Capt G

My Feedback: (8)

...and without cowl.

mulligan

Thanks, G. BTW, nice pedicure


Has anyone confirmed that H9 fuel proofed the cowl on this one (wasn't on little brother)?

- George

mulligan

I'm ready to buy this baby, but I can only find it for $500- thought it was $450??? Where to buy?

- George

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

Try Doug's Hobby shop. He advertises in RCM and MAN. You have to call him to get the best price, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if you find it for...say...$399 plus shipping...hint...hint...

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

Hi George,

You might want to give Doug's in Waldorf Md. a call; I live near by and they stock Hangar 9 and I saw the Giant Hangar 9 in their shop Wed... ask for Jim or any of their friendly staff.

Richard McFarland AMA52920

Lupomen

When you guys in the USA have flown yours, I am very tempted to buy one especially after today when we have been close to 'Big Beautiful Doll' at our local airshow. What a beautiful airplane.

Timbo562

Hi all,

I bought this plane about two weeks ago and just completed the maiden flights a few hours ago. I built it pretty much as directed by the manual except for reinforcing the firewall (fiberglass strips from firewall to fuselage) and epoxying the tail feathers in place on the spars (didn't quite trust the screws). I also put in a set of Robart pneumatics in place of the stock mechanicals (didn't see anything wrong with the supplied ones I just prefer air). I overpowered it a bit (can never be too fast) with a Moki 2.1 which JUST barely fits widthwise but the length and weight were a perfect match. Also put a 32oz fuel tank in to feed the larger engine. The aircraft CG'd perfectly and no ballast was required.

First flights always have my full attention since you have to be ready for anything but this flight was a real pleasure. Takeoff roll required a bit more right rudder then I had available with the suggested lo-rate travel setup for a straight line takeoff roll but it wasn't a real problem. My habit of holding full aft stick at the start of a takeoff roll and easing the stick forward as the speed builds caused a slightly premature liftoff (didn't release the backpressure fast enough) but I just lowered the nose slightly and the airplane climbed out nicely. Two clicks of right aileron and three clicks of down elevator were all that was required to trim the plane for hands off straight and level flight. Ten minutes in the air flying a conservative pattern and testing out slow flight/stalls showed that this airplane was going to be a dream to fly. The big wing let the plane slow to a crawl without getting tippy or pitch sensitive and the stalls were straight ahead with no tendency to drop a wing. Lowering the flaps (set for about 1.25" or 15 degrees) caused to discernable pitch change and I doubt I'm going to want to mix in any down elevator even with more aggressive flaps. First landing was a breeze and the airplane naturally followed a nice gentle glide path when the power was reduced to a beautiful flare and rollout. Post flight inspection showed everything had held together so I flew it three more times trying some gentle acrobatics and inverted flight. The airplane did everything I asked of it just the way I felt it should. Loops were straight, rolls were axial and inverted flight required just a touch of down elevator to hold level flight. I haven't tried any real high speed flight yet as the Moki was brand new and will need some break in time but with the engine set real rich and running about half throttle the general consensus was runway passes were just above 100mph. The prop was an 18x12 and I'm guessing the plane will run around 130 when the engine is broken in (could maybe use a little more prop).

I absolutely recommend this kit to anyone considering a big war bird. The quality was top notch, everything fit as it was supposed to, it built easily in about a week and a half and it's a great looking airplane. I had the .60 size version for a long time and it was one of my favorite airplanes but the quality of that kit (in my opinion) left something to be desired and (also in my opinion) it required a fair bit of toughening up to make it durable enough to fly hard and regularly. This kit seems to be a nice step up in design and quality from the smaller one and I was constantly impressed as I was building it with how much thought had gone into the design and how easily and quickly it was going together. I wish everyone who's building this kit as happy an experience as I've had with it and look forward to a summer full of Mustang fun. War birds Rule!

~Tim

Countryboy

My Feedback: (25)

Tim,

Nice tutorial. Glad everything went well on your maiden. I am looking forward too getting started on mine, as I have only managed to iron out a few wrinkles in the covering since bringing it home.

Could you elaborate on the retract installation. Which Robart retract, modification's, etc... How much lower cowling cut away to get the Moki mounted ???

Capt G

My Feedback: (8)

Tim - sounds real good and congrats on your first flight. I have the engine installed (Moki 1.80) and 1/2 the wing built . The retracts appear to be just fine so far and I really like how the gear doors fit. I did add an extra hinge to the aileron only for my piece of mind.

mulligan

Got mine late last week... for $500- couldn't wait for the better deals Over the long 4th weekend, I was able to get it 80% done. Is it just me, or are ARF time-to-complete estimates a crock??? 18-22 hours my butt.

Anyway, having fun with this one- not too many issues. Of course, hardware went into the trash- 4-40 rods and Sullivan hardware is definitely the way to go- especially with the long runs up the fuse. And standard servos simply won't do, although I don't think this plane justifies digitals. I used some 60 oz.-in. servos on all control surfaces- a bit higher on rudder. I'm using a 6V system with redundant batteries/switches.

A bit of a pain in the rear is the servo orientations. You can only "Y" the ailerons. The elevator and flap halves have to be reversed from each other, so I'm using eight channels.

Wing went on with no saddle issues for me- at least one person here had issues- must be luck of the draw.

