Official FMS 1400mm P-51D V8 Thread

[Grossman56]

More than I care to remember! That was a ten year project, from piece of junk that was sitting in the bush at the side of a runway to pristine static display piece.
As for the P 51, I'll leave her the way she is. They came from the factory with painted wings and that was my goal, to make her look like a factory finish. The wings were actually filled and sanded at the factory in order to get the laminar flow perfect, so they were painted silver. I used pictures of Lil Margaret for reference. When I drove past Danville, all I could think of was that Lil Margaret was here somewhere, I'd love to see her.

Grossman56

[Dewey H Lee]

Wow I can't believe that when I started on the forum I was a die hard Corsair pilot and now I own more P51s than I do them. It's amazing what happens when you hang out with a different crowd😊. I'm not complaining though. As soon as Ferouis Frankie gets here the real fun is going to start. Told Weedsnager he made a old man very happy.

[Grossman56]

Just to put the thread back on the map. Hoping the weather gets better wind wise on the weekend, I'm hoping to get Old Crow into the skies, should be interesting to see how she does with the 650kv.
The way she's rigged out now, I could also go 5s on her, one step at a time though.
What I'm hoping is that it works great (obviously) and that will be the route to go with My Little Gal II. When Mike flew her at Nefi, it was one thing he pointed out. That Freewing P51's (pre FW's Old Crow) are underpowered. With the Flite Metal, it added more weight to the point of having to add even more to CG it out. He was showing me that between three quarter throttle and full there really isn't any difference and landing it is at about half throttle. So, she's screaming for more power.

Anyway, it'll be great to see if this makes up for the weight of the sound system, which means it should compensated for the Flite Metal as well.

Grossman56

[xviper]

Just to put the thread back on the map. Hoping the weather gets better wind wise on the weekend, I'm hoping to get Old Crow into the skies, should be interesting to see how she does with the 650kv.
The way she's rigged out now, I could also go 5s on her, one step at a time though.
What I'm hoping is that it works great (obviously) and that will be the route to go with My Little Gal II. When Mike flew her at Nefi, it was one thing he pointed out. That Freewing P51's (pre FW's Old Crow) are underpowered. With the Flite Metal, it added more weight to the point of having to add even more to CG it out. He was showing me that between three quarter throttle and full there really isn't any difference and landing it is at about half throttle. So, she's screaming for more power.

Anyway, it'll be great to see if this makes up for the weight of the sound system, which means it should compensated for the Flite Metal as well.

Grossman56

I don't think I ever posted about this on this forum but I've been flying my 1450mm P-51 with the 650kv motor for that last several flights. I kept the 120A ESC from the 6 cell setup and have gone back to 4 cells and the stock 4-blade prop. Performance is more than adequate now (much better than stock) and a friend flies his FMS P-40, from which this 650kv motor came. The P-40 is marginally faster than my P-51. I think if I had the same 3-blade or even a 2-blade, the P-51 would go as good or better. Anyway, I'm quite happy with the it now and I may only go back to the 6 cell set up only if I want a couple of flights with much gusto.

[wvrailfan]

Xviper,
Glad to hear you are liking the 650 motor. I am working on a new B model and installed the 650 and an 85 amp ESC with intentions of flying 4 cell. I'm wrapping this one, so it will be about 100 grams heavier than stock.

Hope to have it done this weekend or early next week.

Jim

[Grossman56]

Jim, I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I used the sample Oracle that you sent me on That's My Gal II, it was great around the canopy frame and the speaker covers and rear landing gear doors.
One thing I noticed though, it wasn't as sticky as the Flite Metal. Do you use any adhesive or is there anything you do to prep the plane? The Oracle film is beautiful and a bit easier to work with.
You were putting out an article on using it, did you ever get it out? If so, I definitely want a copy!
BTW, If you want a sample of Flite Metal, I'd gladly send it to you. Seriously, I think the Oracle is the way to go if you have a good adhesive.

Grossman56

[wvrailfan]

I just make sure the foam is clean. At the very least I wipe with alcohol, if it's EPO I wipe it down with acetone. I've never had any of the vinyl lift or peel off.

Thanks for the offer on the Flite Metal, but after reading about it, I think I'll stick with the vinyl. I've used it enough that I am comfortable with it.

I'm finishing up the wings on what will be a blue nose West By Gawd Virginian.

Jim

[Grossman56]

Thanks Jim, in all fairness, I did only use it over the plastic pieces. It did a fantastic job around the canopy. Chrome look with no polishing, gotta like that!

Grossman56

[wvrailfan]

OF those of you with both the FMS B and D P-51, how would you compare the landings between the two. I can grease the landing with my D model 9 out of 10 times. I actually get compliments when I land it!

With my B I usually end up bouncing it a few times. If I land it faster I can get a smoother landing, with a long roll out. I've tried half and full flaps with the same results, plop and bounce, which I know is a sign of landing too slow.

Anyone else have the same issue?

Jim

[Grossman56]

That sounds about right. My Big Beautiful Doll is the best plane I have, hands down. Shangrila does fly differently, weight-wise, she's a little lighter (a couple of oz) but I chalk up the difference in flight performance to the bubble canopy versus the 'razorback'. She needs a bit more power on landings and I played around with the cg by shifting the battery a bit.
I'm probably stating the obvious here, but the biggest over all improvement with my landings came from some advice from Mike Ryan and Charlie. Don't do three wheel landings with warbirds, keep the fuse level and use throttle to control descent. BOOM, like that, my landings improved ten fold. I asked Ryan if he could do a video on that subject, we'll see.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

BTW, is that the new B in the picture?

Grossman56

[wvrailfan]

Yes that is my new B. Even with the 100 extra grams of the wrap, it flies great. I went with the 650 Kv motor from the P-40 and stayed with 4 cell power. It is a noticeable improvement over the stock motor.

I flew it two more times yesterday evening, mostly just doing approaches and landings. Basically I find I just have to land the B a little faster than the D in order to get that nice no bounce landing.

Also, I try to land on the mains and let the tail settle as speed bleeds off in the roll out. So far, its working for me.

Jim

[wrongroad]

G'day gang,
There is a lot of discussion on another forum over wheels on or three point landings.
For mine a wheels on landing is much better for a model then trying too close to a stall for a three pointer.
With three Mustangs with over a hundred flights each on them, I can vouch for the two point wheels on method.
I find that landings are much better with a little bit of speed as you have much more control over the aircraft then letting her get into a near stall speed waddle.
I have another club member here who constantly crashes his P-51 on landing as he tries to get it down too slow for a three pointer.
I stood beside him one day and talked him down to a near perfect wheels on landing. I kept telling him to keep the throttle up and not to chop and float. He asked me to stand along side for the next flight and the landing was even better. The rest of the day he was landing like he was born to land.
Sadly, he then listened to my clubs 'know it all' and has spent more time fixing than flying.
Apparently, according to the KIA, I do not know what I am talking about.
HHMMMMM, three hundred and sixty flights just with the Mustangs alone with no loses and nothing but minor repairs to props, gear doors and....well, props and gear doors. [I kicked a gear door once and I replace props as a matter of course from time to time. At $9 a set, it is cheap insurance do you not think?]
Not to count the other FMS birds that I fly and not one has ever been broken to the point of no return. In fact the only repair I have ever had to do has been to the V3 Corsair and it won best foamie model six weeks later. [do nose gear replacements on a Trojan count???]
Speed is the key to landing no matter whether you go for wheels on or a three pointer. But a wheels on with a longgggggg roll out always looks good and gets the round of applause from the peanut gallery. Even the KIA with give it up.
Regards and respect
Daryl

[Grossman56]

Funny how there's usually one of those in every crowd.
Still boils down to doing what works for you. I take advice from people I respect and appreciate advice from people with good intentions, but why would I take advice from people just to boost their ego?? Bet they don't offer to pay for the damage they cause your airplane!!

Grossman56

[AkumaZeto]

Say fellas p3d is making the billet trunions. I ordered 4 sets for all my fms birds using these retracts.

[AkumaZeto]

https://p3dcreations.com/product/steel-cnc-machined-fms003mustang-retract-trunnions/

[wrongroad]

G'day Grossman,
When you say do what works for you, you are right on the money and yet people want to ram things down ones throat. And the Rammers are quite often wrong or with little experience.:dodgy: I have has our local 'expert' tell people that they are stupid if they adopt certain [safe] ways of flight. I reckon he might have shares in Hobby King.;)
I have had a great morning of flying with my mates and not a single 'kia' in sight.:D
As you mentioned, the 'kia' never offers to help pay for a new model. In fact, ours simply turns his back and walks away from a crash he helped cause.
Anyway, with that off my chest:cool:, I did have a good morning even if it was a harsh background to be seeing a silver Mustang against.
Heavy dark grey cloud that was blanketing the entire western horizon from the far north to the far south made seeing the Shangri La a bit hard in certain aspects of flight. [the dark clouds were, in fact, dropping snow just seventy kilometres away. Yes it was cold standing on the flight line and, yes, I saw brass monkeys looking for welders.:p]
But another five flights with no frights and topped off by cracker jack landings. Life is good right now.
Regards and respect
Daryl

Hope you have as good a day flying as I have had today.

[Dewey H Lee]

Hey Olwarbirds. If you don't mind could I ask what part of NC do you live as I also live in NC and so does Pauly.

[wvrailfan]

Hi guys,

I ran across an APC 15.5X12X4. I am thinking about trimming it down to 14 inches and rounding the ends of the blades so it looks more appropriate on our plane. Of course it will take some balancing and I will have to enlarge the blade openings in the FMS spinner.

I have a 100 amp ESC I can use, but I am wondering if the extra pitch will be too much for the FMS motors. I'm flying both of my Mustangs on four cell, one has the 580 motor the new plane has the 650 in it.

I do have a watt meter, so I can test it once I have the prop modded.

What do you guys think? If this works it could be a one piece 4 blade prop solution to some balancing and vibrations issues.

Has anyone else here already tried this?

Jim

[wvrailfan]

Hi guys,

I ran across an APC 15.5X12X4. I am thinking about trimming it down to 14 inches and rounding the ends of the blades so it looks more appropriate on our plane. Of course it will take some balancing and I will have to enlarge the blade openings in the FMS spinner.

I have a 100 amp ESC I can use, but I am wondering if the extra pitch will be too much for the FMS motors. I'm flying both of my Mustangs on four cell, one has the 580 motor the new plane has the 650 in it.

I do have a watt meter, so I can test it once I have the prop modded.

What do you guys think? If this works it could be a one piece 4 blade prop solution to some balancing and vibrations issues.

Has anyone else here already tried this?

Jim

Not one to wait around, here is where I am at on this experiment. I cut the APC prop to 14 inches. I semi squared the prop ends because I plan to use this on my P-51d/F-51d.

I am doing these tests on my 650Kv equipped B model.

I measured several times, marking the prop with a fine tip Sharpie before I made the cut.

Once cut I balanced the prop, which wasn't nearly as out of balance as I had expected it to be.

It became obvious that using the FMS spinner was going to be more work than I wanted to invest, and I would have to come up with an extended prop shaft to fit the APC prop in the spinner.

To the rescue was a 3.5 inch aluminum four blade spinner from Hobby King of all places. I had to ream out the shaft opening to about 7/16 inch so it would fit snugly over the hex head portion of the FMS prop shaft. I considered just filing off the hex portion and may do that if I do this on another plane.

I got it assembled and the new spinner sits about a millimeter further from the cowl than the FMS. I think I can live with that.

I put a battery in the plane and slowly applied some throttle. It spun up smoothly and was pulling hard so I stopped at about 1/4 throttle. I decided I trusted the set up enough to take it out side and test it at higher throttle settings.

Once outside I eased the throttle up and at about 2/3 it was actually hard to hold in place with one hand. Standing with the plane's tail between my feet, full throttle was impressive!

I played with it a few minutes and checked the 85 amp ESC which was just warm to the touch.

I will put a watt meter on it as soon as I have someone to help hold it while I run it up.

So far this is looking promising for anyone who wants, like me, smoother performance or for those who just want more brute power from their FMS Mustang.

Jim