Last monday was the maiden flight for my P-51 and she flew great. I buddy boxed it with my father in law and was able to take off but couldnt stick the landing.
Ive had a lot of hours on G3.5 so it felt pretty good flying the real thing. We took off the air brakes when first assembling it and the first flights were done with the flaps up and not in the down position like recomended and that is why i was unable to land because of the speed on the approach.
afterwards we threw on a servo for the functioning flaps and then yesterday i took it up w/ out the buddy box and let my father-in-law land it first. functioning flaps are amazing on this thing and helped out tons on the approach speed. on the second flight i took it up, flew around for a few minutes and brought it in and landed it.
what a great feeling it was to do it all on my own!

Congrats,
I have the P-51 PTS as well, and am now flying solo happilly after about 8 lesssons buddy boxed with an instructor.
Have got to a 2 blade prop and functioning flaps... still have the airbrakes on..

Next weekend am going to start looking at landing with flaps now that i have my jr 9303 (9x v2) and have them setup.


Rob in OZ

Great job on the solo flight. It's just about the greatest feeling in the world isn't it?? Give yourself a pat on the back, you've earned it.

A solo flight is a great accomplishment and that wins you one genuine RCU ATTABOY (Suitable for framing, wrapping fish, or lining trashcans).

Ken

those things look pretty nice, but im already getting a Tiger 2 instead, cuz i was kind of thinkin about getting one of those.

congrats[sm=thumbs_up.gif][sm=thumbs_up.gif][sm=thumbs_up.gif], the fun and learning are just around the corner.

Have fun, Dave trimmer

HUH? I thought he was having fun already and he's certainly been learning things.

Next step for me is to earn my Bronze Wings here in Aus.. then start learning for my gold..


Rob in OZ

I have the P-51 PTS as well. I have the flap servo and it does help. Still is a little harder to land then my arrow 40 though and I never had the speed brakes on mine. Only thing I dont like is the landing gear is so weak. My right gear block busted all up after only a few flights and I would say the landing was not that hard. Not the best but not that hard. Had to replace the plane after a crash and same thing happened again with the right gear block coming apart on the new one. The one big weak point I see in this trainer.

well ive had about 10 landings so far with mine, 2-3 were somewhat rough and fast, and they seem to be holding up. i guess ill be on stand by to cut her open and fix the blocks like many people have had to do. on the first sign of them becoming weak is when i will do it.

that will be my next step in learning about the planes... cutting her open and learning how to fix something!

what do you guys recommend to have on hand as far as tools/glue/epoxy/etc for minor repairs such as the landing gear block?

well i always have some 30 minute epoxy with me and some thin CA

There were also a number of planes that came with the gear blocks not properly glued, along with the servo blocks.

It pays to open both areas and re-apply expoxy and CA.

It's easier to cut into the existing covering then repair it, than it is to do this after it has been trashed in a crash.

Hey Wild Bill, I just ordered the Arrow 40 and the P-51 PTS ARFs this morning. Since it seems you are training with both, I'd be curious to hear more. I plan on throwing the Arrow together first and fly that while I take my time building the P-51 since it seems to have quite a list of "To Do's" that should be done before flying.