Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[Oxotnik]

The upgrade struts are awesome. I fly on grass and the MRC upgrade struts are great on a grass field. I love them.

[Lon]

Since I own both sets of struts I've thought about using the RC Castle on the mains and the MRC set on the nose.

Anyone else doing that?

I own and have many flights on both the RC Castle and FL struts. With my experience, the FL upgrade struts are alot stronger/better than the Castle.

[TiredIronGRB]

Make it 97% LOL for us modders that used the FMS 1400 P-51 port main gear on the nose and the FMS 1400 P-40B gear on the mains.

And the Freewing P-51 struts...which were the first to be adapted ;)

[downwindleg]

Since I own both sets of struts I've thought about using the RC Castle on the mains and the MRC set on the nose.

Anyone else doing that?

Yeah dkalwishky, that's exactly what I do. It looks and acts great, especially on an uneven field. Often thought about grinding down that offset fork to make it rounder on the corners and more scale looking but haven't yet. I was surprised that the MRC main struts were lacking the scissor detail......especially as an upgrade! Every body has an opinion on this but I think the "price point" gets in the way of scale quality sometimes....I'm actually sick of hearing that word!!!!!! No offense toward my friends at MRC...they can't please everyone, Brad

[Wesnc]

Quick question guys.....I am about to invest in some good batteries and am trying to get my hangar/Lipo strategy sorted. I have the FL p-38,Tigercat & am waiting to hit order on the 1600mm spitfire. Can I run a 6s battery in the twins with a parallel adapter? That way I have a suite of 6s batteries I can use in any of the planes.

[TiredIronGRB]

Quick question guys.....I am about to invest in some good batteries and am trying to get my hangar/Lipo strategy sorted. I have the FL p-38,Tigercat & am waiting to hit order on the 1600mm spitfire. Can I run a 6s battery in the twins with a parallel adapter? That way I have a suite of 6s batteries I can use in any of the planes.

No, 6S would be too much on the P-38 and F7F ESCs.

[pmisuinas]

Not so for the P-38 per the rcg thread. Just need to prop it accordingly, see these posts: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=5978

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=37110299&postcount=6496

He didn't change the ESCs, but did go to a MAS 11x7x3 prop, and he stated overall current went down....

[TiredIronGRB]

Not so for the P-38 per the rcg thread. Just need to prop it accordingly, see these posts: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=5978

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=37110299&postcount=6496

He didn't change the ESCs, but did go to a MAS 11x7x3 prop, and he stated overall current went down....

I'm referring to the stock configuration...

[OV10]

Not so for the P-38 per the rcg thread. Just need to prop it accordingly, see these posts: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=5978

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=6496

He didn't change the ESCs, but did go to a MAS 11x7x3 prop, and he stated overall current went down....

I respectfully have to disagree and backup TiredIron's affirmation that 6S is way too much for the stock 3748-600kV motor on the P-38 as well as the F7F.
Your reference to the Dec2016 and Mar2017 postings by only one individual(smdub on RCG) where no concrete math evidence is presented to support the ability of this motor being able to handle the amperages is not a strong recommendation for using a 6S configuration on this model.
First it would be nice if FlightLine had published it's motor specs but since there are none one can only speculate what it can handle.
In speculation, if one where to use a comparable 600kV motor with known specs like the FMS 3648-600kV which has a max amperage rating of 48A with a max voltage of 18V, it is an easy conclusion that the FlightLine can't support the 6S power system. To further that conclusion, a 3648 can sized motor doesn't have the physical mass to dissipate the heat that would be generated.
Power requirements are exponential when dealing with voltage increases versus prop diameter/pitch/blade count.
That stock motor on 4S nominal voltage of 16V(4v per cell) per the math would be turning 9600 RPM whereas on 6S nominal voltage of 24V would be 14400 RPM
As I mentioned, the exponential rise of power required to turn the stock prop is considerably more than the ESC and motor can handle safely on 6S.
As you mention that in the posting you reference of smdub, he indicated he used a 1 inch smaller prop diameter MAS 11x7x3 which is a help towards achieving the goal of using 6S but is still highly questionable.
So in summary, just because one individual may have had questionable success does not mean that it would be a reliable recommendation to the masses.
Best regards,

[pmisuinas]

Rather than "concrete math evidence", what is better is actual recorded data. smdub did some measurements and posted the data here: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=5893

My earlier post was to indicate 6S seemed viable, with the thought others would search the thread for more info if interested. As indicated by actual measurement (given that smdub knows what he is doing), since the 11x7x3 MAS prop draws less current on 6S than the original prop on 4S, I think it is not unreasonable at all to believe the motor can handle it. In addition, if you check the thread, there are at least 3 people reporting success on 6S, although one did indeed indicate the motors were a bit hot using the FW props.

