Hello everyone, I am new to this site and to the hobby. Always enjoyed airplanes, finally I am able to have my own.

As I am in the learning how to fly phase, I purchased a very cheapy all inclusive set, and flew it to its death, revived it, and again to its death enough times that hollywoods best reconstructive surgeon won't be able to fix it back up.. it was too cheap, but got me started and convinced me i DO love this..

So, i am getting a real trainer today, but also meanwhle puchased the title aircraft, the Modeltech P-51D ARF 40, with retract gear and monokote... I did a bit of research, and at the hobby store went into a deep conversatio about chosing engines. I am hesitating to get the base recomended .46 2 stroke, i feel i may need more power soon.. i'm a quick learner with toys! So, then i was a bit overwhelmed with all that needs to be considered before purchasing an engine. this link http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/123695.asp#More contains information about the product. I want a nice and powerful engine, not the fanciest, but not the base... unless you all believe the base is plenty... Its more of a matter of acceleration, vertical performance than straight line speed for me...
Does anyone have this plane? and what is the largest propeller you believe this plane will take for a decent (not good) pilot... the landing pad will most likely be rough concrete, or atleast as smooth...

also, any comments and ideas will be appreciated, I am just about to start putting it together.

thanks.

Well, in case this isn't a troll just looking to get a rise out of the guys here, I'll bite. I would leave the Mustang in the box until you have many successful flights on the trainer. Which trainer did you buy? The questions you are asking should be pretty basic if you have prior glow engine experience, which is mandatory prior to flying a P-51. Find an instructor. Go with the recommended engines until you have the experience necessary to determine what engine you need. You should fly these airplanes at an AMA site with an instructor on a buddy box. Do not underestimate how fast these planes fly and how quickly a wrong move can mean a broken pile of balsa.

Otherwise, that engine should work. Also buy a trash bag.

I am not a troll, trust me.. but i understand the skepticism i guess..

I have experiance with gas rc cars, but no, not planes. thanks for your advice, maybe someone who has experiance with this particular plane can give me a jumpstart on which engine they think is better.. I understand it is more or less a personal choice, and what you expect from the plane, which is why I stated what i'd like to do with it eventually.

Trash bag? Well, lucky for me i can put things back together well... I will be near other fliers, and will also be at an AMA airfield...

I will pick this trainer up this evening from HobbyPeople. The same base engine fits the mustang, the .46 2 cycle. It was suggested to be a good way to start.

And yes, the mustang will be a showpiece until I am confident i won't need that trash bag.

It seems everybody wants the cool model for their first glow model(I don't blame you), but for good results there is a certain progression that should be followed.

1. Get out the glow trainer and find an instructor to buddy box with until you can fly by yourself. Even if you can fly the smaller electric airplane the glow airplane will take you by surprise. Glow powered aircraft cover distance MUCH faster than the starter electric sets. (Install a larger diameter lower pitch prop to keep things slower)

2. Fly the glow trainer until you can fly in your sleep.

3. NOW take out the P-51

Retracts are especially bad for beginners because they will come out of adjustment or break after a bad landing. Plus retracts make the entire airplane that much more complicated (more to go wrong).

I learned to fly by myself building a Carl Goldberg Electra Kit. Even though the airplane is very easy to fly I crashed it badly a good dozen times before I got the hang of things. I think of myself as having above average hand-eye coordination (Atari when younger) and I still crashed that much. My point is, even with an easy airplane it is VERY hard to learn by yourself and you WILL crash.

R/C airplanes are MUCH different than R/C cars... Your car experience will likely not help very much.
PS: I personally would put in a Saito 82 [8D] which is, again, NOT a beginners engine.

The Mustang in question is at least a 3'rd airplane at best. I think Xirtic88 missed the point that you just purchased a trainer also.

We see a lot of posts on people deciding that they want a P-51 (insert favorite warbird here...) as their first airplane. Most of these people just want others to agree with their decision no matter how poor it was. Then of course you also end up with some braggart that says since HE did it, you can too.

20 years ago I was a bit of a hotshot. I learned on a trainer for a couple of months and thought I could fly anything. I ate humble pie the first time I flew my .46 sized Mustang, and ended up taking it home in a bag. Even then, I purchased another. I made it to the third flight on that one before taking it home in a bag too.

