Hello, all i apologize for most likely posting in the wrong area. I am new to the RC world for anything and am extremely interested in flying as which is why i am here. i recently just aquired a Top Flight 1/7 scale P-51D Mustang. Most of the building is complete, i'd say about 45-55% is complete. Now i am well aware that this is an aircraft for the expert and not for the beginner. And this is my plan. While getting parts and building the plane to "perfection", i will be learning to fly on other trainers and lesser cheapo's as i do not want to be ignorant and crash $1500 nose first 6in into the ground.

But to my questions. To start off with is there any kind of beginner thread somewhere on here that i can read? Also what would be a good area to start asking questions for my bird? Any questions or concerns?

i apologize i found the beginner thread. Im blind as a bat

I've moved this thread to the Beginner's forum for you.

Ken

First of all, welcome to RCU.

I've put together a list of planes that make good trainers and second planes. All of them on the list are proven planes that are well suited for successfully letting students learn to fly, or advance to a second plane. Check out the list here
[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm] Looking for a trainer- what's available. (Updated 01-03-2009) [/link]

Hope this helps

Ken

Here are some flying clubs near you

ARIZONA MODEL AVIATORS
6.05 miles 1600 287
DAVID BALCH
3410 E FOUTAIN ST
MESA AZ 85213
Phone: 480-830-3816

V.D.O. FLYERS
8.43 miles 3928 22
RUSSELL PETERSEN
1452 S ELLSWORTH RD #2042
MESA AZ 85209
Phone: 541.997.3202

ARIZONA WING NUTZ
9.28 miles 4702 19
PATRICK GAGNON
7343 E DRUMMER AVE
MESA AZ 85208
Phone: 480.325.9058

SUN LAKES MODEL AIRPLANE CLUB
10.21 miles 1601
THOMAS TILLEY
2432 W FLINT ST
CHANDLER AZ 85248
Phone: 480.963.9517

EAST VALLEY AVIATORS INC
11.60 miles 4098 265
VERLIN BOEDER
14045 S 40TH ST
PHOENIX AZ 85044
Phone: 602-803-6852

CENTRAL ARIZONA CL CLUB
13.22 miles 4116 40
LEROY BLACK
606 SOUTH 233RD DRIVE
BUCKEYE AZ 85042
Phone: 623-327-9227

SUPERSTITION R C HELICOPTER ASSN
17.51 miles 3803 22
HAROLD LOWE
19524 E CLOUD RD
QUEEN CREEK AZ 85242
Phone: 480-987-8022

SCOTTSDALE MODEL FLYERS
17.57 miles 1961 135
FRANK BIGELOW
1976 E DIVOT DR
TEMPE AZ 85260
Phone: 480-775-6611

GILBERT QUIET FLYERS
18.02 miles 4750 193
AARON LICHTENWALNER
14215 N VERN PL
FOUNTAIN HILLS AZ 85268
Phone: 480.816.0154

PHOENIX MODEL AIRPLANE CLUB
18.27 miles 760 37
ELMER NELSON
16215 S 7TH DR
PHOENIX AZ 85045
Phone: 480-460-1366

AUX 6 RC FLIERS
19.18 miles 1977 34
RICHARD KAUFMAN
929 W TURNEY AVE
PHOENIX AZ 85013
Phone: 602/265-0441

SUN VALLEY FLIERS
21.78 miles 921 410
GENE PETERSON
PO BOX 31816
PHOENIX AZ 85046
Phone: 480-563-9694

KNIGHT FLYERS ELECTRIC RC CLUB
22.79 miles 4557 8
ROY HOOKEY
15657 N 91ST DR
PEORIA AZ 85339
Phone: 602.903.9130

Welcome!

When you decided to learn to ride a bicycle did reading about it first help? Same thing with R/C flight. It's great to know the basics but NOTHING is better than having an experienced bike rider running along side and coaching you . . . and catching you WHEN you start to fall (not if . . . when). Having an instructor and mentor can mean the difference between learning and enjoying and being frustrated and wasting a lot of cash on expensive mistakes. Find a club with a flight school. Pick some brains on what to build into a model. Pick up some ideas on what you might like instead of building a model that won't satisfy you once you have some flight hours in - for whatever reason. No reason you can't build a wonderful model without knowing how to fly. But tayloring one to your preferences (once you know what they are) is why building is better than buying ARFs.

Be patient and practice, practice, practice.

Hello Cap,

I am working on a site geared towards helping people get started in the hobby.

I think you would benefit from looking it over.


[link=http://www.hooked-on-rc-airplanes.com/how-to-fly-rc-planes.html]Learn to Fly RC Airplanes [/link]


After your first flight, Your life will never be the same...

I've managed to quit drinking and I even quit smoking (that was a hard), but flying RC is the most addicting thing I have ever experienced! At least it's not bad for you health

See that Cap? Your as much at home here as you were with your mother. This crew will take care of you. The smartest thing, short of your decision to get into aero modeling, you could do.

Bill

And choose a big model with very bright and contrasting colors!

Thank you for moving the thread as well as all for the input. i planned on joining a club as soon as i could. Anyone on here go to any of the clubs above?

Wings thanks for that site. that is an extremely helpfull site. Just scanning it, answered several of my questions. I'll definetly be looking it over more thouroghly. I also recomend that site to any beginner. Its an A+++ site.

As for my plans with the P-51. In my fathers words "build it to perfection". Thats my plan. while im building it with all the bells and whistles, i will be getting trainers and flying them with one of the local clubs. (i live about 10 minutes from a club runway.) I want this plane to be pretty close to the real thing. I'll list my planes in another post. But i have many many questions still unanswered, and i appreciate all of your guy's support for me through this endevor.

