Official FlightLine RC 1600mm P-38 Lightning Thread

[Tygerman42]

Another gear issue was the screws holding the retract to the plane being to tight. The screws being too tight. Deformed the gear casing not allowing it to operate freely. Back the screws off a little bit and then they began working reliably on my mind.

[xviper]

Could use some help my gears and doors don't always come down. I may have to cycle the gears multiple times to get the gear down. Any idea?

My P-38 used to do that too. After several runs on the ground, both taking off and particularly landing, the vibration and bouncing causes the wire strut to slowly bend backwards. Eventually, the tire hits the wheel well and causes pressure on the retract in a way that it doesn't quite hit the "closed" limit switch. Next time you want it down, it may bind and just get stuck. On the bench, if it won't come down, as you hit the gear switch, push down on the strut between the tire and the retract and it should activate and come down. Once it's down, brace the retract itself and carefully "unbend" the strut to the forward direction. This should fix it. Note: This may or may not be the problem with your plane but it certainly was with mine. My P-38 is no longer with me (sold), but man, I can't believe it's been over 10 years since I had one.

In fact, I made a video 10 years ago on this very topic.

[FIDYG]

Could use some help my gears and doors don't always come down. I may have to cycle the gears multiple times to get the gear down. Any idea?

[Craterman]

That worked! Thx!

[xviper]

Hey I just 'acquired' the silver Flightline P38 today. It only had a few flights on it and has upgraded landing gear. All of my planes are allied green, and I want to paint this one as well. Since I didn't put it together, is it going to be too much of a headache to dismantle it and paint each section, or should I just paint it in one piece? Is there anything I should watch out for?
Craterman

Download the manual. That will show you how it went together so you can backward engineer taking it apart.

[Craterman]

Hey I just 'acquired' the silver Flightline P38 today. It only had a few flights on it and has upgraded landing gear. All of my planes are allied green, and I want to paint this one as well. Since I didn't put it together, is it going to be too much of a headache to dismantle it and paint each section, or should I just paint it in one piece? Is there anything I should watch out for?
Craterman

[GliderGuy]

I’ve had good service from this battery…. Admiral 3000mAh 4S 14.8V 35C LiPo Battery with T Connector

Currently out of stock.

A similar type from SMC if available will also be good.

https://www.smc-racing.com/

-GG

[vrosi1963]

As a precaution, everyone having the older version of the P-38....you should consider changing out the prop/hub assemblies with the current version. The original prop/hub version was subject to cracking, and I lost a blade on take-off, once. Luckily, it happened just at lift-off and inches high...so she rolled over and skidded to a stop on her back. Minimal damage occurred.

I fly her every time I go out....first I fly the EDFs and then finish off the day with the P-38. She's a blast to fly. Many, many flights ago, I replaced the prop/hub assemblies with the current version....no cracking issues since.

-GG

And what lipos do you like for the P38 . time for some new ones

[GliderGuy]

As a precaution, everyone having the older version of the P-38....you should consider changing out the prop/hub assemblies with the current version. The original prop/hub version was subject to cracking, and I lost a blade on take-off, once. Luckily, it happened just at lift-off and inches high...so she rolled over and skidded to a stop on her back. Minimal damage occurred.

I fly her every time I go out....first I fly the EDFs and then finish off the day with the P-38. She's a blast to fly. Many, many flights ago, I replaced the prop/hub assemblies with the current version....no cracking issues since.

-GG

[Aros]

Wow it’s been 8 years since this model was released?! How not only this model but time flies. Mine is still in great shape, never crashed. Wonderful flyer.

[vrosi1963]

After 8 years of flying this p38 several times a year off a paved surface, i dont like the wing attachment design, I wish for a V2 type like the New B25 has i think it is time for some spinner inspections for cracks, no issues with any part of the plane so ,very nice flying plane, I have been using Admiral 4S 3000 and they seem to puff up after about two years and need a better lipo options

[Twowingtj]

Elbee Thanks!

Haven't been as active on the Squawk as we used to. I still check in to see what's happening. I do miss the days when more of the "old crew" were keeping things lively.
It's still the best forum format out there.

[Elbee]

Twowingtj

Great to read your voice, Sir, it's been a minute.

Best, LB

[Twowingtj]

I've had mine since 2016. I've used two Admiral 4S 4000mah since day one. I trimmed some of the foam ahead of the aluminum spar to get the CG.

[Shempy]

172 skyhawk

[Grossman56]

Hi guys:
Didn't see this until much later, like this evening. First, I haven't owned the P38 but what I did do to my Tigercat was went two Kv 760 motors and bought the prop shafts and spinners for the B25, the shafts lined up perfectly with the motors and I had to drill new holes for the motor mounts (Oh yeah, order them as well as the motors direct from FMS). Once I knew the shafts would fit, the rest was straightforward. Much better designed spinners as well as the metal piece to fit over the prop blades just makes more sense, now a bolt holds it all together instead of a small screw.
Excellent performance, much better than stock, I had to trim a bit of the battery hatch away to fit the 3600 and 4000 4s batteries in, maybe that's the same case with the P 38.
Also, the prop blades for the B 25, F7F and the P 38 are the same.

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[Evan D]

So you didn’t try the 6S mod?

[rckruser]

I think the P-38 could fit a 4000mah (or less) 6s battery. A 5000mah, 6s might also fit but the CG might be hard to achieve.

To Couchbr

Neither the 4 or 5000 6s option will give you the increased flight time you can get with 2 3000mah 4s Admiral's.
For a while I flew mine with 2 3600mah 4s HRB batteries. They barely fit. Flight time was ten minutes. Sadly, the HRB's swelled after half a season and no longer fit. I no longer use HRB batteries.

If you are thinking of using a single 4 cell, you would need one with at least a 70C rating to match the performance of 2 4 cell batteries with a 35C rating on each one.

Out of curiosity, I tried putting two 4000mah 4 cells in the plane. No go. Doesn't fit. A 3000 and 4000mah do fit with room for CG adjustment. This would provide 7000mah capacity which should be good for 9+ minutes of mixed flying.

Bernie

[xviper]

Why mess with a successful stock set-up?

-GG

I agree! If his goal is to simplify the battery set up to use just one battery, it's easy enough to modify the wiring to accept a single 4s battery of the appropriate size. It's not a single battery that gives more flight time. It's more that it's what size of single battery will give more flight time and what size will fit in the space available and not make achieving the correct CG difficult.

[GliderGuy]

Adding my 2 cents.... I use two of the Admiral 4S 3000 mAh 35C batteries. Timer is set for 5 minutes, and at about 75% throttle most of the flight plus some full throttle hot rodding, I consistently land with 1300 mAh consumed (as shown on the charger...next charge cycle). This leaves me with 1700 mAh remaining in each battery (of course...that'd be an unrealistic 100% drain to use that much). So, definitely more than 5 minutes is possible, and this bird is a spirited performer on stock power.

Why mess with a successful stock set-up?

-GG