Official FlightLine 1600mm P-51D Mustang Thread

[Davegeee]

Davgee- I did my first flights on low rate. It’s fine and maybe a good idea.

But, soon you’ll be flying on high rate.

-GG

Thanks. I'm all dialed in at low rate for the maiden and first flights. Appreciate the tips. I still hope to do the maiden this week, weather and WINDS, permitting.

Cheers

Davegee

[GliderGuy]

Davgee- I did my first flights on low rate. It’s fine and maybe a good idea.

But, soon you’ll be flying on high rate.

-GG

[Davegeee]

Great pics Dave. Man, I'm starting to understand how Callie must feel, seeing her work on such great airplanes! So cool to see my little guys in all these birds. Just like in all things art, every one is an accumulation of knowledge from the last ones. The mold was a little rough on that particular one, we'll have to play around with the setting per Elbee, he's a great pilot for the inventory and one I'd like to experiment with at some point.
Meanwhile, the new P-40 wings arrived from FMS. I'm totally blown away with the packaging, long tubes of bubble wrap and they didn't go cheap on it either. Got the airplane apart and installed the new Vertical stab that I've had kicking around. Also got into the new battery hatch that was a left over from the Hardway P-40. This is another discontinued airplane. Guess thats what happens after you've been in the hobby a while. Have to get all my discontinued planes out and photographed together.

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

Yes, your artistry is evident in every pilot figure you paint! I'm prouud to have your painted works in my cockpits. This is a far cry from those crappy OEM pilots from China. To me, it is worth the extra work to make some good and sometimes impressive changes from the stock foamie.

The roughness of the pilot print was disappointing, to be sure. I wasn't sure if you could save him but you did a great job cleaning up the less than perfect printing to make it presentable. It was even more surprising coming from Max Grueter as his stuff is usually firstrate. Maybe there is something on my end. I did change the settings that Elbee suggested but I might need to do a bit more on that score. For instance the stuff I did for you with those armored plates came out pretty smooth, and other pilots I have printed in the past month or two have been pretty clean and sharp reproductions. We'll figure it out.

I've got your armored back plates done and will drop them off tomorrow morning if I can, along with the prototype drop tank for you to check out.

Cheers

Davegee

[Davegeee]

Davgee - She is beautiful.

Set just one mm of down elevator with neutral stick and neutral trim. Set the flap/elevator mix per the manual.

1mm as measured by the fuselage elevator fairing area molding.

Be prepared to feel “THIS IS FUN!” about 30 seconds into the first flight. No bad habits!!!

-GG

PS Love your sky! We are covered with Sahara dust haze.

Thanks, GG! I think I have the settings set ok per the manual. I always set up Flight Modes on my planes so I can usually easily correct any minor trim adjustments needed to get a good flight path. We'll see...

I did one highspeed taxi right into the teeth of the wind and didn't have any control difficulties, but I'll be taking off for the maiden in much lower winds, if not calm conditions. But from your excellent admonitions and those of others who fly this new warbird from Flightline, I hope I won't be disappointed in its performance, and will come down safe and sound. Winds have been tough here the past few days, fairly unusual for summer. But I'm hoping they'll calm down in the next couple of days for a good flight.

For someone who has lived "out west" my whole life, I really enjoy and appreciate the deep blue skies we have out here, especially in summer. We rarely have 90 degrees here in the summer and the humidity is very low for a comfortable feeling outside. We enjoy it.

Cheers

Davegee

[Grossman56]

Great pics Dave. Man, I'm starting to understand how Callie must feel, seeing her work on such great airplanes! So cool to see my little guys in all these birds. Just like in all things art, every one is an accumulation of knowledge from the last ones. The mold was a little rough on that particular one, we'll have to play around with the setting per Elbee, he's a great pilot for the inventory and one I'd like to experiment with at some point.
Meanwhile, the new P-40 wings arrived from FMS. I'm totally blown away with the packaging, long tubes of bubble wrap and they didn't go cheap on it either. Got the airplane apart and installed the new Vertical stab that I've had kicking around. Also got into the new battery hatch that was a left over from the Hardway P-40. This is another discontinued airplane. Guess thats what happens after you've been in the hobby a while. Have to get all my discontinued planes out and photographed together.

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[GliderGuy]

Davgee - She is beautiful.

Set just one mm of down elevator with neutral stick and neutral trim. Set the flap/elevator mix per the manual.

1mm as measured by the fuselage elevator fairing area molding.

Be prepared to feel “THIS IS FUN!” about 30 seconds into the first flight. No bad habits!!!

-GG

PS Love your sky! We are covered with Sahara dust haze.

