hancop,

I have a WM P-51 that I bought second hand, so I didn't build it. The quality of it seems good, though, from what I can see.

The retracts are OK. However, the field I fly from is pretty bumpy, and I have found myself bending them back after all but the nicest landings. It does have a .61 SF in the nose, so it's probably a bit heavier than intended.

So... I wanted to swap out the gear wire with thicker stuff. I don't like how the retracts are constructed. The struts go into the gear blocks, then make a 90 degree, radiused bend and are sandwiched between two blocks held together with machine screws. So.. in order to get the strut out, you have to disconnect the pushrod at the servo, unbolt the retracts and pull them out, tap out the rotation pin, unscrew 4 machine screws, and finally the wire is free. So.. even if I could get new wire... I would have to bend it exactly like the old stuff to get it to fit. Not gonna happen. I broke down and bought a pair of Robart retracts with thicker wire, but haven't yet installed them. $30 was the damage, but they are a LOT more solid, and hopefully won't rock as much as the WM ones did. If you use a lighter engine, and fly out of a nice field though, you might not even have a problem.

One last thing... I made a rreeaaallyy hard "landing" at pretty high speed one day (more of a gear down pass that went awry...). It hit the mains so hard that I have tire marks on my wings... no joke. They sprung back somewhat and I was able to deadstick it (got the prop pretty good). Upon inspecting the damage, the gear mounts weren't even loose! That's typically a problem area, and I was impressed that it didn't rip the gear right out...

Later,
-Pat-