samparfitt

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pictures (with commentary) that my brother in Simi valley, California, emailed to me:

Last Thursday we took 5 of the 7 flying P-38s from Chino to the Sacramento Capital airshow at Mather for the weekend show. John Maloneyflew chase in our P-51...first we joined up over lake mathews for a quick and dirty photo shoot then climbed up and headed north..along the way Hinton decided we would buzz shafter where his son was preparing "Stega" for Reno..so we went whistling by there hangar line a breast at about 300 and pulled and came around single ship....climbed back up and joined up..then about Fresno, the AIr Museums P-38 " 23Skidoo" cracked a head so we followed her to desecent at FAT and pressed on.....then about 10 out of KMHR Hinton again decided on some tom folerery and we did a super low echelon pass at Sanders private strip at Ione before we headed to KMHR for a fan break with the mustang as -5 cameras rolling...At one point in the flight Maloney came from behind in the Mustang and dove down our right and pulled up into a giant exagerated barrel roll aour the rather loose goose formation so the camera man could snap a photo thru the canopy of the mustang as he was inverted over the P-38 flight.....what a fun deal that was......heres a few of the shots..hope your well.

All the best

Jeff H

PS: in the shot from the back seat of the mustang John is chasing the broken P-38 and you can see coolant streaming on the left..always nice to have a shrp mustang chase eh ?

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Full size (cont)

RCPILOT78

Hello Sam...I just became the proud owner of a Yellow P-38 kit ......one of my friends decided that it was too much for him so he ( GAVE IT TO ME ) ......I will be watching this post for some help....so far I see its going to be a whole lot of work.....but thats OK...my concern is the usual....How heavy, is the CG accurate....Are their any BAD habits this plane has......Have you flown yours yet ? I have the Yellow AT-6....and the Yellow P-47 both are excellent airplanes..........two of my fellow club buddies said that the Yellow p-38 is a handful .......not easy to fly.....and the wing lacks washout........however I was told that the later kits such as mine was modified and washout was added.......upon inspection of the outer wing panels it looks like I can see washout....whats your opinion.....thanks RCpilot78

samparfitt

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rcpilot78,
I haven't flown mine yet as I'm presently flying two other twins.
Like any twin, the wing load will usually be high so you have to fly them to the ground (no floating).
With all my warbirds, especially twins, I insure the plane is at flying speed before I take off: with twins, I usually take 400-700 feet of runway before liftoff. Engine sync is always critical so insure both are close to each other's rpm's on idle, transition and full power. For the first few flights, I fly high in case of engine problems, I have enough air space to keep the nose down, idle the engine/s and, usually, just land in the same direction that I was initially flying with the gear up. Unless I caught the engine problem early and have plenty of speed, I won't turn the plane as that usually results in a snap. If the plane has lots of height and you can keep the nose down with idle engines, then a turn is possible. Plan ahead on what you would do on landing emergencies at different locations in the air for each field that you're at, allowing for trees, corn, fences, etc.
Twins are a lot more work than single engine planes but the cool factor is worth it.
If you've flown lots of IMAA legal warbirds and twins, then the P-38 shouldn't be a problem.
The P-38 usually is not the best selection for your first twin but an experienced pilot can fly it.

Shaun Evans

Hi,

I know this is years old, but that's not hot glue in there....

RCPILOT78

I too am going with the small button head screws to reinforce areas where the former meets the fiberglass.......I have a Yellow AT-6 and a Yellow p-47 and I realized when I built both of them I felt more secure having the parts glued and riveted to the glass parts and so far none of parts show any sign of coming loose..... Yellow Aircraft produces excellent kits and they fly very well......We the builders just have to add what we feel is going to make the plane even better..... RCPILOT78

Shaun Evans

Hi,

Have you considered reinforcing that joint with glass cloth and polyester resin? That's what I do on the poly kits. It's quick and it makes it pretty bulletproof. I'm glad you like our stuff!

RCPILOT78

Yes I do add cloth if I see that the area needs strength....But I use the button head screw for example on the formers in the booms where they end at the gear door opening ............some times they loosen from handling at the very tips the pan head screws add strength there and also .........if done carefully it looks like rivets a nice touch to the plane.......then I grind the head of the screw to flatten them to look like a rivet......

RCPILOT78

Sam.....I managed to mount the nose gear............I followed your suggestions and photos and had good luck so far............In photo #4 and #6 I had to construct a new mount for the steering arm for the nose gear...........I laid the servo on its side to get a straight shot through the bulkhead to the steering arm.........Its so difficult to get in that space to work...........the rest of the photos are based on your engineering design...........I don't have the construction manual for this plane............the guy who gave me the plane misplaced it..........so I have to follow your build thread.............I don't know if the construction manual had you cut the openings in the nose of the fuse or not...........because without doing that I don't know how anyone can install anything in there....RCPILOT78

samparfitt

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Looks good.
The manual had no mention of cutting access hatches: I found this to be the only viable way to install the steering servo, plus a good place to add the batteries for nose weight.

fw190

My Feedback: (37)

I am sorry but this is total misinformation! Hot Glue on a Yellow Aircraft kit?? I have seen many YA kits and have not seen hot glue ever been used. In fact they have used fiberglass tow and resin to help secure the formers in which is stronger than glue alone. Please show proof before blabbing something that degrades a great product.

