Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[Arycon]

Well, gents, looky looky....

Total repair time was much longer than I anticipated, though the damage was not extensive. It just so happens that the nose gear door and pilot's right gear bay door servos are both reversed, so I had extra work to rewire two replacement servos I had on hand to replace the ones that were stripped out. I also had to tweak the gear door control rods so the servos would stop "creaking." I repaired and reinforced the rudder with gorilla glue and some toothpicks CA'd inside for additional strength. New gear door plate for the nose went on easily, but needed some "allied green" to match the scheme. I also uprooted the wing mounting plate for the pilot's pylon where it attaches to the wing. Mine was raised a few mm making the cockpit sit high where the magnetic plates are, and it was bothering me. Replaced the retract and both props as well.

I have cycled the gear well over 20 times with no issues thus far. No sign of jamming now. Happy to say no lasting issues are apparent and the gear gremlin seems to have been chucked out with the original retract. My P-38 "April Lynn" is ready for sortie # 5. Major thank you to Callie Graphics for the amazing decals. The print she made of the nose art I worked up is amazing and looks fantastic on the side of this gorgeous RC plane. Motion has a winner here for sure. I will be keeping a close eye on future Flightline releases, especially if they are 1400mm and up. The scale detail is great.

As a side note to Motion RC guys. I would like to make the humble suggestion that you look into making a stand alone decal sheet for the propeller water slides. It would be very beneficial to be able to purchase the water slides on their own in case one wants to keep that scale look when having to change props. I personally would buy 4+ sheets right off the bat, but it isn't practical to do so for the cost of the entire decal sheet. Can't hurt to ask!

Happy flying, guys.

[Aros]

Good advice downwindleg! I need to implement more of the feature-rich aspects of my DX18 no doubt about it. Good suggestion there!

Nice repair work Arycon! I'm with you on the prop decals. I'll put the bug in Alpha's ear...One of mine tore off, presumably as she was carving through some less-than perfect grass. It would be nice to have spares.

[Chalredline1]

Just got an email from Motion that my green P-38 has shipped. So, looks like the next round of orders are on the way!

[Delizar]

For those sitting on the Fence. Motion RC is showing Both the Green and the Silver as In STOCK.

I just got off the fence...and order myself a nice Allied Green. (Not that I'll be flying it very soon. I have alot to learn and many hours on my trainer plane ahead of me.)

[Grossman56]

Welcome Delizar!
That's a good move, lots of practice on a good trainer first! Lon was just saying to fly the Pandora in low wing tail dragger until you can make 20 (?) perfect landings. By then you 'll have enough experience to take on warbirds, with no cheating....perfect landings. Harder than it sounds, believe you me.

Good luck, may all your landings be good ones

Grossman56

[Delizar]

Grossman,
Thank you for the warm welcome. I was eyeing the Pandora, what a great idea that thing is. Sort of wish I'd picked it up over my current plane. Who knows maybe one in my future.

[MikeT]

Anyone have a solution to the tape on the bottom of the wings coming loose? I hot glued them down and they came up again.

Mike

[Arycon]

Tape covering the servo wires? I put a thin bead of CA under it a few inches at a time and pressed it down with the shaft of my exacto blade holder, which is smooth and metal. Worked well for me.

Grossman,
Thank you for the warm welcome. I was eyeing the Pandora, what a great idea that thing is. Sort of wish I'd picked it up over my current plane. Who knows maybe one in my future.

The Pandora looks like an awesome trainer. Great idea for beginners to transition from high wing to low wing. And Grossman is dead on. Spend multiple whole batteries doing landing approches until it is second nature. Anyone can fly, but sad truth is loads of RC pilots cant land worth a dang. And landing is arguably the most important step of flying.

I also highly recommend a good quality simulator. Realflight 7.5 or Phoenix Flight. While not as realistic as real life and without pucker factor, they allow you to practice without costly repairs. I flew for hours on Realflight in a nitro P-38 as practice for the Flightline P-38. Not the same, but it still comes in handy. Simulators are excellent tools.

[Delizar]

Arycon,
I picked up Realflight a bit over a year ago. And have a tendency to take off do one circuit and land. Rinse and repeat 3 or 4 times before I do any flying maneuvers. One of the first things I did was hunt through the swap files for a P-38. I spent several hours learning to edit planes in Realflight and changed it over from nitro to lipo. (I do some work with autodesk inventor so 3d modeling is nothing new) Even found my local air field in the swap files. Now all that being said, I completely agree with you....nothing replaces actual flying.

A P-38 has been a goal for me long before I actually drop my first shekel on any RC Plane.

[Aros]

I love my Realflight...Like Arycon says, nothing replaces the real thing but they are invaluable tools to get your stick time and build up your muscle memory without the pain of actual crashes. If you use Realflight, there's something called Knife Edge Swap Pages which is a user site where you can download tons of photo fields, models and liveries. Some of the models are absolutely spectacular in their quality and realism while others, not so much. It's worth taking some time to go through the site using the search feature to narrow your search (such as "P-38" as example).

There's a couple P-38's there that are very realistic and can really help you gauge what it is like to fly the real model.

[PlaneCrazy]

Anyone have a solution to the tape on the bottom of the wings coming loose? I hot glued them down and they came up again.

