Official Nexa 2108mm P-38 Lightning ARF Thread

[Larry D]

Guys if anyone is still on this thread...what torx head size is the wing screw (i.e. T20)? Also if anyone knows where I can find the STL files for the super charger for 3D printing and you are willing to share that information, I would really appreciate it. I inherited this VQ\Legend\Nexa from a good friend and what to get her flying. Thanks in advance!

[Matt Mathias]

I did the flap mod from the gentleman on rcgroups. He put out a video showing the servo standing up on each flap section and it works great. My flaps work as they should. Yes, this is a bit of a tough build but I just think of what Aros says. "It's a great flyer " I've watched his videos as well and it looks like it Flys great.

[Matt Mathias]

Yep, you are correct I see it now. I looked "through" the book several times and there it is on the cover. Thank you. I've been working on heating and finessing this condola cover for a couple hours now. I think it's as good as I'm going to get it. I see motion has one complete gondola in stock. I'm half tempted to buy it and see if they have improved it since I bought this arf in Spring TX in 2018. Yes it's sat in it's box a long time. 😂

[Evan D]

Sorry Matt, my memory fails me on that...

I answered while in my car. Now that I look at it more I think its on the boom just under the flap. Look at your manual cover page top drawing.


These remind me of the older KMP models, I had his P-38 and he used paper thin fiberglass that fit bad and it took a lot to make parts fit, and heat gun is a good way to do it. While that plane flew exceptionally well, there were too many things that kept going wrong that made me give it away. The Nexa does look nice.

[Matt Mathias]

Well hello Evan, we have spoken before. Thank you for taking your time for a response. I'm getting close on this beast! Working on getting all the trim stuff installed. These thin plastic turbo pieces are needing finessed into position with some heat.
Not sure what to do about the terrible fitting top/cockpit condola piece. Its fiberglass,⁴ im gonna try to use the heat gun on that as well.

[Evan D]

Either side of the engine cowl?

[Matt Mathias]

The instruction book doesn't show these scoops. Would someone please tell me where they go?

[Matt Mathias]

Here are the motors and esc's I'm using. As well as my main gear door springs/string setup. They work pretty good.

[Matt Mathias]

Rcpilot54, i did just last night got the main gear doors working with the springs and 30# test fish line method. Having one heck of a time getting the nose gear door to hinge properly. We're you able to get it to work?

[Aros]

Yeah the build had its warts for sure. But I assure you its worth it. She flies phenomenally.

[rcpilot54]

Finally got the main landing gear doors to work. Will work on the nose gear door. This kit is very poorly fitted. Huge gaps in the landing gear doors and main plastic body parts that I will have to heat and sale because is the poor fit. I expected better craftsmanship for $1327 price tag. I was wrong. I would never buy this model again. Much time spent un-building and re-building to get things to at least work. Hope it flies well.

[rcpilot54]

Good afternoon to all. I’m building the Nexa P-38 lightning. Had trouble with the flaps so I changed them to split flaps each run by a mini servo. They work great. My problem now is the main landing gear doors. Saw where two mini servos were used for each door. How did that work out? Did anyone get them both working with one servo only? Also did anyone actually try the spring and string method the instructions show? Need help.

[Aros]

I’ll go with the two Turnigy 4250/500Kv motors, 16x10x3 props, 100A ES’s, two 14.8v/5000Mah batteries in parallel for both motors, separate battery for rcvr servos and landing gear.

You won't be disappointed. Good luck and keep us posted!

[Monster 3056]

For the record Monster 3056 and rcpilot54 are the same person. Guess I had this saved to the laptop and the other was on the iphone. Technology...... don't ya just love it?

My apologies for the confusion.

[rcpilot54]

I press 1 which takes me to the beginning then just scroll. The time stamp is Dec 16, 2020 at 01:20 pm. I looked at it again just now and you might have been referring to an e-flite model? But then later in the thread you refer to the dualsky 470 motors. I may have just read it wrong and gotten confused. If so my bad and my apologies. Thank you again for your help.

