redbirdy

Are the planes that hard to fly? I thought about getting a mustang but have reservations.

flycatch

My Feedback: (26)

Your question is very vague. I believe that the two most common causes are pilot error and high wing loading.

t_burley

My Feedback: (59)

very vague

rc34074

My Feedback: (5)

why do you ask this question? have you seen some crashes?

the warbird pilots at my field don't crash much. but there are lots of different reasons for crashes.

so from my standpoint your question doesn't make much sense.

ed

f4you

My Feedback: (7)

My take on it---

I think a lot of folks jump into warbirds before they really should. You really need to be comfortable and confident in rudder and throttle usage, especially during take-off. One of the biggest problems I've seen (and done) is using too much throttle too fast during take-off, followed by a climb-out (IF they get that far) with an extreme nose-up attitude, followed immediately by stall and fall(CRUNCH). You HAVE to allow a warbird (at least the heavier ones) to gain energy during the take-off roll, and let it fly off the ground with very little if any help from the elevator. Then allow it to climb slowly, building speed/energy the whole time. You will need a fair amount of runway to do this, especially until you get a good feel of the speed required to safely help the plane off the runway with a touch of elevator.

If the Mustang you're thinking about is the Top Flite Giant ARF, that is a very good choice, as it is a very forgiving warbird compared to many. You still need to ease that throttle up slowly, and stay on the rudder, though.

You might think I'm nuts, but one of the best trainers for take-off practice is the J-3 cub (IMO). If you aren't careful, it'll bite you just like a warbird. Learn to fly one of these with confidence, and you'll be a long way toward success with a warbird.

Landing is another whole issue---if you want, I'll throw some ideas at you for that, too. From what I've seen and done, take-off is the biggest challenge, though.

Is this the kind of stuff you're looking for, or did I waste my time??

rcmiket

Whats your skill level?? A P-51 Arf is easy fly.Build a heavy fully decked out TOP Flight and you may have a small problem. The Wing Loading between a Trainer or Mid Wing Sport Plane is subsantial.Not to mention Flaps ,Gear,Bomb Drops,and the BLood Sweat & Bucks you sink into one of these things. Some guys never get the fact that these warbirds cannot be dragged around or even horsed around the sky. Theres bound to be one guy who flys and builds warbirds near you.Go talk to that guy and he'll be more than happy to show you the ropes. If you really want to suceed and fly well you will. It does require a bit of effort.-Good Luck

Shane B

My Feedback: (3)

I just like to build and can't always afford to build a new plane and its alot cheeper to rebuild because you alrady have all the expesive parts, (engine,retracts,servos, etc.) so i crash so i can rebuild it,, So i rekin that pretty much narrows it down for me,,,,

Volture

My Feedback: (1)

High wing loading combined with low speed causing tip stalls/snaps is the biggest cause of warbird death I have observed. Landing gear collapse/noseover seems to be a major cause of rebuildable damage.

Also, FYI, a warbird that is stand-off scale is generally easier to fly than many "true scale" warbirds.

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

The biggest warbird demise is wing loading which will cause the dreaded stall to happen. As mentioned, take offs usually happen to soon as the pilot panics and pulls the elevator back to soon and the plane lifts off and falls off on one wing tip or the other. The other aspect of scale flying is the landing. Most trainers allow you to put the engine into idle and land. With most of the scale planes throttle managment is a must. You might have to keep your trottle set at half power and fly the plane to the runway befor cutting power. At the very least throttle managment is a must. If flaps are involved, this presents another senerio that needs to practiced at high alitudes and still needs throttle managment. If you are currently flying, practice doing approaches with the throttle set at 1/4 power and fly the plane to the runway. These are not problems per say, but with practice they can be over come with no problem at all. Good Luck, Dave

redbirdy

I fly profiles mostly. For the past year I've been flying 3D almost exclusively. I see warbird pilots at my club crash a lot. I've been to several fly in's and shows. It seems that a disproportionate amount of the crashes I see are from the warbird pilots. I am about to finish up my first kit and it has been pretty easy so far. It motivated me to try to build something scale and I figured a mustang would be the ticket. When I see them crashing all the time, I have to wonder what's going on.
I suppose I should have been a little more clear in my original post. Profiles are the easiest planes to land that I've flown. Rudder useage is second nature for me. Are there any good first time warbirds that any of you could recommend? I don't want a really hard build because I don't have a lot of experience with building but I do want a kit.

redbirdy

,

redbirdy

I'll bet that half the crashes I've seen with warbirds were on takeoff where the pilot hits the fence.