Heres the info and specs on my plane.

Top flight P-51 1/7scale kit.

Wingspan 65"
Length 56.5"
Engine .60-.91 cu 2-stroke
.90-.120 cu 4-stroke


I plans are to look as best as it can. I plan of changing the painting scheme due to visability issues (Charlie P. ) for one and two i dont like it. haha I plan on finding a real paint scheme and transfering it. i may use the one in the Commemerative Air Force Museum.

Anyway, i want the standard flight controls (sorry about not mentioning but i am quite familure with aircraft. im working to get my private pilots license) Pitch, bank, yaw, and throttle. Then i'd like to make flaps as well as retractable gear, both main and tail. And then i'd like to have gear doors on the tail that'll close after they're up. But i dont know what that will entail or the type of skills needed. Right now i have no clue on what parts i will get for what as im doing the research and getting prices for all the parts for the aircraft. nothing else. i know that theres other equipment like field equipment but im just looking to get a price for this plane as it was a $140 kit that i got for free that's already been built.

Now my question is how many servos will i need for this and how many channels will it take? For the flaps i want to use 2 micro servos (one for each) and the retracts will be air powered. And the gear doors (if it is possible wat would they use) (and if its too difficult i wont bother with it.)

Below should be some pictures of the model and what i start out with. Sorry the quality is crap they came off my phone. If you guys want better pictures i'll get some. Any comment, advice, and critizism is welcome.

You may as well buckle up now, and start doing your research. You will find on Top Flite's website a manual that you can download in PDF format, if you don't already have it. It will show you what you need for servos, and how to install them and make them work properly. It will make more sense to you when you read it and understand it from your research there, rather than have someone spoonfeed that info to you. Some of what you're asking for depends on exactly how you want to configure it to fly, so that's where the reading comes in to play. More specific questions and recommendations can be answered here, and on other portions of the website. For example:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/forumid_200/tt.htm - for Warbird build and specific questions there

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/forumid_180/tt.htm - build and repair techniques

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/forumid_373/tt.htm - general information on flying R/C

i have read the book. but my question is i'll need one servo for elevators, alerons, rudder/tail wheel, and engine throttle. (thats 4 servos) then possibly 2 smaller servos for the flaps and one more for the air system. from my plans i stated above is that all the servos needed? (minus the gear doors) and if it is will that use 6 channels?

probably 2 servos for the ailerons, one per. unless the plans use a bellcrank. take a look at some of the build threads for the mustang, there are plenty of them. some have sliding canopies. just remember, you don't want to go too crazy with options on the smaller scale, as it adds plenty of weight, which makes for a poor flier.

http://www.tompierce.net/SBD/html/paint/insignias.htm

this guy put a ton of detail into his SBD, and took home trophies. Read that site for some ideas, but read the whole thing, the ending is interesting, and may help you figure out what detail level to go to.

If you try to do too much . . . . You'll never get it finished

Not familiar with the kit, but from the skeletal wing image there is a single aileron servo. If you want flaps they'll have to be just the inner variety and will require two servos (one for each side), as you mentioned using micro servos, unless you figure out some kind of torque rod arrangenent to drop the simultaneously from a central servo behind the aileron servo. If using a "Y" connector from a single channel remember to offset them so you don't have beautifullt symetrical servos with one flap coming up and the other going down (a common error). And the only way to fix it once it's built in and covered is to flip the servo arm and then make one control rod longer than the other and forever after you'll bank slightly when the flaps come down.

And don't fall into the trap of thinking R/C has any similarities to full-scale. You don't use your feet in R/C and you NEVER fly at yourself in full scale (when intuition is backwards). The theories are the same but the application is not. (I got through ground school and 15 hours in CAP and college Avaition Club).

I would not bother with a retractable tail wheel with doors on a 65" model. They gave them up as too heavy and problematic for the minimal returns on the full scale Spitfire. You do not need added weight in the tail of a P-51 unless you want it to fly like a Brewster Buffalo ("stodgy").

Sage words.

Take a look at what I've wasted months on for a ARF with no retracts and only the routine four control groups. Redundant battery & switching for the receiver, electronic ignition for the (gasoline & sparkplug) engine, isolated kill switch with fiber-optic actuator (so it won't have inductive interference to the receiver through the the component wiring). Madness.

Thanks for the feedback CAP. I'm sure glad you find it helpful!

You have some awesome aspirations for this plane. W8ye brings up a valid point. Building any kind of kit is a lot of work, and it's heartbreaking when she dies. But the more detail, more work, more hours, and more money that is put into a plane, the more your heart is going to be broken if she crashes.


It's kind of like spending tons of money and time on restoring a classic car. While the car may be completely awesome, it probably spends most of it's time under a blanket in the garage because the owner can't bear the thought of anything bad happening to it. The only difference is, our planes don't have full coverage insurance .


Some people will probably disagree, but I'm a firm believer that most RC airplanes will die at some point if they are flown regularly. Even the most awesome pilots crash on occasion for various reasons, sometimes unforeseen circumstances beyond their control. It's just part of the hobby. Unless you keep this plane in the hanger and never fly it, it's likely not going to last forever.

Sorry, I don't want to sound negative or anything. Just hate to see you put to much detail into this plane then be afraid to fly it... Just something to keep in mind.


Good luck!

well said.


You can bash together a cheap foamie with little more then basic hand tools and an evening, and in fact, some of the best flying planes I've had were just that, quickly bashed together. This is a good way to go rather then risking something you really care about, this way you can push your skills without committing too much time in repairs and making things look all perfect, for it's just a training tool.