P51 STREGA RENO RACER

[FLY BOY]

Well I couldnt help myself, Who said you couldnt have enough P51's. I ordered up a new P51 strega today, with a Hobby Eagle AL-3 Gyro. Cant wait, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!!!!! Will post the pics soon. Merry Christmas everybody from the Pacific NW.  :P

[Hippie 64]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

:D HO HO HO Flyboy !!! I'm guessing you were not on Rocketers naughty list the way Gman and I are !! 




Bryan 

[Grossman56]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

I'm thinking he should be though, Rocketeer, how about it?

Grossman56

[FLY BOY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Well I've never been on any bodys naughty list before. But MRC made my naughty list today! LOL
But I know that they will get on the good list with in no time. Just an honest mistake the shipping dept made. This fix will be quick and easy. Sucks to be human sometimes.  :(

[FLY BOY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

       

Maiden my Strega yesterday. WOW, Pocket radar shows 85mph consistently. Turns on a dime and very stable.
Landing with full flaps was a choir, Nosed over on the prop. MRC video said using the admiral 3000 mah batt ok, with no balance issues. So after the nose over, checked balanced and found very very nose heavy. Unable to a just CG by batt placement due to the limited space. Had to add weight to the tail area. After balancing to my liking took her up again. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! This time she floated down with full flaps and greased the landing. Even with the added tail weight, pocket radar still showed 85mph consistently, and flew much better as well. I know I should of checked the CG in the first place, But is was my bad, I didnt want to wait to get air born. Flying in between rain breaks is the ticket in the Pacific NW this time of year. When the sun pops out, I'd better hurry. Its like, dont like the weather? wait 5 minutes LOL. Over all I'm very happy with the strega. Fast, nimble, and very fun to fly. I couldnt help but get out the blue paint during assembly and add some trim lines. Gave it a personal touch for sure. I only have one beef with this plane. No room in the batt bay. Even receiver placement is tight. I ordered a Hobby Eagle AL-3 gyro for the plane at the same time. No room for the Gyro, Because of the smaller wing span, I assumed it would be twitchy. Not bad in this area. Pretty smooth really. Just took a little practice to get a smooth flying aircraft. Only one upgrade I'm going to make. DAVE BROWN TIRES. No prop mod for me, plenty fast out of the box and love the 4 blade look. Happy Landings all.

[Grossman56]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

She looks great Flyboy, even sitting still she looks like she's going 85 mph

Grossman56

[FLY BOY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

She looks great Flyboy, even sitting still she looks like she's going 85 mph

Grossman56

Well thanks G56,    :D  yea I've turned into a RC junkie for sure. I've got 6 planes in the hanger now. I think its time to part with one if I can bring myself to it.  I told myself I wouldnt have more than 3 at a time. But wow half the fun is building the darn thing. Then flying your creation is the other half. If I had to choose which 3 to keep, First and four most would be my FMS 1400mm P51 Mustang, Love the looks and bunches of fun. My second keeper is the Dynam SU26M. Way fun in the 3D areana, and of course the Strega. :cool:  My little ripper.

[FLY BOY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Well after flying with the stock prop for about 20 or so flights, I got really used to the speed and nimbleness of this outstanding aircraft. I know I said I wasnt going to change the prop, plenty fast already.
But I got curious and went for it. I got me a 12x12 prop. Shaved it to 11x12 and balanced it perfect.
Then took the nose cone and my dremel and made room for the blade. Nose cone bolts right on now as well.

Took her up today to check it out and WOW WOW WOW she is a SCREAMER!!!!!!
Pocket radar consistently showed 105MPH and hit 110MPH on a couple passes. And the sound it makes when you do a low pass full throttle fly bye is something every plane should have, swoooooosh !!!!!!!
The key to getting that extra 5mph I think came from having a nose cone. The build video says cant use the nose cone but will do 100mph any way. I made my nose cone fit and got more SPEEEEEEEEEED!!!!! OOOOOH  YEEAAAA!!!
Even at Half throttle shes still doing 80mph. At 105mph still no wing flex in steep tight turns either.

Landing was another matter all together. I normally dont use the flaps with the stock set up. But I had to so it would slow down. My first attempt to land she came in VERY HOT with little to NO throttle and became a go around.
My second attempt I deployed FULL FLAPS and she slowed nicely. Still a tad fast but much slower that the first try.
Greased the landing but I noticed it took MORE RUNWAY to get the tail to drop and slow her down as well.
I am so impressed with plane. I cant wait to race it again, My buddies at the airfield are going to be mad. There currently modding out there planes in hopes of keeping up. I flew at an old abandon air strip today, so they have no idea whats coming.  I do all my testing there before hitting the club airfield. HOT DOG!!!!!   :D

[STOOPIDMONKEY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Has anyone done the Dego Red P-51?