Mike

I use 3M Blenderm surgical tape. You can use this stuff for just what you are talking about. I've used it on fuel planes as well and it stays put. Here's a link to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Blenderm-Surgical-Tape-Yards-Roll/dp/B00HHR4SU2/ref=sr_1_1_a_it/188-7893196-0868030?ie=UTF8&qid=1462558256&sr=8-1&keywords=blenderm+tape

Although if you Google Blenderm you can find it in a lot of spots including Walgrens.

Good stuff!!

[Arycon]

Arycon,
I picked up Realflight a bit over a year ago. And have a tendency to take off do one circuit and land. Rinse and repeat 3 or 4 times before I do any flying maneuvers. One of the first things I did was hunt through the swap files for a P-38. I spent several hours learning to edit planes in Realflight and changed it over from nitro to lipo. (I do some work with autodesk inventor so 3d modeling is nothing new) Even found my local air field in the swap files. Now all that being said, I completely agree with you....nothing replaces actual flying.

A P-38 has been a goal for me long before I actually drop my first shekel on any RC Plane.

Funny enough, I belly landed my P-38 in gusty (suddenly so) conditions. Not fun. The funny part is I had spent a couple hours the days prior to the belly landing flying the P-38 in Realflight. I amped the wind to 14mph and turbulence to 105 - 110%. It was almost exactly what I experienced the moment of the belly landing. Shuddering. Sudden wing rocking and quick drops in altitude from subtle elevator inputs. It sucked. The wind was supposed to hit 12mph by 1pm and at 10:00 am it was as described. Had I not practiced that scenario, I may well have plowed my Lightning. Luckily, I didnt. I complained about the cost of Realflight when I bought it. I dont any longer. Lol.

A great step up 6 channel is also the E-flite T-28 1.2m. It comes with flaps and retracts and is floaty and forgiving. Just keep practicing on your trainer and dont rush moving up. The majority of us are impatient and want to fly the hot rod warbirds, but transitioning slowly is what saves money. Crashes get expensive in time and in money. That Pandora looks like a gem. Id like to fly that one myself. Interesting design. All in all, keep practicing. And if you do crash, dont get discouraged. We all crash. All of us. Doesnt matter how good you are. Things just happen. Like a nose gear jamming lol.

The feeling when you are prepared and have gone through that scenrario training will help immensely. The biggest thing I impart teaching new pilots is to be calm. Always remain calm, no matter what. You make more mistakes when you panic. If you stay calm, you give that training time to kick in.

Keep at it. You will be flying that P-38 before long.

[JFandL]

So a question to anyone with the 2nd round of shipped silver 38's out there. How's the skin look?

Sure is temping to get a 2nd 38, ROFL

John

[stitch]

better hurry only 7 left,there going fast.

[Delizar]

Anyone have a solution to the tape on the bottom of the wings coming loose? I hot glued them down and they came up again.

Mike

If I recall Aros in one of his videos recommended gorilla tape as a replacement

[Aros]

Yes indeed Gorilla Tape is your savior.... Especially that it comes in various colors. Even if it isn't in the color you need you can paint over it after you color matched the paint at your local hardware store...This is what I did and after over 35 flights or so it hasn't come loose yet, nor do I expect it to, like...Ever!

[JFandL]

better hurry only 7 left,there going fast.

ROFL,

Just need to know if the gator is less, this shipment?

John

[RRHandy]

So a question to anyone with the 2nd round of shipped silver 38's out there. How's the skin look?

Sure is temping to get a 2nd 38, ROFL

John

I get mine monday, I will let you know. R.

[PlaneCrazy]

Well, gents, looky looky....

Total repair time was much longer than I anticipated, though the damage was not extensive. It just so happens that the nose gear door and pilot's right gear bay door servos are both reversed, so I had extra work to rewire two replacement servos I had on hand to replace the ones that were stripped out. I also had to tweak the gear door control rods so the servos would stop "creaking." I repaired and reinforced the rudder with gorilla glue and some toothpicks CA'd inside for additional strength. New gear door plate for the nose went on easily, but needed some "allied green" to match the scheme. I also uprooted the wing mounting plate for the pilot's pylon where it attaches to the wing. Mine was raised a few mm making the cockpit sit high where the magnetic plates are, and it was bothering me. Replaced the retract and both props as well.

I have cycled the gear well over 20 times with no issues thus far. No sign of jamming now. Happy to say no lasting issues are apparent and the gear gremlin seems to have been chucked out with the original retract. My P-38 "April Lynn" is ready for sortie # 5. Major thank you to Callie Graphics for the amazing decals. The print she made of the nose art I worked up is amazing and looks fantastic on the side of this gorgeous RC plane. Motion has a winner here for sure. I will be keeping a close eye on future Flightline releases, especially if they are 1400mm and up. The scale detail is great.

As a side note to Motion RC guys. I would like to make the humble suggestion that you look into making a stand alone decal sheet for the propeller water slides. It would be very beneficial to be able to purchase the water slides on their own in case one wants to keep that scale look when having to change props. I personally would buy 4+ sheets right off the bat, but it isn't practical to do so for the cost of the entire decal sheet. Can't hurt to ask!

Happy flying, guys.

Callie at Callie Graphics can provide the prop decals and they are very inexpensive........I bought some for my extra sets of props.

[stitch]

man that did not take long what 4 days there gone?