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I hope Im on the right track

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  • I hope Im on the right track

    Hi all,
    First I'd like to say this is my first post on this forum, and Im glad to be here. I've been flying on my own since mid June of this year, I started with a Sig Kadet, and an instructor in the early spring. I have a passion for warbirds, and am trying to work my way up to them. For the last 6 months I've been flying a PK Trojan, I have over 60 flights with it with only one crash, my fault I was flying in wind conditions that were over my skill level (15-18 mph). Last July my brother and I went to Motion RC, and I bought a 1400mm V7 P-51, it's built, and was flown by a very good pilot in our club, but I hav'nt flown it yet as I don't think Im ready for her yet. My brother ordered an FMS 1100mm Hellcat from Motion RC, and I flew it with no issues, but it's roughly the same size and weight as my PK Trojan. I've been told that while a bigger plane is easier to fly, their weight make them harder to land because you have to keep more speed on them while landing to keep them from stalling. I won a GP Escapade at a club raffle, and thats my winter project, all the guys told me that I should fly the Escapade before I fly the P-51 because the weight is about the same, and they're both tail draggers, and the Escapade is a much more forgiving airplane than the P-51. I also would like to get the FMS 1400mm Trojan I figure Im already flying a PK Trojan, so it should be a good learning plane as it's much heavier than my PK Trojan, but still has tricycle landing gear. Hopefully the Escapade, and 1400mm Trojan will get me ready to fly my P-51, and other warbirds, hopefully by mid summer. At this point Im not sure how to classify my self, Im either an advanced beginner, or a beginner intermediate pilot.
    Paul

  • #2
    Re: I hope Im on the right track

    Hey Paul,
    Thanks for posting. This is Ryan from the Motion RC flight reviews on youtube and our product pages. You are absolutely on point for stepping toward the Mustang with a bit of trepidation, however you'll be amazed how well it flies. It's funny how models can differ from their full scale counterparts. For instance the Texan T-6 is a ww2 trainer but has some of the most unforgiving characteristics as anything out there as a model. Likewise the full scale Mustang has a reputation for being fairly wicked herself, but in model form flies very predictably and exhibits a very gentle character while also being able to perform all kinds of cool warbird manuevers. I urge you to watch our Dallas Darling and other P-51 vids and see how gentle the landings can be. They settle in very nicely and never cease to amaze me how well behaved they can be. The Trojan is a great flyer in model form and I'd still categorize it as an advanced trainer. Again watch our vid on that one as well. No matter what the plane it's all about a steady descent rate. Also don't stretch the glide to long. Thing is if she's coming in steady you won't have to worry about the stall. The stall happens when you fight her wanting to come down while she's too slow and bam your wing quits flying. We show a lot of landings in our vids. Check them out and let me know if you have any more questions. Warbirds are my thing as well.
    Best wishes,
    Ryan

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    • #3
      Re: I hope Im on the right track

      Hi Ryan,
      I've seen many of your videos they're among the best out there. Thanks for the good flying advice and the kind words of encouragement. The way I look at it if I want to learn how to fly warbirds bad enough it will happen, I just have to apply myself, and listen to the more experianced pilots like you, and get all the stick time I can handle. Again thanks for the advice, and words of encouragement I really appriciate it.
      Paul

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      • #4
        Re: I hope Im on the right track

        You may be closer than you are giving yourself credit for. If you are consistently making good landings with the PZ trojan and the 1100 Hellcat then your right there Paul. The Mustangs are great because of the shock absorbing struts. As long as you don't stall her in from more than a foot she'll probably take it. If flaps are new to you practice some slow flight circuits paying special care not to slow too much in the turns.[a few mistakes high of course] I recommend minimal flap deflection until you get used to it. Again, the Mustang is very well behaved. Do you fly off of grass or smooth surfaces? I think your there Paul. If not there extremely close. Are you assembling the electric Escapade?