I agree that the Modeltech P-51 could probably use a .61 two stroke or an .82-91 fourstroke. But you are a long ways off from that right now. I would purchase a .61 sized easy flying sport model (WM Chipmunk, Tiger 60, Ugly Stick, Four Star, etc.) and fly that for several months. I know this sounds heartbreaking, but think of the outcome the other way.

Here are a few links to intermediate planes that will be a stepping stone to the P-51. Good Luck!!



Tiger 60 http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXH756&P=0
Big Stick 60 http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXBMM8&P=0
Four Star 60 http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXCHY4&P=0
Ultra Stick 60 http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HAN2350

Thanks for all that NathanKing, see noone mentioned before in my queries about larger propeller for easier flying at first... it makes sense now that I think about it.
Atari, wow what i would give to get my atari and old nintendo systems back!
I like to think I have good hand eye coordination as well, and like i said I crashed the light electric one plenty of times, but I did feel much better with it before i handed it to my brother and started looking for the trash bag soon after. Luckily, my brother builds models, so he is rebuilding the foam one out of balsa... this should be interesting..

anyways, let me tell you guys a little about myself.. for the skeptics around here.
I live in Glendale CA, work as a civil engineer with the Bureaue of engineering of the publics work department. My other hobbies include dirt biking, wakeboarding, .. well.. you name it.. I have NO rc airplane experiance, but am a fast learner.. if i ask questions that seem stupid to you, my apologies ahead of time.. any advice you guys give is great, just may save me from a disaster... I am 23 years old, and am happily not married.. I am sure i will come up with many questions as i start my new hobby.. i am glad hobbypeople told me about this site.

where can i find local laws about where rc airplanes are allowed to be...? i assume it is ONLY in designated airfields... but what if i go to a large empty parking lot, or park.. ? i tried google.. not too helpful.. I know i know.. i should do this around experianced people.. but i am just curious.

Look up Modelaircraft.org. This is the official AMA webpage. However, the Basin would probably be the closest field to you. It is NOT an AMA field, and anyone can fly there for better or worse.

There will be a lot of people there that can help you get started. But pick carefully.

There is a club in the Glendale area. PLEASE contact and get some assistance.


PORT-A-POTTI PILOTS
2746 102 ROBIN HAMBLEY [email protected]
1369 ELM AVE
GLENDALE CA 91201-1111
Phone: 818.842.6026

The other listed club has lost use of their field.

thats even better!!

Here is a quick brief on your propellor question. Lower Pitch props will go slower, but to avoid wasting engine power, you can go up in diameter.

A typical .40 size sport prop is a 10-6. The 6" pitch could be a little too fast for a trainer. An 11-5, or even a 12-4 are alternative props. With a new .46, even larger props could be used if you had the ground clearance.

It can get a lot more complicated than that, but there are lots of prop questions you can search through if you want more info.

thanks warhwk, also for the first post you made, i missed that before. I will take your advice about yet another intermediate plane after this trainer, I guess that will depend on the confidence i feel when i get better with this trainer.
I dont want to ruin my mustang, I allready got it because I have been meaning to display one in the play room forever, and why not make it the one i will fly later on..

I will check out the links you posted, thaks again..

Also, i have another question, I did a search on the forums but the 300+ results are overwhelming to go through right now..
I have access to tower pro sg5010 servos, and i can get them at a very good price.. but I want to see if you guys have any isues with these servos? Reliability issues? do they erform as wellas the specs say they could? thanks in advance..

These are repackaged Futaba servos and should be just fine for your trainer.

Gevo, if you want a Mustang for a follow-up to to your trainer, look at Hanger 9's P-51 PTS ARF version. You have some model construction to do and can make some necessary and voluntary mods to it. A ton of info on that Mustang is in a long thread in the ARF/RTF section. Oh, when I said buy a trash bag, you may still need one regardless of your modeling experience. When a glow plane goes in hard, it can shatter into a ton of small pieces. You will want something to carry everything back to your in. Good luck to you and remember, were all in this together.

