Hello all,
Just picked me up my first and second planes yesterday. I have been into R/C most of my life, playing with the toys when I was a kid and finally getting my first "real" RC car in 2004 when I was 21. In 2006 I got into RC flight with electric micro helis, then in 2007 work forced a leave of absence from flying my helis, which limited me to the sim for a year. Once I was able to return to my hobby, I continued with the helis. I have always wanted to get into planes, but was nervous about my orientation skills until I spent some time on the sim. Finally, after the sale of my classic 1:1 car, I made the jump and decided to go for it. Just yesterday I bought the Hangar 9 P-51 PTS "RTF" as my trainer. Since I already have a Spektrum DX7, I bought the Spektrum AR7000 Rx so I could control the Mustang with my DX7. Though it won't be used for a while, I also picked up the flap servo for it as well. Since I plan on flying as much as possible to get trained up, I went ahead and bought my second plane for when I'm ready to move up. My second plane is Seagull's Yak 54 .60 size that I bought an O.S. .61 (had the choice of Evolution, Thunder Tiger, or the O.S. at my LHS) engine for. Once I got home, I went to the AMA site and started my AMA membership so I can go to to flying fields to get trained up on a buddy box. While at the LHS, I spent about an hour or more talking to one of the guys there making sure that I got everything I needed, as well as getting recommendations of parts (props, engines, servos, fueling hardware, etc...) and reasons why they were recommended. I was so exited about it that I stayed up until 2:30 this morning to get my flight box, field equipment, and P-51 ready to be charged and used when I go to the field today if/when it dries up. Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.

Have fun! Get a good instructor that explains why things work the way they do.

Great choice in planes. You will love the P51 pts. Its alot of fun to fly. I too bought the flap servo and installed it when I built it. I figured that way I could set the flaps any way I needed without having to remove the wing to move the wire for the fixed position. I soon found, I should have just used the wire. I have never used the flaps. The plane lands slow and really nice without it. Especially with a head wind. Live and learn. Although people say its not a trainer, I soloed after 9 flights. It was quite easy to learn to fly it. I, like you, came over to planes from racing cars. I spent alot of time on the sim and all of my instructors said they could tell. They can always spot someone who has sim experience. I now have 3 birds in the hangar and im looking to purchase my 4th. I figure the addiction could be a heck of alot worse then planes. Now I have to find a place to store the darn things.
To save a few bucks, the AR6200 receiver would have worked well with the mustang. I put one in my twist 40 and it works just fine. Not that you did anything wrong. If you buy more and dont need all seven channels, its an option in the future for you.
Now get them built and go fly.

Welcome MyDartSwinger, as you may be able to tell by my screen name I too am a classic car guy. I also happen to work right acroos the street from you at Pope AFB and live down the road in Raeford. So I to have had some of those nasty leaves of absence from the hobby due to my job. I also happen to be an instructor at Davis Bridge Aeromodeler's Club near Raeford. I do not know what end of town you live on so of course I do not know which club your looking at. If you want our club presidents phone number just let me know and I will send it to you via PM. I'm not positive but I think the information on the AMA website may be out of date as the gentleman listed as our contact person is on one of those extended vacations from the hobby we were talking about earlier. In fact I'm on a short one right now in Montgomery, Al but will be back July 11. Good luck with the plane and deffinately get with an instructor to at least look it over for you. Those things are advertized and sold as "RTF" but that does not mean you don't have some work to do before you fly them. "HUAA!"

Thanks for the replies guys.

Shawn, I hear ya with the space. I don't have a garage, so I'll have to hang them in my house. The P-51 came highly recommended to me by a former instructor that works at the hobby shop and has trained 3 people on the P-51. I have also talked to several new pilots that said that they learned on a P-51, and highly recommend it as well. From what I've found, traditionalists are the ones that don't recommend the P-51 as a trainer because traditionally, trainers were high wing conventional gear birds that served only the purpose of teaching someone to fly, and not much else.

