FW P-51 Old Crow

[deadbug]

Brandt…I see you’ve been getting crickets on this on both here and RCG; sorry I can’t offer any data. It just wasn’t something I (and obviously most, if not all) thought would be worthwhile. The lower thrust on the four-blade might be a good thing on takeoffs for your first few flights as you start to get used to this taildragger warbird's behavior. You’ll get noticeably less torque pull off to the left as you add power for takeoff with the 4-blade.

The things I enjoy most about Old Crow is her scale looks, takeoffs and landings and full-scale flybys. Not speed—get a good EDF for that need 😉. When you want to do more powerful acro, throw a well-balanced 2 blade (stock) prop and have at it. Remember, especially with the 2-blade, don’t shove the power in full for takeoff. Check my earlier posts here and on RCG for good techniques to avoid the sharp torque/“P-factor” left turn if you cobb the power too quickly and running out of right rudder. You’ll be surprised how gently and on-centerline she’ll do if you do it right.
DB

[Grossman56]

Mine both run a 650 kv motor with an 80 Amp ESC pulled by the stock 4 blade prop, well it used to be optional when I bought mine, both are (were) the Iron Ass version.


Cheers!


Grossman56

[davegee]

Mine both run a 650 kv motor with an 80 Amp ESC pulled by the stock 4 blade prop, well it used to be optional when I bought mine, both are (were) the Iron Ass version.


Cheers!


Grossman56

Lookin' good, Mr. Grossman! I can't wait for warmer temps this spring to start flying again!

Cheers

davegee

[Brant25]

Brandt…I see you’ve been getting crickets on this on both here and RCG; sorry I can’t offer any data. It just wasn’t something I (and obviously most, if not all) thought would be worthwhile. The lower thrust on the four-blade might be a good thing on takeoffs for your first few flights as you start to get used to this taildragger warbird's behavior. You’ll get noticeably less torque pull off to the left as you add power for takeoff with the 4-blade.

The things I enjoy most about Old Crow is her scale looks, takeoffs and landings and full-scale flybys. Not speed—get a good EDF for that need 😉. When you want to do more powerful acro, throw a well-balanced 2 blade (stock) prop and have at it. Remember, especially with the 2-blade, don’t shove the power in full for takeoff. Check my earlier posts here and on RCG for good techniques to avoid the sharp torque/“P-factor” left turn if you cobb the power too quickly and running out of right rudder. You’ll be surprised how gently and on-centerline she’ll do if you do it right.
DB

DB, I appreciate your advice and will probably maiden on the 14x8x4. If I like the way it flies, I'll stay with that, but will eventually test the 16x10x2. I've done some research on timing changes and believe there is little to gain from increasing to medium or high timing, although many posts advise that a 14 pole motor does better on medium or high. Freewing must have done their homework, but I may experiment with it at some point. Thanks again for the reply and advice.

Grossman56, thanks for the input. If I ever change the motor in this bird, I may go for the 470 Kv and 5S. We'll see...

[Brant25]

Anyone have advice on the three gain settings for the 7 channel Lemon Rx Stab+ receiver? Mine is mounted on its left side/edge and on the right inside of the fuse near the back of the battery compartment. Fits very well there and is recalibrated for this orientation. Master gain is on Aux3/Ch8 knob on my DX8G2.
Starting settings are suggested to be 12 o'clock but real world experience would be appreciated. Admiral offers similar receivers, so their settings could be useful also.

[TNES48]

Hello all. So I just recently finished building this model, I’m fairly new to the electrics. I bound my receiver, using an NX8 with an AR620. Got everything to work fine except the motor would not move and sat there beeping at me. The manual doesn’t say anything about this, was just wondering if anyone else had this issue or could give me some things to look at. Thank you!

[TNES48]

Disregard, just attended a quick “class” at
YouTube U. All is well now!

[SanExup]

TNES48 It's a standard issue problem. And a procedure that you want to repeat occasionally. Sometimes you can have power to the prop or EDF but not enough. I recalibrate planes often if I suspect something is not right with the thrust or throttle position.

