RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Gboulton,

got mine in the air tonight also and from the short flight we had,(in my haste to get in the air, forgot to readjust richness and deadsticked) it ook off very nicely and flew slow and stable.

the airplane needed no trim and flew hands off to my suprise !!!! then IT HAPPENED dead stick ( again due to ME forgetting to check it rookie mistake i know :( what can i say i was xcited ) and i will say without power this plane sinks fast like a warbird. so when it came down harder than i would have liked and almost cartwheeled then hit the nose i thought repair time BUT the only thing wrong was the landing gear was bent .

so now i get it back to the pits add 3 clicks rich test it and it runs fine but now i have a broken wheel so that was the end of flying for the night.

oh well live and learn. over all i would say its a good plane. A TRAINER ?????? im not sure as i have never trained anyone, but having flown trainers i would say its not bad overall just wacth the speed on landing. keep the power up some and should be fine.

and remember this is just IMHO and im far from a great pilot but have flown for about 3 years now. good luck to all who decide on this plane have fun and enjoy it ;)


bassman

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

I have to disagree, bassman. While all landings I saw/did were powered, all were at dead idle, and the plane slowed to a crawl with no tendancy to tip stall or fall out of the sky.

Granted, it doesn't glide like a telemaster (as i said before...better sink rate imo) but it certainly glides straight and level at slow speeds, and descends, ime, very predictably.

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

sound advise and I will be looking for your posted results. You think this is a problem with the design of the plane or maybe something just not right in the assembly?

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

It seems as a couple of you had rust on the screws for your servos. I imagine this is due to condensation during shipping, or maybe a leaky ship :D. If it was mine I would be looking closely at all of my connections to the reciever and batteries. I would also be very concerned about corosion inside of the switch and the reciever. Of all the things I've seen mentioned, wrinkles, cowl fit etc. this is the one that I dislike to hear about most. To me its a sign of poor conditions during shipping and who knows how or when it will cause problems. What are the thoughts of any of you other guys with loads of experience regarding this situation? Jeff

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Gboulton,

your probably right, im just used to flying my sky vista (low wing sport plane) that will float in and also my RCM trainer and my super sportster (floats forever) i just need to get used to this plane and the way it flys. as far as i can see i am going to like it very much.

BTW did you try to start the engine the way they show in the DVD that comes with the plane ? ;) i tried it and it works great no more scratched nose cone.


bassman

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Im glad to see some good results after all the negativity surrounding it before it was even released by people on this forum...good deal...

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

hmmm if its that stable, i have a rc field about 40 min from me and i think it would be worth it to get it. [&:] i will join the AMA and have my neighbor/flight instructor teach me on it. the guy at my LHS is really nice and i think he'd give it to me minus the TX and RX for a little bit cheaper.:)

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

bassman,

I have no idea :) I haven't seen the DVD. We just fueled it, primed it, slapped a glow stick on, and flipped it with a chicken stick. Took all of 2-3 attempts, and it was purring like a kitten.

Quiet motor too...I was impressed.

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

I took Charlies plane to him yesterday. We both took a good look at it and as always H-9 quality showed. I hope he has it ready to fly by Saterday afternoon. He has been flying with us this summer and has started to try tail dragers. We will let you all know how it goes. Dennis. PS his second plane is a 30% Cub. I just love new guys.

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Rusted servo mounting screws kinda scare me. I agree that every connection needs to be checked for corrosion. I have not flown one yet, but I'm sure that a few will start to show up at my field. It still goes against everything that I've ever told a new student - stay with a trainer and think of a warbird later. First we had to learn to teach without the "toss the box" method, then "remember to keep it light as you build the plane" , but today is did you remember to charge the battery pack after taking the bird from the box, and now, a warbird as your first plane. What's the next "old school" things will I have to change now - remember before you crash, press the ESC key to recover? I'm getting confused[:-][:-][:-]

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Thats the (bad) attitude everyone has about this thing..."its a warbird, so it cant be a trainer" ... think about how many people this thing will bring into the hobby, especially if they expand to other warbirds...i know they could never do it to a corsair...but man would that be sweet....