67Stang, I knew that the "RTF" would need a good bit of work to get going when I bought it (hence the quotes around the RTF). Davis bridge is where I'm planning on going to do my flying. I've already checked out Piedmont, but felt that they were not a good fit, since I want a field that I can fly helis at as well (they don't like helis flying on their field). I thought about Fayetteville R/C, but after talking to the owner of The Great American Gift, Toy, And Hobby Company off of 53 just past I-95, as well as Alan and Paul at Hayes, found that they don't have any active heli pilots at their field, so I decided not to go with them either. I talked to the Davis Bridge Club president, Mark M, this morning. He's supposed to meet me at the field this afternoon. Someone from your club brought flyers to Hayes and I was able to get his number from that. I live near Bragg Blvd., so most clubs in the area are about the same distance from me. I'm going more for what the club has that suits my needs. So far, Davis Bridge is it. Maybe I'll be flying my Yak by the time you get back out there. Take care.

I look forward to meeting you. You will find we are a pretty relaxed bunch of "country boys" for lack of a better description. Maybe you can help me learn to fly this Heli I have Don't rush on the Yak, however it is my belief that on Low rates the Yak will be easier to fly and land than the P-51 PTS as it will do so slower. The Yak, however, is built lighter and will break more easily on less than perfect landings... ask Mark M about that with reguards to his Yak Tell the guys Phil says, "hi" when you get there.

You are well on your way and the heli experience will help alot, especially with over controlling (we know how easy it is to over control a heli )
I would go ahead and install the flap servo, you don't have to use it right away but it doesn't hurt having it in there.

I went to the field today and joined the club. I was working with Mark as my IP for a little bit. We were gonna take the Mustang up, but when I fired it up to get it set right for flight, I went to pull the ignitor off and, OUCH!!!. Somehow I let my fingers get to close to the prop. Cut up my finger a bit, bandaged and I was OK, broke the prong off of the glow plug, and it broke a blade off of the prop and I forgot to bring my spare prop. I hung out a little bit and watched Tom D. fly his Kadet and Mark fly his Ultra Stick. After I got the Mustang home, I replaced the prop and the glow plug, filled up the tank, and idled and taxied around the yard for a tank with no issues but the prop nut wanting to back off. I figure I'll put some thread locker on it and it should be good to go. I'll go to Hayes to pick up a couple more props and glow plugs, and I'll be back out there next weekend for more punishment, err, fun. Later guys.

If you have that 3 blade prop don't replace it. Get an 11x5 or 11x 6 Master Airscrew. That 3 blade flies it at just above stall speed from what I have heard. Sorry to hear of your misshap your lucky if it does not require stitches. I got six stitches from a much smaller engine and prop. Thread lock is not the answer to keeping the prop nut on. Adequate torque is. Also an engine that is too rich will want to start backwards and sometimes loosen the prop nut. Your off to a rough start already having an injury but you seem to have a good atitude. I expect you will be tossing that Mustang around great by the time I return and getting ready to maiden the Yak.

Thanks for the advice on the prop. I figured a combination of adequate torque and thread locker was the right way to go on all metal-metal contact, as this is how it is in the heli and car worlds. I know that my mishap was not the plane's fault, it was mine for not being careful enough around the prop. I used to work on full size prop driven airplanes and know better, so I should've been more wary of where my hand was in relationship to the prop. As far as the Yak, I started assembly on her last night, but found that the kit had an incomplete hardware bag, so I'll have to pick up some T-pins to mount the control surfaces. No rush to get it done, just wanted to get started on the assembly to make sure I can take my time and do it right. Plus I need to go to wally world or somewhere to get a way of hanging my planes, since I don't have a way of storing them in the house any other way, not even without wings. Later guys.

I have to agree with Mr67stang. Go with a 2 blade prop and spinner. It will generate a bit more power, but it doesnt mean you have to use it. I changed mine out before I ever flew the bird. I was told it didnt have get out of trouble power with the 3 blade. I run an 11x6 and it seems to work well at our altitude. It may be different for you, but im sure your LHS will give you good advise on what size to use. Sorry to hear about your hand, but glad to see you can still count to 10 and not 9 1/2.
Get yourself a box and take everything with you to the field. Im guilty of needing parts I leave home as well. It sucks to be grounded by a simple mistake, but it happens. Hope you get her in the air soon. Your gonna love the way it flies. It only gets better as you progress and get all the training aids off of it.

