Well, these long awaited ARFs are here, mine arrived today (5/20/2008). Some have been waiting since December 2007.

A few basics about this ARF:

The Full Scale
This ARF is about a 1/7 scale replica of an early P-51D flown by Capt Richard Peterson, 364th Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force in October, 1944. This was not Capt Peterson's 1st Mustang: he earlier flew a Malcohm hooded P-51B. There is also a currently flying restored Mustang with this scheme, but it is painted glossy and has a yellow rudder.

Retracts
There were some obvious modifcations to the retracts and retract bays before these were shipped. In fact: they are NOT pre-installed, there are some wood parts which need to be assembled into the wings, and there is a note in the (retract) bag which states:
"At Top Flite we strive to produce the best airplanes on the market. Before we started shipping the P-51 Mustang .60 ARF we found that a couple of the parts did not meet our high quality standards. We have included the new upgraded parts with this addendum".

They appear very much like Robart, yet are different, and I cannot say who makes them. They DO have rather robust looking 5.02 mm/ 0.198" (LARGER than 3/16 in.) diameter struts installed, and appear to be at about 85 degree angle when down.

The fuselage has provision for intalling an air tank (IF optional air operated retracts are installed). See pic 8.

Main Wheels
I attempted to display the ruler over the wheel well, but it does not show up. I measured 3 5/8" across the widest part. It appears that if anyone wants to install wheels bigger than 3 1/2": they will have some work to do, as the wheel wells are one-piece, painted (aluminum color) fiberglass, blended into the wings. In fact, it appears that 3 1/2" wheels will be a somewhat snug fit, but that is what I intend to do. The wheels that come with this ARF have Dave Brown hubs, but appear to have some specially made 3 1/4" tires on them. I do not intend to use them.

Tail Feathers & Control Surfaces
Tail feathers are airfoil shaped. Elevators appear to be solid balsa, rudder is framed bals. Flaps are rounded at leading edges, all other control surfaces have wedge shaped leading edges.

Spinner
The spinner is all aluminum, painted, and is already cut for 2 blade prop (I will need to modify mine, as I intend to use a 4 blade APC 14.5 x 11. The included spinner nut adapters are for 5/16 x 24 thread motors shafts. This means that if you plan on using a Saito engine (which is my personal favorite fuel engine brand): you will have to purchase a seperate adapter nut with 8 mm x 1.25 thread. Dave Brown makes one for about $6, and it is available from Tower Hobbies.

Other Details & Small Parts
Main gear doors are heavy: seem to be made from solid fiberglass, but have nice detail.
Exhaust stacks look really nice, as does pilot and cockpit kit. There is also a 4 piece ( 2 of them are decals) instrumnet panel, which I will add pic of later

About This Thread
I highly encourage others who are building this Mustang to participate/ contribute. This thread isn't about me and/ or my Mustang, it is about helping any and all who are building this 'Stang so that we can ALL benefit from each others experiences.