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

this plane has just proved why you should never say "never"

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Sounds like Mike did another goodie. I just hope it doesn't bite us down the road when people start thinking any warbird should be ok to learn on. I sure hope someone around here gets one. I don't need another plane. ENJOY !!! RED

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Eh, i dont think it will make everyone want a warbird for a first any more than before...it should actually help that...by giving them the chance to be both smart and get what they want at the same time...

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Well, I put the raffle gift together for our club. IT was easy but a few steps kinds peed me off. THe darn wing tube is tight and a ***** to get in. I pumped the tube in and out of the hole for a while and used alittle vasilene. She was a tight bugger! This will prove to be a problem at the field if the pilot tends to breakdown the wing. Bolting the wing bolts proved to be a pain also but I got it on.

I believe the biggest problem will be the wing tube, if they are all tight like that!

No outside charging jack to the Receiver battery! Ya cant even check your voltage. I guess it would be easy enough to put one in.

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

UHH.......... Do I really need to add anything? Wow....I want to see some video of that action!

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Im probably stating the obvious, but isnt it good to have the wing tube as tight as possible to create the strongest wing joint? I mean, a pain to put together, but you should only have to do it once right?

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Update from charlie c, Well guys since I started this Topic I want to give you a update. I recieved my P51 thursday. Please remember I have just started flying and putting arf kits
together. 2 things, The dowell rods on the wing did not line up with the 2 holes on the body
of the airplane. Had I not been to the flying field for the past 2 months and seen some field repairs I would have tried to push these on and broke the wing for sure. Now the 2 screws that hold the wing on do not line up exactly so I have to try to move one (just a little) to get it to line up. # 2 The reciever charge jack should be on the outside. To take this wing on and off is a problem.

I do not know a lot about Hanger9 but suggest they send there QC ( quality control) people to China. They are going to get calls for Wings or other parts from people if the other kits are like mine. Hope to fly today, or Sunday wiil give a report on Flying as soon as I return.

Thanks Charlie

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

I am a dealer with H-9 and will address these issues with them on Monday, but overall thr plane lookes real good. Dennis

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Couple of comments:

My student's wing tube was also a tight fit, but no more so than I'd expect (and indeed HOPE) to see.

As for the wing bolts...he also had trouble with them, but then, I've seen dang near EVERYONE have trouble with nylon wing bolts at one time or another on nearly every plane that uses them. We simply trimmed the end of the bolts down to a point, and presto...no more problems. Since this is what I consider to be a pretty common step on every set of nylon wing bolts I've seen, I didn't consider it worth mentioning. Perhaps I should have. :)

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

Of course it's not going to glide real well deadstick--it's got speed brakes all over it. Have you ever tried to deploy flaps without a running engine? Not a good idea. Even if the engine is running at idle, it will help overcome some of the drag created by the wing extensions and slats on the landing gear. Without power, however, the thing will most assuredly stop flying pretty quickly. Point it at the ground and keep the speed up! I'd take the speed brakes off of the landing gear ASAP. I know they have a valuable function, but as soon as the student can handle it without them, I'd get rid of them for that reason. JMO, and I haven't flown this plane. But, I've flown planes with flaps, and (as a "flap rookie" mistake), I've put flaps down during a deadstick--I was lucky to get the plane back in one piece!

Other than that, it sounds like a great little airplane!

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

A pencil sharpener rounds nylon bolts very neatly and usually cures any mounting problems. ENJOY !!! RED

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

The flap setting they are giving you is 20 degrees down that is adding lift to the wing. flaps must go below 30 degrees to create drag. Dennis

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

2slow,

My HUNCH is that this thing's gonna glide deadsticked as well as most trainers...I'm sure, knowing my luck, I'll find out here soon. :)

RE: P51- TRAINER FROM HORIZON
 

I'm not talking about the flaps creating drag, I'm talking about those big air brakes mounted to the landing gear, and the big LE extenders that are supposed to relieve tip stalling and such.