Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[T-CAT]

Thanks! The seller was a good guy. I think you'll love this P-38, and look forward to you getting one. I wanted a plane that could look amazing around the pattern, do some cool looking touch-n-goes, have some aerobatic capability, sound great, and be easy to see. This plane check marked all those points for me, and is an iconic aircraft that I've wanted to own for some time (no manufacturer made one I liked enough to purchase until now :cool:). I made a custom PVC stand just to transport this airplane without removing the outer portions of the wing, LOL. That's dedication!

In this hobby, all of us have specific items that you tell yourself were absolutely 100% the best money that's been spent, and one of those items for me was an airbrush, air compressor, and accessories. There have been so many times where little fixes like the one I spoke of were made possible when it wouldn't have been otherwise. It's incredible to be able to adjust the paint flow of a dual action airbrush simply and provide even coverage with absolutely no streaks that can occur with hand painting, and have control over the area you want to paint without worrying about masking most times.

[BadBob]

Food for thought on spinner balancing. http://www.truturn.com/faq_pages/faq-11.htm

[T-CAT]

Hmm, okay, now that I'm on to assembling this plane, the screws in the parts bag and the label stating how many of each it contains versus what the build manual states doesn't add up in the least bit. What's the deal? Ha-ha

I have attached a picture below of the parts bag and what it says it contains. Mine has most of what it states (although some strange stuff like one of the screws is 2mm short of the rest of the same type of screw, and I have two left over screws that aren't even said to be in the parts bag and are of a different size). Once you folks look at the pics below, can you let me know if this is what you received as well?

As you can see, I have the following screws:

-Four PA3x20
-Five PA3x15 (although one of the five is a PA3x13, go figure)
-Six PT3x10 (not sure if these are PA or PT, as I don't know the difference between PA or PT, anyone know??)
-Four PM4x8 (I measured them and they are actually 3x8)
-Finally, two random screws at the bottom of the pic that I have no idea what they are used for, but I'll see later. These two seem similar sized to the PT3x10 but not pointed at the end.

Now, what's tripping me up is that the manual and the video say that Eleven PA3x10 screws are needed and Four PA3x20. As you can see in my picture, I only have Six PT3x10 (just as the parts label bag states), but at least I have the four PA3x20. So, anyone know what's going on? Did I just simply not receive enough screws from the manufacturer, or is the manual wrong, or the parts label bag incorrect, etc? From the looks of it, the manual and video are incorrect, as those five 3x15 screws are probably for the center pod section.

[BadBob]

Hmm, okay, now that I'm on to assembling this plane, the screws in the parts bag and the label stating how many of each it contains versus what the build manual states doesn't add up in the least bit. What's the deal? Ha-ha

I have attached a picture below of the parts bag and what it says it contains. Mine has most of what it states (although some strange stuff like one of the screws is 2mm short of the rest of the same type of screw, and I have two left over screws that aren't even said to be in the parts bag and are of a different size). Once you folks look at the pics below, can you let me know if this is what you received as well?

As you can see, I have the following screws:

-Four PA3x20
-Five PA3x15 (although one of the five is a PA3x13, go figure)
-Six PT3x10 (not sure if these are PA or PT, as I don't know the difference between PA or PT, anyone know??)
-Four PM4x8 (I measured them and they are actually 3x8)
-Finally, two random screws at the bottom of the pic that I have no idea what they are used for, but I'll see later. These two seem similar sized to the PT3x10 but not pointed at the end.

Now, what's tripping me up is that the manual and the video say that Eleven PA3x10 screws are needed and Four PA3x20. As you can see in my picture, I only have Six PT3x10 (just as the parts label bag states), but at least I have the four PA3x20. So, anyone know what's going on? Did I just simply not receive enough screws from the manufacturer, or is the manual wrong, or the parts label bag incorrect, etc? From the looks of it, the manual and video are incorrect, as those five 3x15 screws are probably for the center pod section.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n48130[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n48128[/ATTACH]

I had the same problem. Just like you, exactly, so I just ordered a complete hardware package from Motion, so I should be covered. Just have to figure out which missing screws that didn't come with the plane I'll need from the hardware package I ordered. Also have a lot of assorted screws about those sizes on hand as well. It almost appears to be that the folks in China created a generic packaging that was flawed and no one noticed. Like I said, my hardware package is exactly as the one you received. Very strange indeed!

