I recently purchased the FMS 1400mm P-40 War Hawk. I am very pleased with its speed and performance. Its out right speed at level flight and vertical climb is good enough for me. In my opinion its outstanding comparably speaking.
Last winter I unfortunately had to put to rest my Ridge Runner V7 P51 Mustang that was 5 years old and I simply wore it out. It had all the V8 mods and the KV 580 motor on a single blade prop. It was just as fast as the stock P-40, maybe just a touch faster. I thought how cool would it be to have the P-40 power system in the Mustang. So I bought the V8 1450mm FMS P51 Mustang Red Tail, and the KV650 power plant. Installed it, and I was like, WHERES THE POWER? The P-40 by far was much better in the air than the Mustang. I tried the P-40 - 3 blade prop and spinner, which by the way looks very cool, and takes up the gap very nicely, and there was a moderate speed gain. But again not as fast, or has the vertical climb as the P-40. Then did the zip tie prop mod on the P51 4 blade, and again, a moderate gain, better than the 3 blade, but still cant touch the bone stock P-40 right out of the box. A closer examination found that there is a significant amount of drag found in the functional belly scoop of the V8 Mustang. Comparably speaking, its like dragging a open parachute with a hole in it. Thats all I could see that it was doing. It serves no purpose other than letting air through the scoop, trapping it in the scoop because the exit hole is smaller than the intake, before exiting out the back holes of the plane.. So I sealed off the scoop, and BOOM! My V8 Red Tail came to life and is every bit as fast, maybe even a touch faster than my P-40 now. The 4 blade with the zip tie mod is my call because with the added speed, it makes it whistle in a dive. That was a pleasant surprise as well. I giggled my but off when I heard it whistle, and the flat line speed that I found is now satisfactory to my liking. Food for thought and happy flying from the Pacific NW.
Last winter I unfortunately had to put to rest my Ridge Runner V7 P51 Mustang that was 5 years old and I simply wore it out. It had all the V8 mods and the KV 580 motor on a single blade prop. It was just as fast as the stock P-40, maybe just a touch faster. I thought how cool would it be to have the P-40 power system in the Mustang. So I bought the V8 1450mm FMS P51 Mustang Red Tail, and the KV650 power plant. Installed it, and I was like, WHERES THE POWER? The P-40 by far was much better in the air than the Mustang. I tried the P-40 - 3 blade prop and spinner, which by the way looks very cool, and takes up the gap very nicely, and there was a moderate speed gain. But again not as fast, or has the vertical climb as the P-40. Then did the zip tie prop mod on the P51 4 blade, and again, a moderate gain, better than the 3 blade, but still cant touch the bone stock P-40 right out of the box. A closer examination found that there is a significant amount of drag found in the functional belly scoop of the V8 Mustang. Comparably speaking, its like dragging a open parachute with a hole in it. Thats all I could see that it was doing. It serves no purpose other than letting air through the scoop, trapping it in the scoop because the exit hole is smaller than the intake, before exiting out the back holes of the plane.. So I sealed off the scoop, and BOOM! My V8 Red Tail came to life and is every bit as fast, maybe even a touch faster than my P-40 now. The 4 blade with the zip tie mod is my call because with the added speed, it makes it whistle in a dive. That was a pleasant surprise as well. I giggled my but off when I heard it whistle, and the flat line speed that I found is now satisfactory to my liking. Food for thought and happy flying from the Pacific NW.