Official FlightLine 1600mm P-51D Mustang Thread

[GliderGuy]

I’m having difficulty with the wing lock buttons, specifically the right side lower button. It will not lock. I removed the wings and worked the button, and it moves freely. One other button is difficult, but it does lock. Any suggestions?

Mine were tight, as well. Only a couple gave the click lock sound. One of those would not release after pushing it in. I decided to monitor and not mess around and possibly damage it. It’s staying in, so far.

That’s my experience. If they are in, they appear to be secure. But check often.

-GG

[GEH]

Mine were tight, as well. Only a couple gave the click lock sound. One of the non clicker ones would not release after pushing it in. I decided to monitor and not mess around and possibly damage it. It’s staying in, so far.

That’s my experience. If they are in, they appear to be secure. But check often.

-GG

Glider, thanks. The one button won't go in at all.

[GliderGuy]

With full scale sailplanes, inserting wing spar pins is sometimes a fraction of a mm tolerance thing. Letting the glider warm up or chill down can help.

Set your bird outside and let the parts cool down for an hour. Then try again.

if that fails, next try some silicon lube. If that fails, a gentle hammer tap while pushing hard together.
Last, you may need to trim gently some plastic off.

-GG

[Aros]

Mine also were difficult to lock/unlock. I found if I pushed the wing in as tight as I could, the lock would function better. You can't have even the slightest slop when trying to lock/unlock the wings.

[xviper]

GG mentioned about "tolerances". This is also applicable to model planes, in particular, these wing locking mechanisms. I have several planes with these locks and some do, in fact, start off being very tight or seemingly impossible to operate.
Examine the lock mechanism and see how it works. Look inside the hole (on the fuse side) where you can see (use a flashlight) what happens and what moves when you work the pin down and up. Now cross reference that to the metal bolt where the hole is. You should be able to see (or visualize) that the moving part of the "pin" goes into the hole in the bolt. It's not hard to conclude that the bolt doesn't quite fit into the hole. It "catches". That is to say, the pin is NOT totally centered in the hole of the metal bolt. Most likely because the wing is NOT pushed in far enough. You may need a 2nd person to help here. Have one person push that part of the wing root firmly into the fuse while the other person tries to activate the pin. Does it go? Or just goes? This should tell you that the pin is "catching" on the outer part of the metal hole. Generally, after several activations, enough is worn off the pin itself (or the metal hole) that it should get easier and easier to function.
If this does not happen, you have an option................. grind away a very minute part of outer side of the hole. (It's not possible to grind the inner suface of the pin mechanism because it's hidden away from you.)
You just have to be a bit analytical. It's not rocket science.

[Evan D]

I'm going to say this quietly as there could be negative unintended consequences.

Mine were almost impossible to latch and have gotten no better after many flights. I really have to push the wings towards the fuselage and to the point I was worried about damage. It was worse on the port wing. The Starboard wasn't nearly as bad. I took the small metal tabs off the port wing, two screws hold each one on. I cut a piece of paper 0.1mm thick and put these behind the metal tabs and put the tabs back on. Wa la, perfection. I still need to push the wing firmly against the fuselage but the latches are easy to latch and unlatch.

[GliderGuy]

Evan…that’s known as creative engineering. Excellent.

-GG

[xviper]

I'm going to say this quietly as there could be negative unintended consequences.

Mine were almost impossible to latch and have gotten no better after many flights. I really have to push the wings towards the fuselage and to the point I was worried about damage. It was worse on the port wing. The Starboard wasn't nearly as bad. I took the small metal tabs off the port wing, two screws hold each one on. I cut a piece of paper 0.1mm thick and put these behind the metal tabs and put the tabs back on. Wa la, perfection. I still need to push the wing firmly against the fuselage but the latches are easy to latch and unlatch.

I can't see anything negative coming out of that. It's a solution that resolves this problem when they simply will not lock easily, ever. This just shows that the production and assembly of certain bits of this (and other) planes is NOT uniform or consistent. This is a better solution than to grind the hole bigger on the outer side.

As an aside, HobbyKing Avios planes that use a "locking" mechanism for their wingtips have been known to have this problem since conception. They use a plastic tab that is built on an angle. Once the wing is pushed together, the tab deflects and then pops back to "lock" the wing in place. It is sometimes necessary to sand off a small bit of length of this tab so that it can pop back in place. The wing, in these cases, simply cannot be shoved in far enough to pop the tab back out. To further complicate things, the wing connectors (not unlike those on Freewing/Flightline planes) may not fully seat and complete the circuits, resulting in some servos and lights not working. In these cases, a small piece of plastic credit card must be cut and shaped and installed behind one of the connectors, just like in the case where Evan used a piece of paper. In these Avios models, the gap was "enormous".

[WDivCV61]

Good info. I always save junk mail dummy cc's and stuff just for instances like this. Great gasket/spacer material both the fancy plastic ones and the thin cardboard.

[f4u ausie]

There tolerances r tight then ... If I read all that correctly . U could die grind. Or better withe a small square file take. 4 or 5 thou( around that
..1. Of a mm). Mentioned off the outer. Flat of each wing bracket... Internally.. Might be easier . Dought that would have adverse effect on strength... It may have some casting flash in there

[Evan D]

That would work too. The shim was very easy.

[BL_41]

I did check the prop balance on my plane even though I did not have a really good balancer for this size/number of props. The plane vibration was minimal. But I recently bought a small scale with accuracy in the 0.1gram range. Today I took the props off the plane and weighed them - 19.24, 19.22, 19.25, 19.23 grams (average of 5 weighings each). The two heavier props were opposite each other to start with (by accident). I put them back on the same way. By the way, each props will stand up vertically on its own. I put each in the middle of the scale standing vertically for these weights.

