Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[Aros]

Awww..... c'mon Aros leave it dirty. I'll just bet there is a "dirty boy" in ya :Silly:

:bluehappy

[downwindleg]

Hey Aros, Didn't get a chance over the weekend to give you a big attaboy on the new paint scheme. Looks great and your dipping process worked awesome on the spinners. That must have taken some head scratching to do that evenly. Did you also do the grey underside? Call me crazy but I have often wondered if there is a super fine tipped silver pen out there with indelible ink for doing the spinner screws or dzus fasteners or anything else that would stick out on a well restored bird. Brad

[BadBob]

A buddy asked me if the motors could be test run without the props. He wants to try and bench test his battery time by flying "on the bench." Told him I don't know as the motors might need the air flow from the props and the wind of actually flying. Is there a concern about over heating the motors this way?

[Alpha]

Hi BadBob, it is never good to run an unloaded motor throughout a simulated flight. Mechanically, it's a bad idea, and practically speaking, it's unnecessary. The P-38 has been on the market for over a year, with huge numbers of the aircraft flying the recommended batteries, between 5000 and 6000 total mAh. If your friend's packs total this mAh, then he can rely on the field reports from many customers that have verified the P-38 is good for an easy five minutes of flight. If your friend is concerned with flight time, have him set his timer for three minutes for his maiden flight, then measure the battery and add flight time from there. Running an unloaded motor on the ground for any plane won't accurately simulate amp draw, anyway, as props unload during flight, and the throttle position tends to vary widely throughout a flight depending on the needs of the aircraft.

If your friend is interested in learning more from a mathematical standpoint, I recommend using MotoCalc at motocalc.com. It's an invaluable tool that I use very often to estimate amp draw, consumption, tip speed, etc.

If your friend's desire is less about the specific aircraft but simply to "bench test his battery", then there are other tools and methods to do that, rather than running up an aircraft on the ground.

[BadBob]

Hi BadBob, it is never good to run an unloaded motor throughout a simulated flight. Mechanically, it's a bad idea, and practically speaking, it's unnecessary. The P-38 has been on the market for over a year, with huge numbers of the aircraft flying the recommended batteries, between 5000 and 6000 total mAh. If your friend's packs total this mAh, then he can rely on the field reports from many customers that have verified the P-38 is good for an easy five minutes of flight. If your friend is concerned with flight time, have him set his timer for three minutes for his maiden flight, then measure the battery and add flight time from there. Running an unloaded motor on the ground for any plane won't accurately simulate amp draw, anyway, as props unload during flight, and the throttle position tends to vary widely throughout a flight depending on the needs of the aircraft.

If your friend is interested in learning more from a mathematical standpoint, I recommend using MotoCalc at motocalc.com. It's an invaluable tool that I use very often to estimate amp draw, consumption, tip speed, etc.

If your friend's desire is less about the specific aircraft but simply to "bench test his battery", then there are other tools and methods to do that, rather than running up an aircraft on the ground.

Thanks. I'll pass it on.

[Aros]

Hey Aros, Didn't get a chance over the weekend to give you a big attaboy on the new paint scheme. Looks great and your dipping process worked awesome on the spinners. That must have taken some head scratching to do that evenly. Did you also do the grey underside? Call me crazy but I have often wondered if there is a super fine tipped silver pen out there with indelible ink for doing the spinner screws or dzus fasteners or anything else that would stick out on a well restored bird. Brad

Thanks Brad! I did paint the grey underside as well...The cowls and nose and intakes had to be blended with the OD and grey to fit the livery correctly. The spinners took a very steady hand that's for sure, but it sure beat trying to mask them off with that curved radius...

[rifleman_btx]

Here's what it looks like from the camera

[rifleman_btx]

Here's the look inside and out, as you can see it can be quickly changed from FPV to los with absolutely no modifications to the plane itself.

[Alpha]

This looks very promising, Rifleman_btw. What head tracker and OSD are you using?

[rifleman_btx]

The head tracking is fatshark, built in the attitude v3 goggles. The camera is the head tracking fatshark 700tvl camera unit. The osd is the Cyclops breeze pro. I forgot to switch it to emperial units beforehand. I just did that witch is all done with a push of a button.

[downwindleg]

Hey Alpha, after you open the pod bay doors, can you tell me the skinny on this new A-10 Warthog? I know this is off topic but it is a twin at least. I read a little teaser in MAN today and I,m very curious. I'm not much of a jet guy but this plane is the total max. I've heard other pilots of like the raptor and the hornet say this plane is so slow it gets bird strikes.............from behind. lol But the tactics these planes use is amazingly similar to the way a pair of eagles snag ducks in the water and it is an awsome thing to see. Brad

[Aros]

Very cool indeed rifleman_btx! One of these days I'm going to have to FPV one of my warbirds.

[rifleman_btx]

Absolutely, I can't wait to get some videos from the sky

[TiredIronGRB]

Absolutely, I can't wait to get some videos from the sky

Are you using goggles with a DVR?

[rifleman_btx]

Naw I have a stand alone unit with its own receiver in it. That is from ready-made rc

[mr.frankenjet]

Here's what it looks like from the camera

thats too cool, looking forward to the fllight vid

[Oxotnik]

Riffleman, very cool setup. The HUD look from the OSD inside the cockpit is waaaaaaaaay cool! I'm wondering, though, will the camera inside cockpit, looking through the windscreen, focus on the detail of the canopy frame, instead of the outside surroundings? I've done something similar on an EFlite P-47, but I've put the camera on a standoff, just in front of the canopy. If I'm not flying the camera, I'll put another, unmodified, battery hatch/canopy on the plane.
Here's a video from my P-47's onboard camera:

https://youtu.be/YpAd4m1icvQ

I don't have the VTx installed in this photo, but it's mounted at the back of the canopy, as you've done yours.

[rifleman_btx]

Funny thing about that, I actually cut the plastic away from the canopy for a clearer picture, however in my excitement to get a video online I didn't think to Check the camera focus. Lol so after I looked at the video I went back and adjusted it. So the flight video should be awesome

[Chief58D]

Just joined the P-38 squadron -
The BIG box just arrived from MRC!!
Already have the upgraded struts and multi-engine MrRC sound system ready for the install!! :)
Originally, I planned to build this one as Glacier Girl, as I have some history with the real aircraft -
But had to accept the fact that my aging eyes would track the plane better if I have some contrast to follow, so I have a custom California Cutie w/invasion stripes package on the way from Callie!
(Of course, if this project turns out as well as expected, I could still see adding a Glacier Girl to the fleet somewhere down the road..)

Now the tough decision -
What to build first? :Thinking:

Ferocious Frankie stiil needs the repairs and upgrades so it can fly again...
And there's the Mig-21 still in the box ...
And now this :p38...
And an A-6...and an F-5...

So many planes, so little time -
My job is REALLY starting to get in the way of my hobbies!!! ;)

[Westsider]

I like this guy