Official FlightLine RC 2000mm B-24D/J Liberator Thread

[dahawk]

I have a lot of emotional attachment to the B-24. When it came out I had to have one. Of course, this delayed me getting the F4 for a little while. But had to do it in memory of my Dad.

My Dad was a Tech Sarge / Crew Chief in the 93rd Heavy Bombardment Group. 409th Bomber Squadron. The 93rd was known as " Ted's Traveling Circus" Ted Timberlake was the C/O . They were one of the early groups over to N. England in the Spring of 1942. They went from Hartwick to Libya back to Hartwick, back to Tunesia and back to Hartwick. They flew the Polesti mission from Libya ( Benghazi) . ( Operation Tidal wave.

He didn't talk much about the war until later in his final days. Then, it seemed like that was all he wanted to talk about. Gave me his dog-tags which I wear today. I think many of the WW-2 guys carried PTSD with them throughout their civilian lives.

Tupelo Lass was one of the planes in my Dad's squadron and had a very rich history .http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/19300 An interesting back story on Ben Kuroki, a Japaneses American who was an upper turret gunner. surving Polesti

I've researched the history and have applied Callie decals to replicate the full-scale as best as I could. The only thing that stands out not scale are the red nacelles. I believe e the Collins Foundation did this in their restoration of Witchcraft. I'm a member of the 93rd Reunion Group that is populated by family members and decedents who keep it going. Only a few actual veterans are still alive. They have a monthly newsletter and a FB page and an annual reunion.

I do have Mr. RC Sound installed with 2 transducers and a bass transducer and I do have a rotating upper turret and the retractable landing lights per Brandonmoon. Dang, I wish I had his modeling talent !

I maidened her a few weeks ago and it was as many have experienced and reported- Uneventful. I flew her almost 100% with rudder. Easy plane to fly and quite responsive. Skywolf, aka the Flying Ant took some video and should have it up soon.

[themudduck]

The B24 is an excellent performer with 3-cell batteries. I have flown with 4-cells and tried 3-cells last weekend. I used two Admiral 3300 packs and I had to move one all the way to the front stop (the other one was sitting fully forward in the tray) to get it to balance it correctly. It flew well and took off with authority. (I'm sure the model was probably lighter but I didn't calculate the difference.)

You just don't need to use 4-cell packs unless you want to do 3D with this plane, take off in 6 feet and go straight up, fly at 70mph, etc. (sorry, pet peeve)

I'm thinking with larger 3-cell packs, this plane could fly for a very long time.

[xviper]

The B24 is an excellent performer with 3-cell batteries. I have flown with 4-cells and tried 3-cells last weekend. I used two Admiral 3300 packs and I had to move one all the way to the front stop (the other one was sitting fully forward in the tray) to get it to balance it correctly. It flew well and took off with authority. (I'm sure the model was probably lighter but I didn't calculate the difference.)

You just don't need to use 4-cell packs unless you want to do 3D with this plane, take off in 6 feet and go straight up, fly at 70mph, etc. (sorry, pet peeve)

I'm thinking with larger 3-cell packs, this plane could fly for a very long time.

You can fly for the same time on 4 cells. All you're doing by going to 3 cells is reducing your max rpm. To do the same with 4 cells, just limit the servo travel on the throttle channel to 75% or less. For me, I like the full power of 4 cells and no I don't do 3D with this thing, at least not yet. I fly off a gopher field and the lumps and bumps create a lot of rolling resistance that need to be pushed through as quickly as possible. I like to take off in 6 feet, go straight up and fly at 70 mph. :Silly:

[dahawk]

Mine flys on 4S without issue and power when you want it

[rifleman_btx]

But, but, I want to fly 6s!LOL

[dahawk]

Go for it and report back Lol

[dkalwishky]

Last night was very disappointing for me, no B-24 flight. I could not get the plane to range check to my satisfaction. I could get 20 paces but not the 30 that I wanted.

This is the first time I've used a diversity receiver. I've attached a picture of where the two antennas were positioned, I drew a yellow line over them as they are hard to see otherwise. For best results you want the antennas 90 degrees from each other. The one that was pointing down was right next to the batteries and might be the cause of my problems. I have a diversity satellite receiver ordered, it'll be here tomorrow and I can do more testing. I plan on putting it up in the nose area.