[Grossman56]

Good ol' You Tube!
BTW, make sure your radio is calibrated as well. Like San says, don't be afraid to calibrate the ESC, I've had the exact same thing happen, airplane lacks performance, recalibrated and found some extra H.P. more often than not.
Speaking of such things. Spring is around the corner and our instinct is to slap an airplane in the truck and head for the field. That could be disastrous if you haven't given the plane a once over before leaving the hangar. I was checking one of my Pandoras out prior to field ops (dreamer, it snowed) and found a loose flap control arm, a less than tight horizontal stab and a less than tight wing mount. I can't remember what state I brought any of my planes home from their last flight last year other than they came home in one piece so I always run a Spring preflight on all birds

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Thanks to the generosity of one of our members, I've started in on Old Crow. She was due for a good going over as I had been using her as a 'hangar queen' to keep My Little Gall II going. My Old Crow, for anyone who doesn't know, is actually an Iron Ass Freewing P-51 with the sound system that I purchased, God, let's just say several years ago. I hated the sound system, sounded more like when the car lost a muffler than a well tuned Merlin. I decided that there was no use hauling the extra weight into the sky so out it came. Also, I found that when I rebuild MLG that an extension to the battery deck was really handy, a place to put a gyro and the receiver, so that's where I started. Disassembly of the wing from the fuse is always a nightmare, so I made sure all the wires were color coded beforehand.
So question:
Has anyone tried using one servo for the rudder and the tail wheel steering tiller?
Seems to me that it would work, but I'm interested to know if it's uncharted territory or not.
The new piece of decking is in place and the Gorilla Glue is drying...


Notice the rerouting of the Mantis 85A ESC, they have the world's shortest battery cord, a PITA that should have been fixed! Also the wire for the external antenna and the empty cavity where the speaker used to sit. Some paint touch ups are going to be in order as well. The hack job at the bottom of the picture is a slot where the extra weight was to get the CG, the weight was 'donated' to the silver P 40 which was extremely tail heavy.



The wiring nightmare that is the Flightline P51.

Grossman56

[TNES48]

Has anyone else had a problem with the ailerons sticking? When I first put it together I had to manually move them to break them free. Not too big of a deal, however after it sits a bit, it locks back up. I have yet to maiden it but this is getting a bit disheartening. Not sure if I’m able to post video on here or not, but I’ll try to get one and post it.

[Grossman56]

That's definitely strange, never had that myself. I'd suggest removing the control arms and manually moving the ailerons, then let them sit. See if they stiffen up again, it's either the ailerons or the servo. Once you determine that, it may be the hinges on the aileron, which may need lubrication or, if you've clear coated them, the clear may have gotten into the hinges in which case, just keep working them. Keep in touch at let us know what you find.

Grossman56

[leopafe]

Hi all, I just got me an Old Crow and I have a question for those who transport the plane with the wings off.
Have you had any issues with stripping the plastic tube the wings are screwed in?

Thanks,

Leo

[RAFALR30]

Somewhera at the airfield

[n99jh1]

Hi all. I am toying with the idea of fitting the 300 Kv motor and 4 blades 18" propeller from the old FSM "Ferocious Frankie" to the "Old Crow". This P-51 is 1/8 scale and 18" is the scale propeller which in my opinion will make "Old Crow" much more scale.

Here is a picture of a 1700 mm FSM P-51 that I re-motored with a Hacker C-50 15XL (with 6.7:1 planetary gearbox) and 21" ground adjustable, 4 blades Ramoser prop some years back.

Has anyone done something like this before?

Josh Harel

[n99jh1]

Help Please

I need to replace the plastic firewall in my P-51. Since a replacement part is available from MotionRC, I assume that it can be done. Has anyone done this before? Any help/advice is very much appreciated.

Thanks

Josh

[Grossman56]

I posted an answer here.

https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc-airplanes/rc-propeller-airplanes/1154-freewing-p-51-mustang/page5

Grossman56

[RAFALR30]

Why does the main gear retract look like damaged in the new P-51 Old Crow model and the spare part does not? What is it about?
Do you have the same in Your model?

[Jet Fixer]

Why does the main gear retract look like damaged in the new P-51 Old Crow model and the spare part does not? What is it about?
Do you have the same in Your model?

Its broken. Hidden by the boot.

[Jet Fixer]

Why in the hell cant I get my gear to retract in flight? Works perfectly on deck but hangs about 3/4 of the way retracted in flight. Been fighting this for three years. I quit flying it because I spend all my time trying to get my gear up. They work if the doors are off. I've replaced the servos a couple of times.