Asanders

BHunn3, thanks I have only used them on .40 sized. I wasnt sure if they would work on the big ones .. and I like easy things !

BHunn3

just make them large, like an inch wide and you will be fine.

gary9648

My Feedback: (1)

Well gang, I have literaly exhausted myself looking for a muffler to fit using the G-62. All the mufflers are to large. There is only two inches of clearance between the firewall and the engine. All the mufflers I tried are larger in diameter than that and most have way to large a side mount that would stick out the side all the way to the back. I pulled all the associated hardware off and am going to install a DA50 as did Splais. Thanks for all the engineering notes Splas. I found that the DA50 produces more HP than the 62 in a smaller package. Now I am waiting for the engine. Looks like two weeks. Gives me time to get back to my Iron Bay T-28.

taildraggerdave

My Feedback: (1)

Brylee,
The answers are yes, no, yes, no.........
It fit in the cowl great. (on the WM P-51D)
I only had to cut out for the top of the head and for the muffler.
It is inverted.
No problems with flooding. I usually hold a couple fingers over the exhaust and spin the prop through. Put on the glow igniter and flip the spinner backward. Most of the time it lights right up. For those stubborn times, I use the Megatron--it shows no mercy!!!!!

splais

My Feedback: (25)

This darn plane is never going to be finished. My Aerotech options package came today. A few more hours of work if I want to use the stuff in it. I also started programming my radio and setting up controls. 11 servos - steerable tailwheel, flaps, retracts, choke. This is going to be fun.

I am not going to install the cheesy gear doors that came with the plane. For now i'm leaving it bare. As you can see from the pic they Sierra gear are beautiful. I also can't figure out how to attach the gear in a satisfactory manner that will do the gear justice.

ANYONE that has installed the Aerotech exhaust manifold. Did you follow the instructions and cut out the manifold and install the stacks from the back? How did you attach the manifold to the cowl?

taildraggerdave

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Steve,
Your plane is absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!! I can't help but think back to your other thread about what warbird to get and not wanting to spend a lot of money.................
Funny how things turn around and before you know it, the plane is like a drug and every single penny goes into it. You have something there to be proud of. Can't wait to hear the flight report. Dave

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Steve, here is how I installed my Aerotech manifold. I painted all the stacks off the manifold.. then using PFM (Zap goo works equally well) I stuck the stacks to the manifold face. The entire affair was then PFM'ed to the side of the plane.. So far the PFM has led the stacks. A word of caution . CAREFULL of your paint choice .. The styrene manifold will MELT if you use Lustercoat!!. I used Acrylic enamels from testors. They are water base and safe.. BobH.

gary9648

My Feedback: (1)

Splas, you have to put the gear doors on. Use the blocks supplied, but rap a strap made from a Coke can around the gear leg and screw it to the block that is attached to the gear door. Then paint the strap. Works great. That is how to attach it to the top. Then make two brass strap with two ears 180 degrees apart. using two straps per side, bolt them together to form a clamp around the gear leg. Attach a ball link to each ear. Now make a square horse shoe from 2-56 rod that is threaded on both ends. Put ball links on ends and then attach to gear leg. Close gear down and see were the rod will lay against the door. Attach rod to gear door with small landing gear brackets so it can piviot. This will look just like the real ones. If you would like a picture, give me an E-mail address and I will send photo of how it was done on my big Mustang.
Gary Webb

BNDWTH

My Feedback: (3)

Gary9648,

I am working on the kit vershion of this ARF and have been banging my head aginst the work bench trying to get my gear door to work properly. Can you send me the pics of you gear door I have sent you a PM with my e-mail address thanks.

BNDWTH

splais

My Feedback: (25)

Gary, my email is [email protected]. I would like the pics. This sounds complicated.


All my hopes and dreams have been smashed, and my faith in humanity - I got a final weigh after ALL my stuff came in. My svelt bird has turned into a TANK. The final weight is 20.6 pounds! I did not realize just how heavy those scale aluminum wheels were going to be and had not yet weighed the fillets or the Mejlik 3-blade. Anyway, it's an honest weight and I have added about every option you can. But I still think it is at least a pound heavier than it should be, but those plastic wheels look so yuck.

I also would not recommend getting the Aerotech Options Kit unless you are really into scale stuff; otherwise, it is a waste of $75. It's just not that much different from the stock stuff.

Taildraggerdave, hold on to your cookies. The below is extracted from a comprehensive writeup I am doing for the User Product Review forum:

What I used, and What It Cost!!!

