ORIGINAL: NM2K
ORIGINAL: earlwb
ORIGINAL: lopflyers
Thx guys for all the suggestions
earlwb: The P51 was a nightmare since the beggining, it is a yr old and has being flown 4 times. The first two times were deadsticks, neither me nor the good old boys at the club could made the thing iddle. I put a on board ignitor and that didnt work well. Someone adjusted the valves and suggested a special plug with a tab special for inverted engines and that worked.
The next flight the gear didnt come out so it landed on her belly. Fixed that, then the canopy came out midair.[X(]
This weekend I try to fly her again and now is very nose heavy, to the point she cant even taxi. I didnt move anything around so I have to see what shifted while in the garage. Not to mention that the monocote is becoming loose in several areas.I DONT WANT THE THING ANYMORE, Im tired of fixing a plane for 1 yr that I barely fly.
Have 5 other planes, Phoenix Extra 300, Lanier Edge 540, Funtana S 90 size, Small(59) Revolver and Small Hobby King Yak 54.
The Twist 60 and Spacewalker are nice options. I dont care about theEscapade too much.[:'(]
Ive always like the Sundowner and Sbach but I dont think they come in a suitable size for my 100.
I can understand that. I had a Ultimate Biplane that got the best of me. It you tried to do a slow roll the engine would quit. Four points were OK, inverted was OK, up and down was OK, but slow rolls would kill the engine. I tried four different engines and used a fuel pump, changed fuel lines and fuel tanks. I eventually gave up on it and quit flying the plane.
Don't let a model intimidate you and make you give up on it. Models are constructed of wood, plastic, foam (in some cases), screws, fittings, etc. They are not alive and they don't have it out for you.
You need to look at your models in the same way that maintenance crews look at full size aircraft - and that is as a collection of systems, made of impersonal component parts.
In the case that you described above, it is obvious that your model's fuel system is defective and needs attention. Find someone in the club that is particularly clever at analyzing and fixing model fuel systems and ask for his/her help. Don't let your model intimidate you. It is a lifeless collection of parts, nothing more - nothing less.
Ed Cregger
Yes it had a fuel system problem, never did figure it out though. I bought the plane cheap from another guy who had the same problem. Being me I thought I knew what to do to solve it. But to no avail.So I sold it to someone else who thought they could fix it. It did the same thing to him too. But he wasn't very good at dead stick landings though. And a Ultimate bipe has the glide rate of the Space Shuttle too. So that ended that.
When you can do loops, four point rolls, fly inverted, climb and descend but can't do a roll or the engine will die will remain a mystery to this day.
The only thing I can think of was the clunk was maybe too light in weight and would be too slow in responding to the model's manuevers, and thus would wind up sucking air in a roll as the Gee forces weren't enough to force the clunk to stay in the fuel.