Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[xviper]

Yeh, I thought about that. Hope that doesn't happen. I thought about dabbing a bit of Vaseline around the c-clip and the gear wire just to make sure I still have enough spin play for the c-clip and applying a bit of JB Weld in the slots I cut. Just a bit of reapplied reinforcement I hope. I'll give a thorough stress test before I put in.

I'm just wondering about all the others that have replaced the retracts with the Castle or otherwise and haven't weighed in on this. If they're not having any issues with installation, I would love to know why. Are we the only and hopeful ground breakers? LOL.

The issue with the too large C-clips and axle lengths have been reported by many, both here and on the other forum. I think most people just do a "work around". For me, I used the top portion of the stock strut. Others have ground down the bigger C-clip. You're the first I've seen who has cut a slot in the retract part.

[Lon]

The issue with the too large C-clips and axle lengths have been reported by many, both here and on the other forum. I think most people just do a "work around". For me, I used the top portion of the stock strut. Others have ground down the bigger C-clip. You're the first I've seen who has cut a slot in the retract part.

I've put my Dremil to work. A little grinding on the trunion so the large C-clip will fit. I did take the retract appart to do the grinding. That made it alot easier. Just be very careful and patient in doing that, so it goes back together properly. Test it before installing.

[BadBob]

The issue with the too large C-clips and axle lengths have been reported by many, both here and on the other forum. I think most people just do a "work around". For me, I used the top portion of the stock strut. Others have ground down the bigger C-clip. You're the first I've seen who has cut a slot in the retract part.

Well when the JB weld sets, tomorrow night I'll put things in their place and proceed with stress tests. Wish me luck. More to come!:shy:

[BadBob]

OK, I'm starting to loose my patience with the Chinese crap we get from Castle and Motion! Almost all set screws that I need to remove to make mods are so tight, I can't get them out. They just get rounded out. I had to drill out every one of the wheel collar set screws to get them off of the stock strut axles and now the set screw on one of the Castle struts just below the scissor strut is also too tight. The same screw on the other strut will come out, no problem. I'm referring to the post from Leon, post #112, P.2221 about installing the Castle springs in addition to the stock springs. I'm not going to mess with trying to drill that one out too. Inexcusable! My 1/16" allen wrenches work just fine on all 1/16" set screws with no issues with the exception of some of the ones on this plane and Castle's retracts. So far, all set screws on this plane seem to be 1/16". Just PMOFF!

[Flyer Phill]

OK, I'm starting to loose my patience with the Chinese crap we get from Castle and Motion! Almost all set screws that I need to remove to make mods are so tight, I can't get them out. They just get rounded out. I had to drill out every one of the wheel collar set screws to get them off of the stock strut axles and now the set screw on one of the Castle struts just below the scissor strut is also too tight. The same screw on the other strut will come out, no problem. I'm referring to the post from Leon, post #112, P.2221 about installing the Castle springs in addition to the stock springs. I'm not going to mess with trying to drill that one out too. Inexcusable! My 1/16" allen wrenches work just fine on all 1/16" set screws with no issues with the exception of some of the ones on this plane and Castle's retracts. So far, all set screws on this plane seem to be 1/16". Just PMOFF!

Bob, have you tried metric allen wrenches?

Phill

[Lon]

OK, I'm starting to loose my patience with the Chinese crap we get from Castle and Motion! Almost all set screws that I need to remove to make mods are so tight, I can't get them out. They just get rounded out. I had to drill out every one of the wheel collar set screws to get them off of the stock strut axles and now the set screw on one of the Castle struts just below the scissor strut is also too tight. The same screw on the other strut will come out, no problem. I'm referring to the post from Leon, post #112, P.2221 about installing the Castle springs in addition to the stock springs. I'm not going to mess with trying to drill that one out too. Inexcusable! My 1/16" allen wrenches work just fine on all 1/16" set screws with no issues with the exception of some of the ones on this plane and Castle's retracts. So far, all set screws on this plane seem to be 1/16". Just PMOFF!

They are Metric...... 1.5 on these grubs. Mine were tight too. And make sure when you tighten them up to just get a "firm" torque on them. You tighten them down too much, then yep, they will be super hard to get loose. I've found thru trial and error. Better off to have to check them often, than to try and REALLY tighten them, because they will loosen over time no matter what. The times i've tightened hard, thinking "these won't come loose now" They do, and i've had a heck of a time getting them out.