On a side note I've got a lot of planes flying that way with non diversity antennas with no problems. I'm also thinking about pulling this receiver and using one of the non diversity receivers that I have.

[xviper]

Other than using a different Rx, my suggestion to you now is to get a satellite antenna and plug it into that sat port on the receiver (if that is indeed a sat port). The sat should also be a diversity type and the same type (DSMX or DSM2) as the main Rx. They say that a sat antenna isn't going to increase range, but it does provide the ability to orientate those antennas in a different location in the plane and in a different direction for the 2 "whiskers". This may allow you to salvage the Rx instead of ditching it entirely. I've always felt that the performance is superior with a sat antenna. The Lemons that don't have a sat port, I'm always somewhat leery about, especially in a place where you've got so many electrical fields (from the wires).

[dkalwishky]

I totally forgot to post the maiden video from two days ago.

The wind was out of the East which means it was blowing at me, this becomes important in a moment.

I was waiting for the wind to die down a bit but finally decided what the heck and went for it. This entire flight was at half throttle. I used a pair of Admiral 4S 3600 mAh batteries. Based on my two flights I should be able to get 6 minutes easy.

The landing got away from me, the plane was blowing toward me and I did not compensate with enough rudder. No damage was done. I flew it one more time with two landings that were booth really good.

This plane is a really docile in the air, I cannot wait to get more flights on it.

Today I flew put five more flights on it, eight flights total. Timer is at 6 minutes and I thought I might be able ti get 7 minutes. I fly at 1/2 throttle (I take off that was as well) and she flies plenty fast.

I lOVE THIS PLANE!!!!!!!

[dkalwishky]

Other than using a different Rx, my suggestion to you now is to get a satellite antenna and plug it into that sat port on the receiver (if that is indeed a sat port).

A different RX did not help, the Sat did. She's flying great now.

[xviper]

A different RX did not help, the Sat did. She's flying great now.

That's great!

[fieldofdreamsflyer]

Flew my friends B-24 this morning using 3s instead of 4s. Flies great , flew mostly at 1/2 power the whole flight. Easy 8min flights Dont see how people are breaking props. Lands real nice with 0 flaps, in fact it didnt want to come down, sure is a floater . Pretty much a simple flyer

[Hugh Wiedman]

Anyone having any problems with the retracts? When I first bought the Olive B-24, the right retract wasn't working at all. Motion replaced it immediately. Yesterday, after about 20 flights, noticed the left retract occasionally would not come down, had to recycle it several times to land. On the bench, it continued with problems, but when it did work, it was much slower than the other. Checked all connections, then swapped it out with a new one (yes, I always keep plenty of replacement parts in the shop for all my planes). This now works fine, but thought it was odd to have 2 retracts go bad so soon. I only have a few flights with the silver B-24 so haven't yet experienced any retract issues. Just wondered if I'm the lucky one or is it more common than I think. This isn't unusual for me, as I've already replaced several non-functioning retracts in the FMS 1700mm P-51 and 1400mm Corsair. So far, all original retracts in the 1600mm Spitfire, but always have to check every planes retract before flying as this seems to be a somewhat regular issue for me.

[Sky Wolf]

Hugh, I don’t own the Libby yet, but I haven’t seen many posts on retract problems. But I do have a buddy, “Dahawk”, who owns it. He hasn’t mentioned any retract issues.

Now the 1700mm P-51 was a big issue. There were many issues with the original retracts, as well as with some of the later replacement retracts, as the manufacturer changed them, but didn’t completely resolve the issues. Out of the box, both retracts died immediately when I hit the switch. I didn’t purchase it at Motion, but from a local hobby shop who had it on consignment. I ordered new retracts from Motion, but one of them had the same issue, it burned up. Motion immediately replaced it once they had the manufacturer ensure them they were the newer version. Haven’t had any issues since then.

Is your 1700mm P-51 fairly new, or an older version? (I bought mine in 2014) I will also tell you that I replaced both of the wiring harness/ribbons in it. That seemed to really make a difference in the operational functions.

