To anyone with a P-51 from Hangar 9

I have one near done and was noticing the post a week or so ago mentioning some pretty bad defects. Mine had a bunch too, but they were pretty minor except the covering was not too good, that was perhaps my only "big" problem. My bird looks awesome and I cannot wait to fly it. I have a few unsolved issues that I would like some advice on.

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I did a few mods that everyone here said were "must do's, like the firewall glassing, and the servo tray for the retracts. I am confident the plane is strong enough to fly now, but I am unsure of these two things

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1 The landing gear fairings (wheel covers) stick out what I would call excessively (like 1/4 inch +) when the gear is retracted.To me this seems like it would add drag. This is hoky enough for me to want to leave them off. Anyone else have the same issue? Leaving the covers off makes the gear look really cheap when on the ground, but I'd rather have it more strealined in flight. If I left the gear covers as is does it fly any worse?

2 The wing bolts supplied are steel. I have not used steel as I would rather the wing separate on a misfortunate incident that have the fuse torn in half, however I know that some planes have steel for a reason. Anyone here use Nylon or should I stick with Steel?

Looking forward to the first flight!


The pic attached (I know, not the best quality) shows the gear covers sticking out. Funny, the manual shows them nearly flush.

your question regarding the steel bolts, I asked my LHS guy, If you put it that hard to sheer the nylon bolts do you think it will be salvagable???

I here you on that one but in the past 4 years I have had only a half-dozen episodes of contact with the ground (yes, I do feel very fortunate that it is only 6 - I fly a lot of hours and lot of different planes) One crash was shear stupidity (forgot a servo screw on the ailerons) and ended back with a kit on its first flight after spending the better part of a month putting it together. Needless to say that will never happen again.

The others were during harriers and hovers very close to the runway, mostly while I was learning 3D with my U Can Do and Magic. The impacts, while causing some signifcant damage, were all repairable mostly due to the wing separating after a cartwheel or some other uncontrolled landing. Had I used steel I am sure all 4 crashes would have been fatal.

I guess the replies are going to be about what I expect, some will swear by steel bolts, others are going to curse them. All I want to make sure is that there was no REASON to use steel (i.e. in-flight stress too much for nylon, etc). My guess is that either will work fine in this model, we aren't talking turbine here.

I fly at a fairly windy field, seems there is always a crosswind. Just last week a guy caught a gust and his P-40 veered off the runway into the pit fence during a hot landing. The fence post caught the outboard wing tip and tore the wing from the fuse. Nylon bolts sheered and only damage to the wing was the tip. few bruised ribs and some torn monokote. Not sure what would have happend if the wing could not have separated.




If you were wondering what happened to the sixth ground contact - it was when I was flying inverted 4 feet off the runway at high speed when another plane got a little too close my reflexes weren't fast enough. Instead of giving down elevator, I pulled up.. BAM!


In any contest in which an aircraft is pitted against the ground, the ground always wins!

I have just recently built and flown this plane. (saito 100) As for the gear hanging down, mine does it also but man where talking you might lose 3 Mph. Thats no biggie. Also if you turn your fairings in just a (Little) the wind will push the gear up nicely. But hell you can't even see them sticking out in flight as i looked at mine.

Also i don't worry about the wing bolts after i crashed my ultra stick and the nylon bolts didn't break which destroyed my wing. If you crash this plane, end of story it will be gone. Just take it easy and you will be fine.

Hope this helps

Chopperguy,
I have the same situation with the gear doors on my h9 p-51 also. It looks to me like a design oversight on the stackup dimension when thr gear is retracted. My bird flying by, the're just about invisible, you are looking at all the beauty of this plane, you don't see them. Trust me, you won't experience any performance issues. Your right, the plane looks lame with them removed. As for the steel wing bolts, I don't know what all the hoopla is about, they have something like 400lbs. of sheer strengh each. The wood around them would fail way before the bolts would. Thre is no c.g. issues with the steel ones either. I personally was impressed that h9 would spend a little more on the steel vs the nylon ones. I have a custom stainless steel exhaust on my plane, and I have a hanger and end of the exhaust hanging off the right side bolt, no issues.
You're gonna love this plane in the air! When taking off remember to hold constant up elevator when taxing and during the rollout, or you will experience nose overs some friends talk about.(speaking from experience.) It seems a little strange at first doing this, but you'll get use to it. Enjoy!

