use Robarts air system gear ? Just not a big fan of electric gear. That is the only thing holding me back on one.

ForcesR

ThunderBoat42; I hope you realize the firewall wall will have to be moved back due to the Kolm EZ 65 is 175.1mm from firewall mount to prop drive washer. The H9 P-51D 60cc engine mount depth is only 158mm which means the firewall has to be moved back approximately 17.1mm to install the EZ 65.

Roger

speedbrake

TimD: The electric gear is real, real pretty. I have a TF Mustang with Robart retracts....no comparision! Look at the pictures of the gear in this thread...really top notch stuff.

CRG: Got the controller back from HH...everything works as advertised. Thanks to you and others that worked out the problems we experienced. Now on to getting our planes in the air!

aehaas

I just hand held the OS GT60 into the space. My LHS happened to have one on hand. It looks to fit without any cutting at all, including the rear muffler. I then bought it.

aehaas

aehaas

I also did the canopy mechanism differently, not cutting except for a hole in the back of the shelf. It just pops in and out, easy to repair or replace, no gluing:

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Tim, if you see the E-Flite gear in person you won't have any issues ordering a set.

kalzone

Nice job aehaas! Any vid of it working yet? I'm running mine off of the 7.4 lipo and it is dang close to scale speed

fhollahan

I decided to test fit the wings and intake scoop with the bolts to see how it all fits together. I ran into to a few issues that seem to me to be quality issues from the factory. They were not to difficult to fix but I am a little surprised with how off the alignment was on the left side of the center wing section tab that inserts into the left wing tip. It was off by more then an 1/8 of inch and I had to dremel the opening a lot to get it thru. You can see in the picture how it is literally facing down instead of straight out. The right wing tab was fine but the outer wing tip match on the leading edge to the center section is off by about 3/16. Only on the front edge though, not on the tops or bottom surfaces. With the guns on it will not be noticeable unless you look for it. Also you can see the small gaps where the center wing meets the fuse fairings. I was hoping for a better fit from the factory. The aluminum tubes are a nice tight fit though and the flap sections meet nicely.

marksp

My Feedback: (9)

Can't see or open the attachment, fyi.

Also curious what your kit # is?

Cheers

fhollahan

My kit is #222. Here are the pics again. Not sure why they did not load the first time.