[Davegeee]

While still too windy to fly, I did take HHH out to the field for the taxi tests, range checks, and basically getting used to this new airplane. It seems to handle pretty well for the windy conditions, but at least I have some of those ground maneuvers under my belt to be ready to take off for real the next opportunity that comes with decent weather for a maiden flight.

I took a few pics of it too, and I really like how it looks outdoors for the first time, and the accuracy and detail that Flightline has done with this new airplane. I just hope mine will fly as well as some of the many pilots who have given reports on its perfomance as a brand new addition to the RC warbird fleet. The one photo of the plane taken from the right front shows a curving streak of "oil" from the oil breather in flight and the curved path it took along the right side of the fuselage as it followed the flow of air over the wings. It was on every WWII P-51 that I know of, and was usually wiped off on the ground when they returned. These days, owners and pilots have extended that breather tube several inches out of the fuselage where it flows out and away from the airplane not to mess it up.

Cheers

Davegee

[Davegeee]

WOW, what masterful work. Simply amazing, his eyes look so real! How about a stogie in his mouth still smoldering waiting for take-off with his mask off?

Yeah, Dan does amazing work on these figures. I am especially taken with how realistic the leather A-2 jacket looks. The faces as you say are amazingly real looking for a printed piece of nylon. Back then, I bet most all of them smoked and they had the convenience of the flare gun smoke port on the left side of the fuse that they used to clear out the smoke from their cigarettes or cigars or throw the butts out when they were done.

Could be an idea for a future pilot to hook up a small tube that runs to his mouth so he can blow out cigarette or cigar smoke, though. Duly noted! Hope you're having a good summer in the Miami area. You guys have a great field down there when the weather cooperates!

Cheers

Davegee

[Hugh Wiedman]

Danger Dan and I have been working on some detail scale improvements to the cockpit area of the new P-51D Flightline airplane. I modified a pilot figure sized in the correct scale more or less, and Dan did his masterful job of painting it. The pilot came from Max Grueter. Had to chop him off at the waist for this iteration to work, but it should, for now. Not much room to make a full size cockpit but that could be a subject to consider down the road. For now, it should be fine for the maiden and initial test flights to dial everything in.

I'll attach a few pics just after I glued him into the cockpit just now. I did add some scale detail like printing up Dan's creation for a scale N-9 gunsight, wiring for the helmet and mask microphones, and simulated phone jack cords colored black and red. Found a P-47 control grip that I made the right size to fit in his hand and added a hardwood dowel to serve as the top part of the stick. Suffiicient for now, I think. This pilot represents First Lieutenant (later Major) Richard "Pete" Peterson of the 357th FG out of Yoxford, England in WWII. He was one of five triple aces in the unit, he with 15.5 kills. In this 1944 photo, Peterson is on the far left, with Leonard "Kit" Carson next to him and then Johnny England, and Clarence "Bud" Anderson on the far right. Great pic of them!

Cheers

Davegee

WOW, what masterful work. Simply amazing, his eyes look so real! How about a stogie in his mouth still smoldering waiting for take-off with his mask off?

[Davegeee]

Here are a couple pics with the completed canopy reinstalled in the cockpit. Winds still too high to try any outdoor ground or flight testing. Watching for better weather, whenever that is!

Davegee

[Elbee]

Thanks, LB! Dan and I are working on a another scale printed part but it is too early in the development to "unveil" it yet. Stay tuned...

Cheers

davegee

Dave,

Bet I can guess what it is.

I know I would do it without hesitation.

Best, LB

[Davegeee]

Grossman56 davegee

Nicely done, gentlemen.

Best, LB

Thanks, LB! Dan and I are working on a another scale printed part but it is too early in the developement to "unveil" it yet. Stay tuned...

Cheers

davegee

[Elbee]

Grossman56 davegee

Nicely done, gentlemen.

Best, LB

[Davegeee]

Danger Dan and I have been working on some detail scale improvements to the cockpit area of the new P-51D Flightline airplane. I modified a pilot figure sized in the correct scale more or less, and Dan did his masterful job of painting it. The pilot came from Max Grueter. Had to chop him off at the waist for this iteration to work, but it should, for now. Not much room to make a full size cockpit but that could be a subject to consider down the road. For now, it should be fine for the maiden and initial test flights to dial everything in.

I'll attach a few pics just after I glued him into the cockpit just now. I did add some scale detail like printing up Dan's creation for a scale N-9 gunsight, wiring for the helmet and mask microphones, and simulated phone jack cords colored black and red. Found a P-47 control grip that I made the right size to fit in his hand and added a hardwood dowel to serve as the top part of the stick. Suffiicient for now, I think. This pilot represents First Lieutenant (later Major) Richard "Pete" Peterson of the 357th FG out of Yoxford, England in WWII. He was one of five triple aces in the unit, he with 15.5 kills. In this 1944 photo, Peterson is on the far left, with Leonard "Kit" Carson next to him and then Johnny England, and Clarence "Bud" Anderson on the far right. Great pic of them!