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

come to bomber field in sept, there will be more than 200 models there and last year less than 4 or 5 were lost. the houston pro bro at our local club in houston this year lost more than that with less than 50 models. so who knows. barry

warks62

My Feedback: (140)

I fly warbirds only for the most part just what I like. There is no doubt that they are more to handle than alot of sport planes out there which like others have said is do to wing loading. But that doesn't mean that you need to stay away from them. A mustang to me is the hardest on takeoff maybe do to the high stance that it has. Of all the warbirds that I have flown I think that the World Models Zero (60 size) is one of the easiest. It comes with retracts that work perfectly and flaps which work great for landing. It needs very little if any rudder on takeoff and lands as easy as a trainer and really looks cool in the air. I have a 91FS in mine and it is very scale like in flying. One note though make sure that you set the CG as it likes to be tail heavy depending on the motor you choose. I also have the World Models 60 size Mustang that just came out not to long a go which also has flaps and retracts. It lands great take off is a bit more of a challenge but if you are carefull on the throttle it also is great I take off with full flaps and it lifts off perfect. It has a 0S 91FX in it and it flies fast. I hope it helps good luck.

ShaneUSMC

My Feedback: (1)

TF P-47.

prop wash

Semper Fi Shane.Birdy,World Models P-51s are great planes to fly.Like everyone says the take offs are done with plenty of air speed.If elevater is used too soon tip stalling is probable.They are great fliers,fast and very stable,but they go where you point them.They are not ment to do[try] 3D.They do basic stunts and thats all.Landings are done with much approach planning.If you want something easy then stick with trainers.BUT,a high speed strafing run, low, and a pull up to a roll!!!!!I love the war birds.Our War Bird day is coming up the 17th of July at Wheeler IN.Midwest Sundowners.I have 2 WM P51s and a TFGS P51 that I'll be flying.I can hardly wait.Hope to see you people there if you can make it.Tom

luv2flyrc

My Feedback: (6)

I too have seen my share of warbirds go in. As other's have mentioned high wing loadings take their toll.

I think the biggest killer of warbirds is pilot inexperiance. Many warbird fellows are serious builders and as such spend 1000's of hours at the workbench and never fly.

This is true of even many Top Gun level pilots. We have a local fellow here ,who has competed in Top Gun at least 3 times that I can remember -this year included. He is an awesome builder ( obviously) but, a less than average pilot. At every TG event he has destroyed his aircraft ( an FW 190). I was told that this year's plane had not even been flown prior to the event.

I see many warbird pilots fly one flight for the day ( some just set up for show, don't fly at all and just shoot the breeze) while the GS aerobatic guys log a ton of flights. U just can't get good if u don't fly.

sincerely,

Mike

CaptainHook

My Feedback: (80)

I like crashing my warbirds just so I can enjoy the re-building of them. Nothing better than spending the flying season sanding and painting. The fact is... at least for me, they are a part of our world history that some of us are inspired by because if the brave pilots that flew them. They are a different cat to tame, but if it's in your blood then you'll keep going because of the reasons you like them. Don't be affraid to try one, some are more forgiving than others and don't have to be heavy wing loaded models. Now......back to re-building......

rc34074

My Feedback: (5)

redbirdy- you asked for a good kit to build - i recommend the great planes mustang kit for you. its 40 size plane so its a bit small for retracts etc. but its an easy to build warbird and flies very well. i would use a good 61 in it.

