Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[mdbennes19]

Hello all…having an issue with my flightline P-38 and was hoping you guys might have some recommendations. This aircraft has 4 flaps, two outboard and two inboard. For some reason one outboard flap is going the opposite direction as the other 3…not sure how to reverse that servo to be in line with the other ones. Any help would be greatly appreciated:) Thank you.

[Evan D]

Do a search...

https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc-airplanes/rc-propeller-airplanes/1978-official-flightline-rc-1600mm-p-38-lightning-thread?p=37117#post37117

[rcpilot54]

Colleagues rcpilot54 here again. This P-38 thread has been very helpful and I need some more help. I need to make the gear doors work. Pretty sure on how to hinge them but how to connect the doors (to servos?) so first the doors open then the gear come down. Doors stay open when gear is down and close after gear retracts. Any suggestions appreciated.

[GliderGuy]

Need to replace front landing gear on P-38. New retract has a pin in it but new strut is all one piece, unable to place new strut over pin on retract. So does this mean I have to open up the new retract and remove the pin? This would totally make no sense.

May not make any sense, but yes…you must carefully take apart the servo and pay attention so you can put it back together.

-GG

[MAKODS]

Need to replace front landing gear on P-38. New retract has a pin in it but new strut is all one piece, unable to place new strut over pin on retract. So does this mean I have to open up the new retract and remove the pin? This would totally make no sense.

[airotroy]

i'v had my 38 for several years now and really enjoy the docile flights and looks it gets at the field. Only complaint is one of the mains started failing. Not all the time but enough to force me to fly with gear down all the time. Finally bit the bullet and bought replacements. Now they work great and I still have one spare.. This is without a doubt my favorite plane and really glad they still carry the parts for it.

[Magic]

Hello Again, I am so happy to having spent time to read all the post in this forum...this has saved my plane...

today i made two flights, ( 15 for the moment ) in the first i noted a different noice when i trothle up more than 50%, i checked spiners and in the second flight it was worse, made a conservative flight , perfect landing and checked at home, i remembered GliderGuy insisted in the relation change engine noice with cracks in basis of propellers and YES the result is clear cracks in both ....

just now i made the order new ones for MotionRC , just waiting one week and come back to the sky.

Thanks for the forum and thaks a lot for GliderGuy experience shared here, pure gold ....

Best Regards

[Evan D]

The P-38 is surprisingly docile and as an electric no single engine worries.

[Elbee]

dmechnic, Happy to read your back into the greatest hobby of all time....

You will not be disappointed with your Flightline P-38.

I, too, am back to our hobby after 30+ years away, though I've been back since 2018.

There are many good .40-.60 sized trainer aircraft out there.

I would research a local flying club in your area and get some recommendations and a tutor/instructor there to get you flying.

If not now, when? as they say.

Good luck and keep us in the loop with your journey and welcome to Hobby Squawk.

Best, LB

[dmechnic]

After 24 years out of the hobby I'm getting back in and likely 15-30cc to start off. I saw the banner while checking on my "What Tx should I get" thread and I am beyond excited. I will likely buy this and let it sit till I have skills. I have ALWAYS loved the P-38...actually teared up like a baby at the Air Museum in Seattle where they have one...absolutely gorgeous plane IMHO. I've had Royal's balsa kit for 30 years and rudders, elevator, and one outer wing is all that ever got built...was the wish of a young guy who never had the time or $$ to do it right. This is dream fulfilling, even if it is electric.

[Magic]

Hi Elbee, thanks a lot for your kind answer, it is a real pleasure to participate , i already flight p38 13 times and i have been making my learning curve....some mistakes ( ever my mistakes )produced repair time at home but keeping flyng it after all

best regards from Mediterranean theather ¡¡¡¡

[Elbee]

Magic Welcome to Hobby Squawk, Sir. Congratulations on your first check flight and glad to have you onboard. Best, LB

[Magic]

My p38 is totally stock, no changes except the upgrade from Motion RC in the gear, receiver s8R and tx radiomaster tx16s, when I discover how I will share some pictures.

it is the only p38 in the two rc clubs i are so it attracts the eyes of the everyone and gives me more pressure when I fly it

[Magic]

Actually, i have been difficulties for weeks ever in the take off, i suffered 3 crashes in this phase, it was then i started to study all the information available here, i saw my fault could be to use two old batteries 3300mAh direct to each engine, that could explain why the plane at the end of the run in the take of suddenly change direction for more of 90 º.
so i read some of you connect both esc together, so i did it , same with both batteries together and...... all is done the plane is going straight.

