i have a p51 mustang .46
and i was wondering about
when do you use the flaps
when ,or during landings do
you engage them on approch
to land or when you are about
to land.could someone tell me the
proper methed please
thanks

I don't have that much experience, but with what little I've done, my method is to deploy them on downwind as long as I'm not going to make a sharp turn on to base and final. If I have to make a short turn to final, or if I am in windy conditions, I won't deploy them.

Bear in mind that flaps on a short final might lead to a tip stall especially if you happen to be flying a warbird. Flaps on a model plane in windy conditions can make landings erattic. Besides, if the wind is strong enough, it will slow you down anyway.

I'm sure that there will be a variety of suggestions to be given here. This is just one thought.

Bob

Do you have multiple flap setting or just one? If you have 2 notches I would do this:

1. Midfield down wind first flap setting
2. Turning base to final set landing flaps

If you only have 1 notch:
1. Abeam the touchdown point flaps full.

Make sure you get the proper elevator mix otherwise flaps can be a pain. Also bear in mind that flaps will reduce the models pitch angle and make it want to land more in a wheel landing attitude. This can be VERY troublesome in a 40 sized P-51 because of the nosing over tendency. Honestly on ALL the 40 sized P-51's I have flown they have actually flown better without using flaps at all. And they still slow down just fine. Currently I have an 45 size EZ P-51 with a OS 91 4 stroke in it. Wide open she does 153 mph (radared) but will 3 point land all day at a crawl with no flaps.

Don't get tip stalling confused with an uncoordinated stall which results in a wing dropping. Tip stalls happen in swept wing aircraft were the onset of the wing stalling starts at the tip. A standard model does not tip stall.

Also keep in mind that the flaps aren't the reason for the aircraft to stall. Flaps increase the angle of attack on the inner portion of the wing. When you stall with flaps out, the root of the wing still stalls first. That being said what people do that cause the model to stall is fail to lower the nose when the flaps are extended. Since you are increasing the AOA on the wing you reduce the body angle. If you keep the body angle the same with flaps as you did without flaps you run the risk of stalling the airplane.

The best thing to do is get the aircraft in the landing configuration and take it up and do multiple stalls and a lot of slow flight so you can get used to the stalling pitch attitude.

I would do a long finle and put flap on when your going a slow speed or it will lift back into the air and can cause a stall, flaps are mainly there to give you a short landing and to fly at a slower speed.