[Lon]

Had a "First" this morning on my initial flight. Powering up on take-off, up elevator, nose lifts up, mains clear the runway..."What the heck is that??!!" I see as i'm doing a scale takeoff, my front wheel rolling straight down the runway! "Awww nuts!" I leave the gear down, circle around for final approach. I land mains first and keep the nose up as long as possible. And come to a "Scraping stop". No damage except for some modification of the bottom of the strut from grinding on the concrete(Castle CNC Strut)

I walk the runway..there's the wheel axle....there's the wheel. With in 10 minutes, fixed and back in the air. Phew!! Yes, obviously..the grub screw holding the wheel axle had come loose.

See photo of the damage on the bottom of the strut.

[xviper]

OK, I'm starting to loose my patience with the Chinese crap we get from Castle and Motion! Almost all set screws that I need to remove to make mods are so tight, I can't get them out. They just get rounded out. I had to drill out every one of the wheel collar set screws to get them off of the stock strut axles and now the set screw on one of the Castle struts just below the scissor strut is also too tight. The same screw on the other strut will come out, no problem. I'm referring to the post from Leon, post #112, P.2221 about installing the Castle springs in addition to the stock springs. I'm not going to mess with trying to drill that one out too. Inexcusable! My 1/16" allen wrenches work just fine on all 1/16" set screws with no issues with the exception of some of the ones on this plane and Castle's retracts. So far, all set screws on this plane seem to be 1/16". Just PMOFF!

Bob, I can understand your frustration but things aren't as bad as they may seem. It's not so much that components are "crap". It's only that they put too much Loctite on those screws or that they used "permanent" Loctite. It has been mentioned many times in this thread that before you even try to turn those screws ..............
1. make sure you have good wrenches of the proper size.
2. heat the area around the screw for a very short time with a Bic lighter or a hot soldering iron BEFORE trying to turn them.

As has been already said, these threads are metric because most models are manufactured in a place that is metric. Even Eflite, which is sold by Horizon Hobby use metric. Using US tools for metric threads will almost always result in a bad camping day.

[TiredIronGRB]

Bob it's best to use a soldering iron tip in the grub screw to heat it up enough to dissolve the loctite, it that doesn't work use pliers to rock the collar back and forth on the axle then it should come loose.

[benjack71]

Bob, I can understand your frustration but things aren't as bad as they may seem. It's not so much that components are "crap". It's only that they put too much Loctite on those screws or that they used "permanent" Loctite. It has been mentioned many times in this thread that before you even try to turn those screws ..............
1. make sure you have good wrenches of the proper size.
2. heat the area around the screw for a very short time with a Bic lighter or a hot soldering iron BEFORE trying to turn them.

As has been already said, these threads are metric because most models are manufactured in a place that is metric. Even Eflite, which is sold by Horizon Hobby use metric. Using US tools for metric threads will almost always result in a bad camping day.

I just want to throw this out there in regards to loc-tite. I almost did a video on this. Some people have a tendency to put loc-tite on incorrectly. For starters, never ever put loc-tite into the female opening. You only apply loc-tite on the bolt. With the small grub screws if they countersink, such as the ones used on axles and struts often do, you thread it in all the way tight. Then you apply a small amount of loc-tite over the top and dab out any excess that might have gathered in the allen head of the screw. If you are threading in a bolt, then thread it in all the way, then back it out where you can get just one drop of loc-tite onto the last bit of thread that will thread in.

[BadBob]

Bob, I can understand your frustration but things aren't as bad as they may seem. It's not so much that components are "crap". It's only that they put too much Loctite on those screws or that they used "permanent" Loctite. It has been mentioned many times in this thread that before you even try to turn those screws ..............
1. make sure you have good wrenches of the proper size.
2. heat the area around the screw for a very short time with a Bic lighter or a hot soldering iron BEFORE trying to turn them.

As has been already said, these threads are metric because most models are manufactured in a place that is metric. Even Eflite, which is sold by Horizon Hobby use metric. Using US tools for metric threads will almost always result in a bad camping day.

I got the set screw out of the right side strut with a 1.5mm allen wrench to insert the Castle spring IAW Leon's post #112, P.2221, but the one on the left side is stuck solid. Before I started with it, I applied my small blow torch to it and tried, but no luck. It must be rounded out now. And I finally got the nose gear retract assy back together but now it doesn't work...So now I take it apart again to see where I have a broken wire or something. PHEEWWWW!!

Disregard the nose gear retract assy. I took it back apart, tested it and it works again. Don't know what that was about, but it works again.

