Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[Spad Driver]

I feel very privileged to actually know Callie. Although I have no current connection with her. Her father was instrumental in my start in radio control in the early 90's and I made it a point to spend a great deal of my paychecks at her family's hobby shop on my then new found passion.
the fact that I know her family and that she is simply the best r.c grafics maker in the world guarantees my fierce loyalty 💰👍

[Aros]

I feel very privileged to actually know Callie. Although I have no current connection with her. Her father was instrumental in my start in radio control in the early 90's and I made it a point to spend a great deal of my paychecks at her family's hobby shop on my then new found passion.
the fact that I know her family and that she is simply the best r.c grafics maker in the world guarantees my fierce loyalty 💰👍

I can't say that I know Callie personally outside of email interaction for many years but she has been so wonderful to me and clearly all of you. Her attention to detail and pricing is fair, she works relentlessly to deliver quality decals whether custom or not, and always with a smile. Well, the smile is assumed but that's how she comes off. She's become "family" in this hobby of ours and I was very proud the day Motion RC decided to endorse her business. I know she was, and still is, very grateful.

Callie's decals have adorned no less than 50 of my planes over the years. If she ever on the rare occasion messed up sizing or forgot something, she was lightning quick to rectify it free of charge.

In a world where not everyone is honest, it's lovely to know there are Callies in this world.

[davegee]

I can't say that I know Callie personally outside of email interaction for many years but she has been so wonderful to me and clearly all of you. Her attention to detail and pricing is fair, she works relentlessly to deliver quality decals whether custom or not, and always with a smile. Well, the smile is assumed but that's how she comes off. She's become "family" in this hobby of ours and I was very proud the day Motion RC decided to endorse her business. I know she was, and still is, very grateful.

Callie's decals have adorned no less than 50 of my planes over the years. If she ever on the rare occasion messed up sizing or forgot something, she was lightning quick to rectify it free of charge.

In a world where not everyone is honest, it's lovely to know there are Callies in this world.

Totally Agree, Aros!!

davegee

[SrFalcon]

HI folks, late to the party, read many of your posts, very helpful thanks. I maidened my silver P38 a few weeks ago, flew just great!! I'm flying off a grass runway and have done the gear upgrade and use the stock wheels. Other than cutting some grass the takeoff was fine, flight hardly needed any trim, landing was faster than I'm used to.

Second flight my approach was too slow and I did a face plant which sheared off the nose gear pin, should be an easy fix as I have spares, thanks to some posts in this forum. Also bent one main gear strut and broke off one prop, all easy to fix.

I retracted the gear on the bench to see if the bent strut would still fit into the wheel well, but it got hung up when the bent strut wheel hit the side of the wheel well.

Once I straightened out the strut though, the retraction sequence stops at the point where the main wheel used to hit the side wall. Also the gear does not extend unless I physically lift the wheel which seems to restart the extension sequence.

Has anyone encountered this? What's the fix?

Thanks

[GliderGuy]

Hi SrF,
Yes…you must keep the speed up on final. Thin airfoil and heavy mass = high stall speed. Keep her moving!

I have found that once a retract servo acts up….replacing it is the SMARTEST move you can make.

As a heads up… If you ever decide to spin it, leave some power on. Otherwise, she takes her time recovering from the spin. This can get way too exciting as you approach Mother Earth.

Leaving some power on gives the added rudder authority needed for a quick recovery.

-GG

[SrFalcon]

Hi SrF,
Yes…you must keep the speed up on final. Thin airfoil and heavy mass = high stall speed. Keep her moving!

I have found that once a retract servo acts up….replacing it is the SMARTEST move you can make.

As a heads up… If you ever decide to spin it, leave some power on. Otherwise, she takes her time recovering from the spin. This can get way too exciting as you approach Mother Earth.

Leaving some power on gives the added rudder authority needed for a quick recovery.

-GG

Thanks GG, appreciate the heads up.

[Aros]

Alright Lightning Lovers (stealing a little literateness from Elbee), I thought I would offer up some photos of my girl all nice and dirty (as if she has seen more than her share of sorties out in the Pacific). I cannot take credit. A friend of a friend who paints for a living gave it a go and I was thrilled. Looks even better in person. Now all that's left is to actually fly the poor thing.

[GliderGuy]

VERY nice! Good luck for the maiden.