[T-CAT]

Thanks Bob. I did a search just now on RCgroups and on Hobbysquawk. What I found was that the the manual and video are incorrect. The five 3x15 screws are for the nose pod attachment. So, for the six 3x10's, I used two of the six pointed screws on the inner portion of the elevator attachment, and then the two oddball blunt ended screws in my picture that are 3x10, I used on the outmost portion of the elevator attachment points. So, the left over four 3x10 screw will go to attaching the tailbooms to the center wing section (two 3x10 on each forward portion of the center section) along with their four 3x20 counterparts (two on each side on the aft portion. That should do it and get us going in the right direction. The four PM 4x8's (though they are really 3x8) should attach the two outer wings.

Hopefully I have that all correct? Someone chime in if I'm wrong, please ;).

[T-CAT]

Another noteworthy mention for people who haven't assembled the plane yet:

1. The servo tri-harness that comes with the plane and is labelled for the landing gear, but it's actually for the rudder (nose steering, and one rudder on each side).

2. The aileron servo leads are alright compiled together in one servo lead, so it plugs directly into your receiver itself, and not the Ail ports on the box.

[T-CAT]

I took a hobby knife and spun it around the center of each gun barrel carefully and left the white plastic on the inside. I also painted the charger intakes black in the center for some depth, as the all gray color clearly doesn't do the charger intakes any justice :p. Also, what I found cool was that the foam behind the motor cowlings were already painted flat black. Love it!

[ruffneckx1]

Finished my strut replacements. Went with the Freewing P-51 struts. The mains weren't a problem but the nose strut was some what more complex.
I've discovered most of what others using the FW struts have found:
1. The mains compress under the weight.
2. Gear doors don't close all the way.
Has anyone come up with a suitable replacement spring for the mains ?
Any info will be appreciated.

Woody

[BadBob]

I had one really off balance and found they had put 1 incorrect blade of the bag of 3, be sure to check all are the correctly pitched blades.

What balancer did you use? Did you try a balance with the backplate/spinner and props attached?

[downwindleg]

Another noteworthy mention for people who haven't assembled the plane yet:

1. The servo tri-harness that comes with the plane and is labelled for the landing gear, but it's actually for the rudder (nose steering, and one rudder on each side).

2. The aileron servo leads are alright compiled together in one servo lead, so it plugs directly into your receiver itself, and not the Ail ports on the box.

Hey T-cat, if you have enough receiver space, you might want to use a second channel for one of the two ailerons. That way it's easier two trim the two ailerons individually and you can also dial in some aileron differential. That can help allot with more axial rolls. Brad

[BadBob]

Using MrRCSound with the WW2 chip, Allison engines. Now I want to figure out how to use my 12 channel RX so I can start one engine at a time. Thinking out load, I'll probably use 2 channels, just have to figure out how to program that.

[T-CAT]

Thanks Brad. I do have two more channels, so I minds well do that.

[T-CAT]

I just finished putting on most of the decals I want on the plane, and man-oh-man what a difference in the overall appearance. It's incredible!

[Aros]

Yesterday I was enjoying another awesome P-38 sortie when I noticed that problematic starboard gear refused to come down. I was forced to belly land her in the grass and thanks to flaps and keeping her aloft inches off the ground right until stall speed she fared rather well. I took her home and immediately cut notches out of the aft section of the wheel compartments so that will guarantee no more "excitement" on future landings.

[BadBob]

Something I just noticed using the Du-Bro balancer. After several balancing attempts with the back plate, then the spinner, I finally decided that close enough is close enough. Now the props. I have the props, back plate and spinner on the balancer. The Du-Bro is level. I get a blade at exactly 6 o'clock, which means the other 2 are at 11 and 2 o'clock. Before I start the balance procedure, I then switched the cones from back to front of the back plate with the spinner facing in the same direction as before. (Just out of curiosity, I read somewhere about the cones being out of round or out of balance themselves). Then I get blades at 12, 7 and 5 o'clock. Now I'm thoroughly confused!!!!! This balancing 3 blades and a spinner is a the biggest PIA I've ever come across. Why haven't others that have this plane with many successful flights post on this? Are they not having any balance issues whatsoever?? Just throw the back plate, props and spinners together and go fly?? I wouldn't think so. I have never experienced this much frustration with balancing props and spinners.