I’ll go with the two Turnigy 4250/500Kv motors, 16x10x3 props, 100A ES’s, two 14.8v/5000Mah batteries in parallel for both motors, separate battery for rcvr servos and landing gear.

[Aros]

Do you mind directing me to that post in 2020? Truth be told this is a model I had many years ago so I want to be sure I am correct in the specs I am offering. I had the Legend Models P-38 which was VQ which is now Nexa. It should be the same model I had (regardless of the brand name).

[Monster 3056]

Thanks for the quick response again. I just want to be sure about the prop size. I saw a previous post (16 Dec 2020) and i thought it indicated rimfire 1.20's with the 16x10x3 props. was that a different P-38 manufacturer? just want to be sure we are on the same page:

470Kv (or 500Kv in my case) 100A ESC, separate battery for the receiver/servos, 16x10x3 props. that's the combo right?

By the way I will be using the recommended 14.8v 5000 Mah battery (2 of them). I do like the idea of connecting them parallel so both motors draw from the same power source. My A-26 is set up like that. In essence the 2 motors draw from one 14.8v 10,000 Mah source.

Thanks again for your advice. I'm also beginning to see that the retract doors are going to be interesting to get working. I was intending to use micro servos and a sequencing unit for the gear and doors.

[Aros]

I don't have the data anymore but that combo stayed well within limits. Also, rounding the MA 3-blade tips cut the size down a touch. 770Kv would be a bit underpowered to me. The 500s should be much better. I also wouldn't suggest lower than 85A ESCs plus the redundancy like the RX battery is a good idea. I'll see if I can find the AUW later today.

[Monster 3056]

wow!! thanks for the quick response. 16x10x3 prop? Man that's big, I had no idea. no overheating issues and it flew with authority? do you remember how much it weighed all up? I have two Turnigy 4250-500kv motors I had for another project plus the two Admiral 4220-770kV motors Motion RC sent. Which of those two do you think will work or should i just look for a 470kV motor? My apologies for all the questions but I'm not up to speed on the specifics of electric setups. I was planning to get 100A ESCs in any event, I didn't think the 65A ESC they sent would cut it. I'll also be running an independent battery for the receiver, my thought being if the ESC craps out I can at least glide back home.

I also have the Phoenix A-26-- - 16.5 lbs all up weight with two 4s 5000 Mah. I run it with 12x8x2 props both spin in the same direction, no torque issues to date. It has two rimfire 46's and a hobbyking 80A ESC. have had it for years and it flies like a dream and with authority. thank you again for your help. Manny

[Aros]

I hope this gets to the right person.

I am building the Nexa P-38 and you're right there is so much slop in the flap bell cranks there is no way to get them properly deployed or closed. I took all that junk out and converted them to split flaps, each flap direct to a servo. They are solid now. the initial flap set up leaves much to be desired. Their recommended package includes 2 blade props but the nose cone is for a 3 blade prop. I would like to put a 3 blade prop on but what size? the 2 blade prop is 12x8. I saw a saito conversion chart that equates an 12x8 two blade to an 11x8 3 blade. Is that correct? will the Admiral GP5-770kV motor be enough to give the model speed? the recommended esc is 65A I will change that to 80 or 90 right out of the gate. has anyone flown this with a 3 blade prop.

No help on this from Motion RC.

At this point I am stuck. I know a 3 blade is less efficient than a 2 blade and I want the model to fly with authority. I'm thinking a more powerful motor is needed and also and 80A to 100A ESC instead of the 65A they sent. Who has flow this and what size 3 blade / motor / ESC was used?

Any help is appreciated.

This was my setup 9 years ago. Dualsky 470Kv motors swinging Master Airscrew 16x10x3 counter rotating props with Castle Edge 100A ESCs and 20A Pro Amp BEC with a Spektrum AR9020 9ch RX.

Flew fantastic with that combo.