[Grossman56]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Way to go Fly Boy, going to have to rename you Jet Pack if you keep this up!

Would love to be there to see the looks on the other guys faces!!


Grossman56

[FLY BOY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Well I broke it today Grossman 56,

On take off I had that old guy thumb twitch thing happen to me today. Put my Strega on its nose. Broke the prop as I ran it into the ground, which tore off the nose cone, and something happen to the motor. When I power up the motor now, it makes a horrible screeching sound like a loose fan belt on a car. Tried to take the motor apart with no success. FMS used RED LOCK TIGHT on the small allen screws. REALLY FMS? So I ordered a new motor today. Thanks to the adrenelin running through my vanes and RED LOCK TIGHT! REALLY?

[Grossman56]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Hey, I thought Locktite was a BIG NO NO!!
Ask Bryan, he'll tell you.
As a matter of interest, did you try running the motor once it was out of the airplane?  Check you motor mount as well, When the Waco decided to go Waco on me, the motor mount came loose so out with the Gorilla Glue and I anchored it in again.  Epoxy/resin would be another way to go!
Its always a shame when old age crashes a plane.  Hey wait, I'm old too!!
Dang, when did that happen?

Grossman56

[FLY BOY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

LMBO G56,

Yes I took the motor to the bench with the ESC and fired it up. All was good as first until I hit 3/4 throttle or so.
Motor started screeching like a slipping fan belt on a car is the only way I can describe it. After I chopped the throttle a big orange spark flew from inside the motor case. After that I gave a sniff and I had a burnt smell. I did find one of the magnets loose in the case and thats when I thought AH HA! Removed the C clip and went to unscrew the tiny allens to split the case and thats when the real problem began. Bent and stripped one allen wrench getting one screw loose, That one looked like it had glue on the threads. Went for the other set screw and stripped out 2 more allen wrenches then finally the allen screw. Then I could see red around the screw, sure looks like red lock tight to me. To make a long story short I just ordered a new motor hoping the ESC is ok and didnt get over amped. The plane controls were fine during the bench testing, all the servos and control surfaces were acting as they should. Also the ESC smells fine to.  Funny thing I only had about 20 flights or so on the plane. So the plane is still young even though I'm old. lol Dang adrenelin twitch  

[FLY BOY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

UPDATE:   Flew the Strega today with my new motor. 11x12 APC prop and new nose cone made to fit.
Today was not the best for flying, overcast skis and 10 -15 mph wind. Couldnt help myself.
 Whew wee taking her up in a head wind required only 5 feet of runway and up up and away. WOW loved the tail wind as my Strega went whistling bye the fastest I have ever seen an RC plane could fly. On my third high speed low altitude fly bye, wind at my back, It had to be moving at least 120+mph, she shot vertical on her own and started to roll. I Cut the throttle and and regained control. Dropped the flaps and brought her in. 

Inspection found that ALL the tape on the bottom side that covers the servo wires had blown completely off and some of the tape was caught in the servo linkage. WOW!!!!  THATS FAST!  :D I was lucky I didnt rip out the wires.  :cool:

[FLY BOY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Well took the Strega up today with its new look. Its been really crappy weather here this week, But it gave me time to retape the coverings over the wires and add some custom paint. Trimmed it out in blue with simple mono cote and some blue paint. The sun poked out and the temp hit almost 70 degrees. Clear shies and sunshine, Airfield hear I come.

So I'm flying today, about 4 minutes into my flight after a couple of flat out low fly byes downs the runway, I bank a hard right turn and was zippen towards the oppisite end of the field when I lost complete orientation of the Strega.
I couldnt tell which end was up or direction. It was going that fast! So I reduced throttle and started banking so I thought. Found myself in a power dive behind some trees around 300 yards away. I panicked and pulled hard back on the stick. I could see in doing loops behind and through the trees. On its 3rd loop I tried to time it just right to climb out, , then suddenly you hear the crunching echoing of brush braking. Then to my surprise the Strega was in an upward motion coming out of the trees, I let go of the stick to maintain the climb, and TA DA  :D There she was, I regained control and orientation and brought her down.  My veins were so full of adrinolin, I couldnt stop shaking for at least 10 minutes after I landed. 
I thought for sure she was a goner! I still cant believe it. Just some belly scratches was the only damage. I can so live with that.  ;)   :D  :cool:

[Lon]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Well took the Strega up today with its new look. Its been really crappy weather here this week, But it gave me time to retape the coverings over the wires and add some custom paint. Trimmed it out in blue with simple mono cote and some blue paint. The sun poked out and the temp hit almost 70 degrees. Clear shies and sunshine, Airfield hear I come.