[Eddie P]

I’ve got just over 20 flights on mine now and just loving it. I have to say, she is a bit lighter on the wing loading than many warbirds I fly. Many will of course view this positively. But in windy conditions she does get knocked around a little due to the light loading. In calm conditions and in wind in less than 10 - she is so beautiful. And the landings and takeoffs are very nice.

I have been flying with anything from 5000 to 7000 generally speaking. I prefer SMC 6700’s at 830g. I just prefer a slightly more assertive feel on my warbirds and that pack gives me a little higher loading and plenty of oomph. My timer is set for 8 minutes to be friendly to others if the skies are full and she could fly longer for sure depending on flying style - on the bigger packs.

Like others I have noticed the aft clips are a little more temperamental to lock and will try Evan’s trick. Saw some issues maybe with the offset on the main struts… perhaps with a hard landing. I fly off pavement and nothing to report so far on that myself. Glad individual pieces are available if that happens. Otherwise - Quality is among the best I’ve seen yet on a foam ARF.

[xviper]

I did check the prop balance on my plane even though I did not have a really good balancer for this size/number of props. The plane vibration was minimal. But I recently bought a small scale with accuracy in the 0.1gram range. Today I took the props off the plane and weighed them - 19.24, 19.22, 19.25, 19.23 grams (average of 5 weighings each). The two heavier props were opposite each other to start with (by accident). I put them back on the same way. By the way, each props will stand up vertically on its own. I put each in the middle of the scale standing vertically for these weights.

NOTE: This is my opinion. Take it or leave it.
For a mutl-bladed prop, weighing each blade is a start. Then you can use a small piece of black electrical tape on the back side, to even them all out, adding tape on the lighter ones to match the heaviest one. You can have evenly weighted blades on opposite sides UNLESS you have an odd number of blades. Nevertheless, I prefer to have them ALL weigh the same to start with. Balancing the blades is one thing, then you should be balancing the hub, especially large ones like on this plane. You can have perfectly weighted blades and still not have a balanced prop. Eflite has this covered by supplying certain prop assemblies with center prop hubs that can be either shaved in one spot or have weights added in one spot.
"Minimal" vibration is not a big deal when the model is new. Given time, these little vibrations can wear on ancilliary bits and pieces. Then one day, something explodes making you wonder, "What just happened?"

Get one of these where the whole prop assembly can hang over the edge of a level table .................

https://www.amazon.ca/Helicopter-Balancer-Propeller-Multirotor-Airplane/dp/B0BWDQYZHG

[GEH]

I'm going to say this quietly as there could be negative unintended consequences.

Mine were almost impossible to latch and have gotten no better after many flights. I really have to push the wings towards the fuselage and to the point I was worried about damage. It was worse on the port wing. The Starboard wasn't nearly as bad. I took the small metal tabs off the port wing, two screws hold each one on. I cut a piece of paper 0.1mm thick and put these behind the metal tabs and put the tabs back on. Wa la, perfection. I still need to push the wing firmly against the fuselage but the latches are easy to latch and unlatch.

Evan, brillant solution. I used 0.12mm thick paper for all four button locks. No longer fighting the push buttons, they work perfectly. Thank you for posting. Glyn

[Evan D]

Anytime. I’m thinking all of us have this issue.

[Tygerman42]

Got 3 flights in today with the drop tanks! Definitely adds a touch of drag and a few clicks of elevator, I have never flown with the tanks on. Got called in to cover the bombers, so quickly set up to drop tanks and get in the fight. Hit the button and nothing. Hot it again and they dropped! Learned that every time you power up the craft, cycle the bomb drops once. Then attach the tanks. They are ready to go. If you don't, the first press cycles the servo to full lock and the 2nd press release them. Man, does she fly nice. Put 3 of 5 1.6 birds up today, spitfire got 2 flights, P-51 and Corsair each got 3 flights! On a 5200 SMC HP I hit 10 minutes on the Corsair and I was not just cruising. Of the 3, P-51 takes off the best followed closely by the Corsair and then the spit a little bit harder. Landing, I think the Corsair wins, those flaps! Followed by the P-51 and then spit. Tomorrow putting up the B-25, P-38 and Avenger if it get here!

[GliderGuy]

Had my first gear extension failure at sunrise this morning. Was gonna do a touch and go after the first pattern. So, lotsa battery. I decided to retract and fly then start working a solution with plenty of time at the end.

When I extended the gear a second time it came down. I’ll be lightly lubricating everything with silicon spray. Probably a good idea to not use oil that would collect dirt. It’s a finely tuned mechanism.

It was the left main, only. I had thoughts of busted prop blades and torn off external left tank. Whew!

-GG

Update: After studying the retract design in more detail, there’s not an “up lock”…only a “down lock”. I must give this one to the gremlins possibly hiding in the control board. I also checked for any tolerance binding and found nothing tight or binding. So, a recycle of the gear switch “should” clear any hang-ups.

[nuts-n-volts]

Keep an eye on Fades, Frame Losses, and Holds, as well as Rx Battery Voltage. There are 12 servos + the retracts + lights on this bird (I know you know) which is plenty of current to possibly overload the bec. I've had high numbers on mine even with a capacitor and adjusting the satellites. Will now try a Rx pack just to test if things clear up.

[Aros]

She's coming together. I decided to make her a hybrid because Ferocious Frankie should have had the yellow tail to match the nose. Looks much better, IMO. Just waiting on the Testor's Olive Drab and Callie's decal's and she's ready for the skies!