My Sterling F-51 Mustang
04-08-2016, 04:46 AM
#1
Thread Starter
My Sterling F-51 Mustang
This is my Sterling Models F-51 Mustang.
Here's the story.
Way back in 1991 I was just getting into RC flying. My cousin had found a plane in the attic of a rental house and ask if I wanted it. I said heck yes!
When he brought it over I was very excited to see that it was a
60-size Mustang- every beginner's dream plane! It didn't have a motor or electronics.
It was Red, White and Blue but not in the Miss America style.
Being new to RC I didn't know much about setting up a plane and didn't have the money for another radio and motor so it ended up in storage until last winter.
I dug it out and decided to overhaul it. I removed the covering and began some modifications to modernize it.
These old Sterling Mustangs had a very short nose which just didn't look right so I lengthened it 2 inches. It had a removable tail section and removable hatch on top of the fuse for servo access which were held in place with rubber bands.
I permanently glued both of them in place. I converted the wing from rubber band to nylon bolt mount. The landing gear were too close together and were right under the balance point so I widened the stance to where they should be and bent the wire toward so that wheels were slightly ahead of the leading edge of the wing. I did lots of reshaping because whoever built it did a half a**ed job. The stabilizer was very long and looked funny so I shortened it just a little. I also added the wing-to-body fairing.
The plane weighs six pounds. The wingspan is 66 inches.
Over the winter I installed the servos. I had an Evolution .61nx engine with low run time just sitting in a box so I put it on.
I have had this plane 25 years and have always imagined flying it. Now I am waiting for this crazy cold windy spring Indiana weather to clear up so I can finally do a test flight.
This plane is somewhat rare as I have only found one picture of a completed one on the internet.
That's my story.
Here's the story.
Way back in 1991 I was just getting into RC flying. My cousin had found a plane in the attic of a rental house and ask if I wanted it. I said heck yes!
When he brought it over I was very excited to see that it was a
It was Red, White and Blue but not in the Miss America style.
Being new to RC I didn't know much about setting up a plane and didn't have the money for another radio and motor so it ended up in storage until last winter.
I dug it out and decided to overhaul it. I removed the covering and began some modifications to modernize it.
These old Sterling Mustangs had a very short nose which just didn't look right so I lengthened it 2 inches. It had a removable tail section and removable hatch on top of the fuse for servo access which were held in place with rubber bands.
I permanently glued both of them in place. I converted the wing from rubber band to nylon bolt mount. The landing gear were too close together and were right under the balance point so I widened the stance to where they should be and bent the wire toward so that wheels were slightly ahead of the leading edge of the wing. I did lots of reshaping because whoever built it did a half a**ed job. The stabilizer was very long and looked funny so I shortened it just a little. I also added the wing-to-body fairing.
The plane weighs six pounds. The wingspan is 66 inches.
Over the winter I installed the servos. I had an Evolution .61nx engine with low run time just sitting in a box so I put it on.
I have had this plane 25 years and have always imagined flying it. Now I am waiting for this crazy cold windy spring Indiana weather to clear up so I can finally do a test flight.
This plane is somewhat rare as I have only found one picture of a completed one on the internet.
That's my story.
Last edited by Hortco; 04-08-2016 at 04:54 AM.
04-08-2016, 11:12 AM
#4
Let us know how it flies. I had a Midwest Mustang way back that was very unstable. Hope this flies much better. If you are not a really good pilot, you may want to have someone who is try it out and trim
best of luck
bob
best of luck
bob
04-08-2016, 07:47 PM
#5
My Feedback: (19)
Nice plane! Its always nice to see an old timer be rescued from the scrap heap and especially my compliments to you for making the effort to get it in the air.
I think the horizontal stab area will be OK as those old kits had very oversized surfaces. As Dan suggested though, be on guard for anything unusual on the first flight.
I think the horizontal stab area will be OK as those old kits had very oversized surfaces. As Dan suggested though, be on guard for anything unusual on the first flight.
04-11-2016, 05:02 PM
#6
Thread Starter
The Sterling F-51 Mustang dates back to 1963 and was considered a scale model and was used in competition at the 1963 British Nationals.
These are pictures from that event.
These are the only pictures that I have found of a completed Sterling Mustang.
These are pictures from that event.
These are the only pictures that I have found of a completed Sterling Mustang.
04-14-2016, 05:10 PM
#9
No, but I built a lot of the Sterling models. I miss them too. I was just paging through a Model Airplane News from the 80's trying to find a mystery sailplane on another forum. Sterling had some nice planes