So I'm flying today, about 4 minutes into my flight after a couple of flat out low fly byes downs the runway, I bank a hard right turn and was zippen towards the oppisite end of the field when I lost complete orientation of the Strega.
I couldnt tell which end was up or direction. It was going that fast! So I reduced throttle and started banking so I thought. Found myself in a power dive behind some trees around 300 yards away. I panicked and pulled hard back on the stick. I could see in doing loops behind and through the trees. On its 3rd loop I tried to time it just right to climb out, , then suddenly you hear the crunching echoing of brush braking. Then to my surprise the Strega was in an upward motion coming out of the trees, I let go of the stick to maintain the climb, and TA DA  :D There she was, I regained control and orientation and brought her down.  My veins were so full of adrinolin, I couldnt stop shaking for at least 10 minutes after I landed. 
I thought for sure she was a goner! I still cant believe it. Just some belly scratches was the only damage. I can so live with that.  ;)   :D  :cool:

WOW! My hands started shaking just reading about it !!

[CT]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Well took the Strega up today with its new look. Its been really crappy weather here this week, But it gave me time to retape the coverings over the wires and add some custom paint. Trimmed it out in blue with simple mono cote and some blue paint. The sun poked out and the temp hit almost 70 degrees. Clear shies and sunshine, Airfield hear I come.

So I'm flying today, about 4 minutes into my flight after a couple of flat out low fly byes downs the runway, I bank a hard right turn and was zippen towards the oppisite end of the field when I lost complete orientation of the Strega.
I couldnt tell which end was up or direction. It was going that fast! So I reduced throttle and started banking so I thought. Found myself in a power dive behind some trees around 300 yards away. I panicked and pulled hard back on the stick. I could see in doing loops behind and through the trees. On its 3rd loop I tried to time it just right to climb out, , then suddenly you hear the crunching echoing of brush braking. Then to my surprise the Strega was in an upward motion coming out of the trees, I let go of the stick to maintain the climb, and TA DA  :D There she was, I regained control and orientation and brought her down.  My veins were so full of adrinolin, I couldnt stop shaking for at least 10 minutes after I landed. 
I thought for sure she was a goner! I still cant believe it. Just some belly scratches was the only damage. I can so live with that.  ;)   :D  :cool:

WOW! My hands started shaking just reading about it !!

Your story brings back memories of flights we have all had like that, ones you will never forget. Way to go!!!
CT

[Grossman56]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Sounds familiar!  Last year I managed to thread one of the Pandoras through a set of table legs.  The only possible  way was for her to slide through and even then, I'm not sure how I did it.
One thing for sure, I won't be taking any bets that I can do it again!!

Grossman56

[FLY BOY]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

LOL G-man!!! I wont be taking any bets either. 

Well took the Strega out today, another beautiful day here.  :D  When I got to the field there was a gas powered ME109 on sight. Man that thing was fast. It was around 1500mm big, made from balsa. I talked to the flyer and he said 2 engine sizes bigger than whats suppose to be in the ME109. So I demonstrated the Strega and the guy had to real in his jaw from the ground. And you know what came next!!!   :cool:

I entered the Sky and came along side the ME109 already in flight. Came around the first pylon and it was hammer time. And were off!!! :)  ME109 jumps out to an early lead, around the first pylon, the german fighter goes WIDE!!, My Strega hugs the inside and takes the lead, Down the front Stretch they come, ME109 gaining back some ground, around the next turn and the Strega holds the inside like GLUE and the ME 109 goes WIDE again. Down the back stretch, Strega holding on, ME109 looking good, Into the next turn and again the Strega sticks like glue at a full throttle turn, holding the inside :D  ME109 cant hold the turn and goes way wide again!!!! BYE BYE Down the front stretch the Strega goes with now a commanding lead!!!! :D  Strega WINS again!!!!!! To sum it up, The German fighter was a tad faster in the straight, But the Stregas manuverabilty out shined the ME109 today. Since the prop and nose cone mod, I have yet to lose. Thank you again MRC!!!! :cool:  

[ADKer21]

RE: P51 STREGA RENO RACER

Sweet! Wish you had a video of it!!