tlgibson97

I am glad I didnt go into as much detail as many of you have gone into. That retract setup looks nice. My mustnag has been banged up pretty good since I finished it last summer. It is geting better though, I dont have to make major repairs after every flight. I told my wife I would like to build another one and go nto all the detail and precision. She just gave me a funny look. Whats up with that?

Flying Beagle

Gord
several threads discuss the TF profile "issues" and some builders have raised the motor thrust line by 1/4"

1/7 Top Flite P-51D profile issues
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_42..._1/key_/tm.htm


http://www.rcscalebuilder.com/forum/...993&PN=1&TPN=6
see post & pic by "drgondog"


http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_42..._4/key_/tm.htm
see several pages starting with #4 and posts & pics by "dionysusbacchus"
pic below is from this thread

Flying Beagle

threads been kinda quiet......., anybody building ? anybody flying ?

here is an event to be aware of:
http://www.gml2007.com/
The Gathering of Mustangs & Legends "A Once in a Lifetime Aviation Celebration"
Over 100 Mustangs are expected to attend along with 51 Legends who will be an array of Aces, crew chiefs, WASP's and others who were part of the P-51 family. They will reunite at the historic Rickenbacker Int'l Airport (LCK) in September 2007. In addition to celebrating the history of the P-51 Mustang and Legends, we will also feature a World-Class Air Show celebrating Air Force Heritage past and present. WWII fighters that flew with and against each other such as the P-40, P-63, P-47, P-38, ME-109, FW-190, and Spitfire are expected to be in attendance along with some of the country's top Air Show Performers at this incredible aviation celebration!
September 27 - 30, 2007 Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK) Columbus, OH

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Hey flying beagle,

I came and checked on the thread a few days ago and noticed the same thing....

I finally finished the steerable tail wheel and rudder linkages, installed the magnets on my hatch, and have started looking at my CoG.

I've had to install both my 1100mah packs behind the wing saddle in the "scoop" area to try and get the CoG back a bit but i will need to add lead at the tail.
Not much, but i'm waiting on my exhaust to be finished and installed before i do the final checks.

Looks like i just might be able to have an almost fully enclosed exhaust setup after all. I found a mate who had the now no longer produced O.S. 1.20 exhaust collet and the boys at work are machining a copy of one up for me, i have some 7/16" stainless tube and will have a pipe place bend it up and flare the end for me.

I might try and get down to the club this week and do some taxi trials with her to see how she sits on the mains and then ready for the test flight. I'll fly her without the cowl and with the standard exhaust for the maiden it my other exhausts takes too long. so if the weather is fine, maiden will hopefull be this weekend!

Thanks

Dave

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Hey, Beagle:

Could you say how far below the rib surface your gear rails are? It looks like about 1/4".

Flying Beagle

Bob
I measured the rails last night, they are between 1/4" and 5/16" below the ribs

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks, Beagle.

I think that's how deep I'll cut mine before I do a dry assembly to test the gear fit. I might have to go a bit deeper- I'm hoping to fit the Robart scale 4" wheels in there. It might not be possible to do that and have inner gear doors.

Flying Beagle

Bob
good luck,
if you saved your balsa die cut sheets, you might want to trace the outline of your ribs and then overlay your wheel thickness and retract units to see the cross sections of what your shooting for.....
ref: my sketch and posts back on page 63

I couldnt get my 4" wheels to fit within the thickness of rib#2 no matter where the rails were...[]
it wasnt until I sanded down my foam tires to 1 inch thick that I even had a chance......

Beagle

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Well, guy's

I'm please to announce that my Mustang has FLOWN!!!!!![8D][8D]

Ended going with a low tech onboard glow system to keep the idle nice and low because she was rolling around everywhere and i couldn't stop her. The O.S. 1.20fs has plenty of power for her so far. I left it fairly rich for the first flight. Also my exhaust is not ready so i decided to fly with the standard one fitted and no lower cowling.

Firstly i had a good mate, go over all the control throws in both high and low rates, and we checked the CoG. then it was followed by gear retraction/extension checks, range check with engine on and off, and all looked good.

After the manatory nervous pee, i started her up and taxied out to the strip. one last check of the control surfaces to maek sure they were all working in the correct orientation, and i powered her up slowly. it was a bit of a breeze for a maiden and i have read that if these mustangs get airborne without enought airspeed becuase of a bump in the strip, it can get ugly, i tried to get full power on once she was on the mains. i had to pull her off the ground,a nd this showed in flight with a few clicks of up trim required. it also rlled to the left a bit too and this also needed a few clicks to fix. the retracts stayed out for nearly all the flight.

I didn't get too much time to play around because i wanted to limit my flight to 5-7mins. so i did a few gear out stalls, then followed by gear out and half flap, then full flap. my mustang likes to drop the right wing quite noticeably, but really slows up before the drop. After i was happy i had an idea of the required approach speed, i retracted the gear and that when i need to remove the up trim i had put in earlier, so i will have to mix some down elevator with my gear out to sort it all out. Flaps in and out didn't produce any noticeable pitch changes.

After a few medium power settng passes for the camera, it was back out with the gear and time was up so i had to land. i was going to do a trial approach, but as i came in it looked so good i decided to land. I flared to early and forgot that you have to wheel Mustangs on which cause her to baloon. a small bust of power minimised the potential bounce, and she was down in one piece Not a greaser of a landing but good enought for the first one anyway.

Well, there you have it. another one who have started and finished the Top flite P-51 and is really happy with how if flew. she was rock soild in the breeze and i plan to go out tomorrow and get some mroe flight with her to open up the flight envelope.

thanks

Dave

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Tick:

I'm really glad to hear it went so well. She looks really good, in the air or on the ground.