Greg Wright

My Feedback: (6)

This is my p-38 from a yellow aircraft kit.

RCPILOT78

GREG..beautiful looking and from the pics. a great flyer......what engines did you use........... and do you know the total weight of the bird.......I am hoping mine looks as good as those pics.....And.... fw190 is right yellow produces great kits......the glass fuse and associated parts are free of any pit holes or defects....unlike other glass kits I have built....

Greg Wright

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RCPILOT78, The engines i put into this plane where two DA 50's. The total weight of the finished plane is 35 pounds. I have traded the plane to a good friend of mine so i do not own it any more and i miss it already.

aerofalcon

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Hi, Greg. Is this the same P-38 you flew at WOD last year? That was one fast lightning! I'm in the process of building the yellow p-38, also with 2 DA-50's. What size 3 blade props did you use, and what brand? Thanks...

RCPILOT78

Thanks Greg for the info......it sure helps to have builders willing to take the time to respond to the build thread.....RCpilot78

Greg Wright

My Feedback: (6)

Hi aerofalcon, i have never been to warbirds over delaware. But to answer your question about the props, they where 20x10 3blade mejzlik props.

RCPILOT78

Hey anyone still building this plane ? .......

RCPILOT78

I have been working on the 38 occasionally......If you are installing the Robart retracts there is some mods that have to be made.............I followed Sams recomendations and its not that difficult.........these Robart retracts are hefty.........also I decided to add an extra bulkhead and bridge the two servo mounts for the elevator and rudder servos......there could be a lot of torque and vibration to just let the servos hang on the side of the booms without any reinforcement.....

p38mike

My Feedback: (3)

It is a good idea to not just let the servo trays hang off the sides of the fuselage but I hate to point out that a big 'ole main wheel has to fit between the elevator and rudder servos and trays! I did something similar and had to do some surgery when I saw where the wheel ended up. Also, never use regular epoxy on the polyester parts of the plane. It looks like it is holding at first but it will fail at the worst possible time. It took me six months to build and the successful maiden was back in November. Five flights since then and I am now finishing up the gear doors (a significant undertaking!).

Here is the maiden flight if you’re interested…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNfE4...eature=related

Regards, Mike

RCPILOT78

P38mike......good to see that someone else is building the 38......and has also maidened.......I will have a lot of questions for you as we go along if thats OK with you....I am a long way from flying mine working on it slowly.......can I ask you what engines did you use ? and ( What is the all up flying weight ?..) ..I think that both items are critical for a good flight..... I plan on useing two G38 engines.....I like the magnetos especially on twins don't have to worry about ignition battery going dead.....

RCPILOT78

Mike I viewed your maiden flight on U-tube in the video your plane seemed so far away it was hard to see... looked like a great flight...on the landing though it was so hard to see...... it looked like the nose gear collapsed was that the case because we couldn't tell from the video..

p38mike

My Feedback: (3)

Yes, the nose gear did collapse on the maiden. But it was designed to do so. I screwed them in lightly to prevent the possibility of serious damage. After the first two flights I through bolted them. But once you learn the tendencies of the plane it is very easy to fly and land. What happened on the maiden is that I chopped the power on final approach thinking it was going to just glide in (like my Royal P-38 does). But as soon as I cut the power it sunk like a rock! I was lucky a motor didn’t die when I hit the throttle! There are other clips of better landings. Flaps are needed on landing but not takeoff.

I used two RCGF 45s. If I had the financial fortitude I would have used two DA-50s. I think the G-38 is old technology and not enough power for this airplane. I used a G-38 in my YA-Spitfire and it was seriously underpowered for a 22 lb plane! I have a DA-50 in a 33% Edge and I love it. But the RCGF 45s have proved reliable so far and fit nicely in the cowls with the stock mufflers (I just rotated the engines slightly). I just completed the gear doors (no small task!) and haven’t weighted it again but it came in at 32 lbs before. I also used a smart fly power expander and dual optical ignition cutoffs. Works great and you don’t need so many Y connectors. I also used two servos for the inboard flaps as my fingers are not small and long enough to reach in there. I also did not want to cut access holes in the plane and none are really necessary. I actually have lots of photos as I documented the whole build process. Took me about six months to complete. I used the Yellow landing gear as I was not able to get the Sierra gear to fit. It would have also added several lbs to the plane and the Yellow gear has been good so far. I did not add any extra weight to the plane, just put the four batteries in the nose and it balanced fine.

p38mike

My Feedback: (3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j53c5AEDqRI

RCPILOT78

Hello Mike I viewed the flight on Utube....looked great and sounds great.....I too am using a smartfly unit...... I have one in all my planes....and yes you found out about the gear doors !!! they are a challenge but once installed work and look great....I installed the robart gear they are stout....

IF you can post some more flights.......and keep us informed on your progress its always great to see builders have great success with their planes....

I guess this plane is no different than my other warbirds they all fall out of the sky if you pull the power off too soon..glad your maiden was a success.

Thanks Joe