Believe me, when buying 2 planes at once, I didn't want to cheap out on the field gear, so I got me a nice box. I got the Great Planes box with the removable electrical box, Hangar 9 electric panel, Hangar 9 electric start, Hangar 9 electric fuel pump, glow ignitor that runs off of the panel, plus manual backups for all but the fuel pump.

I also finally got the flap servo installed and adjusted. I decided to do this because I can just leave it alone until I'm ready to use it, then when I'm ready, it'll be there.

Initially, I did have some issues getting it bound, but come to find out, the binding directions that come with the Rx only mentioned 1 way of doing it that didn't work well. So my first day at the field was with the JR SX600 that comes with the plane. When I went to the LHS today, they assited me in getting it bound by plugging in the bind plug directly to the battery slot on the Rx instead of through the charge lead as the directions say to do. Next time at the field will be with the DX7.

I've been continuing to lurk on this forum since my last post and have been reading the "best 2nd plane" posts. Most of the responses I've read have attempted to steer the OP away from an aerobatic or 3D airplane, but to a low wing trainer instead. I don't plan on flying the Yak until I'm comfortable with the PTS first, but I have grown concerned that the Yak was not the best choice for my second airplane.

Based on this and my previous posts, are there any thoughts on me waiting on the maiden for the Yak until I have gotten another plane to fly as a second plane, then make the Yak my 3rd? Or would it be possible that I'll be fine going straight to the Yak after becoming comfortable with the PTS with a 2 blade prop and all of the training aids removed?

Thanks again,
Shannon

Why not have an experienced pilot maiden the yak and hand it off to you at safe altitude. If you find it to be uncomfortable you'll know to get an "in between" plane to work up with. If it goes great then you can just enjoy your new plane.

Sounds like you win either way,

Clay

I think the biggest issue of going from the mustang to the Yak is how fast the yak will respond. My 2nd plane is a twist 40. It reacts ALOT faster than the stang. Your stang is a low wing trainer. I believe what your reading is mostly based on students who start on a high wing and then are advised on a low wing for their 2nd bird. I did have one of our club trainers maiden my twist for me to trim it out before I flew it. I think you will be fine going with the yak. just fly high and dont get too comfortable until you get the feel for the plane. Set it up and fly it on low rates and I think you will be fine. One other thing I was told at the club was to use expo with a 3d type plane. They are extremely responsive as it is, so it helps to tone it down a bit.
I know how you feel about wanting to learn and get the 2nd plane flying. I began building my twist after only one lesson on the mustang.
You will know when you are ready for it. If you wanted to fly the yak, after learning the mustang, you could always buddy box with an instructor if it would make you feel more comfortable. Just take your time. No need to rush into things and end up crashing your pride and joy.

Thanks for the replies.

I feel more confident in my decision to buy the Yak now. I really never had any intents on rushing on flying the Yak, I bought it along with the Mustang because I don't know when I would've been able to get a new plane again. I figured that since I was able to afford a 2nd plane then, why not go ahead and buy it, take my time assembling it, and it'll be ready for flight when I'm ready for it. Plus, the guys at the hobby shop seemed to feel that the Yak is not such a bad choice for a 2nd plane (I have been shopping at that hobby shop for 2 years now, they know me by first name, they have never steered me wrong before, and I spent about an hour talking to them before I finally was done that day).

After the advice ya'll have given me, I think what I'll do is that once I get comfortable with the Mustang with a 2 blade prop and all of the training aids removed, then I'll start using higher rates (dual rates) to make it as quick to respond as possible. Then once I'm comfortable with that, get an instructor to buddy box me on the Yak's maiden while she's set up with dual rates, so if I screw up, he can take over and try to save the Yak. I feel that I want to be at the sticks when the Yak gets it first taste of air under it's wheels. However, the instructor on the buddy box would make the experience less hair raising, as well as safer.

