stang151

I hate the way ARfs (and most kits) treat the instrument panel, angled outward. Makes an otherwise good looking scale plane look like a toy. I thought I would try to clean this up so I did a little surgery. I used some 1/16" balsa to make a sunshield.

muzzgail

stang151, nice work, should look good when painted up and instruments in. Look forward to seeing the photos

cfossa

My Feedback: (5)

Hi Guys,

Is anyone successfully flying this model off a grass field w/the stock retracts?

Thanks,

Carl

jstanton

My Feedback: (14)

I tried the stock retracts on our grass field and they seem to work OK if you can make a greased landing each and very time. Mine lasted for three landings until I hit a little hard on the 4th landing and one of them came apart. I like this P-51D so much I have orderd the Robart 608 retracts with the Robart 653 struts. The struts will allow for a hard landing and still survive

devens

You got 3 more landings then most are getting. Many are breaking thiers during taxi!


Well the J-tec invert/upright muffler wont fit with the OS 91FX. I called J-Tec to get the dimensions of thier wrap around Pitts. Going to measure that up tonight. Al at J-Tec was most helpful!! He stated that a slight adjustment to a stock muffler is not a custom order. He builds to order so reasonable adjustments can be made. So I know I will get a hidden exhaust now because there is plenty of room to get the exhaust out with the right muffler. [8D]


Still waiting on struts from Tower.

RC-CAKES

My Feedback: (4)

[quote]ORIGINAL: devens

All is fairly quiet on the forum - guess everyone is having a nice holiday.

A quick update on my progress. I seem to be bringing up the tail since all of you started your mustang months ago.

After the days of heat gun/ironing the entire airframe - I have installed the flaps and ailerons along with rigging and servos. The throws are set with the radio and looks good! The kit was missing the CA hinges but I planned on using the robart hinges anyway. I love the special tool that centers the hole! The hinges are smooth and no gaps!
I am using kryponite geared servos in the wing (Hitec hi torque) and metal geared ones in the tail. Tomorrow the robart 510RS kit should arrive along with misc hardware and scale 3.25 wheels. I almost ordered the 3.5 but saw that the robostruts only went to 3.25. Still waiting for the backordered struts...

The next is the tail and getting ready to rig the control surfaces. I want to use robart hinges here too and it takes time to get it all lined up correctly! I may start working with the cockpit. I like the custom work by stang. I would like to replace the stock 'pilot' with a different head- maybe with some character!

I am still on the fence on which engine to go with. I like the OS 120 pumped - along with the pitts style exhaust exiting the bottom with two small pipes... I also am interested in the Saito 100... lighter and similar power...? I still have some time to figure it out.

Thats about it. Happy New Year to all!

-J (pics soon! )

Bob Paris

My Feedback: (13)

Hay Stang151,
I wish I didn't finish off my cocpit and glue on the canopy. That is a easy and quick mod...and it is going to make your model look much more scale.
Soft Landings always,
Bobby of Maui

CorsairJock

My Feedback: (90)

Transistioning to Flying Warbirds
This post has little to do with the Top Flite P-51 ARF, so if you are not 'warbird challenged' (PLEASE, no offence intended to anyone): this post is not for you.
IF, on the other hand, you have never flown a warbird before and wish to do so soon, here is my advice to you:

I just answered a PM with the following message. The questions were 'what makes warbirds so much differnt from sport planes?' and 'what is so great about flaps?':

Wing loading is the big thing. It not only means higher landing speeds (which means more stress on the landing gear), but it also takes much more room to manuever, especially when you are setting up for a landing. Turns onto final must be more gradual, and allow it to loose altitude while turning. Try to turn too sharply when the airspeed is low, and disaster can happen. If you maintain too much speed, you will make it more difficult to slow down for a good landing. So keeping the speed up can 'solve' some issues, but you really need to make smooth landings with warbirds such as these to prevent damage (to landing gear AND plane), so you must be able to slow it down suffiently for a good landing.

Wing loading, wing loading, wing loading. Drill it into you head that everything you do will take up more airspace than it would with a sport plane. DON'T try to force it to manuverver like a sport plane, and you're halfway there. But despite the high wing loading, many do actually glide fairly well, especially with the gear up.

I LOVE flaps, especially on planes which are so aerodynamically clean such as the Mustang. To me, more important than the slightly lower stall speeds when using them, is the fact that they help so much to slow it down, and descend at pace which makes it easier to 'touch down on the numbers'. In other words: I like how they act as airbrakes.

My advice before you fly ANY warbird: practice landings. Try to land like REAL planes do: level off just above the runway and keep adding up elevator until it settles on the gear. Many sport flyers tend to just'plop' it onto the runway, which works fine with sport planes, but not so well with warbirds

Upward

My Feedback: (1)

^^^Real good advice Jock, Wing loading is a must to understand!

Does anyone know what size pneumatic tank fits into the precut holding slot in the fuse? My Robart Kit came with the ultra small tank, and Id rather just buy the correct size rather than make another slot to hold it correctly. I do believe that the sizes are: Ultra small, Small, Large. Not all of them have dimentions on Tower hobbies.

Happy Holidays, Travis

kwhite.6

Anyone know where I can get one from? I waited to long and now everybody says late febuary. I have already called all the hobby shops I know and everybody said they just sold it yesterday. Thanks.

devens

The small tank is what the knock out is for.

tiger650

My Feedback: (22)

[quote]ORIGINAL: RotorWing Nut

I took alot of time to look into the 4 stroke that I wanted to use in the P51. To make a long story short, I ended up buying the OS 110 Alpha. My installation is complete and went very smoothly. It has the same footprint as the OS 91 and is very light (I forgot the exact weight). I also considered the OS 120 non-pumped, and even the non-pumped motor I thought was too heavy and would require alot of tail weight. My second pick was the Saito 100 or 115 (tie). With the OS 110a I ended up with only 1/3 oz. in the tail. The only downside of the OS 110a is price, but I took advantage of the Tower $60 discount and got it for $340.

