Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[OV10]

Awesome! All winter I wish I lived in California.

You and me both brother!!!! Windyanna and upstate NY both sux for warbird jockeys at this time of year.

[Arycon]

What throttle range are you guys at while landing with full flaps in say 10mph wind or less? Couple guys said Im coming in too slow with my P-38 and that is why I am having issues landing. Broke a prop and mushed the tip of both wings this time. Ive bent the nose gear enough now to warrant replacing the strut. I land all of my other birds smoothly, but this P-38 is giving me fits.

[dkalwishky]

What throttle range are you guys at while landing with full flaps in say 10mph wind or less?

I will vary from 10 - 20%

[OV10]

Could even be more depending on what Arycon considers full flaps(degrees of deflection). If multiple guys are saying that your coming in too slow then you probably are. Warbirds have to be flown in under power and not floated. I generally use 25-30% across all my fleet.

[ryramZ]

Speed is your friend. My advice cut your flap deflection in half. For some guys it doesn't feel natural to have to keep in the throttle too much. With big deflection it takes a lot of throttle. Lessen it and things may feel more natural, plus it's easier to keep your speed up.
I always seem to default back to half flap settings for that very reason. I have a tendency to allow too much speed to bleed off at full and get bouncy.

side note:
Hey Tony I just ordered 23 skidoo from Callie. Is that what you have?
I like the mostly solid schemes that do nothing to detract from the outline. I probably won't even do the tips of the verts in yellow because I hate to lose the shape. I got to get her pretty for the strut upgrade vid. I'll be doing Lelu as well when the struts arrive.

good times fellas!

[Alpha]

The three blade props are also acting as huge brakes if/as they are reduced to/near zero. I've seen pilots with half to full flaps chop the throttle completely and then marvel at how quickly the aircraft stops in the air and rapidly approaches a stall. With my P-38, I rarely land with flaps at all, preferring instead to use my throttle to manage the aircraft's descent. Sometimes if there isn't any wind I'll drop maybe half flaps, max, and come in under a bit more power.

Testing and observing when and how an aircraft stalls is crucial to being able to prevent an unwanted one. Take the aircraft up "three mistakes high", deploy the landing gear, bleed off power with the aircraft level, and time it such that the aircraft stalls almost directly above your normal landing threshold or at an angle to your eyes where you can see what the nose and front of the wings are doing.000 Depending on the aircraft, the wing will dip, or the nose will drop, or the plane will mush, etc. Power up and allow the aircraft to fly out of the stall --don't use any extreme inputs like full elevator, which will only exacerbate the stall-- and recover the aircraft. Now that you've observed how slowly the aircraft can fly, and the signs leading up to the stall (possibly including wing rock, diminished control authority, etc), and the aircraft's behavior after the stall (snap left/right, nose drop, etc), then from now on when you're in your landing pattern, because you know the signs of the aircraft approaching stall, you can best keep the model just higher than that threshold. For example, my F-104 will begin to rock its wings when it approaches stall. When I see that rock first begin to happen, I add a click or two of throttle --not ten!-- just enough to keep the aircraft out of stall.

[Lon]

[QUOTE=Ryan@Motion/ryramZ;n53414]Speed is your friend. My advice cut your flap deflection in half. For some guys it doesn't feel natural to have to keep in the throttle too much. With big deflection it takes a lot of throttle. Lessen it and things may feel more natural, plus it's easier to keep your speed up.
I always seem to default back to half flap settings for that very reason. I have a tendency to allow too much speed to bleed off at full and get bouncy.

I have found that i do not use flaps much at all with my 38's. And the reason for me is that i'm alot more consistant in keeping my airspeed up for the landings without flaps. On those very low wind days when i do drop flaps. I really keep into the throttle to keep my speed up.(30-35%). All those beautiful landings that put a smile on my face, I don't get below 20% throttle till inches from the ground. And I don't cut throttle then either!! If you do, She will slowdown very quickly,, too much, and "Plop!" onto the runway :)

[crxmanpat]

Me personally, I've never landed with more than half flaps. And yes, stay on the power right until just before touchdown (like within 1-2 seconds). Then I power off and kiss the pavement.

[Warbird Dan]

Can anyone help me with how to mix my P38 elevator with the flaps? Nothing I have tried has worked. I'm using a DX18 version one.