Vkerster, do you have any more tips on the h9 p51, I am nervous about its maiden, have heard horror stories about it snapping after take off, flipin over on the ground....I think as long as it rolls out and gains speed then up it goes, will be fine???. I agree on the full up on taxi... thanks for the help

Hey guys what engines are yall running. I have the saito 100 and as for the snapping on take-off. Well mine didn't do it. To make you feel better i held full up untill the plane left the ground. the 14*8 master airscrew almost pulled it straight up. No sign of stalling. The plane is sweet it reacts well but is very smooth. It doesn't whip around like say an unltra stick. As far as landings go do not try to come in high. The plane is very slick and will not slow down very fast. On your initial landings make a long approach and come in low. WHEN YOU LAND YOU SHOULD JUST ABOUT HAVE THE ELEVATOR FULL UP. THIS WILL ELIMINATE THE NOSE OVER PROBLEM.

Gene375 don't worry about the maiden just be CALM. What other planes do you have. I am trying to figure out your flying skills. Hence you should be able to handle it.

i also am using a saito 100 with an APC 14x8. have not flown it yet as too much snow on the field, but have ran 2 tanks thru it chained to a post... chad, i have a spacewalker ARF 91 surpass, and an avistart w/40fx... not any issues flying the spacewalker, but there is a big difference between it and the p51. I am planning on flying a lot prior to the maiden on the mustang..

I would pitch the steel bolts and use nylon. It has nothing to to with strength and everthing to to do with the metal bolts vibrating loose from a t-nut. I watched my friend's 1/5 scale TF P51 wing and fuse depart company in flight because both steel wing bolts vibrated loose. Fuse did the lawn dart, wing survived and he will never use a metal wing bolt again.

Hey Guys!

I just notice that the cowl is not fuel proof! Can you all show how to solve this problem? Whaat kind of clear do I need to use that will not melts the pain???
Thankzz............... alll

chopperguy-

this mustang is pretty easy to fly, as long as it is balanced correctly (per the hangar 9 instructions). but if you are concerned at all it would be a good idea to have an experienced warbird pilot help you fly it the first time to get it trimmed properly. but if you have flown for several years this plane will not be a challenge.

the gear should be set so the axles are even with the wing leading edge when the plane is level, which minimizes the nose over thing. then only a little up elevator is needed. be careful to release the up el;evator as the plane reaches flying speed, or it may tend to try to take off at a steep angle and may tend to stall. however mine with a good running saito 100 and apc 14-8 would not stall easily, but it would tend to get your heart beating .

my concern is it flies a little slow with the saito 100/apc 14-8 prop, but then i have a number of warbirds and like those strafing runs . so i will try a higher pitch prop if the snow ever melts here in ohio.

of course you want to take it up a ways and test the stall up where you have the height to recover, so you get to know how it handles at low speeds. if it drops a wing much it is out of balance- mine DOES NOT snap. you may want to balance it side to side also.

i would change to 1/4 inch nylon wing bolts, but this depends on whether you are confident that the steel bolts will not vibrate loose. the nylone bolts will tend to stay tight better.

just my 2 cents worth. good luck- this plane will be fun to fly just use a little care getting to know it and after flying some you will have a lot of fun with it.

ed

tony tu, my cowl suffered the same non fuel proofing ... I had some lustrekote clear that I sprayed over the existing cowl. it is ok.. FYI, i emailed hanger9 and explained how unhappy i was with this, and no mention of it in the manual, they sent me a new cowl(fuel proofed), and i also told them i needed the decals too, they thru them in too. did not have to send in old one, so now i have a prestine spare...

after reading about the steel blots vibrating loose, i will switch to the nylon ones prior to my flying... better safe than .....well you know..mandatory landing..