I added some air cylinders I had lying around to actuate the included retracts- looks like some shimming is needed though to prevent wobbling. Also, I epoxied gear doors instead of using screws- I didn't want to mess up the sharp look of these doors.

Some of the hinge slots weren't centered or deep enough.

Tim, I thought I (and G) were on the high side with a Moki 1.8, but a 2.1??? Sheeesh. And it wasn't nose heavy? That's encouraging, as I thought I would have to add tail weight with the 1.8.

Still waiting on my J-Tec muffler before I can install engine and cowl. Might be flying this weekend if I'm lucky.

BTW, G, can you approximate how much cant you used on your engine mount? This will help me approximate the cutting of my radial backplate.

- George

Timbo562

I had some PM requests for pic's of the Hanger 9 1.5 size P-51 I just finished/flew so here's a few. Also, I used the Robart 605's for the main gear (because I already had them). They've worked fine so far (one of the advantages of an asphalt runway) but they're are only rated for airplanes up to about 10 pounds so I'll be swapping them out for the larger units as soon as they arrive(530's or 531's I believe?). The 605's required a slight enlargement of the width between the gear mounting blocks in the wing (about a 16th of an inch on each side) and a very slight widening of the recess in the wing's balsa sheeting to fit the wider mounting flange but still not as much work as installing the servos and pushrods to make the stock mechanicals work properly.

As for mounting the Moki 2.10 that was a bit more of a challenge. The engines length and weight were just right but the width made it near impossible to keep the built in right/down thrust and offset the motor enough to line up the spinner perfectly with the nose/cowl. I got it to within about an 1/8 of an inch with some slight slotting of the stock engine mount firewall holes to allow sideways movement and only had to redrill the two left side firewall holes (also installed slightly larger blind nuts). I kept the right/down thrust built into the firewall and that seemed to be adequate for this engine but with only 4 flights on the model I'm going to be discovering things about it for some time yet. Have fun!

~Tim

Timbo562

Here's another

~Tim

Timbo562

Here's an inflight shot of a low pass.

~Tim

Timbo562

This was my first attempt at posting a pic. Does anybody know how I would get the thumbnail image to show up on the post (I posted jpg files). Thanks

~Tim

Timbo562

Here's one more showing the cutout for the Moki 2.10

~Tim

Capt G

My Feedback: (8)

You can almost see it in the picture but it's only about 2 degrees off vertical. Where did you find 4/40 rods long enough to reach the tail? The only other change I made to the hardware was to use Robart BB control horns on all surfaces.

taildraggerdave

My Feedback: (1)

Hello Tim,
I'm glad your maiden flights went well. Did you have a top notch,highly motived support team behind you when you did the maiden flight??

The thumbnails usually post by themselves. Fortunately, you can still click on the picture and see it.

BTW, RC Airport and RC Universe are merging into one giant on-line RC Forum...

mulligan

48" 4-40 rods at ONE of my LHS- Grave's RC Hobby in Orlando, FL.

I've found my worst dislike of the plane- the rudder horn attachment. There's no hardwood, and the rudder is so fat, you can't use bolts- threaded rod and nuts??!! Yuk!!

- George

Capt G

My Feedback: (8)

If no hardwood in the rudder I will sink a small square of 1/8th aircraft ply in there to screw the rudder horn to. P>S> The stock gear dropped right in and are very strong and solid. Had to shim the rotating block a little to get rid of a slight amount of slop.

LBECKWITH

I recently picked up 1.50 size H9 P-51 from LHS. I am now building. I have encountered sloppy retracts like is on my 60 size H9 P-51 and have made some modifications to improve them but still not fully satisfied. Others have installed robarts. I would like to know details regarding what had to be done to install mechanical replacements as I know nothing about the air versions. I too, canned most of the hardware in favor of more sturdy products. I picked up a Saito 180 for mine. Any suggestions on which prop to use??

I have also noticed that the retracts are splayed when in the landing position. Is this normal?? Perhaps the supplied products are 90 degree and should have been 85 degree??

pettit

My Feedback: (23)

To the folks who replaced all the control hardware: How did you run the 4-40 rods throught those tiny plastic tubes to the elevator and rudder? You must have had to replace them with larger diameter tubes since a 4-40 rod won't slip through the ones already in the fuselage.

The supplied elevator and rudder wire and hardware is 2-56, and while the plastic clevises in my kit will be put in a safe place until a smaller plane requires their use, I really can't see why the rods can't be used with sturdier metal clevises. The plastic keeper devices at the servo arm only holds the wire in the arm. All the force is between the wire and the arm, not the keeper.

Also, the aileron and flap rods and hardware are already 4-40, and the clevises seem up to the task. Why would you need to replace them?

Comments?

mulligan

4-40 rod fit very nicely in mine- in fact, still enough clearance for safe travel without rubbing.

The reason for the heavier rod is to add stiffness along the long runs inside the fuse, which reduces slop and helps to prevent flutter somewhat.

I did not replace aileron/flap rods/clevises, but I did change to Sullivan control horns (as I did for all control surfaces).

- George

mulligan

What did you shim with? If wood, will it wear over time?

- George

Capt G

My Feedback: (8)

I agree with Dick - the hardware looks pretty good to me with the exception that I didn't want to use the supplied horns. I opted for the Robart Ball bearing horns. The shims are simply 1/4 square piece of 1/16th aircraft ply glued on the flat near the brass bushing.

airspeed917

Any of you guys think. a G-26 or a G-38 would fit in this plane