Upward

My Feedback: (1)

KWHITE.6:

Your only option is to find one at a local or not so local hobby shop, I think every online store is sold out of them.
Another option is read thru the for sale section of this site, I do believe that I have seen a couple not too long ago. One was missing the retracts, but this is not a big deal because everyone seems to upgrade anyways. However If you do find a ARF & do need the retracts I have a OEM pair for this model Im not using.

EDIT: Here you go.....
http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=468618

michaelbbbb

Are you looking for an ARF kit? I have an extra one that I bought for a spare from Tower scratch / dent this summer. It's got everything in it except for retract set.
covering looks pretty good too. send me a PM and we can see what we can work out.
here's the ad :
http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/ite...908&electric=0

I also have the original equipment retracts that came with the one I'm flying, if you want them...(I went with Robarts on mine)

thanks,
Mike

UPDATED: Sorry Guys, sold in first few hours of being relisted to AirWizard in KS

RC-CAKES

My Feedback: (4)

When I was shopping around for mine I saw that they were running out quick. By the time I was ready, all the online sources were backordered til late Feb+. I called a couple local shops and they didn't have it either. They either just ordered 1 or 2 and they sold fast. One across town had one he just got in days prior - I rushed over to get it! I think the region is completely sold out!

Good luck getting yours. BTW - mine came with the gear upgrade already installed. I am still going to add more plywood to beef it up and epoxy it all in. Question - would gorilla glue work well here? I know it bonds everything and expands some... just curious.

Upward

My Feedback: (1)

Mine also came with the retract upgrade already installed, However there was a dent in the top front of the fuse (I was not happy about this) But I do not want to wait for a replacement....

The gorilla glue is a good idea, but I think I would rather go with the 30 minute epoxy. The gorilla glue might expand to places where it might come in contact with the retacts you will install.

I do believe that I bought that last one in michigan....

MLDELARUELLE

Hi all,
I get a AXI4130/20 and a 15x12 APC propeller. But this prop is for glow engines. Does it matter ? BTW, it's big and the nut is just long enough : 4 turns only to lock.
Whitch propeler do you use with such engine ?
Thanks.
ML

CorsairJock

My Feedback: (90)

The fact that the APC is for glow engines is NOT a problem. Glow engines induce more stress on props than electric motors do, so such props are if anything: 'over-built'/ more durable than need be. They also weigh a little more than electric only props (due to being built stronger). I am using a 'glow engine' APC 15 x 12 on mine, and am very satisfied with it. I DO have an APC 15 x 12 WIDE which I plan to try out when warm weather returns to Michigan, which may give it slighter better climb rate, but the conventional 15 x 12 works fine for me.

APC DOES have a fine selection of electric only props, but I don't know if they have anything like a 15 x 12 or not. I DO recommend staying with an APC type prop (but not necessarily made by APC), to achieve the best efficiency.

Also, as mentioned earlier: I am using an Atlas motor mount rather than the AXI motor mount, and a Great Planes collet prop adapter. NOTE: the prop adapter tended to pull off of the motor shaft (under power) until I applied some permanant Lock-Tite to the shaft. Also, I do not use a prop washer because as you said: there just isn't very much thread to 'grab' onto.

devens

Hey Jock,

What RPM are you turning with that electric?

CorsairJock

My Feedback: (90)

Good question. It's been a long time since I checked (and it's in 'winter storage' right now), but I'm thinking it was about 6000 rpm. Sounds kinda slow, but that IS a BIG prop (in dia. AND pitch).
I'll have to go back and look up my previous posts, to see if I ever documented it.

devens

I assumed it must be slower than 9000rpm because of the pitch you are using. I am sure you know that if you multiply the motors KV rating by the nominal voltage it will give you your nominal RPM. I have no experience with larger electrics so I have no idea how they are set-up.

I tell you what blows your mind is using a RCV rotary 4 stroke. They run at half the RPM of a conventional glow motor so you must use a prop with twice the pitch. How does a 14/16 prop sound? Kinda wierd huh. I have only seen one of these motors in action and it was cool on the ground but it didn't fly the FW 190! It barely made it back to the field only to crash. Thank god it wasn't my plane nor was I the pilot.

CorsairJock

My Feedback: (90)

Gotta add 1 more thing before I leave for an overnite trip (News Years Eve), and NO: I won't be spending the nite in jail!

Someone brought up the retract linkage issue, and I touched on the subject but did not elaborate, so here goes:

Mechanical Retract Linkage Rods

I noticed that the supplied retract control rods were a little more flexible than I liked, so I found some old Hangar 9 linkage rods that I had laying around and substituted them for the stock ones. Altho the Hangar 9 ones appear to be about the same diameter, they are noticably stiffer/ more resistant to flex. They are black in color, unlike the Top Flite ones which have a natural metal finish. Don't know if they are anodized, painted, or treated in some way, but they are definately stiffer and they are what I am using in mine to actuate the mechanical retracts.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL (2009 has GOTTA be a better year for the economy)!

MLDELARUELLE

Hi,
Thanks
You can see the shaft when the 15x12 APC is mounted.
I notice the http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMTB3 is a little longer than http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMSG6
So you mount your prop this way ? See pic 3

Thanks

And Happy new year to all !

charlie1960

the material has been heat treated to make it stiffer.....it also gives it the black finish

RC-CAKES

My Feedback: (4)

Happy New Year everyone! May you have flying success in 2009.