[downwindleg]

I did a few flights this weekend with the new castle struts on the mains with the stock springs before I changed anything. Other than being really dry and needing some oil in the oleos, they worked great. I was having some tracking problems with the old P-40 struts as they weren't a good fit and needed a sleeve between the strut and the strut wire. The Castle struts, as I mentioned, have four set screws so they hold really tight and the old P-38 is tracking well again. BTW still looking for a 105 degree sweep nose retract unit. I think I might be on to something with a unit by Ripmax. Cheers Brad

[Dewey H Lee]

Hey Badbob. One thing you have to remember is that before grub screws got to tight or were even loctited at the factory people were complaining about them falling out and now when there trying to do something about it people are complaining. You have to remember that they are only reacting to the feedback that is given. I know it can be frustrating. I just recently started getting into mustangs. I've been a corsair jocky from the start because I just love the way they look in the air. But when I did the first thing that I done was to go to threads that had to do with those planes and read every single post no matter if there was a hundred pages or more. I felt like I knew them way before I even bought the plane. Now I own 2 P51s in electric and I've read the p51 version 8 and others from back to front( that's a long thread to) and most things I ran into have already been answered for me. I have the 1450 FMs snoots sniper and the 1700mm Ferouis Frankie. Besides it really makes for good reading. This thread has some really incredible information.

[OV10]

Hello pilots,
Finally was able to join the Lightning thread as an owner and added another twin(that's 5 multi's now) in the fleet. Got the bird assembled last week but during electrical checkout determined that the starboard motor had a bad bearing, no fear because Motion did they're customary excellent customer support and 3 days later had the replacement in and ready to maiden. The maiden was uneventful as expected using setups that have been tried and proven many times as document throughout these 2290+ posts just on this forum. Here is what remains of the original gear. I opted for the port main gear on the 1400 FMS Stang to use as the nose gear and used the nose wheel from my VQ 62" P-39(retired). For the main gear oleo's I opted for the ones off the 1400 FMS P-40B and used the FMS Stangs main gear wheels. Only took about three hours to make the necessary mods to have it ready.
Pics of the competed bird after the maiden are on my thread "Warbirds Squadron" http://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc-...8524#post48524

[Chalredline1]

For those that have installed the RC Castle nose gear strut it looks like on the one that I got the axle shaft is long and has to be cut and a new flat spot added. Is that what others have found?
Thanks,

[BadBob]

For those that have installed the RC Castle nose gear strut it looks like on the one that I got the axle shaft is long and has to be cut and a new flat spot added. Is that what others have found?
Thanks,

I just put a wheel collar and washer between the tire and the strut. Works fine, no play at all.

[Lon]

For those that have installed the RC Castle nose gear strut it looks like on the one that I got the axle shaft is long and has to be cut and a new flat spot added. Is that what others have found?
Thanks,

Yes. Did the same thing.

[Chalredline1]

Thanks.
Mark

[Chalredline1]

Success today with the RC Castle struts. Went with them on all 3 wheels. As mentioned in an earlier thread I was having
a problem with the plane intermittently veering hard right on the take off roll. It was like someone was putting the brakes on the
starboard wheel. My thought is that perhaps the strut was turning a bit or the wheel was getting jammed into the "L" portion
of the strut where it bends to the axle. Anyways, after nearly crashing I put the RC Castle gear on and went out today and
made multiple takeoffs and it tracked straight as an arrow. So far I've left them as received but I do see where they are a bit
soft as I believe Lon noted so I may be taking them apart to add the other spring.

[BadBob]

Success today with the RC Castle struts. Went with them on all 3 wheels. As mentioned in an earlier thread I was having
a problem with the plane intermittently veering hard right on the take off roll. It was like someone was putting the brakes on the
starboard wheel. My thought is that perhaps the strut was turning a bit or the wheel was getting jammed into the "L" portion
of the strut where it bends to the axle. Anyways, after nearly crashing I put the RC Castle gear on and went out today and
made multiple takeoffs and it tracked straight as an arrow. So far I've left them as received but I do see where they are a bit
soft as I believe Lon noted so I may be taking them apart to add the other spring.

Glad to hear. Just be aware that getting the set screws out of the mains and nose gear struts to add the other spring may be a problem as they're locked in tight on my left strut and nose. I've tried using my small blow tourch on the left strut to loosen up the lock-tite but didn't work. Going to try with the nose tonight. Make sure you use 1.5mm set screw allen wrench or equivalent. (See Leon's post P.112, #2221 for pics of the set screw to remove and the e-clip that you have to remove.) My issue may be that I used a 1/16" allen wrench on the left strut instead, so now I have a couple of 1.5mm's and they do fit better. 1/16" is close, but not as close as it needs to be... Lesson learned! Lot's lessons to learn on this forum, BTB! So I've resorted to drilling out the left strut set screw and have ordered a replacement set. Now I'm hoping I can re-thread the strut and salvage it.