Atari 2600 with Pong is a must for RC flying skills.

Here's some advice... Buy all the ariplanes / gear you can before you get married! You don't have to build it all or fly it all but once you get up on the altar... your buying privileges WILL change. I flew a GP Mustang with an OS .70 as my 3rd. My first was an Eagle 2, my second a rebuilt CG Skylark (loved it!!) and my third a GP Mustang (kit). Not a big step from a low wing trainer.

thanks for the servo info warhwk.

Xirtic, I will remember this when I feel i need to move on from the trainer...

VFR, thats percisely what I am doing.. Getting myself all of the toys I want before I get married... Next, Honda CBR600RR... a slightly less airborne, and faster toy

Well, i gues Ill update now on how far I am with the trainer, the RCM trainer 40 is apparantly claimed as the best trainer, yea i bet cause thats not a relative issue at all right? anyways, it seems pretty solid as i put it together last night. Took me about 3 hours though the kit claims 1-2 hours with minimum experiance.. anyways. The litle plastic pieces that connect the pushrods to the vertical and horizontal tail controls dont match the pushrods, the holes are larger than the pushrods threaded portion.. So, i am headed back to the hobby store afer work. And someother issues with the throttle servo connecter pieces... it was frustrating. BUT, it seems like a solud design.

Questions...
What, if any, options to I have for trainer landing helpers or something.. I am thinking of the big wide stance trainer landing assemblies available for helicopters that my cousin used before on his chopper... I know this trainer has relatively decent landing gear, but if there is anything out there to make it little bit easier/safer to train, that would be nice.

Also, the engine I purchased is the magnum .46 2 cycle, and the instructions say I have an option of a rear needle. The one i purchased came with the needle and an extender bushing which is installed in the front portion. This picture has it opposite of what I currently have, what is the difference? I tied to compare with my rc car's enginer, but ofcourse they are nothing alike...



I am finding most everyone to be very friendly andhelpful in this hobby, I am glad this is the case, makes this a much more pleasent experiance.

have you thought about a simulator? you can practice a lot on a sim.
Also any addition to the landing gear will change the flight characteristics of your plane. the less you have sticking out the less drag and better flight performance (not to mention weight).

Yes, I understand the flight characteristics will change with added weight and drag area... however, it may be beneficiary still for me... maybe? more input may help my decision..

I have thought about the flight sim, infact, i was playing with it at the hobbystore, they have one set up with the same RCM trainer.. Ill play with it more today, but as far as purchasing it i'm not sure, ill check how much they run for. So, it seems that people feel the simulator does infact help a bit in getting started?

other than a wide-stance landing gear, there's nothing that you can add that will help. take extra props to the field and some tape to cover scrapes on the wing tips.

There are several people here that while they can't fly, they practice with the sims. one good thing about it is that you can practice and excercise the thumbs even at night, on rainy days, etc.

The cheap springy wire landing gear will save a lot of wear and tear on your plane during your first landings. If they bend, they can be straightened easily. I have an older RCM Trainer for my 9 year old. Flys great, but I also had some some minor hardware issues. Make sure the Ailerons move freely the full range before gluing the wing halves together.

I don't own a Magnum .46, but it looks a lot like my OS .46. The High-Speed Needle can be rotated so it is either Horizontal like your picture, or Vertical. Magnum owners, correct me if I am wrong.

Here is some reading material that might answer some other problems you might run in to. http://masportaviator.com/fh_prifly.asp

Buy some locktight and use it everywhere metal/metal except your propellor nut. Wheel Collars/Wheels are notorious for coming off and ruining your flying day. Filing a flat spot where the set-screw goes on the axle is highly recommended.

Also, if RCKen, Minnflyer, Bruce88123, CGRetired (and a few others who know who they are) offer advice, it is as good as gold.

well. i read over your provided link.. it ws pretty helpful.. I learned even further that i have a lot to learn.. haha.. im going to bein teh Kern valley this weekend, and ill take the plane down to the airfield there... I have an old friend, high school spanish teacher, that flies out there almost every weekend, hopefully i run into him.. does anyone here go to this airfield ever? (i imagine you would have no reason to unless you live around there)