Thanks again,
Shannon

Hey MDS, How are the fingers? Don't sweet the yak yet. What your hearing are the traditional progessions that people have taken in this hobby. With the extreemly light wing loading of these 3D planes you can turn the rates down very low and make them fly like kittens er, kittens don't fly, Uhm you know what I mean. By the way. I just picked up an E-Flite Blade 400 used for $260... hope your ready to help out with that

I have read soo much on the net and talked with hours at the field about all the planes available to buy. The only thing the experianced guys say about the Yak is it likes to roll. But they fly very good and you just have keep some altitude for your first few corners to get used to how it flys while cornering.

I finally got to put the P-51 in the air this afternoon. Tom B from the club flew her for a few minutes to make sure she was flying right, then him and Mark set up the trainer functions on Tom's and my DX7. Then the fun began. I taxied the plane out on to the runway, Tom took off and got it to altitude, then demonstrated the pattern, then handed me the plane to make a few patterns. After doing patterns both directions, Tom instructed me to do figure 8's, then it was back to me to perform them. A storm was coming in, so he took over and landed. If the weather is right tomorrow, it'll be takeoffs and landings.

Stang
I'm not really sweating the Yak, I was just concerned that it wasn't the right step-up bird from the Mustang. Fingers are much better, still healing, but much better. I'll help with the heli as much as I can, I'm still learning to hover it well. But what I know I can help you with is making sure it's set up right (blades balanced, tracked, controls going in the right direction, etc...). Helis are not easy to learn, but there is much satisfaction to be had when you can hover it for several packs and not have to make a repair. To help ease the learning curve, if you have a sim, use it and fly the biggest pod and boom heli (Dominion .90, Raptor .90, etc.. on RealFlight, or JR Voyager on FSOne) on there to get used to the basic controls, then move to a smaller heli (MX400 on the RealFlight Sim, or T-Rex 450 on FSOne). If you really want a sim heli challenge, try flying the Blade CP or Blade CP Pro.

Thanks again guys.

Fun huh? Good job and keep at it. The only tricky part is the landing and it is all about getting a nice smooth approach so you dont have to make big corrections.

The rain bummed me out too I just got soloed today and cant fly. It has rained the rest of the day. I may have had 8 minutes in the air today. []

Even though I only got to fly patterns and figure 8's, I was on cloud 9. I was a bit nervous, but that's something I'll soon get over. Most likely just first flight jitters that should be overcome after I've made a few landings.

To make sure everything's ready to go, I'm charging EVERYTHING overnight tonight. I had a bit of an issue with that today. First off, I didn't charge anything last night, and only put the field box battery on the charger for a couple of hours before going to the field (I charged everything last week). On top of that, I left the power switch on the airplane after running it and taxiing it around the yard last night, so the battery was dead and would not hold a charge from the field charger. I ended up making the 30 mile drive back to the house (ended up being nearly an hour due to Fayetteville traffic, then another 30 minutes back to the field) to get the battery that I had bought for the Yak. It took and held a charge from the field charger, so I was able to use it in the Mustang to fly what little I did today.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate tomorrow and I'll be able to get more practice.

Later.

I just gotta say that it does me good to see new flyers who are so enthusiastic. I was that way and my wife says I still am. I love it when people show interest and get excited about the hobby, then make that first trip to the LHS. That gets the fire started for me all over again.

Good luck Dart and I hope you keep that fire. Just keep in mind that these "pride and joys" sometime go to "pride and joy" heaven. That will be tough but it is a great opportunity to get a new one!

Put 4-5 more flights on the stang today. She did have a dead stick on her second flight of the day. Tom had just taken over for a go around when the glow plug gave out causing the engine to die. Tom brought it down at the end of the runway without damage. I was able to make several landings as well. I just need to work on getting the glidepath for approach down. I either want to come in too steep on a short final (I'm most comfortable doing this), or making a longer final and come in too low. A few more flights and I should have it.

Later guys.

Good luck! The first night I had my nexstar I had to get 6 stitches. [:@] But now Im more careful and I still have my fingers! Would hate to stick my hand in the .91 4 stroke with an APC prop...

Got some more sim time in this week practicing my glidepath. I seem to be getting better with it on the sim, so lets hope that it helps on the real thing when I go to the flying field tomorrow (today actually). I'll post a flight report when I come back. If I can get my camcorder working, maybe I can even post a vid. Great times to be had, woo hoo!