Cheers

Davegee

[Grossman56]

Get the set with the larger diameter pins Dave, might as well have everything going for you.

BTW, check you mail, just sent you something

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[Davegeee]

Davegee,
Looking fantastic. Looking forward to hear about the test flight.
More rain here although we have been getting 1 day a week of flying but only with our sport planes because shifting gusts have been up to 20 mph. Getting P-47 ready to fly once the weather gets better.
Best Regards, Rex

Hi Rex: I'm sure I responded to your last entry, but I'll be darned if I can find it now! Anyway, in case it got lost somewhere in the ether, I was wishing you good luck with the weather and hopefully you'll be able to drag your "big guys" out to fly, like Lucky. I'm removing and replacing the retract units in both mains on my Corsair just now. I knew they were hanging by threads, but decided to do just one more flight before replacing them and my order coming in for the parts. Sure enough, it was a great flight as usual, but when it landed the right gear folded on rollout, causing minor surface damage to the foam on that side of the wing. No problem getting it repaired and repainted (ask me how I know how to do foam repairs!) and will replace both units today. Hope to fly it next week after I get back from my trip.

I have known a telltale sign of possible damage to the gear or plastic housing for the retract, is when you test them on the ground and they shudder and shake. I've seen that for some time now, but I still kept flying. This last time, when I pulled that retract out of the airplane, the whole housing came apart in my hand like an ancient book or something. Now, it will have Both gear replaced and I should have many more flights with it.

Cheers

Davegee

[Davegeee]

Davegee - There’s actually a “rate of throttle application” sweet spot that when you learn it…you won’t touch the rudder on take-off. Others have mentioned this in prior posts. She’ll jump into the air faster than she has time to yaw left or right. It’s like…whoop…you are airborne and picking up the gear and flaps and you never touched the rudder. If you apply power slowly, you can have your hands full and zig zag all over the place. I use some flap and a bit of up stick on take-off, also.

As with all tail draggers…need some focus on landing roll out to stop any yaw BEFORE it starts. But, she’s one of the easiest in this regard. Still might want to add a scrape pad at the trailing edge of the tips for the times you’ll miss stopping the yaw in time.

Definitely wheel land it with about 25% power on final. She bleeds speed fast with full flaps and no power.

I made about 15 landings one day last week and was on my “A GAME”! Never done it before like that day. Every landing but one was ZERO vertical speed and butter smooth. I could see the mains kicking small gravel forward on some landings. She’s a sweety! Made me look good. Naturally, no witnesses.

Love the photos/scheme of your bird.

-GG

Great points, GG, and I appreciate them! I'll do my best and report back when I get the opportunity to fly, hopefully late next week.

Cheers

Davegee

[GliderGuy]

Davegee - There’s actually a “rate of throttle application” sweet spot that when you learn it…you won’t touch the rudder on take-off. Others have mentioned this in prior posts. She’ll jump into the air faster than she has time to yaw left or right. It’s like…whoop…you are airborne and picking up the gear and flaps and you never touched the rudder. If you apply power slowly, you can have your hands full and zig zag all over the place. I use some flap and a bit of up stick on take-off, also.

As with all tail draggers…need some focus on landing roll out to stop any yaw BEFORE it starts. But, she’s one of the easiest in this regard. Still might want to add a scrape pad at the trailing edge of the tips for the times you’ll miss stopping the yaw in time.

Definitely wheel land it with about 25% power on final. She bleeds speed fast with full flaps and no power.

I made about 15 landings one day last week and was on my “A GAME”! Never done it before like that day. Every landing but one was ZERO vertical speed and butter smooth. I could see the mains kicking small gravel forward on some landings. She’s a sweety! Made me look good. Naturally, no witnesses.

Love the photos/scheme of your bird.

-GG

[davegee]

Good info, nuts-n-volts. I was impressed with the main gear struts for the main gear which should help with takeoff and landing performance. We have a very rough asphalt runway so I can use every bit of help I can get!

cheers

davegee

[nuts-n-volts]

Typical warbird. Don't wait on power. Get her rolling straight easily, then a smooth but fairly quick progression to about 3/4 throttle. Holding slight right rudder of course. More than that and the take off won't be a smooth as you like. She flies slow very well even with a 6700 HV. I do use a little bit of flap and if you do the same, hold a bit of up elevator to keep her from nosing over. She won't go all the way over, but it is noticeable if you don't hold that bit of up.

Landings are very predictable with about a quarter power. Wheel her on. Slow down. Rudder, rudder. You know the drill. The shocks on this bird are super forgiving.