Do you remember what your RTF weight was?

saramos

Congratulations!! I'm sure you must be very very happy!

Scott

mikemedic2

Congrats tick looks like it went great. She sure does look good.

Flying Beagle

Dave
very nice, your ShangriLa turned out great

please keep us posted on your flight experiences as you get her dialed in

Beagle

Mustang1964

Great job. I hope mine comes out half that nice. Keep sending the pics.
Mustang1964

zope_pope

Congrats Buddy. That bird is a beauty!

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Hey guy,

Thanks heaps for all the great comments.

I'm about to take her out again not and start to expand the flight envelope a little. i'll post my findings as i find them

Hey mustang fever,

she has come in at just under, or on now with the onboard glow, the 12lb mark. i'll have to try and get her weight again.

Thanks

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Ticketec,
Nice plane it's rather inspiring, but I have to ask a question... Is yours also a 1:7 scale Top Flite or did we drift into another plane here? I'm not trying to be smart (who me?) or sarcastic, it's just that after 70 pages, things tend to get lost in translation.

The reason that I ask is because I hadn't pictured the 1/7 Scale P-51 Top Flite kit being as big as what you show in your photos. If the answer is "yes", I'd be really pleased.

Thanks, and again, nice plane.

Bob

zope_pope

I am 99% sure it is the TF 1/7 with the B kit added on.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Bob:

Have no fear. Tick's is the 1/7 scale. (The GS weighs between 18 and 23#, according to TopFlite.)

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Hey Mate,

Yes the boys are right, she's the 1/7 scale TF P-51B. no deviation from the thread. if you go way back throught the pages i have posted the build from go to wow.

I guess your calling me small?? When i when back throught the pic's i posted i can see why she looks bigger than she is. my cameraman mate is pretty good BTW, your the first person to call me little in a long time!!!

Maybe these one's might help, for sizing, i'm 6"2', and far too many pounds......

thanks

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

Sorry don't know they the pic's are coming out like this. i just uploaded them the normal way...

Well, got a second and very brief 3rd flight in today.
Roll rate on the high rates is good, too much for scale flight but will get you out of a tight spot if needed, same for the elevator. next flights i will check out the low rates. As for rudder, well, have to say i'm not happy with it. the standard throws are not enough even at high rate, and it becomes rather ineffective towards the end of the landing roll... i have just moved my rudder's clevis in another hole and hope my hinge line will allow the extra movement. my takeoffs have been cross wind one of late, but not all that much, and she is no arrow on the ground. I'm still standing behind her for now. the lack of rudder makes me feel nervous, kind of like a passenger in some ways, on takeoffs and landing roll outs.

2nd flight's landing was with half flap again and i wheel'd her on, although she was pretty flared. the 3rd flight's landing was with full flap but i came in a little hot and a bump in the grass bounced her back into the air after touch down. a quick blip of throttle stopped her slaming back down. The extra amount of flap didn't seem to make too much difference.

As for the power department.... umm, the lack of lower cowl would be causing a fair bit of drag, but the top end speed is ok, but where she does lack power is in the vertical manouvers. I'm using a hawk 16x8 prop and i am goning to try a Graupner 16x8 next time. also i was using fuel that is about 6 months old and it was the last dregs of the bottle, so some fresh fuel should also make a difference. it's not bad but unless you allower to build up speed at full power before pulling into a loop, she will be dragged around by the prop at the top of the loop. On climbout if not using plenty of power she looks like she is draggnig her ar$e around. Might be that i am to used to my overpowered A6M Zero. This is the department where my all of my 12lb comes into play.

The 3rd flight was brief because the gear wouldn't retract... better out than in, but after two circuits i landed and traced it back to the robart valve coming adrift from it's mount. i'll locktite it in this time. also found one of my flap's was hanging down slightly more than the other, and once corrected, removed 2-3 clicks of the right aileron put in on the first flight.

thanks

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Ticketec et al,
Thanks for the responses !!

My reason for asking those questions was because of the size - it looked larger than what I had expected. I want to build a Cleveland racer version of the plane, which was actually a P-51C (same as the -51B variant, except built in Texas, from what I can gather) and after seeing the size of your plane, TT, I was really surprised and pleased. I had imagined it being slightly smaller. I am planning a OS-91 2C, which is overkill I know, but I want to try it out.\

I'd be curious about your opinion regarding the 2C 91. I'd also be thinking about a custom muffler so that I would not have to cut the cowl, or at least not cut it as drastically.

Anyway, please keep me/us posted on your flight progress. I was really interested in reading your last post, to give me an idea of what to expect. And, the cockpit looks great too.

Bob

chalre

N1-

An OS 91 2 stroke will not be to much power. I have seen 2 stroke 120's in these and they haul a--! A friend of mine in Denver has a TF p-47 with a YS 140 in it and it moves. I personally have a YS 91 in my P-51B and it moves well. I was originally worried that I wouldnt have enough power for its weight (11.7 lbs), but once it was in the air my worries were gone. It takes a few seconds to gain top speed, but once it does, it moves. Top speed was clocked around 125 mph.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks for that input, Chalre!

Bob

bigstew60

My Feedback: (35)

N1, I had a supertigre 90 2 stroke on my first TF p-51d and she flew fine. I glassed and painted it and it was just below 12 pounds. i am currently build the p-51c but I am going with ultracote and a ys 110. My dad has on on a tf p-40 and I was spent when I saw ow powerful it was.