I was told that my Top Flite gold edition p-51 arf is so light ( which it is VERY light wow I was impressed) that if I have one hard landing I will break the gear off and crack the fuselage, is that true? I would think that plane is built pretty strong, and the gear seems rock solid but the wings are very light but seem very strong, any input?

As with all ARF's, reinforce with epoxy the fire wall and landing gear. Thinn epoxy w/90% rubbing alcohol and paint the in side of the fuselage to fuel proof it.

Not true. but the retract units are plastic and can crack if you have a very hard landing.

Its a good airplane and flys well but as with most airplanes with wing mounted main gear will not accept the abuse of of the typical fuselage mounted wire gear of most trainers and many sport airplanes.

The bottom line is many warbirds suffer ripped out landing gear when folks try to progress too rapidly (very common) and there is nothing really wrong with yours so the direct answer is no it is not built to lightly.


John

Let's put it this way... I've made a bouncy landing or two with my Mustang. The gear mounting area in the wing has not been damaged at all. One plastic retract housing did crack however. Was that the planes fault? No way! It was pilot error. When I use my brain and land the thing correctly, it gently touches on the mains and rolls out for a nice smooth landing. I do imagine though that extremely rough grass fields could be problematic.

I don't know who told you the plane is built "light". It is pretty sturdy in my opinion. It's also no lightweight when assembled; definitely heavier than a typical trainer or sport plane of similar size. It has higher wing loading and flys accordingly. This is how IT SHOULD BE though. After all, it's a warbird.