Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[cmk-2]

Life or Wife?

[cmk-2]

Any word when the next batch of Silver P-38's are headed in?

[ryramZ]

Any word when the next batch of Silver P-38's are headed in?

You must have missed the news. Estimates are around the 18th of June.

[Delizar]

On the subject of Jammed Retracts:

I am about to start my build. And this bending retracts caught my attention. First a big thank you to Xviper2 for taking the time to share a way of dealing with the problem. Now my question: Is this situation of bending and then not reaching the end point of travel more prevalent with the Bigger Wheel mod than many have installed? What I mean by more prevalent is that you will have to bend the gear back more often, since adding the larger wheel leaves you with no wiggle room, for example every 2-3 flights as some have stated as compared to say every 4-5 flights as the strut would have to be bent further before the smaller wheel would bind up.
Just as a guess on my part, with the bumpy conditions described I could be way off the mark as the Larger wheel would also be Helping to smooth things out and the strut would be bent a little less on each take off and landing.
I bring all this up out of ignorance as this will be my first plane with retracts.

[dkalwishky]

I offer this as a data point: I have the wheels on my P-38 that came with it, I've got 15 - 20 flights on it from a rough runway and have not had to bend my gear or do anything to it.

[Lon]

I offer this as a data point: I have the wheels on my P-38 that came with it, I've got 15 - 20 flights on it from a rough runway and have not had to bend my gear or do anything to it.

Except for DuBro low bounce tires i put on the mains. My stock landing gear is holding up great!!

[xviper]

I offer this as a data point: I have the wheels on my P-38 that came with it, I've got 15 - 20 flights on it from a rough runway and have not had to bend my gear or do anything to it.

They have a better chance of jamming up when the bigger P-51 tires are used and not enough foam is reamed out. However, even some with stock gear and tires have had this jamming problem. I think it all depends on how hard you thump your landings and how good you are at greasing your landings. Also, a rough, paved runway may not have the same impact as on a strip that has a difference of 1" to 2" in depth every few inches. Throw in trench ridges and filled in gopher holes and changing elevation of the runway throughout its length, now we have "rough". Did I mention about the gouges made by punks doing donuts with their pickup trucks at night?

[downwindleg]

Not much you can do about "dip****s doing donuts", but one thing that has helped with my runway over the years is too keep a pile of sand nearby or in a more remote setting, a few 5 gallon buckets of sand. I learned this from a greenskeeper at a golf coarse. Whenever you find a divit or hole or small trough, just fill it in with sand and level it off with a straightedge of some kind and maybe tamp it down a little with your foot. Over time, especially in the spring, the grass will grow right up through the sand and bingo, no more rut!! And don't forget the plastic explosives shaped like harmless squirrels for the gophers! Brad

[xviper]

This is the only video I have of my P-38 flying. I've posted it before but this time, pay particular attention to the last bit (the landing and taxi back in). Even the beginning take off roll is quite telling of just how bumpy our field is. The landing was not too bad till it hit that ridge and launched it back into the air. Then the taxi back is just bumpity bump all the way. It was the next flight that one gear did not come down. Thankfully, the drop tanks took the brunt of the belly landing.
Since this video, the donuts appeared. Sometimes, we get there in the morning and there's some guy living in a tent on the runway and beer cans everywhere. It's just wild prairie grass that's been mowed and the thatch cleared away. It's federal native land and the leader does not wish to spend too much money on prepping the ground and as participants, the field can be taken away from us at any time, so nobody wishes to spend money or too much time dealing with it. We're just happy we can use it while we can. It'll shut down in the next year or two when a new road goes through.

[tdevince]

I no longer taxi at our field. For take off I walk it out to the runway, after landing I walk out and pick it up, saves stress on the gear. And not just this plane, all my foamies of this size or smaller. On my 60 size nitros (and larger), I can taxi with less gear issues.

[Aros]

One of my struts has become loose...I tried to find the allen nut to tighten the strut to the base (I checked both in the retracted and closed positions) but I could not find it anywhere. Anyone have any ideas?

[F106DeltaDart]

One of my struts has become loose...I tried to find the allen nut to tighten the strut to the base (I checked both in the retracted and closed positions) but I could not find it anywhere. Anyone have any ideas?

The set screw is in the retract trunnion. You will have to pull the retract out to get access to it, then it will be visible.

[TSHobbies]

curious if anyones have problems with the spinner back plates cracking..I know Ive read one person having one come apart ,so far Ive had 2 with a slight crack in them..first I thought it was me over tightening the screw..so the second one I made sure not too..and yet I have a crack in it.

[Lon]

curious if anyones have problems with the spinner back plates cracking..I know Ive read one person having one come apart ,so far Ive had 2 with a slight crack in them..first I thought it was me over tightening the screw..so the second one I made sure not too..and yet I have a crack in it.

Hmmm...I have about 40 flights logged on mine. I've been checking screws on the prop about every 10 flights. Examined the spinner back plates,but haven't seen any cracking...yet.

[xviper]

curious if anyones have problems with the spinner back plates cracking..I know Ive read one person having one come apart ,so far Ive had 2 with a slight crack in them..first I thought it was me over tightening the screw..so the second one I made sure not too..and yet I have a crack in it.

You didn't use Loctite on the screws, did you? Loctite disintegrates plastic. Do you balance (weigh) the blades, then balance the assembled blades and backing plate? Usually if you've weighed and equalized the weights of the blades, you will only have to balance the backing plate assembly. It's tough to balance it all with the spinner on so one has to just assume the spinner cone is OK. Imbalance can create harmonic vibrations that will eventually start stress fractures.
I've never had an issue that I can observe with either of the props on my plane.

[Aros]

The set screw is in the retract trunnion. You will have to pull the retract out to get access to it, then it will be visible.

That was what I was wondering...Thanks for the confirmation!

[TSHobbies]

dont use Loctite,I did balance the blades on the backplate, though I didnt weight each blade.

[Flyer Phill]

Spinner back plates....

I've done a small mod to mine. I painted 30min epoxy over back and filled the valleys where the blades mount. I then bolted the blades to the backplates and balanced them up.

I haven't maidened mine yet but I'm pretty optimistic that they will hold nicely.

Phill

[xviper]

dont use Loctite,I did balance the blades on the backplate, though I didnt weight each blade.

Good. Weighing and equalizing the blades first merely makes them less of a factor when you do the final balancing. Then you are only balancing the backing plate for irregularities. Either way works.
I either sand off the heavy blade or use electric tape on the lighter ones till they all weigh the same. Then to balance the hub, I use hot glue opposite the heavy spots.

[downwindleg]

Just a followup Aros. I am in the process of upgrading my struts to the P-40 ones with the functional oleos and I was supprised at how easily those set screws came out! It might be a good idea to loctite those set screws while your tightening them. Also, on the backplate issue, I'm wondering if that isn't just an inconsistency on the manufacturing end since many people, including myself, have had no issues at all and others have. Seemingly minor prop strikes on some of these rough flying sites might also be the culprit. Might check for missing paint on prop tips. Brad