I have 20+ flights on my H-9 P-51. so far the only peoblem I had it nosed over on roll out after landing, the right landing gear
collapsed. My plane is powered by an O.S. .91 4 stroke with pump
IMHO it could use a little more power.

I have the steel bolts in mine, no problem so far.

happy flying..........fwc

The only major change that I made was to decrease the dihedral from 6 1/4" to 5". The retract servo was raised 1/4" to prevent binding& the back of the retracts were shimmed up one thick was per rear mounting screw...this helps a little on the nose over problem. I did add some machine guns..3 on each wing panel. I mounted the exhaust panels on the cowl as one piece..looks better..also I added exhaust stacks on the panels....send me your email address and I will send you some pictures. I am powering it with a YS-91 FS using 14X8 prop...flies just great
it has no bad tendencies...be aware that as soon as the tail lifts it wants to fly..
Larry Paiva
AMA 11269
email: [email protected] :sunsmiley

gene 375,
If you followed the instructions setting up c.g., axial c.g., and the throws of the surfaces, the plane should respond well. C.G. is back from where the wing seats into the saddle, not the "leading edge", and axial c.g. is netural, wings level. I'm using a y.s. .91 supercharged and an apc16x8 prop getting 7500 to 7800 rpms static. With this combo, the plane sitting in the grass at idle(2000rpms) will pick the tail up, full up elevator is required during taxing and rollout. With 1/2 to 3/4 throttle, the plane leaps into the air. At this point, I relax the stick to maybe 1/3 up and the plane does a graceful climbout, and has never departure stalled or tried to flip over. On takeoff, the trick is to "roll" into the throttle(don't "punch it") while holding full up evevator. Doing this, my bird rolls about 25ft and leaps into the air. The plane flies at scale speeds at 7 clicks off idle, flies like it's on rails, and flies as good inverted as it does right side up. This plane seems to like long approches, I would try several low speed passes to get the feel of approches. My bird is very predictable in the landings, no bad habits. Reminded me of my pattern plane execpt slower. After touching down on the mains, as odd is it seems, wait a second, then roll to full up elevator. this will eliminate nose overs.
If you own any tail draggers, the h9p-51 should'nt be that much different. If you don't, remember up elevator is your friend with this plane. Take a deep breath, stay focused, and you'll be fine.

Chopperguy - nylon bolts and flatwashers are available and I would suggest using them. If there is a chance that they may keep your plane out of the dumpster, do use them!!

Here's a condensed paragraph I got somewhere about the H9 P-51: "Do not flex the cowling, the paint chips off, needs to be fuel-proofed and a cooling air exit. Engine mount bolts may extend beyond the back of the firewall and penetrate the fuel tank. The firewall is weak...cover the outside AND the inside (and check inside gussets) with a layer of 15min...I've heard stories aboout "separating firewalls", I epoxied the "joint" where the wing attaches to the fuse as well...(the piece with the blind nuts in it), be certain to reinforce the firewall to fuselage joint with plenty of epoxy.
AILERON SERVO BOXES: Two of the mounting blocks had broken free and a third was almost broken too, thick CA them then cover them with 6 min epoxy. After the second flight,the rudder servo blocks broke free.

The landing gear in the kit not strong enough for the tall legs of the Mustang. Replace it with 3/16" wire. Also, the retract servo needs to be elevated 1/4" to 3/8", or the servo can't retract the gear. "

I have a .050 titanium plate coming for my firewall. I haven't messed with the gear yet. And I haven't unwrapped the aft end of my fuse to start on the servos and horns, but I am planning on fairly massive changes back there, like pull-pull rudder and elevator and Robart retractable tail wheel.

Also planning on installing flaps if that is feasable without too much trouble. I haven't held the wing up to a light yet to see what is in there where the flaps will go.

I have a TruTurn spinner for four bladed props on back order so I may try the adjustable 4 blade prop system from:

Vario prop

or four individual wood props attached to a center hub:
Zinger
(13x6, #4133 prop $24, 3.5" spinner #6600 $24) ....if they would answer my email.