Official FMS 1400mm P-51D V8 Thread

[Shirty]

Yep grats Canuck. Pretty much my set up. You'll love it, good luck with the maiden. ;)

[Grossman56]

http://smallpartscnc.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=193

Hi Crashcanuck, here's the retract sides you want to get for your Mustang. I tried something similar to what you have and these are far superior, it was actually OV10 who found them for the rest of us.
Did you mean the 650 kv motor?
Arycon, I haven't seen any mention of holding in some up elevator on your take off run to keep the tail down. It doesn't take much, but, as an experiment with my P-40B, I tried taking off without any elevator, she went to stand on her nose and I quickly added elevator and planted the tail wheel back on the ground.
To my way of thinking, take off is performed with the left hand/ throttle/rudder stick. I just hold in my elevator slightly with the right stick and concentrate on my left stick to correct the P factor. A bit of throttle to get her going, rudder to correct the direction then take her up to full throttle or there abouts and she's airborne. The 51's are some of the easiest planes to fly, make sure your wheels are running true as well. I had a bit of toe out on one at Nefi and took a file to the flat spot to correct it, a three minute job and she was great.

Grossman56

[Crashcanuck1962]

Got the Mustang all done, everything setup and ready to maiden when the weather gets better and I get a few flights under my belt. It's hanging in the mancave with the rest of the fleet.

Here's what I did to it.

Put in a Hobbywing 100amp ver3 ESC. Had to hotwire out some foam so it would sit low enough under the battery tray in the front of the fuse.
Installed the FMS 4258-550 KV motor. Went with the Custom RC alum. spinner base. Have an AR636 RX installed with no AS3X setup. Landing gear has been taken apart and all grub screws locktited. Also fabbed up some LG braces that should help the plastic housing from cracking.
Going to start with a Pulse 45C 4100 batt and see how that works. I can also go lighter and try a 3000mah batt as well.

[wrongroad2]

G'day Arycon,
From my experience, you are probably a bit late on the rudder.
I fly a model of the Duchess as well [with the 650 donk and aluminium sided retracts], however she was not always in that configuration and I flew her stock for a long time. The take off phase is no different with any tail dragger.
I tend to get the model rolling with just enough to start making corrections straight away and, as I know she will go left, I am already feeding in rudder to make her go straight.
I then add power gently and increase the rudder as I see fit. Let the tail come up as it wants to and fly the model on the ground if that makes sense, and then go to full power and massage the rudder as needed. As the speed increases, you will need less and less rudder.
I always take off at full power and then throttle back as I establish the climb.
Another trick is to make sure that your aircraft goes straight out on the extended centre line of the runway for about fifty or sixty metres. If you concentrate on doing that, it will help you to keep your mind on going straight down the runway.
Stay ahead of your aircraft. You know it will go the the left so do not wait for it to do so be on top of it and preempt the move. Yes, you may well wind up going the other way a few times [ask me how I know if you like] but that will come down to practice and more practice.
I am a firm believer that it takes twenty to thirty flights to understand how your aircraft is going to respond. After that, it is all second nature. And you will not even know that you have achieved the straight take off until you think about it later.
Do not get into the habit of thinking close enough is good enough. If you do not go out over the centre line, you have not got it right yet. That word again, practice.
I have near on six hundred flights on my three Mustangs and they handle just a little different to each other. It is not much but I notice it.
Just stay ahead of the curve and you will be fine. And you can do what I do, a few practice take offs in my head before the first one of the day. Talk your way through a take off. 'Throttle up a bit, rudder, easy, bit more throttle, ease the rudder, speed, tail up, more throttle, rudder easing and rotate.' I often do this.
I even walk my way through a new stunt, arms out, tail wagging. New members have a laugh but it works.
Remember, stay ahead of your model and you will suddenly be doing it with out thinking.
I use about eighty metres of runway to get airborne and if you get into a tangle, stop, abort the take off and try again. More points to you if you stop rather than drag a model into the air that is not under control and increasing your work load. Be prepared to abort early and you will do much better.
Regards and respect
Daryl

[1horse59]

There are two points that can cause the pivot
Set screw at the top of strut that locks on the etract strut pin.
The set screw in the side of the trunnion, that locks on the strut pin.

Thanks OV10, I'll give it a shot.

[Arycon]

My throttle advancement is slow. Get rolling, throttle slowly over 50% and hold. Slowly advance to 75 - 80%. Maybe I am trying to hold low throttle too long? I'm just trying to avoid nosing in and striking the prop. Typically at 50% I start going left from P-factor and compensate and trying to keep it straight is difficult. Maybe I need to advance to 75% more firmly and stop trying to make it a slow roll out.

[OV10]

Most of my tail draggers have about 30 degrees of rudder throw each side. Throttle advance is a firm advance to about 75-80% with instantaneous rudder corrections(no delayed reactions which usually causes overcorrections). Once the tail is up and flying the rudder becomes a lot more useful.
Since you said you've been on a hiatus, might want to grab onto an airframe that your not worried about "tearing up". The only way to get settled with technique is practice.....practice ....practice.

[Arycon]

Hey, OV. I don't crank the throttle. I try to make a long, scale roll out. My first thought was throttling up too fast, but it doesn' feel like it. Doesn't mean I'm not doing it though. I know it is pilot error, and I need to get to straight before I tear her up.

