Official FMS 1400mm P-51D V8 Thread

[Jorgcama]

Amain Hobbie had said the FMS 1450 Red Tail was expected to arrive June 16th. Now it says July 28th. Frustrating!

This airplane made me look at RC flying again and I have my FMS P51 1400mm on back order since June 1st when the expectation was to be available On June 26th. Yes, I am anxiously awaiting for a July 28th availability now!!! BTW I am so new To this hobby that I just had my first maiden flight on a sky trainer after been adamantly practicing with the simulator for months..... I will tell that story later as it did not go that well.....stay safe pilots!

[FLY BOY]

I agree Grossman56!!! Lets see a 1600mm P51 Mustang and make it a ZIPPY one!!! NO MODS REQUIRED!!!

[xviper]

My thinking as well, if you could upgrade the motor on the FMS 1700 mm bird with something with a bit more poke...

Grossman56

Apparently, if you look at the FMS site, the latest version of the 1700mm Redtail comes with the 360kv motor. I upgraded my 1700mm Corsair with this motor and it makes a tremendous improvement. The webpage at Horizon Hobby for this plane still states the old 300kv motor.

[Grossman56]

If I had to do it all over again, I would get the the bigger FMS 1700 P-51 Redtail. These foamie warbirds need the bigger size to do them justice and if the higher kv motor of the Eflite or Jug can take spinning the giant 1700 prop, I'd give that a try. But for now, I'll just content myself with flying the Eflite for a while.

My thinking as well, if you could upgrade the motor on the FMS 1700 mm bird with something with a bit more poke...
Wait a minute, isn't that what they said when they decided to try a Merlin in a P-51??
Isn't that what we all said when we upgraded our motors from the stock 540kv's that the 1450's came with ??
Seems to me like history repeating itself
Seems like the right thing to do though, that 1700mm version is really something to see.
Now, I still say that Alpha needs to put his money where his mouth is, after all he was the one who said that a Piper Cub and a P-51 would always be a good selling airplane. Time for a 1600 mm P-51B Alpha

Grossman56

[FLY BOY]

No smoke, its just some people think they know every thing, when they have never read the label. It says right on the label when you buy the V4 T-28 Trojan, Will handle 4s, 5s, and 6s batt, and has Japanese bearings, all on a 70amp ESC. So Im going to prove it fact or false advertisement. Its not about whos right or wrong. I want to know is FMS selling a lie. There are videos posted on youtube with V4 T28's running 6s packs as well on this claimed set up.

[xviper]

Xviper, keep us informed as I'd like to know what you think of the HH version as compared to the FMS. It looked to me that Pilot Ryan had his share of troubles trying to land the thing, and I've never had a problem with my V8 that I couldn't attribute to fumble fingers. Into her seventh season, so far I've replaced the tires and some prop blades.

Grossman56

I finally managed to maiden my Eflite P-51 today and do a second flight even. The maiden showed me that the plane needed a LOT of UP elevator in the trim. No wonder the tail came up so quickly on the first attempt that broke the blades grinding them into the ground on the take off roll. Anyway, being very careful to keep the tail on the ground till it got some speed going, it lifted off OK but kept wanting to dive. Finally got it trimmed and it flew quite well. It has great presence in the air with its stripes and multi-blotched paint scheme. The second was picture perfect, take off was straight and true with no veering off to the left or torquing to the left as many have witnessed. The key is to run up the speed gradually, keeping the tail on the ground a bit longer than one normally would. This same approach works for both my Corsairs, too.
Comparing this Eflite to my old FMS 1450mm BBD with the FMS P-47 motor, bigger ESC and 6s power, the Eflite flies HEAVY at about 1 kilo more weight. It's very sluggish in the air but with that massive, high pitch propeller, it pulls like a freight train. Nevertheless, the 6s powered BBD is faster and more nimble. Landing the BBD is smoother for me but I think I can do just as well once I replace the stock hard tires with Robart low bounce ones like what I have on the BBD even though the second landing was quite smooth (with no bounce).
The BBD you see in my picture is my old one that I gave to my flying buddy, who brought it out today but didn't feel confident enough to fly it. If I had to do it all over again, I would get the the bigger FMS 1700 P-51 Redtail. These foamie warbirds need the bigger size to do them justice and if the higher kv motor of the Eflite or Jug can take spinning the giant 1700 prop, I'd give that a try. But for now, I'll just content myself with flying the Eflite for a while.

[xviper]

Although I'm not from Missouri, still claim ya gotta "show me". Look forward to the vid

Should we expect to see some smoke?

[OV10]

What do the specs say about internal construction like "poles", windings, magnets, etc.?