A few tips:
1) Set the ESC brake to ON and chop power the last few seconds to prevent prop damage if she ever hits hard enough to get a prop strike.
2) Keep your speed up on final. Get too slow and she drops in.
3) If you ever spin her, leave some power on. Otherwise, she won’t want to stop spinning. The added airflow over the rudders provide the needed rudder authority to make a quick recovery. Fail to do this, and she hesitates to recover.
4) Start with minimum control throws. Experiment with high throws only later if you wish.
5) Keep your SPEED UP on final. Leave FULL down flaps on landings. Can’t stress this enough.
6) 1/2 flaps on take-off
7) HAVE FUN!

-GG

[Twowingtj]

Looks great!

[Elbee]

Alright Lightning Lovers, I thought I would offer up some photos of my girl all nice and dirty Now all that's left is to actually fly the poor thing.

Aros, she is a thing of beauty. The weathering is just right. Cannot wait for the the first check flight debrief. And if Flightline doesn't issue a new airframe soon, this is my next Warbird. Best, LB

[Aros]

Thanks for the tips and comments all!

[Desolation Angels]

I finally maidened my Pacific Silver P-38 Saturday morning.
Dawn flight to beat the heat.

Running two 3300 4s batteries.
This aircraft was one of the original batch pre-ordered in 2016.
I assembled it during the lock downs and did some trim paint.

The lightning is heavy for its size and so I held off flying it until I felt I had my flying skills sharpened up after a layoff from flying.
After reading other pilot reports on its flying characteristics, I knew how important it was to keep the speed up with this one given its weight and wing size.

The flight was uneventful and just need some up trim and a little bit in roll and the Lightning was flying on rails!
Very stable bird and easy to fly, she tracks beautifully.

[GliderGuy]

Excellent DA! Nice job all around.

A word of caution….add some extra hot glue to the elevator horn. I had one detach. That was EXCITING. Was able to control pitch with my vernier flap knob.

Also, consider upgrading to a high quality elevator servo. You only have “one”.

-GG

[Desolation Angels]

Excellent DA! Nice job all around.

A word of caution….add some extra hot glue to the elevator horn. I had one detach. That was EXCITING. Was able to control pitch with my vernier flap knob.

Also, consider upgrading to a high quality elevator servo. You only have “one”.

-GG

Thanks GG!
I did add glue to the elevator horn and around the servo as I've read about the possibility of a failure in that area.
I will consider replacing that servo.

[GliderGuy]

Consider an MKS HV69.

It fits, after snipping off a mounting tab to clear the horizontal stab’s spar.

I’ve had good experience with this servo. My go-to for the F-4, too.

-GG

[Desolation Angels]

Thanks for the tip GG, appreciate it!

[GliderGuy]

It’s a challenge to remove the elevator servo without blemishing the topside skin. VERY thin foam on top of the servo.

Gently twist the servo back and forth to fatigue the factory glue with thin, flat blade pliers. Avoid pulling on the servo very much. Eventually, the factory glue will release.

Some filling and sanding may be required on the topside foam. TAMIYA Silver Leaf TS-30 is a perfect match for the original silver. It goes on dark, but dries to a match. The new P-38s changed to a gray, I think.

-GG

[Elbee]

Desolation Angels nicely done, Sir. Congrats on the first check flight, Good debrief. Best, LB

GliderGuy thank you for the Tamiya Silver Leaf paint tip. Best, LB

[bartje]

Hi guys,

Need some help. I was busy applying the decals to my P-38.

It appears that there is a lot of adhesive on the transparent front sheet, but almost non on the decals themselves.
The small ones went sort of ok-ish, they’re not really tacky but with an exacto blade I’ve gotten most of them in place without too much issue.
The sheet with the nose art required a decent hit with a heat gun to reactivate whatever glue was present on the decals, but I have absolutely no faith that it will stick on the nose for long.
The sheet with the tail art is a total disaster. Even the heat gun didn’t work on that one.

Did I get a bad batch of decals or have you guys had a similar experience?
And is there any glue out there that will do the job of keeping those decals in place?

Thanks for the advice!

[GliderGuy]

Hi Bartje,

I have built 2 P-38s over time. No real issues with the decals sticking albeit not securely.

Paint over the decals with a UV protective, water based Varithane or SPAR Urethane satin finish or crystal clear paint, and the decals won’t come off. Example below…

https://a.co/d/bV1EH71

Might as well paint the entire bird while you are at it for UV protection.

-GG