How gradual is your throttle up? How much rudder authority are you using?

[OV10]

How aggressive are you with the throttle. More often than not the inability to overcome the P-factor is due to that.
Can't tell ya how many times I have seen pilots just firewall it to get it in the air because they don't have the rudder skills and old bad habits die hard when not kept in check with practice.

[Arycon]

Hey, guys. I have been taking my Duchess Arlene out for flights lately after a hiatus. I've been having trouble with roll outs. I keep veering off the runway on take off. I am either not using enough rudder, or end up overcorrecting.

Any tips to improve this? Let me know what rates and expo you are using on take off and any general advice to keep her straight. Thanks.

[OV10]

Hello all, got a question, one of my mains are turned to the right, the other is straight, is there a hidden screw to adjust the wheel so it will track straighter?

There are two points that can cause the pivot
Set screw at the top of strut that locks on the etract strut pin.
The set screw in the side of the trunnion, that locks on the strut pin.

[1horse59]

Hello all, got a question, one of my mains are turned to the right, the other is straight, is there a hidden screw to adjust the wheel so it will track straighter?

[OV10]

The only reverse servo listed on the spare parts page for this bird is the FMMSER9MGDR

[spyder1]

which servo do I order for gear door,I know it is a reverse servo

[Grossman56]

Yeah Seavip, helps a lot doesn't it! The one other mod I'm considering is using the prop blades from the FW Mustang ans they have more surface area. Anyone tried that yet?

Grossman56

[seaviper]

Upgraded Petie to the FMS 4258-650kv motor with the P-40 mounting plate, Beaver prop adapter, a YEP 80A esc and XT60's. Love it.

I gained a bit of speed and a LOT of vertical.

[wrongroad2]

G'day gang,
Another six flights added to the log book of Shangri La on Tuesday. It is good having a four day week [even if it is a twelve hour shift per day to get it] and I have switched back to working Saturdays.
So, I now get to fly on Sunday and Tuesday. Not a bad set up at all.
And, Tuesday saw only two of us at the field [we must have two people at our field when we are flying to watch for low flying full size] and it was really good to have the sky all to ones self.
This when I learn the most and when I can try new 'stunts'.
I was able to use the Moon as a bulls eye and make my loops around it and it made it quite easy to make and hold big open loops.
A reverse Cuban topped off a good set of flights.
It was 27*C with a Southerly wind getting up to thirty kph.
I am now over the hump and heading to Perth if the math is right.
I might do the math on just how many days I would really need to fly a model across Australia and do it for a children's charity. It might be a bridge too far but looking into the logistics would not be too hard. Picking the right time to go across the centre will be the hardest.
I would obviously do more then two flights a day and looking at a ten hour day [weather permitting] and say six flights per hour, sixty a day at an average of six minutes per flight with my current set up, I would make about 600 kilometres per day. Ten days, with inbuilt allowances for stuff ups and bad weather...perhaps fifteen to include fatigue management.
HHHMMM, I might just look into this. Could be worthwhile and something different to raise money for children's cancer and other childhood problems.

Regards and respect
Daryl

[Shirty]

G'day gang,
Another 200 flights and I will be knocking on Shirty's front door looking for a place to land.

ill get the fire trucks ready...
;)

[wrongroad2]

G'day gang,
Just doing some math on 200 flights with Shangri La and some of figures are interesting.
Working a on base figures and average flight times, after the 200th mission, Shangri La had flown a total of 2,280 kilometres. This is factoring in a 15% error rate so the number could be even higher. That is half way across Australia from where I live. Another 200 flights and I will be knocking on Shirty's front door looking for a place to land.
I was a little amazed as to how the numbers were adding up and thinking just how robust these models really are considering the 'problems' that are there with some of the machines.
And really, only for the swap out of the 580 motor for the 650, it is the only real change that was made. The rest of the gear in the model is stock. [I had to replace the left inner gear servo last Saturday after 203 flights and many cycles of 'testing' and showing people how it all works]
To achieve this, the model had 73 days of flying at 2.73 flights per day. That .73 is really hard to do!;)
83% of my flying was done at my home field with the rest spread out over five other fields.
Just thought someone might be interested.

Managed to get three flights in Last Sunday before the predicted rain and wind came in and spoiled everything.
The wind was a generous 29 kilometre per hour South Easterly AGL with persistent rain showers so it was a bit nasty. Up at about fifty feet or so, it was dead set ordinary and the down wind passes were almost throttle off and an estimated 150 kph. The up wind trip was slower at around the 60 kph mark with full throttle.
My last landing for the day was tricky as the wind was causing heaps of lift over the wing and even with the wheels down, it was difficult to get enough drag and 'down' to land the aircraft. I made three really big bounces before being able to make it stick.
It was that windy, I had trouble turning around to back track to the taxiway.
Then the rain set in so I did not have make the statement that it had become too windy to fly:).
Regards and respect
Dary

[seaviper]

Flew her yesterday in a good wind with the 580. She was perfect. I have decided that I will not upgrade to 650kv. She just performs very nicely on the 580. 7 minute flights. Just a lot of fun to do touch and go's.