Besides, doesn't any recommendation to the masses start out as one individual having "questionable" success? Pete M

[downwindleg]

Quick question guys.....I am about to invest in some good batteries and am trying to get my hangar/Lipo strategy sorted. I have the FL p-38,Tigercat & am waiting to hit order on the 1600mm spitfire. Can I run a 6s battery in the twins with a parallel adapter? That way I have a suite of 6s batteries I can use in any of the planes.

I'd say just buy the 4s batteries.......it'd be great if you could run all your planes on 6s but IMHO it is not worth reinventing the wheel or prop when you already have a well established power/prop combination. Also, the increased weight of those 6s bricks would be a big problem. You could compensate by lowering the mah but then you've defeated the purpose of changing to 6s. Brad

[WW2rcpilot]

Just got back from Joe Nall with mine, absolutly awesome flyer and their golf green field was perfect for this baby.Will post some pics later.

[OV10]

pmisuinas,
Again to TiredIrons comment of "stock setup". Did you not notice that he did not test the stock 12x7x3 prop on 6S for pull and amp.
I have been doing this a long time too and have an electrical engineering background and can say that the 'stock' motor with 'stock' prop will not handle 6S.
Yes recommendations to the masses are good as long as the results are sound and not hazardous.
In the case of Wesnc asking if he can use 6S the answer would be NO for a stock configuration.
Best regards,

[Wesnc]

Thanks Guys, I appreciate your help :Cool:

[miatateer]

FWIW: Strut upgrade back in stock at motion :Cool:

[pmisuinas]

OV10,
Yes, I did notice he did not test the stock setup with 6S, probably because he knew it wouldn't take it. But my initial response was to address TiredIron's comment "6S would be too much on the P-38 and F7F ESCs". The P-38 ESC can handle 6S, which is what I said. I also stated the prop was changed to allow that operation. TI's comment did not have a qualifier on it (i.e., in stock configuration), that came later--and if it had been in the first post, I would have completely agreed with it, but would have still noted the ESC can indeed handle 6S. Likewise, your comment the stock motor can't handle 6S is not completely correct, unless you add the caveat "with the stock prop", which again, I agree with. But prop down, and the motor certainly can take 6S, as smdub has demonstrated (and measured). Oversimplifying to one line, it's not the voltage that kills, it's the current...

So yes, I agree the answer is NO for the stock configuration, but again, my comment was strictly focused on "can the ESC handle 6S", and while you may think the "in a totally stock configuration" was clearly implied, it wasn't to me--my brain was in engineering detail mode when I replied. I took it as a comment on whether the ESC was capable of working with a 6S battery, and it is--not always the case as other models designed to fly on 4S could very well have a ESC that would smoke on 6S.

And I too have an electrical engineering background and experience (I have a bachelor's and master's in EE), as well as my years of flying electrics like you and so many others. So in my opinion, the better response to Wesnc is "NO, you cannot use 6S for a stock configuration, but YES, you can use 6S if you adjust accordingly (in this case, go to a smaller prop)."

All of us saying the same thing, only in different ways :-) Pete M

[Aros]

Nice clarification pmisuinas and good job everyone for keeping the debate from turning sideways. :Cool:

[OV10]

Nice clarification pmisuinas and good job everyone for keeping the debate from turning sideways. :Cool:

You know we don't turn things sideways on the Squawk....that's why I hang and participate here versus over 'there' where it sometimes gets ugly. ;)

[Aros]

Exactly! Squawk is an ego-free community. Well, as much as an R/C airplane forum community can be! LOL

[rifleman_btx]

That's why I like it here. And keeping up with Motion projects is a plus.