Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[mr.frankenjet]

I use a box like this to set up all the throws during assembly, that way you can do each servo individually and set the linkages up. Makes the radio set up a snap after you get it all together, well worth the $

[rifleman_btx]

I had an unfortunate event happen with my p38 today. Nose gear failed to deploy for the first time ever. Thankfully it didn't tear up too much. But it rashed it up a little unfortunately.

[Aros]

Ah bummer man...Sorry to hear that. :(

[Beeg]

Yeah, I've had two prop hub failures on my 38, one on each side. One at about 30ft so had plenty of time to turn in for a belly landing. The other happened right at rotation and had to just pancake in at the side of the runway. Other than having to re-glue both the firewalls and a busted vertical stab I only had to replace a couple nose gear doors. Not too bad considering.If it ends up looking too ratty I'll just replace it with a new one.

[zorkahn]

Be sure it's not the control board instead of the servo. I repainted one of my Tigercats and was sloppy in keeping the fuselage control board protected and when I hooked everything up three of the flap servos chattered and didn't center or move properly and one didn't even work. I thought I had gotten too much paint on the servo's themselves and was about to order 4 all new servos but after I thought about it that didn't make sense. So, I did a little trouble shooting and bypassed the control board with a "Y" connector straight to the receivers and all the flap servos work like they should. All I had to do was replace the fuselage control board.

So, you may want to check if your control board has junk on the the pins or is itself bad by bypassing the board before ordering a new servo.

I used a servo tester to check the bad nose gear door servo. It still chatters, so it is not the control board or a bad connection to it.

Mark

[downwindleg]

I had an unfortunate event happen with my p38 today. Nose gear failed to deploy for the first time ever. Thankfully it didn't tear up too much. But it rashed it up a little unfortunately.

Hey rifleman-btx, I've had that experience before as well and didn't notice it 'til I touched down with similar results. What I've learned to do since then is to make a pass down the runway once after dropping the gear to verify that all the gear are down. Then if not, you can try cycling them a couple of times. If that doesn't do it, you can always make your approach gear up and kill the throttle for a dead stick in the grass. I've had to do this once and it saved the props, gear doors, etc. Brad

[Oxotnik]

Right. I'd check the individual servo(s) with a servo tester before cutting out a servo.

[rifleman_btx]

Hey rifleman-btx, I've had that experience before as well and didn't notice it 'til I touched down with similar results. What I've learned to do since then is to make a pass down the runway once after dropping the gear to verify that all the gear are down. Then if not, you can try cycling them a couple of times. If that doesn't do it, you can always make your approach gear up and kill the throttle for a dead stick in the grass. I've had to do this once and it saved the props, gear doors, etc. Brad

Yeah that's what I did, a couple of cycles then went for belly landing in the grass. Unfortunately an invisible large ant mound in said grass caught it. :/

[downwindleg]

Did you ever figure out what caused the nose gear not to deploy? As I recall, I think I eventually had to replace the nose retract unit on mine. Just curious, Brad

[rifleman_btx]

I have a new retract sitting in the bag still. I haven't looked at that yet, but I'm really thinking about changing it out. I'll do some preliminary checks on it, but as of this moment my thinking is replacing it

[rifleman_btx]

Well after extensive testing, the damn thing worked every time now... I don't know what the heck caused this

[Aros]

rifleman_btx, you may want to investigate if your nose wheel is rubbing up against the front wall of your retract bay sometimes when cycling. I had that problem with one of my mains and I ended up cutting a small channel out of the retract bay section it was rubbing against which cured the problem for good. Just an idea...

[rifleman_btx]

Will do, sure is a head stumper

[rifleman_btx]

Just rechecked for any binding... Nothing... Everything is free

[downwindleg]

Hey rifleman-btx, you might also check for binding due to the strut getting bent back from a rough landing at some point. That will cause it to bottom out in the bay and stall the gear retract unit which in turn will cause it not to deploy on the next cycle. Intermittent problems are the worst!!! Brad

[Oxotnik]

Hey rifleman-btx, you might also check for binding due to the strut getting bent back from a rough landing at some point. That will cause it to bottom out in the bay and stall the gear retract unit which in turn will cause it not to deploy on the next cycle. Intermittent problems are the worst!!! Brad

I had this happen on my Freewing Mossie. I'd lost a prop and brought it in too hard. After repairs, I was doing end-to-end checks and noticed that one of my Mains was retracting, but not deploying. When I'd loosened the mounting screws (trunion housing to gear well), it was obvious that I was binding the gears during the retract. Then, I noticed that the strut had been bent back, just barely noticeably.

[Aros]

That's a great point Brad!

[ruffneckx1]

For the guys who have done the oleo strut mods with FREE Wing or FMS struts, I'd like to know what drill bits are you using ? I'mm attempting to drill into the FMS strut and have broken 4 bits. Any info would be appreciated.

Woody

[OV10]

For the guys who have done the oleo strut mods with FREE Wing or FMS struts, I'd like to know what drill bits are you using ? I'mm attempting to drill into the FMS strut and have broken 4 bits. Any info would be appreciated.

Woody

Hello Ruff,
Those oleos are made from an aluminum alloy so I can't even begin to understand how you are breaking drill bits. What exactly are you drilling??
One of the more common robust aluminum grades is the 6061-T6 which does require a better strength drill in the Titanium class but in this model industry the material used doesn't even come close.

[ruffneckx1]

OV10....... I'm trying to drill the strut used by FMS that rides inside the cylinder. I've been using titanium and black oxide bits. If this is aluminum I don't know what to tell 'ya.