Boeing P-12

[Grossman56]

Yeah, I just ordered a box of weights as well, they must wonder why all of a sudden they're moving so many!
Had some Amazon points so I got mine for free. Should be enough to last me a lifetime!

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[Grossman56]

If we think we have it rough trying to get these to fly, here's an OH SH*T from an actual P12:


Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[jetfool]

Yikes! A detracted landing gear. Those early pilots went through a lot of trials, very few instruments, no radar, no computer simulation before flight.
These weights will last my lifetime also but are nice to have.
Just waiting for a good day to test again. I have balanced, balanced, balanced and checked control movement so many times that my new talking radio yelled out ENOUGH!
Best Regards, Rex

[Grossman56]

It's interesting to see the variants, some don't have the big build up ( called a 'Panama') behind the pilots head, but apparently it was put there so he didn't break his neck on a roll over, like this poor guy might have had, or at least a ground loop I would think. Some poor mechanic paid a price no doubt!
Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[Randy H]

Maidend my Boeing biplane today and had two flights mainly to trim out the model. Weather was great sunshine 70 degrees and about a four mph cross wind at our field hear in AZ. Flew the model with a 2500 S pack, no gyro and about 3 ounces of lead in the nose ring of the airplane. Set up was as per the manual with slight down in the elevator.
1rst flight: took off with no problem faced it into the wind and added right rudder and some right aileron to counter the torque of the motor. In the air it was very stable but I had to add up elevator to keep the plane straight and level. It was pretty stable and not squirrely and I only needed the up trim in the elevator to keep her flying straight and level. On landing I quartered into the wind as much as possible and came in with some power to overcome the drag of the engine ring and landing gear. Landing was good.
2nd flight: elevator was now set without the down pitch. She took off a little quicker but no real issues. Flew straight and level and really looked great in the air. Standard loops and rolls no problem plenty of power. Wind had calmed down so landing was pretty uneventful just keep the power on stay on the rudder and let it settle. Bottom line as long as this model is balanced correctly it should fly great just keep power on during landing and be mindful to keep on the rudder for correction.

[jetfool]

Randy,
Congratulations on your flights. My flights were about the same. She fly's great once balanced correctly and will do almost any aerobatics you want. I had 2.95 ounces in mine but have increased to 4 ounces. Might be a little too much but the next flight will tell. I landed with some power on also, she will drop with no power on landing. My stalls up high were straight with no tendency to snap roll. Again CONGRATULATIONS!
Best Regards, Rex

[Grossman56]

Got her up today!

Take off was fairly easy, the usual wanting to pull to the left but nothing totally surprising. As I was warned, she likes to climb with the 0 degree elevator setting and she wanted to roll as well. took her up to altitude and got the rims adjusted, frankly, I'd rather have her wanting to climb than dive so got that sorted out first then dealt with the roll.
Once flying fairly level, I turned on the gyro and no surprises there either! That pretty well took care of the wind.
I'm using the Lemon 7ch with gyro, a pretty good little receiver but an extremely tight fit in this plane.
Landings were similar to the Spitfire, you have to find that sweet spot where it descends at an acceptable speed and play around with that. Since there is no spring system to the landing gear, all the shock is absorbed by the tires and the fuse, so I tried to land nose up, almost a three point. She likes to pull to the left so leave a bit of throttle on to help keep it straight and be ready on the rudder!
All in all, not a bad flying airplane once the CG is fixed, I used 78mm and she was ever to slightly nose down.
Here's what the gyro settings look like:

The notches are pointing to the side of the fuse.

And the knob is at 10 o'clock
Final trims look like this

So there we have it, I only had one battery so two flights was it, but I learned a lot from these flights. I had counted on it handling like the Roc Hobby Waco and I was right, it's a fun plane once you have her tamed down.
I went with 30% Expo (my usual) and 90% throws on everything, I'll probably roll the expo down to 25 and try her like that, but other than that it fly fly fly!!

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[Randy H]

Congratulations Grossman and jet fool. Looks like the key to this model is having the cg correct. Again thx for all the input from you all makes this hobby a lot more fun. By the way I set my expo to 20% seems to be right for me. Also thanks for the settings on the gyro I never used one but I may give it a try.

[Grossman56]

Thanks Randy!
The biggest thing with a gyro is making sure its correcting in the right direction. It should always correct in the direction of the motion. For instance, if you raise the wing in a bank like motion, the aileron trailing edge should rise. It's correcting the upwards motion by creating less lift. Make it a rule to leave it off on the first flight until you're trimmed up and at altitude. which it on and off that quickly. If the airplane didn't do something weird, it should be good to turn back on, if not, one of the control surfaces is not reacting in the correct direction.
I've used them for decades, mostly A3's and A3L's but recently got into the lemon Rx's with the built in gyros, a lot less cables to have to deal with.

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[jetfool]

GRossman56,
Congratulations on your flights.
It really is a great flyer with the correct C/G. Planning on flying mine tomorrow if the weather cooperates. Pull to the left is controllable if expecting it. It looks beautiful in the air.
Best Regards, Rex