FMS has NEVER published that info.
Of the info they did publish they took down over three years ago but I was able to publish that info before it happened.
I know you're aware of this info XV but maybe FB isn't. https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/el...f-spread-sheet

My many years of FMS motor knowledge and am very skeptical of FLY BOY above claim for the Trojan motor using 6S.
He mentions see specs on either HH or Tower and they both claim 4S operation.
They are also showing the majority of replacement parts for the Trojan as "no longer available" and don't even list the motor

The 6S capable motor in the 4258 can size is the 460kV with 4mm connectors used on the 1500 Razorback and then about 6 months after the initial release of the 1700 Tigercat.
(The original Tiger had 4250-440kV motors with the 3.5mm connectors)
Although I'm not from Missouri, still claim ya gotta "show me". Look forward to the vid

Best regards,

[xviper]

Here are both KV650 motors by FMS. One is from the P40, The other is from the V4 Trojan. The difference is the Trojan motor wires are 12 gauge with 4mm bullets and can handle a 6s pack. See Trojan specs at Horizon or Tower Hobbies page. The P40 motor wires are 14 gauge and have 3,5mm bullets and is a 4s motor. I have run the P40 motor on 6s, but it runs hot, and a bigger speed controller is required. Now that our airfield is back open, We are in process of making a video showing the difference between the 2 motors and will be doing a speed test in the video as well.

What do the specs say about internal construction like "poles", windings, magnets, etc.?

[FLY BOY]

Here are both KV650 motors by FMS. One is from the P40, The other is from the V4 Trojan. The difference is the Trojan motor wires are 12 gauge with 4mm bullets and can handle a 6s pack. See Trojan specs at Horizon or Tower Hobbies page. The P40 motor wires are 14 gauge and have 3,5mm bullets and is a 4s motor. I have run the P40 motor on 6s, but it runs hot, and a bigger speed controller is required. Now that our airfield is back open, We are in process of making a video showing the difference between the 2 motors and will be doing a speed test in the video as well.

[xviper]

Grossman56 Roger that!

[Grossman56]

Xviper, keep us informed as I'd like to know what you think of the HH version as compared to the FMS. It looked to me that Pilot Ryan had his share of troubles trying to land the thing, and I've never had a problem with my V8 that I couldn't attribute to fumble fingers. Into her seventh season, so far I've replaced the tires and some prop blades.

Grossman56

[xviper]

Since Eflite just came out with their 1500mm 6s, P-51 (made by FMS), they're going to control the release of the next run of the FMS version so they can at least sell a few more before that happens. IMO, the FMS 4s model is much better value at $200.00 less. The FMS model has been very popular and will likely continue to be, far more popular than the new Eflite one will ever be.P-51 and
I've had the FMS V8 and currently have the new Eflite one although I've yet to fly it. I have a feeling that I won't see the $200.00 premium over my old 6s converted FMS.

[Zoggan]

I think your right. My point being that I now have to wait another month to get one. Oh well, there's a lot worse things

[xviper]

Doesn't Horizon Hobby now own Amain? Nevertheless, it's Horizon that controls the distribution of FMS in N. America and their webpage says "late July". I think Horizon's information will be more up to date and reliable right from the get go.

[Zoggan]

Amain Hobbie had said the FMS 1450 Red Tail was expected to arrive June 16th. Now it says July 28th. Frustrating!

[Grossman56]

Had mine up today, it's her 7th season and she flew awesomely!!



Grossman56

[Zoggan]

Thanks for the input! I'm planning on buying the FMS when it's restocked just for the almost universal love of this airframe. I'm a tinkerer and will update it slowly like some of you have. The "bones" of the plane are just too good, and we can build it to be what it should be.

[Grossman56]

I agree Zoggan, it is a great airplane and some updating would be a help, the updates being within the operating parts and not in the foam design, its' excellent. For instance, most of us have upgraded the motor/ESC to at least the 650 kv. Now, I notice that the 650 kv is a Predator motor with 4.0 mm wires which is different from the original 650 kv that came in the P-40 that had 3.5 mm. Even the early Predators had the 3.5s if I recall, anyway, they went with a Predator ESC which, from what I've heard is not reliable. Personally I went a 85A Mantis ESC in all my Mustangs and the combination works great, even used it in my 1200 mm Bearcat. The point being that if they upgraded to the same power/ESC combination as the P-40, we'd still be swapping out ESC's. Also, the all metal retract sides are a must but I can't see FMS putting out for them. A more robust strut to retract pin would be nice, but try to find them! I haven't had any experience with the new retracts they did come out with, but haven't heard anything good or bad about them.
BTW, I just finished installing an 85A ZTW Gecko ESC in the new P-40. Its taller than the Mantis and I had to do some digging to get it to fit underneath the battery tray.
Compare all this to a brand new 1600mm P-51B with all the latest in technology and 6s power!!
Alpha always said that there were two models that always made money. The Piper Cub and the P-51 Mustang, so maybe he'll take his own advice and make us one, maybe in Jim Howard's colors in keeping with my thought of a Metal Of Honor series of airplanes.

That would be cool!
BTW, you can see in the top pic that the airplane was converted to a Malcom hood by then!

Grossman56

[Zoggan]

I'm kind of surprised that FMS doesn't keep making this plane. It sure seems like everybody wants one?! With all of the discussions about the 1400mm size why would it be on it's way out? Couldn't FMS do some updating and bring it up to a little higher standard?