Top Flight 1/5 ARF P-51 469.00
Desert Aircraft DA50R gasoline engine w/Slimline muffler 525.00
Desert Aircraft prop jig 20.00
Futaba 9CAP Tx & R149DP Rx 450.00
Hitec 5625 servos on elevator, rudder, flaps & ailerons (7) 350.00
Hitec 225MG servos on throttle, air valve & choke (3) 90.00
Hitec 425 servo on tailwheel 25.00
Robart air tank, hoses, connectors, air fill valve & pressure indicator 75.00
Robart retractable tailwheel 160.00
Sierra main gear retracts & air control valve 407.00
Supplied pushrods and control horns for elevator & rudder NC
Supplied control horns for flaps & ailerons NC
MK BB clevis and H9 titanium Pro-Link push rods for flaps & elevator (4) 76.00
Blue Box Elite forces WWII Pilot 32.00
Dynamic Balsa 1/5 scale K14 gunsight 25.00
1600 NiMah batteries for ignition and Rx 25.00
MPI HD combination charge/on-off/status switch for Rx and ignition (2). 25.00
Tru Turn 5� 3-blade P-51 spinner 175.00
Mejlik 20x12 3-blade prop 60.00
Aerotech 4&7/8�� scale main wheels 95.00
Dubro 1&3/4� tailwheel 4.00
Aerotech scale wing guns, exhaust & misc 75.00
Cheveron Zinc Chromate paint 9.50
Testors Misc colors 5.00
Hughes Fuel Jewel Gas fill valve 15.00
3’ rubber fuel hose 2.00
30 minute epoxy 9.00
15 minute epoxy 9.00
thin CA 6.50
med CA 6.50
1 roll aluminum monocoat 20.00
button top #2x1/2 3.00
Button top #4x3/4 3.00
Socket #2x9/16 3.00
Socket #4x1/2 3.00

Total Investment: $3257.50

PS: I already had a lot of this stuff, but I still spend about two grand.

fw190d9

My Feedback: (1)

Splais, Dont worry about the 20 lbs. That is extremely light for an 80inch warbird. My byron corsair and yellow thunderbolt were both 27lbs at the same 80 or so inches. It should fly just fine at that weight.
Evan Q.

warbirdz1

SPLAIS.....No panic here.....My T/F P-51 weighs 29 lbs and it flys well with no problems...@ 20-21lbs it will be a kite.........should be a piece of cake to fly.....Bill......

gary9648

My Feedback: (1)

Splas, the photos are on their way. A twenty pound 85 inch warbird with that DA50 in the nose will fly like a bat out of H---. You guys have to quit thinking like aerobat fliers. You want some weight in them so they have presense when they go buy. You can feel the engery build in them. They will fly like real heavy iron. That plane would fly great at twenty eight pounds. My Top flight Corsair with all the whistles and bells weighs 32 pounds and flys great with a Quadra 52XL in the nose. I can do large loops, half cuban eights, stall turns, rolls etc. What else do you want them to do. Plane flies about 100 mph. Lands like its on rails, with those big flaps hanging down. My Big Mustang (102") weighs in at 38 pounds and flies excellent.
It has a G-62 on alcohol. Turns a 22/12 almost 8200 rpm.

splais

My Feedback: (25)

I'm starting to get real frustarated. The Mustang is sitting in my living room basically done. Yeah right, everytime I turn around something else pops up that takes a half day to fix. I've already spent about three hours on the setup and programming and am still not done.

My latest problem is the retract system that doesn't seem to want to fill. I've got a separate thread going on that one. The way I'm going I figure another two weeks!!!

gary9648

My Feedback: (1)

Splas, you probably don't have the air fill nipple extended out far enough. If you are using an electric pump with a tire nozzle on it, the nipple must stick out quit away for the tire nozzle to engage the schrader valve. Ask me how I know that? Had same problem before. I thought the fill valve was bad. All I had to do was extend it out a little farther.

MustangFan

Splais

You did a good job keeping the plane at that weight.

I have the kit version and have estimated that the weight will be 21-22 Lbs. with monokote ( I hope I'm correct).

The HP to weight ratio of your plane exceeds the HP to weight ratio of the real P-51.
Ask me how I know ... checked what I needed before I purchased my Moki 2.10.

An article I read recently stated that 4-5 lbs. per HP was excellent with 6 being OK for a warbird.

I have seen 28+ lb warbirds fly good with a G-62 (Da-50 equivalent).

Your cool !

