Official FMS 1400mm P-51D V8 Thread

[wrongroad]

G'day Don,
Just to add a little something here, get into the habit of running the gear through a couple of cycles during your pre flight checks.
There is one type of sequencer, the blue heat shrink wrapped one, that seems to get lost during the program and needs a re boot to get into sequence.
It is somewhat off putting when you hit the gear switch as you get ready to land and the gear doors open, pause and then close without the wheels coming down. What happens then is the pilot [read, me] frantically flips the switch up and down trying to get the gear to come down.:p:p
The the pilot wakes up and calmly pulls the switch and hey presto, the gear finally comes down.
There does not seem to be a problem with the older sequencers [I am talking about the six second units here] and I have several of these as spares, or the newer ones. Just the blue wrapped ones.
You will find the Mustang a nice aircraft to fly.
Regards and respect
Daryl

[Grossman56]

Great you got it figured out Don, welcome to the forum btw, good to have you, especially now that you're on a positive note.

Good luck with the plane!

Grossman56

[The Don]

The second one I took apart a little further. It almost seemed like the threaded rod pressed to the motor shaft did not want to spin. I used my finger to rotate it a little and then it suddenly unfroze and that fixed it. Maybe that was the real issue on the first one I did?? The threaded rod was pressed very close to the front of the motor bushing. Almost no clearance. I added some Krytox to it to make sure it was oiled up when moving. This whole thing has been strange but I am happy now. Ran them both together at least 6 times with the sequencer to make sure all was OK.

[xviper]

It's odd that both would be "stuck" like that.

[The Don]

Both work just fine now. I am happy!

[The Don]

I took one out and got it to work! Here is what the issue was.There is zero lubricant in the retract mechanism. The slider that follows in the machined grooves/track was stuck in the track and would not move. I loosened the screws on one side of the retract and it started to move. So I then lubricated it with some Krytox and now it works great. It is all back in the wing. One down one more to go!

[The Don]

I am going to take them out and see what I find. I will report back.

[tdevince]

Also may be worth removing them from the wing to make sure they're not binding, or even removing the side plates and see if there is an issue with the microswitches inside.

[tdevince]

I would occasionally have this issue with my retracts, but after a cycle or two it would work OK. I have since put in a UBEC and put in a voltage regulator going to the retracts and have never had an issue since. I wonder if for some reason your voltage may be sagging or little low causing issues. Just a guess.

[xviper]

They must be dead. Servo tester works the aileron and flap servo just fine.

Bummer, man. I'm sure you know this already but just in case .................. retracts only work on a servo tester when the knob is at the extreme ends of its rotation.

[The Don]

They must be dead. Servo tester works the aileron and flap servo just fine.

[xviper]

I just tried each main retract on a servo tester directly with no sequencer or connection board and still nothing. The odds of both being bad just seems so unlikely to me. Bummer as these are $30 a piece retracts. Hmmmm....

Polarity correct? Black/brown to negative, white to signal? Test another known good retract to make sure tester works?
Although rare, 2 dead retracts are possible. Yes, 30 bucks each is pricey.

[The Don]

I just tried each main retract on a servo tester directly with no sequencer or connection board and still nothing. The odds of both being bad just seems so unlikely to me. Bummer as these are $30 a piece retracts. Hmmmm....

[xviper]

I have an issue I am hoping I can get help with. I have a NIB Shangri-La P-51B that I just opened today and I can not get the gear mains to go down. The inner doors open and nothing on both mains, they stay put. The tailwheel does go down though when I cycle them so the sequencer must OK. Any ideas as to what the issue is? I find it hard to believe that both mains would be "defective". I have the endpoints at 100% which is fine on the Shagri La I have been flying for the past 2 1/2 years. I thought maybe 140% EPA but still no change. This PNP has been sitting for some time, it was bought from a Hobbytown USA. Any thoughts on what to troubleshoot? I don't even hear them engage like they have power. Just silence.

1. Manually test each main on a servo tester to rule out defective retracts. Use the same servo tester to first open the doors.
2. Ensure that the mains are actually plugged into the sequencer and to the correct sequencer ports and with the correct polarity.