So i rebuild 3 times the plane but finally i achieved it.....i learned by the hard way

[Magic]

Hello everybody, i enjoyed all the information you share here, since i bought this plane , 4 years ago i have been flyng just to reach the level of skill i feel i need to this great model, finally last week i made my maiden and i can say i am so happy¡¡¡
thanks a lot to share all your experiences it helped a lot , sorry for mi bad english.
kindest regards from Spain.

[Mark 2]

I’d like to get a Pacific silver P38 to go with my Allied green one, but it’s out of stock at the EU warehouse, has the silver P38 been discontinued?

[GliderGuy]

Me too Evan! The other aspects are:
-How short of a charge time do you want and
-How long do you want your barrerie$ to last

Example: I have enough batteries and chargers so when the last full battery is used, the first “used” battery is re-charged and ready to go again. A bit tricky to manage, but experimentation is the guide. I can fly continuously with quick pit stops to load in another battery.

The other thing to consider is HOW LONG DO YOU WANT YOUR BATTERIES TO LAST! Drawing down to a lower voltage will shorten the life of the battery as Evan points out.

I fly a lot, so long battery life (not run time) is important. I also stop at 3.8V minimum.

Last point….the voltage fall off is not linear. Once a certain voltage is reached, the voltage goes over a cliff. Thus, getting close to 3.6V puts you close to the cliff’s edge. Go over the cliff, and you rapidly damage the battery.

-GG

[Evan D]

I don’t do telemetry and it may be a great thing… I simply have a timer that I adjust to have 3.8V/ cell when I land. 3.8 is what I use for storage and it’s also a great voltage to allow you a couple go arounds if needed.

[Warbird Nut]

More good stuff......OK. Back to my original question. I have seen posts on this forum where pilots say they got, for example, 7 minutes of flying time on their batteries and still were safe. This implies a voltage (not a percentage) that can be construed as safe. If the 3.65 is not a hard and fast number for safety of BOTH the battery AND aircraft control/power to allow a landing, then what is this limiting voltage? I confess I am confused. Maybe my question really doesn't have an answer? It seems that this is a fairly important parameter to have in our toolkits so we don't end up with busted planes while at the same time not landing after, say, 5 minutes are up just to be safe. As you may know, my background has been larger 120 size nitro airplanes for the last 40 years and I would have 12-14 ounces in the tank which would allow many minutes of flight, even wide open throttle. I do miss this aspect of this hobby.

Thank you for taking the time to try to help a newbie.

[Evan D]

Let me rephrase. Below 3.65V/ cell starts to damage the battery but you can live doing it, you'll see a shorter lifespan than a similar one not taken that low. 3.2 can be fatal to the battery.

None of that is talking about flying power. LVC can be set at different levels in the ESC both for the voltage level and if it's a hard cut off, soft cut off or no cut off.

Battery voltage sags with the amount of draw being pulled. If you have a prop plane with low draw the battery doesn't sag as much as a jet at high throttle. This effects how the LVC is sensed by the ESC. When you hit LVC it cuts the power to the motors, it does not give them any power. On the P-38 one battery could hit LVC before the other, you noted one battery lower voltage than the other. This is very bad on a twin where you'll have power to one motor and not the other.

If you do hit LVC, noted by a dead motor not responding to any throttle, you can reset it by going to idle/ low throttle for a second and then you can reapply some throttle. If you reset and give it a lot of throttle it will just hit LVC again and cut off again.

I don't use % of battery as different checkers have different ways to calculate it.

The difference between your batteries can be caused by many things. In order of likelihood... One side, the motor itself, simply pulls more power. The ESC could have different settings, specifically timing. On other planes one ESC may have an internal BEC to power the plane and the other be a OPTO ESC which does not have an internal BEC. On the P-38 both ESCs have internal BECs so this should not be your cause. Also some twins have two OPTO ESCs and a separate external BEC, again the P-38 is not like that. Last you could have something electrical going on, one battery connection not connecting well, bad solder joint or some other rare issue. Also you could have one battery that simply doesn't work as well as the other or a charger that charges one better than the other but since you have four pairs doing this I don't think it's likely.

Ok, so here are my takeaways: 3.65 volts is a minimum that I want to have in the tank when I land and take the plane back to the barn. Lower than that and I face the distinct possibility that I will have to be walking out to the field to pick up the pieces. This means that the motors don't have enough juice to get me home ( maybe if I'm lucky and I throttle down I can limp back home, not going to count on it). Don't discharge these batteries to 3.2 volts or below. Very bad for the batteries. I will ignore the % of battery left on the battery tester and only use volts remaining. No info on the consistent power draw on the right side of motor/electronics compared to left side. By the way, I have done several ESC calibrations to try to minimize this issue. LB, the NiCad comments struck home with me. I at least had a working knowledge of them.

Thanks for the expertise. Invaluable.