Power is transmitted through the prop (obviously) & the power load should the same for that 3B prop, or an appropriate 2B -- except that the 2B will have to be longer, & thus have more mechanical advantage, making any torque effects greater. However, most tail swinging problems come from the spiral slipstream off the prop, & not so much from torque effects (or the very misunderstood P-factor), so a prop change won't be very noticeable (other than improved acceleration).

Getting rid of the flywheel will help somewhat by reducing gyroscopic precession. However, you must compensate for the C-of-G shift by adding non-rotating nose weight, or (better) moving the engine forward, if possible.

Most tail dragger problems are reduced by the things that you have already tried (toe-in etc), & most go away with practice. For example, are you holding full up elevator at the beginning of the take-off roll, to keep the tailwheel planted until the rudder has some bite? Steering corrections should be anticipated and pressure applied to the rudder ahead of time -- note pressure, rather than gross rudder movements.

Tail draggers are a bit more awkward for beginners, & short-coupled tail draggers are worse than long-tailed types. The H9 Mustang is still a Mustang, despite the aero do-dads that numb its flight characteristics, so it behaves like a Mustang on the ground.

Just something to live with.

A couple of the pro guys that fly with us noticed this also on my take off, they said to try and shim the motor mount just 1mm at a time (to the right) to see if this helps. They said they do this on their show planes to get rid of torque steering. I agree with the flywheel maybe being the coulprit so I put in an OS .50 to see if this will cure it. My firewall was smashed in a little on the right side so I don't need to try to shim it right now, our best measuring showed it to be between 2 - 3mm off set as is. Hopefully it flies otherwise it's starting from scratch here. I will let you know as soon as I get some time on it this weekend. Later


Shane

<<...it behaves like a Mustang on the ground...>>

Good point; one I hadn't even thought of until now.

Ah, well... I've got plenty of time to ponder this. The kid won't be ready for a while, yet.

---- but you'll have plenty of fun with it

Yes, been holding full up elevator on the takoff roll as long as possible...of course, part of the issue is you can't do that for long, since with the flaps down and NACA strips, the hing wants to jump off the ground WAY too early. Granted, it's flying, but barely...and teaching the student that habit will surely result in a stall later, when flying aids are removed.

Been flying nothing BUT taildraggers since the beginning, and this one is SIGNIFICANTLY worse than most. It's also a good bit worse, ime, than any other warbird I've flown (including 2 different mustangs, and a T6)

The real "shame" of this so far is that, beyond places like this (most of which suggest the same things we're talking about here) there's no real help from horizon...any information from them that mentions the ground handling of the PTS Mustang simply talks about how "superb" it is.

Ahh well...we'll keep arguing with it. I'm hoping a larger, gripier tail wheel will offer a bit less slippage of the back end.

I say put a nose wheel on it and it will be a good trainer. Dennis

I think they designed this plane just like the real thing, no right thrust was put in these planes until post WWII, up until then it was all rudder input to keep'em straight. Matbe if we all start emailing them everyday we will get a response. One thing I think they should make available is a blueprint, I want to install retracts on mine but after taking the ultracote from the bottom, you can't tell what the inside of the wing looks like. Going to have to buy an extra wing just to be able to do this.


Shane

Good luck I hope flies good as it 's looks
and make a trainer, I hope this plane is very stable in the air,
it's very handsome plane,

I read in past post to forget about installing retracts on this model it would not be worth the effort. but rather building a new wing if you want retracts. something about the present location of the landing gear and reinforcement requird for retracts. don noo?

roltech

Your right not an easy bird to get it up, For a trainer I can't imagine a student taking this plane up without it taking a dive. I manage to take it up but rely have to watch it. I'm thinking of changing the trx with porportional flap knob
would this not allow for a longer take off speed, right now there on or off. What do you think of this idea? I'm by no mean an expert I just got my wings this spring.

roltech

you all think this plane handles bad on the ground? heck my nexstar takes up both sides of the runway,almost at the same time, before getting off the ground.the first time i took off my mustang i was just trying to taxi and my brother said just pull it up and go,i did,and away she went.not perfectly straight but pretty dang close. mine handles good on the ground.maybe i just got lucky with my p51.....

Maybe the P-51 mustangs should have gyros in them
so they need to be lot more stable..

I agree with tr21triton this things is pretty damn easy to handle on the ground. At the club I fly at there is a no Taxi from the pits rule so I just grab the tail and put in on the runway. Hit the gas with a little rudder and it is air born.

Well the second maiden was good and bad. Good, not sure whether it was the motor w/out the flywheel or the fact that the motor sits to the right (2mm) due to the crash, but it took off in a straight line with no input in the rudder at all. Bad, characteristics of the plane seemed to be off somewhat, not sure if it was the extra weight from the epoxy, or something else, but it would fly hands free from take off but when you gave it any input it seemed to wonder alot, relly jittery. only did 2 flights with it, the first my buddy did the second I did, used the OS .50 with an M. airscrew 11x7 3-blade and it was a screamer. didn't get a chance to use a 2-blade though as the slide in the carb came loose and couldn't get the idle to come down enough to land. Had to run it out of fuel, not fun to land dead stick as it needs some speed to keep it straight on approach with all training gear removed. LOL Only broke a wheel off this time. Going to send it in as I don't want to push my luck with it in the shape it's in.

About the retract installation, I agree with you there. Would'nt be easy with the current layout on the landing gear, that's why I would definately buy a second wing. This way I cna cut into it to see exactly what would need to be done and where to cut the second one.


Shane

Avistar, putting a gyro in a plank (on rudder) is something I've wanted to try for a long time. And I just happen to have two mechanical and one piezo gyros, all in good working order, in the junk box...[8D]

You guys that have them; how big is the radio compatment in this airplane? I would need to squeeze in the three components pictured below...

Here's a pic of what the wing looks like without covering. Gives youkind of an idea of what it looks like if you were going to try to install retracts. Could'nt tell if the ribs extend all the way through though.

notice they tie the servo conectors from the factory, nice touch.


Shane

Now I just need to figure out how too get the wing apart too ship it as I epoxy'd it when I assembled it, lol Guess I will have to get a bigger box unless they tell me it's ok to just cut it in half..

Shane

Well your doing a good job so far

Hi There.
I have been flying for 30 years. sling the throttle open on any plane and it will make a turn. I have been training my 9 year old son on a P 51 PTS, we have 30+ flights on it with no trouble with take off or landing. Ease into the throttle, it should take 4 or 5 seconds to get to full throttle and it will take off with very little rudder. Just my opinion.