[The Don]

I have an issue I am hoping I can get help with. I have a NIB Shangri-La P-51B that I just opened today and I can not get the gear mains to go down. The inner doors open and nothing on both mains, they stay put. The tailwheel does go down though when I cycle them so the sequencer must OK. Any ideas as to what the issue is? I find it hard to believe that both mains would be "defective". I have the endpoints at 100% which is fine on the Shagri La I have been flying for the past 2 1/2 years. I thought maybe 140% EPA but still no change. This PNP has been sitting for some time, it was bought from a Hobbytown USA. Any thoughts on what to troubleshoot? I don't even hear them engage like they have power. Just silence.

[moodg16]

One of the photos on the Small Parts CNC shows the P51B with a chrome spinner and two bladed prop. I thought it may belong to someone on the forum. I'm all for buying the custom prop adapter from Small Parts CNC but also wanted to see which brand chrome spinner, back plate and prop was used for that great look and fit. If the plane doesn't belong to anyone on the forum, I'll contact the gentleman from Small Parts CNC for more info... (Third picture at bottom right of link)

[OV10]

I'm considering a two bladed setup. I saw this on the Small Parts CNC website and it caught my eye. Does anyone know who owns this and the setup and parts/sources he used?

Hello moodg16,
Small Parts CNC manufactures all the parts he sells. He does all the CAD and program setup for the CNC process so I doubt that he'll share that setup/source info with you. If you need the shaft without the hex you really can't go wrong by buying this especially @ $16.
The owner is Terry Gastouniotis and is a really good guy to deal with when buying from him. I have bought many of his side plates for the FMS 1400 normal and rotating retracts. His stuff IS quality and he knows what he is doing.
Best regards,

[xviper]

I'm considering a two bladed setup. I saw this on the Small Parts CNC website and it caught my eye. Does anyone know who owns this and the setup and parts/sources he used?

You should show us a link to this set up so we can see what it is. Understand that the 540kv, 580kv, 4s motors and even the 550kv Olympus 6s motor all have this hex "nut" at the base of the prop adapter. The backing plate of the stock blade holders for all of these motors has the corresponding hex hole that fits snugly over the nut. If you get another type of prop holder that doesn't have the hex hole, then some DIY modding is required to make it work. Without the matching hex shapes, the whole prop assembly may not be gripped hard enough and may very likely slip when under load.
As I've indicated before, the Olympus 2-blade prop, prop holder and spinner will fit perfectly on any of those motors and work well with all of them. Since the 2 blade Olympus prop on the stock 4s ESC has less drag, there is no need to up the size of it. The only objection that some may have is the look may not be esthetically pleasing for the Mustang.
PS. Why are you considering a 2-blade anyway? The performance increase may not be significant or noticeable unless you go to the 6 cell set up.
Here is a video of my P-51 with the stock 4-blade and 6s motor from the Olympus. Note the flyby and the sound. It's very noticeable and distinctive. I can tell you that the same set up with the Olympus 2-blade runs a bit more efficiently and won't cause the ESC to cut out if too many high speed runs are made, the ultimate performance gain is barely noticeable. The plane is doing almost 100mph anyway and to push this airframe beyond that would require substantial increases in kv and cells and ESC size. It's just not worth the expense and trouble.

[moodg16]

I'm considering a two bladed setup. I saw this on the Small Parts CNC website and it caught my eye. Does anyone know who owns this and the setup and parts/sources he used?

[wrongroad]

G'day moodg,
I have flown over 100 flights with my DA with the 580 and no prop mod using 3300mAh batteries and a stock ESC.
Now, I would not stop you from from going to a higher amp ESC, in fact I would encourage it but I am pointing out that I have not done so and have had no problems at all.
In fact all of my Mustang fleet [ Duchess, BBD and Shangri La ] have all flown 100 flights each, and more, all on stock ESCs and all with the 580 in the nose.
The mAh rating on the batteries has little bearing on the size of ESC you need as the mAh rating is an indicator as to the flight time expected from a battery. It simply indicates how long a battery will last. A 3600 mAh battery will last for one hour with a load of 3.6 amps. [3600mAh] If you pull 7.2 amps, it will last for thirty minutes and so on. For want of a better term, the C rating means how hard you can hammer the battery. Not the best explanation but I am sure you get it.
Regards and respect
Daryl