[OV10]

I'd like to add a little more clarity to this flap deflection talk. There's been a lot of half and full flap dialog but that really doesn't get the job done for those less experienced in setting control throws. I learned along time ago that these models will not act like a full scale does with the same amount of throws. For example, the full scale Corsair had 60 degrees of deflection at full flaps. Trying to do the same with the 1400 FMS Corsair is like opening a barn door and watching the model drop like a brick. My personal experience has shown me that 30 degrees for full and 15 degrees for half has been a very good platform setting across the majority of my airframes for effective flap deflection. The more flap deflection you kick in the more throttle that is required to overcome that barn door drag brake which is also serving to provide additional lift at lower airspeeds. Air speed and throttle speed are two different animals mind you. I am also a huge proponent against setting throws in linear measurement whereas all my controls are set in degrees of throw. To this day I have yet for a max throw of 15 degrees on ailerons and elevators to not be sufficient for aircraft control but of course I'm talking Warbirds here and not some 3D prop hanger.
Hope this has been helpful to those relatively new to fighter aircraft and are struggling with slower flight control issues.
Best regards,

[Arycon]

I appreciate all of the info, guys. I am not a bad pilot. I think I had some bad luck with the warped wing and I sorted that by bracing a piece of thin ply under the section that was drooping along the outer flap edge and hanging the aircraft from the celing with the bungie cord running under that area. That killer bank tendancy I talked about is now gone since the droopy wing is gone. As for landing, I land fairly well on all other aircraft with no damage in well over a year or more. Just not with this particular aircraft. I havent dialed it in enough without pucker factor to get used to it, thanks in part to the drastic banking. I think Im slowing down too much on approach though. Im not stalling as much as not flaring properly because of insufficient airspeed to provide cushion between the aircraft and runway. This results in bouncing on my P-38 landings thus far. I will check my flap settings and come in next time at half flaps. Ive always come in at full flaps every time and maybe that is the problem. Too much unnecessary drag and pilot error not compensating properly with throttle.

[Alpha]

Can anyone help me with how to mix my P38 elevator with the flaps? Nothing I have tried has worked. I'm using a DX18 version one.

Hi Dan, I'm assuming you've already programmed flaps to move? I don't fly Spektrum so I can't help you with your specific radio from direct experience. I Googled the instruction manual for the Spektrum DX18, and page 25 covers Mixing. Go to the Mixing menu, select Flaps and Elevator as the two channels to be mixed, then adjust the relationship between them by changing the percentage field. A Positive or Negative value will invert the relationship. Visually observe your elevator moving (up or down depending on the value) in relation to the flap being moved by your control. Adjust that value accordingly until the elevator moves the direction and degree you want for the given flap degree of movement.

[MikeT]

Can anyone help me with how to mix my P38 elevator with the flaps? Nothing I have tried has worked. I'm using a DX18 version one.

The DX 18 actually has a Flap set up screen that you can acess once you select the proper wing type. It's covered on page 30 of the DX18 manual and there are several videos on Utube on it. Once in the Flap menu it's rat.her simple to get it done.

Mike

[Beeg]

Yep, What MikeT said. DX18 flap setup and mixing is the simplest mix of any radio I've ever used.

[Oxotnik]

I'm just flying a lowly DX6 (which does the job for me), but I think the flap functions work similarly. The key is that when you're initially setting up the plane in the TX, you have to tell it that your plane has flaps. Then, you'll get the Flaps Screen in the menu. If you don't setup your plane as having flaps, then you'll have to use the mix menu.

[MikeT]

I'm just flying a lowly DX6 (which does the job for me), but I think the flap functions work similarly. The key is that when you're initially setting up the plane in the TX, you have to tell it that your plane has flaps. Then, you'll get the Flaps Screen in the menu. If you don't setup your plane as having flaps, then you'll have to use the mix menu.

Correct that's why you need to set the wing type ( 2 wing servos and 2 flap servos) in the initial set up. Once that's done you'll ave access to the Flap set up menu.

Mike

[downwindleg]

I'm with OV10 on the flap settings and since we're talking about Spectrum radios, I will repeat something I use for consistent landings. I can't speak for other radio brands or models but for the DX9 and DX18 there is a tone that comes on for the flight timer based on the throttle setting of your choice so the timer knows when to run for battery drain. For instance, you don't need the timer going if your just taxiing or gliding but you do if your at say 20% throttle or better for accurate tracking of your remaining battery time. Sooooo, it accurred to me that since you hear that tone whether going above or dropping below that setting, I could use that tone for landings. When the timer says it's time to come down, I drop the gear and, as I'm entering the "downwind leg", I start reducing the power and drop the flaps. As I'm throttling down and reach that preset timer setting and hear the tone, I leave the throttle there as I'm turning on final from the base leg, and let the plane settle in and THEN cut the power back for a nice runout and taxi back to the pits. For a long time, I struggled with the power/flap landing scenario because of inconsistent approach speeds. This little trick has helped immensely and cut way back on the comments from the peanut gallery. Brad

[rifleman_btx]

I have plans for this, dual purpose, one canopy for los, one for FPV I've always wanted to have a p38 for fpv

[Alpha]

Great tips to share all around, guys!

[Brandon Moon]

Was curious as to why we haven't seen any more RC Informer Reviews by Rich on Planes from Motion RC any more? Was checking out a few old videos and just noticed it's been a long while? Was curious if something was going on there?