Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[SoLongSidekick]

I wasn't planning on trying to add a rearview mirror to my canopy since it's not going to be very scale looking from the outside anyways with the FPV setup, but then I thought about how cool it would be to have a usable mirror up there that I can just look up and use. Obviously it would have no real-world application since this plane won't be in any dogfights, but I have an HD camera in my cockpit. It might be possible to get footage where the camera looks up and sees another plane in that mirror. So I guess at some point I'll be posting footage tests with different mirror sizes to see at what distance a plane would have to get to be visible in the mirror. Obviously this mirror will have to be considerably bigger than a scale one, so we'll see.

Anyways, here's a few more of my interesting P-38 images. Make sure to check the image text at the bottom of the screen when viewed.

[Saltydawg]

I'm actually doing both, rebuild all the sections i can and replacing what i cant. I love flying the 38, so I'm replacing the booms and center section for now. All the gear is actually ok, the only damage is the wire bent and I'll straighten that. I've ran all servos and landing gear on my tester for about 3 minutes and they all work great.

As to the overall rebuild, the only problem I have is one of the carbon fiber tubes on one boom and one wing cracked/splinterd. I pain takeningly split that boom and found a plastic tab it was glued into. The tab reinforces the vertical stabs/rudder. The wing spar, I'm thinking of getting another tube and just epoxying it inside the origial tube. On both outer wings of course....

Of course anywhere it cracked in two or has a substantial crack I'll reinforce with carbon strips or fiberglass. Then all get servos, links and motors....bla bla
I'll get some pics of the insides ans stuff for y'all.

When done I'LL HAVE TWO 38s! Once done with the crashed one I'll have to paint it that 1940 test aircraft color, paint a bandaid on the nose, and stencil TEST on it.


Y'all have a good one.

[SoLongSidekick]

That's a great idea. I love embracing things like that. Gives the aircraft character.

[Dual Prop Dave]

Glad to hear your going to save it. looking forward to seeing the pics of the progress. Keep us posted. I love flying mine also, along with the Tigercat, they are my favorite planes!

[Elbee]

Working on the P-38 (finally) to get her airworthy again. The cockpit has been holding me up. Since I damaged the original one on a hard landing. Since I had to swap out the original pilot with the Aces of Iron pilot I bought, I finally broke down and added some detail to the radio equipment. It is a little rushed, but I'm ok with the results.

I used some polystyrene rods and like 30 gauge wire for the wire bundles. I was able to put 4 pieces of wire together and twist them up. Worked perfectly. Then just added some paint. Nothing fancy, but adds some flare.

Arycon, I know I am late to this response, but I am a cockpit detail kinda guy. Love what you are doing. I have this model on my 2018 wishlist. Best, LB

[rifleman_btx]

Mine lost both outer wings, the center section was broken in 3 places, the nose was broken off, both booms were busted in at least 3 places in the right side, and 2 on the left side. Plastic and carbon fiber were also busted in places. So yeah it was a total loss

[SoLongSidekick]

I kind of wished I bought my plane from that retailer that will install carbon fiber reinforcement into this plane for a fee. It's kind of expensive, but the planes come out damn near invincible, I'd name the company and post some promotional video showing the results but I don't know Hobby Squawk's policies on doing so.

Because of the box shape of the P-38 the carbon dowels essentially make it into a tank, at very low added weight. I think they'll do the reinforcing after the fact if you send them your plane, but price. It could probably be done somewhat easily DIY, but I haven't ripped one of these planes open like they have to see where the carbon should and needs to go.

Anyways, here's some cool period Lightning advertisements. You might need to right click and "open in new tab" to read a couple of them. I also have a full gallery showing the construction of the P-38 from beginning to end. Trying to figure out the best way to upload that, it's 25 images.

[SoLongSidekick]

I am so beyond glad that I waited to put this model together, knowing that I would constantly change my mind and come up with better ideas. For one, does anyone know if the triangular cutout in the bottom of the nose needs to be left unobstructed? I just realized how stupid easy it would be to design and 3D print an FPV camera housing that will snap into that cutout. God semi-flexible filaments have changed what is possible so much. Now I just need to see if I can find a flat OD green filament or if I need to go black.

[rifleman_btx]

Yes that is your battery cooling port. Keep it open, especially if running all the fpv equipment in there

[SoLongSidekick]

Well all my FPV equipment will be in the mock radio compartment. A big part of me deciding to place it there was the knowledge that the Unify Pro gets crazy hot, especially when using the 800mW mode. The "glass" panels in the canopy will all be removed except for the panels around the radio compartment. It will have one vertical slit at the back to suck air from the front through the back.

So if I do utilize that hole to mount a camera I need to make sure it has a hollow center so air can still pass through it. Not impossible, I just need to make sure I can make it big enough to keep my gear cool. Anyone have a rig where they can test their battery temp during flight that I can use as test data?

[rifleman_btx]

I don't, but I did upgrade to 4000mah packs vs the 2700. However depending on the weather, I will be able to test battery temps

[SoLongSidekick]

Ahh you butthead! That's what I wish I had! I was using outdated information when I ordered, from back when the 3,000mAh packs were the biggest that fit so that's what I'm using. I'm pretty sure I got the idea to Y the batteries and ESCs together from you right? That just seems the safest way of doing it to me, does anyone else disagree?

[rifleman_btx]

Yes that's what I'm doing, just be sure to make it parallel and not series and you're good to go. So far the 4000s aren't fitting as comfortably as I wanted. I really don't know if the fpv system will fit like I want or not. I'll try it when the tropical depression clears out of here

[SoLongSidekick]

In what way aren't they fitting right? I was planning on making those the remainder of my P-38 battery stock.

What part of your FPV system is interfering with the batteries? The GPS antenna?

[rifleman_btx]

Nah it was the main board and battery monitor board. The gps antenna is small enough on my system it doesn't touch at all. The size of my packs I had to stack them instead of running them side by side for even the LOS canopy to fit smoothly

[SoLongSidekick]

Interesting.

I remember how insanely excited I was to build this plane when I first ordered it, but I still haven't taken most of it out of the box yet. The main reason is that I've been insanely busy, but also Motion told me that they would be releasing the upgraded wing wire harnesses for sale and when they did they'd send me a free set. So I've kind of been patiently waiting for that too. Maybe I should check up on it.

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah that will be good when they start selling the upgrade components

[rifleman_btx]

Able to finally test my new P38 4000mah packs after 7 mins of flight heres the readings 3.85 per cell and 15.46 pack voltage, very pleased.

[Oxotnik]

Lost a prop blade while flying yesterday. Second time. I have really come to dislike the plastic back plates. I love Flightline aircraft, except for the dang plastic back plates. The blade was shed at WOT, of course, almost directly in front of me. Didn’t feel that I could glide through multiple turns for a downwind approach; so, I let it glide way down range before setting down in relatively rough grass. Bent some struts (probably should’ve opted for a belly landing) and broke a wing tip. Easy fixes. Just frustrating to loose a prop in flight. (The props were not over tightened, and I inspect the back plates every few flights).

[rifleman_btx]

That really sucks man, I still have yet to have any issues with my props. Really wish there was a way to figure out why that happens to some but not all.