Hello,

So I just bought a kit that I have to build from the ground up. Its a p51 mustang from great planes. I dont really know anything about building these but I have always wanted to build one. So, I have a couple of simple questions. What do I need in order to get this flying. I know that I need an engine, fuel tank, lines, servos, a reciever and a battery but thats it. So what do I need in order for the reciever to plug into the engine and is there anything Im forgeting?

If anyone has any good links to this that would be great. Thanks.

There is a servo to operate the engine. The servo plugs into the receiver (rx) and the engine gets connected to the servo via push rod.

Great Planes has very good instructions with their ARFs. Read through it once or twice before you start assembling the plane. You will have a much better understanding of what's going on. They will also list the building materials you need right in the beginning (types of glue, etc.).

Do you have a radio? It comes with the receiver, and battery and charger for the plane.

I'm sure others will chime in on lots of good tips and recommendations.

Welcome, and Good Luck!

First off, welcome to the hobby. I understand why you want a Mustang, they are gorgeous airplanes with a great history. Unfortunately they are terrible for beginning pilots; both for flying and for building. Even though this particular Mustang is a little friendlier than some of the more scale designs out there, it is still too advanced to start out on.

I would recommend either returning or shelving the Mustang kit and pick up a good RC trainer. In Canada there is an organization called MAAC (http://www.maac.ca/). I'd join and find a local RC club with a flying field. You'll find plenty of people there to help you get started the right way. You can also check out www.gettingairborne.com

I know this may not be the exact sort of answer you were hoping to get but trust me, it will help guarantee success with that P-51 when you are ready for it.

Hey Chuck, Thanks for the advice. I was sorta aware that it would be a complex build when I bought it. I am right now more interested in taking my time building up the plane and getting it into a flying state then I am with flying it. I really just wanted a challenging build kit. Im thinking that flying will come later, possibly after a trainer if I can find a good used one. I do fly R/C helicopters, so I was hoping at fast forward flight would be more less the same as an R/C plane. Have I still bitten off too much building wise?

dufault,

First, let me echo the welcoming sentiments!

Second, let me say that there are a great many of us who absolutely support your desire to build, and hope that you'll stick with it! The more builders in this hobby, the better.

I must, however, agree with Chuck...the Mustang is not a suitable first aircraft...either as a build or to fly...for many beginners. You may certainly be different, but understand that you'd be a rare exception if you are.

If I may make a suggestion:

Consider [link=http://www.hobby-lobby.com/telemaster40_3890_prd1.htm]Hobby Lobby's Telemaster .40[/link] as your first build and airplane.

You'll note the kit is very inexpensive at < $100. The design has been around for many decades, and has taught tens (perhaps hundreds) of RC pilots to fly AND to build. It's a very simple and straight-forward build, but will teach you many of the skills you'll need to build more complex aircraft.

Best of all, all of the tools and many of the components (servos, receiver, perhaps even motor) you acquire for building and flying the Telemaster will transfer over to your Mustang as well, when you're ready. Since you'll need to buy those items ANYway, you're not out any extra money.

By all means...I certainly want to encourage people to build, AND to fly! I feel that the suggestion above will give you the best chance to have some real success at both.

Hello default and welcome to kit building.
I strongly agree with what chuckw and gboulton wrote, now that said I also made a list of tools needed for kit building, you can start building and acquire them as you go, I’m sure some of them you already have.

Kit building tools
===========
• Building board (must be straight and soft to pin)
• Roll of wax paper
• Metal rulers: 6�, 12�, 36�
• Razor blade saw (the one with the red handle, ZONA is recommended)
• Hobby knife with #11 blades
• Tweezers
• Set of files - round, rectangular
• Sanding block 11� and 80, 150 grit rolls
• Masking tape
• Clamps: small to medium of any shape and form as many as possible, you cannot have too many of them.
• T-pins – the smallest ones and cushion for pins
• Wing rib alignment Jig (the orange thing)
• Hand drill bits (better then using a power drill!!!)
• Rubber bands
• 12� or 18" quick grips for joining wing halves
• 90* deg triangle
• Long nose pliers
• Standard and metric hex wrenches
• Hobby syringe for aliphatic glue
• Clevis tool
• Epoxy mixing popsicle sticks, epoxy brushes and mixing cups
• Sealing iron (covering)
• Heat gun
• Soldering iron
• Pocket thermometer
• Single edge razor blades
• Slot hinging machine

These are the most important and most used tools, i didn’t get it all at once but with time.