After thought: I actually haven't found any info on balancing the back plates with this spinner configuration yet. That is what I started with and then the spinners, as close as I could get them. I had a heck of a time doing that. So perhaps this is where my problem lies, although I don't understand how that would effect the difference between where the cones are placed.. At any rate, I ordered a new set of spinners and will try again, not balancing the back plates at all this time.

[Flyer Phill]

Something I just noticed using the Du-Bro balancer. After several balancing attempts with the back plate, then the spinner, I finally decided that close enough is close enough. Now the props. I have the props, back plate and spinner on the balancer. The Du-Bro is level. I get a blade at exactly 6 o'clock, which means the other 2 are at 11 and 2 o'clock. Before I start the balance procedure, I then switched the cones from back to front of the back plate with the spinner facing in the same direction as before. (Just out of curiosity, I read somewhere about the cones being out of round or out of balance themselves). Then I get blades at 12, 7 and 5 o'clock. Now I'm thoroughly confused!!!!! This balancing 3 blades and a spinner is a the biggest PIA I've ever come across. Why haven't others that have this plane with many successful flights post on this? Are they not having any balance issues whatsoever?? Just throw the back plate, props and spinners together and go fly?? I wouldn't think so. I have never experienced this much frustration with balancing props and spinners.

Did you see my post a page or so back?

[OV10]

Hello BadBob,
The first thing that I do before even mounting the blades to the spinner back plate is to weigh each blade on a digital scale in grams. Just this evening I was finishing the build on my 38 and found that the normal rotating blade set(stbd motor) had one blade that was heavier by 2 grams than the other 2 in the set. Fortunately I had a reserve set of blades for my SeaFury and did the ol' mix and match till I had 3 matching blades within a couple tenths of a gram. I then balanced the spinner back-plate using ZAP Goo adhesive on the plate backside outer circumference. Now the blades get mounted and then one more time on the Du-Bro balancer and ZAP Goo the backside of the blade tips as required. I don't worry about balancing the spinner cone due to the fact that if it spins concentrically it has never been an issue for balance. If it has an elliptical spin then just get a new cone because static balancing won't fix it and there is no dynamic balancers that I am aware of for this hobby. The process I described takes about 15-20 minutes. Hope this can help alleviate some muttering to yourself and talking bad about someone's mother.
Best regards,

[BadBob]

Did you see my post a page or so back?

Thanks, FP. That helps!

[BadBob]

For those that want to insure your decals stay where they should, see Lon's post, #2155 about spraying a light coat of krylon acrylic on them. I did this with "non yellowing clear satin" from ACE and I can't see any difference in the spray, as if it wasn't done at all. Lon says he did this on the prop decals, so I decided to try on all of them. Just remember to do it outside and let it dry, or the wife will have issues with the smell when you bring into the house! Really, doesn't take long at all to dry outside.

[T-CAT]

My plane is officially ready for its maiden flight. I'm really looking forward to it.

I did some more small mods today:

1. Added more of the scale decals, primarily the larger ones and too many of the smaller ones I just didn't want to deal with, but may later. After applying the decals I brushed over them with polycrylic and going past the edges of each to ensure a good seal to the paint.

2. Painted the plastic wing tip light covers just around the LED so the plastic part is hidden.

3. Painted the elevator servo's a matched green, as well as the servo keepers to blend them in a bit with the rest of the plane.

4. Airbrushed (with reduced opaque black water based paint) the turbocharger/cover area for a more scale appearance. A couple minutes of work and it really makes a cool and fun difference.

I was also going to paint the stock plastic white landing gear struts, but I'm going to change those out with suspension struts anyway. So, I figured I'd save time and pass on that idea. :D:p