Yak18

My Feedback: (11)

splais, dude, you are stressing! This is supposed to be a hobby! Relax. You talk about problems. They are not "problems", they are "challenges". Trying to figure out how to do something, or make something work is the fun of this hobby. I'm sure you are having fun aren't you? Secondly...never, never, never add up what an airplane cost you. You'll quit the hobby! Two thousand dollars can be spent much more foolishly...trust me. If it makes you feel any better, last year I spent $43,000 on a swimming pool! Dumb! I never swim!...Plus I now spend a great deal of time scraping algea off the bottom of the damn thing when I could be working on or flying my planes! Live and learn. I wish I had your problems instead of mine!

Yak

Asanders

Splais.. either you have an awesome workshop with recliner and all or you have a wonderful wife who lets you put your airplane in her living room !! ... no wait maybe she wasn't home when you took this pic! lol

anyways your plane looks nice... those gear do look awesome.. I had to stick with the robarts ...

kerrydel

My Feedback: (2)

I hope the 4-5 lbs/hp is a conservative number. I just purchased a G45 to go into my TF kit. If it comes out to 22 lbs thats 6.67 lbs/hp. I hope I'm not unhappy.

Kerry

48chebbie

My Feedback: (58)

well,i got my slimline pitts muffler for my p-51 today. i did my measuring,and,someone stated earlier,and was correct,the muffler will not fit behind my G62 and the firewall. no problem,time to break out my cash of .040-.060 aluminum sheet and various size 6061-T6 tubing,and head to the shop,and tig me up a custom muffler for this jewel. heck,if i got room,i might even make the side exhaust stacks on the cowl functional.with the engine inverted,there just might be room. i usually make mufflers for alot of my other planes,so this really doesn't present a challange. still haven't ordered my springair retracts yet,and,has anybody flown this puppy yet???????

splais

My Feedback: (25)

Yak,

Don't worry, I'm only kidding in most of the "stressing stuff" I wrote/write. To be honest, this was the first time I ever decided to add up everything it took to fly a plane. When I hit the total key I almost choked. I keep telling myself the plane only cost $469 and everything else doesn't matter. good luck with that one.

I AM DONE, I think, enough to test run her. Still a few finishing appearance touches to do. But retracts work, steerable tailwheel works, flaps work, programming and setup done. Who would have believed it. If I can find some Lawnboy tomarrow I may be starting that DA50 up.

In a couple of days I'm going to put a giant writeup in the Product Reviews forum. Two final pictures of how I solved the retract cover plate problem

A final programming note.

If you are just starting this plane and are hooking up everything (retracts, flaps, tailwheel, choke) you need a radio with at least 8 programable channels. You will have to put the flaps and ailerons on a Y or 2into1 connection. Because of this you need to take care to follow instructions and make sure all your wing servos are mounted correctly to allow the proper throw direction.

Also the Robart tailwheel must have about 20% tailwheel premixed with the landing gear up switch in order for the tailwheel to go up into the wheelwell. If you don't do this it will hang up.

I have one final problem. I can't get the tailwheel doors to close. They are just to screwed up and the rubber band angle is all wrong. I am going to try to find some stronger small bands, but don't it will work. Anyone got any ideas. The only thing I'm thinking is that the vibration of flying may help them to close.

gary9648

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Splas, My customr saw your plane and now has Darrells retracts being sent for me to put in his planes. Both will have the DA50 also.

splais

My Feedback: (25)

Hey, guys I got a real problem here. It appears I do not have enough channels to do everything correctly. Best I can figure I need 9 programmable channels. The only way to get it down to 8 is to put the ailerons on a Y, but they have different up and down travel, so a Y will not work. Here is what I got, looking for suggestions.

Ch 1 - R aileron
Ch 2 - R elevator
Ch 3 - Trottle
Ch 4 - rudder
Ch 5 - retracts
Ch 6 - Flaps (on a Y)
Ch 7 - L elevator
Ch 8 - Tailwheel There is no place for the L aileron

The tailwheel needs a probramable channel because it requires mixing with rudder and landing gear.

The elevator needs two servos because of location.

The aileron needs two channels because up and down throws are different

It appears my only option is to buy a servo programmer so I can reverse the travel on one of the elevator servos and then run them off a Y so I can put the L aileron in Ch6 and run the flaps off Ch 7.

TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

Use a reversing Y harness on the elevator. get one with an adjustment pot so you can center the servos.

taildraggerdave

My Feedback: (1)

Hello again,
From what I've heard, a reversing "Y" harness can be risky. Failure rates are high??
The jet guys and the TOC guys use a "Matchbox" Matchbox is a JR brand but it will allow up to 4 servos to be operated on a channel. A bit pricey at around 80.00 but they are very high quality and will allow you to reverse the servo, center it, etc. Futaba makes one also but I can't think of the name. Given the investment, I'd go with a Matchbox to mix your elevators. Hope this helps.