Tough first choice for a build and a flyer. If you want the experience of building go with a trainer from Sig Manufacturing. The Senior Kadet is a great kit and a first trainer to fly. Very forgiving in the air and a joy to learn the basics on. RC Uni is a great web site with a lot of very talented and experienced pilots and builders. Listen to what they have to say it will save you time and money in the end. Welcome to the hobby.

If you make the 2 1/2 hour drive and spend the day, at no cost to you, I'll be happy to teach you to not only fly very well, but takeoff and land within an hour or so.

Summer is much too quickly fading, so it definately would be well worth the time and effort. Email me at [email protected]

Take care,
Clarence C. Ragland

Hey guys,

Thanks for the help. Im going to start building up that tool list. I believe I have most of them but I will have to go out and buy something that I can use to pin into. I saw somewhere that a hollow door works well? Im also going to get a few more clamps from the home depot as well. Im in no rush to get anything done at the moment. I am going to look into one of those sig trainers however and see if they are avaible here. Maybe I will take a trip down to the hobby shop tomorrow to see what they have. I am pretty confident that if I take it slow I can build up the Mustang but Im not going to come close to flying it before I get some trainer time in. The engine stuff is new to me as well because I only have electic helicopters. I need to get researching these sig kits!

Hollow door does indeed work well as a flat surface to work on. I got a nice closet door from my local hardware fot $35 and have been using it for years. Pins will not go into the door itself, I put a sheet of 3/4" Dow board (foam insulation board) on top of the door, works very well.
A bag of lead shot from a local sports store comes in handy as well. You can put some in a baggie to weigh down curved areas while glue dries and is is also nice for when you have to add weight to balance the plane (you should always try to balance by moving stuff around and only add weight if absolutely needed)

Indeed, doors make excellent build tables, particularly with some sort of "pinnable" material on them, as Missleman suggested. Personally, I've had good luck with "Homasote", the black/brown "sheething" stuff put on walls of houses under construction. Anything that'll stay flat, keep its shape, and let you stick pins in it will work fine.

One comment on the hollowed out door idea, however:

While they do, indeed, make good build tables, the hollow core doors will tend to sag a bit in the middle over time. While you may not SEE a 1/2" sag in the middle, it can produce some warped/bowed wings/fuse sides/etc in a hurry! [X(]

A few options here : The shortest term/least expensive option is simply to be aware of the potential, and doublecheck your building surface to make sure it's FLAT before starting on any critical component. If you find the door has sagged a bit, you can simply "prop it up" in the right location, or perhaps move it a bit to eliminate the low area. A longer term solution is to build a solid framework of some sort to put the door on, that will prevent it from bowing/sagging. The "longest term" most reliable solution, though a bit more $ on the front end, is to go with a "solid core" wood door. They're a bit more expensive but not outrageously so (I got a 3' wide solid core door for $42 at Lowe's several years ago), but they absolutely will NOT sag or bow, even if supported with just a couple of sawhorses. of course, they ARE a good bit heavier, so not a good option if your table needs to be mobile.

Again...nothing wrong with a hollow core door at all, just be aware of the potential for a surface that isn't flat, and have some plan in place to deal with it.

Alex7403 list is really good and complete. I suggest the the ball driver style hex metric and standard Tower Hobbies has them cheap and they come with holders that mount to the bench. I spent a couple hundred getting everything at once it was definitely worth it. I didn't see a covering iron on his list get both the small finish type and the big one for larger surfaces get extra socks for the bigger one. I also bought the trim tool- totally worth the money made perfect edges in the covering. Alex listed a hinge slotting toolI bought the power model very unhappy with itone of the few tools that I didn't like. I use Tower for all this stuff its always in stock they got good deals and shipping is super fast and reasonable. As for pinning balsa down I covered my build table with Celutex ceiling tiles masking taped them together and to the table then covered that with wax paper-works pretty good. Have fun.

Lots of great advice here, however I would suggest the Sig Kadet Mk II. It's a great builders kit and was intended to be built by somebody with no building or flying experience. How good is it as a trainer? Look at all the Kadet variants that have come out of the Kadet Mk I/Mk II.

Hogflyer

Welcome! While it's not the easiest kit, I think you'll be able to build the mustang just fine; however, flying will absolutely require an experienced R/C pilot. Enjoy your mustang build and get a trainer to bring to a club and let them teach you to fly in the mean time.

Thats exactly what I am thinking Nathan. I have a helicopter that I can fly in the mean time when I get the itch. I just really wanted something to build and you can't really get helicopters in kit form. Plus, I really want to fly planes as well. Thanks for all the help everyone.

It depends on what you mean by kit form.
I built 2 helis from kits, a 60 size Raptor and a T-Rex 600, both required complete building. Nothing was pre-assembled. Quite alot of work but very rewarding.