if you want the next choice i would go for the top flite 60 size p-47. use spring air retracts not robarts. for a 4 stroke use either an os91 w/pump or a 1.20. for 2 stroke use a super tiger g90 with a bisson pitts muffler. but whatever you do go for plenty of power. also before you fly it find a warbird flyer who doesn't crash much to help you fly it the first flight or two.

the closer a warbird is to scale the more you MUST fly it like the full scale warbirds. keep in mind that these planes were built for the best performance the designers could get for survival up there. they were NOT built to be easy to fly. however most rc warbirds are designed with easy to fly airfoils etc so they don't tend to tip stall nearly as easily as the full scale, but you still can't fly them like a 3d plane or you will rekit them pretty quickly. so if hte guys who are crashing these warbirds are trying to fly them like 3d type planes then i would say yup yopu are going to see LOTS of crashes .

ed

Bish Wheeler

From what I have seen ( myself included) is warbird pilots, who build more than they fly, tend to make the approach to flat. Much like they did when they were flying that trainer years ago. I flew with Earl Aune (sp) in a qualifier and I watched him fly that beautiful Corsair. The light went on when I saw him set up to land. 1/4 power and a descent angle of around 20 deg right down to about a foot from the ground. After that, the landing was a "no brainer".

Bish

JGrc

My Feedback: (29)

[:@]

quint-rcu

My Feedback: (24)

Since he was leaning toward a Mustang and an ARF I'm surprised no one has mentioned the H9 P-51. Good looking and sweet flying with good landing manners. I've been through the TF, WM and others and find this one tops for flying. Weak retracts can be beefed up or replaced. Beefing up is fairly easy and well documented.

quint

ezflyr

My Feedback: (32)

Hi,

A small point, but I think you've got the cart leading the horse here ! If the issue is indeed "wing loading", the problem is not the wing loading itself, but the pilots failure to maintain sufficient airspeed when flying models with high wing loading. These models are not inherently prone to stalling, they just need to be flown differently, that's all!

John

F4u5

My Feedback: (81)

I am with Carey....just ask us...we are FW190 wing rebuild experts[:-]

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

The real problem is that when modelers are taught to fly they learn on over wing areaed ovwer powered models that have a lot of inherent drag. So they learn steep climb outs, Bank and yank, and landing is point it at the ground and pull up at the runway to level off. Then their second plane is a light even more pover powered wingy thing that further intrenches the mentality. Then they fly a war bird which is heavy enough that it does not have enough power to bore through a bank & yank or climb out at 30 to 45 degrees and war birds become difficult to fly! Actually if you can fly a war bird you can fly a man carrying plane because the flight regimes are so similar. It takes a long time to overcome the bad tendencies caused by the way we are initially taught to fly.

I’m probably ask twice a year “how will I know if I’m ready to move to war birds?” I tell them if you can take any of your present planes and takeoff, fly around, do maneuvers, and land without ever changing the throttle setting your ready! My son, egger to show dad up took off at full throttle and flew till he ran out of fuel then landed, “what is so hard about that?”. That is not what is being ask. You must complete an entire flight with the engine running and never change the throttle setting.

This will teach AOA needing a lot to lift off then having to let up on the elevator slowly once in the air to pick up speed. Try a bank & yank while doing this? Look for the mush before it breaks into the spin, recognizing that will save many a plane. Do a loop, role, immelman, and split-s, notice how at a certain AOA the elevator starts to loose effectiveness. Notice how the plane looses speed if you pull to much elevator in a turn. Spin recovery, spin recovery, spin recovery! How to used the AOA to slow the plane for landing. This is all probably news to a few of you but it will improve all your flying a lot!
If you can do all this with your sport plane at 6 to 10 clicks of throttle your ready for a war bird! Otherwise keep practicing.

My son and I would see who could fly with the least throttle, he always won. The plane was not his, he was not responsible for any damage it caused and also not the one to rebuild it, so it’s no wonder.

Just my two cents

Joe Felice