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        • #5
          Re: I hope Im on the right track

          Hi Ryan,
          The club I belong to has both grass, and a paved runway, I fly my Sig Kadet off the grass, but my Trojan gets flown off the paved runway. I like the grass better, but I think the PZ Trojan may be a little light, and the wheels are small for the grass. And yes Im building the Escapade for electric flight, the glow stuff is nice, but I think I prefer electric power it just seems easier. I've never used flaps but from the you tube videos I've watched they seem to help make landings easier, but I must admit they kind of intimidate me a little because at this point I have no idea what the plane will do when the flaps are applyed or even when during the landing proccess to apply them , but it's something I need to learn, and again you've given me good advice. I will get the plane high and apply them and see exactally what the plane does, Im sure it's just part of learning how to fly warbirds.
          Thanks,
          Paul

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          • #6
            Re: I hope Im on the right track

            Hi Ryan,

            Happy New Year to you and Mike, and all the Motion RC crew. You hit one something in the referenced reply to Paul about the AT-6 Texan being difficult to fly, and the P-51 being much more gentle. If I had not experienced that myself, I would have been somewhat skeptical. I bought one of the Dynam Texans with the 1375mm wingspan, and while I can fly it, it is much more of a handful, especially on landings, than my 1100mm P-51. I mistakenly thought that the extra wing span along with the fact that the Texan was a trainer, would make it easier to fly.

            Could you please explain what is going on with these planes to change their flight behavior so much in model form versus full size?

            Paul-Ryan is right about you likely being more ready than you think when it comes to the Mustang. One of my first warbirds was a Tower Hobbies F6F, which I still have and enjoy flying. If you can fly an 1100mm Hellcat, you would probably surprise yourself on how well you can fly that Mustang!

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            • #7
              Re: I hope Im on the right track

              Yes, I'll dig into this with you later this evening. It's a very cool what makes the difference.
              Ryan

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              • #8
                Re: I hope Im on the right track

                Happy New Year to you as well. I'll be as to the point as possible. Full scale P-51 has a laminar flow airfoil which made her a real handful. In model form most companies know better than to give us the laminar airfoil, instead its more of a high lift wing while still being semi symmetrical where the laminar flow is more symmetrical in appearance although its not totally. Laminar airfoil has the chord or meat of the wing more close to the middle of the wing and a thinner leading edge while the higher lift wings have the fat of the wing closer to the leading edge with a flatter bottom. Think of the higher lift like more lift, she can fly slower without stalling. When you couple that with ample dihedral and the beautiful lines of a Mustang you get a great flying model. The belly scoop almost makes her behave like a mid-wing plane making her that much more stable. Now, T-6 have quite a reputation. In full scale circles pilots knew if you can handle a t6 competently you could handle anything. It is an Advanced trainer. From the top look at a texan wing then look at a thunderbolt. With the exception of the rounded tips on the 47 you'll see that they are shaped the same but opposite. What is nearly a straight leading edge with a tapered trailing edge on the jug is opposite on the texan. I'm not sure but I think this is why the tips stall sooner on a texan than other planes. When you couple that with the position of the wing in relationship to the thrust line you have a fickle flyer. The thrust line is well above the plane of the wing where a mustang is settled down in it to a degree. It really is a funny thing and a bit of a misnomer to have the trainer be more of a handful than the fighter. As you probably know there isn't much warning when the texan stalls on you, it's over before you know it, where other planes will bobble a bit or just mush gently forward. The t6 seems to always tip off almost violently like the beginning of a snap roll. Hope this helps a little. These are just my observations.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: I hope Im on the right track

                  Thanks Ryan,

                  Yes, your explanation does help explain what is going on. And YES, I have definitely noticed how easily the Texan will "tip stall" when slowing down to come in for a landing. Luckily, the first time it did it, I was able to recover and pull up just over the ground. I now come in for landings much faster with the Texan than I do with my other planes. It does want to float just over the ground for a long ways though, I am assuming some ground effect here, so landing it smoothly is a challenge for me. Once flying however, it does quite well and is very aerobatic. Just landings, and to some extent takes offs, are a bit tricky with the Texan. One thing I am considering to help with some of this is to pull the standard receiver, and replace it with a receiver that has a 3 axis gyro in it. I know, that is kind of like cheating, but better that then to lose a plane!

                  Thanks again for the help, and I look forward to more of your RCaircommand videos this year. My only suggestion would be if you could add some information on the basic build, and what you guys had to do to find the correct CG prior to flying. I have found that some manufacturers CG recommendations are a bit off at times.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: I hope Im on the right track

                    Thanks, you really won't see much at RCATC. Most if not all of our efforts are dedicated to making Motion RC the best possible online destination for products and support, and of course cool videos.
                    Ryan

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