[TiredIronGRB]

Anyone having any problems with the retracts? When I first bought the Olive B-24, the right retract wasn't working at all. Motion replaced it immediately. Yesterday, after about 20 flights, noticed the left retract occasionally would not come down, had to recycle it several times to land. On the bench, it continued with problems, but when it did work, it was much slower than the other. Checked all connections, then swapped it out with a new one (yes, I always keep plenty of replacement parts in the shop for all my planes). This now works fine, but thought it was odd to have 2 retracts go bad so soon. I only have a few flights with the silver B-24 so haven't yet experienced any retract issues. Just wondered if I'm the lucky one or is it more common than I think. This isn't unusual for me, as I've already replaced several non-functioning retracts in the FMS 1700mm P-51 and 1400mm Corsair. So far, all original retracts in the 1600mm Spitfire, but always have to check every planes retract before flying as this seems to be a somewhat regular issue for me.

What type surface are you flying from?

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hugh, I don’t own the Libby yet, but I haven’t seen many posts on retract problems. But I do have a buddy, “Dahawk”, who owns it. He hasn’t mentioned any retract issues.

Now the 1700mm P-51 was a big issue. There were many issues with the original retracts, as well as with some of the later replacement retracts, as the manufacturer changed them, but didn’t completely resolve the issues. Out of the box, both retracts died immediately when I hit the switch. I didn’t purchase it at Motion, but from a local hobby shop who had it on consignment. I ordered new retracts from Motion, but one of them had the same issue, it burned up. Motion immediately replaced it once they had the manufacturer ensure them they were the newer version. Haven’t had any issues since then.

Is your 1700mm P-51 fairly new, or an older version? (I bought mine in 2014) I will also tell you that I replaced both of the wiring harness/ribbons in it. That seemed to really make a difference in the operational functions.

The 1700mm P-51 is a newer version, about a year old with the upgraded motor and prop. The original retracts worked for only 3 flights before they did not have enough guts to bring the gear up during flight. I had to go inverted to retract the gear. I then replaced them with the metal retracts, which from the get go had more stamina. Eventually, after maybe 25 flights, they occasionally didn't work at all and had to recycle them in flight to get them down or up. Recently replaced them again with new metal retracts along with the wiring harness, wire boards, and added an independent 8amp BEC to make sure I had continuous and consistent power. So far, that seems to have done the trick, but I constantly monitor them and keep several spares in reserve. I'm sure that I'm destined to replace them again in the future.

[Hugh Wiedman]

What type surface are you flying from?

I'm flying from an asphalt runway at Markham Park in Sunrise. Could be some of the issue as it is clearly rougher on the retracts than grass. I have installed the suspension struts on all the warbirds (both B-24's, 1600mm Spitfire, and the 1700 mm P-51) except my Corsair which may soften the punch on the retracts but it still is rock hard asphalt. I have also replaced on all my planes all the main wheels and tail wheels with either Robart or Hanger 9 rubber wheels which gives them less bounce than the foam wheels, longer/better wear and somewhat lessens the asphalt impact. With that said, I'd be lying if I said all my landings are perfect with minimal impact.

[TiredIronGRB]

I'm flying from an asphalt runway at Markham Park in Sunrise. Could be some of the issue as it is clearly rougher on the retracts than grass. I have installed the suspension struts on all the warbirds (both B-24's, 1600mm Spitfire, and the 1700 mm P-51) except my Corsair which may soften the punch on the retracts but it still is rock hard asphalt. I have also replaced on all my planes all the main wheels and tail wheels with either Robart or Hanger 9 rubber wheels which gives them less bounce than the foam wheels, longer/better wear and somewhat lessens the asphalt impact. With that said, I'd be lying if I said all my landings are perfect with minimal impact.

I was thinking more about dirt getting in the retract but I doubt that's an issue. I would make sure the retract isn't binding in the mount.

[Sky Wolf]

I was thinking more about dirt getting in the retract but I doubt that's an issue. I would make sure the retract isn't binding in the mount.

I’m in agreement with TI. Could they be binding in the wheel well? I was wondering the same about your field. Markham has a really nice surface, much like the one I fly at. One thing that was an issue with the FMS gear was the housing around the gear plate was very prone to cracking if semi-hard landings or touch downs occurred. I haven’t had any issues with mine since I replaced them with the newer version a couple of years ago.

I hope that that the replacement of the harness and the addition of a BEC does the job for you.

[Hardway]

I ordered the graphics from Callie for my silver 24 that is still in the box... Don’t know when they will get applied! LOL. Life Is busy busy busy at the moment.... oh well. Still very thankful for all the blessigs! :Cool: