Official FMS 1400mm P-51D V8 Thread

[Prowler901]

Hi Arycon,

You should try to get the wheels as straight as you can. The "toe-out" could cause some bad wandering on the ground.

I've always balanced the spinner first. Then weigh and distribute the blades equally. Then re-balance the whole unit.

[Grossman56]

Constantly check those pesky grub screws as well. They can back off. My P-51B likes to dog track down the runway, which is a good sign they need to be checked!

Grossman56

[Arycon]

Thanks, guys.

Duchess is together and pretty much ready for a maiden. I just need to set deflection on the surfaces, but the manual deflection ranges seem drastically high.

Are you guys using the manual settings? Is the plane twitcht? I do not like snappy/twitchy planes. I like smooth scale flight and usually dial back deflection to make the aorcraft easier to fly in a more docile fashion.

28mm high aileron?
40mm high elevator?

This seems much too high to me. What are you guys using?

Headed out around 8am. Wish me luck!

[xviper]

Thanks, guys.

Duchess is together and pretty much ready for a maiden. I just need to set deflection on the surfaces, but the manual deflection ranges seem drastically high.

Are you guys using the manual settings? Is the plane twitcht? I do not like snappy/twitchy planes. I like smooth scale flight and usually dial back deflection to make the aorcraft easier to fly in a more docile fashion.

28mm high aileron?
40mm high elevator?

This seems much too high to me. What are you guys using?

Headed out around 8am. Wish me luck!

You can have high rates but you don't have to use high rates. If you have 3-position switches for rates, program a mid and low rate and start with the middle one. I don't use high rates for ELE but I occasionally use high rates for AIL just to see it roll faster. I don't recall that it's even possible to have 40mm on the ELE unless you've got the rod on the outer hole on the servo and the inner hole on the control surface. No matter, whatever you've got as high rate (100%), have available something like 75% and 50%. I don't think anyone needs to use 100% throws on a maiden. I like 25% to 30% expo on AIL and ELE. RUD I find not so critical but I'll dial in some expo anyway. After your first flight, you can adjust each rate to your taste, depending on how you felt about where you were most comfortable. Middle rates is my "comfort" zone and the high and low end is for the occasional use.

[Arycon]

Successful maiden this morning. Still a lot of tweaking to do in order to dial the plane in. It flew well, especially with the Hobby Eagle A3 Super II gyro.

I did have a rough landing. Had a strong crosswind and drifted too far on the runway. We use an abandoned street and grass has broken the tarnac a few inches from the edge. I caught one touching down. Plane stopped abruptly. Left gear strut broke at the hinge and tore out. New set ordered from Motion and on the way. Only a minor scuffed prop otherwise. I was fortunate.

Next time should be much better. Much thanks to you guys for the help and tips. Great community here and I appreciate it.

[Grossman56]

Just in case we haven't mentioned it yet, 15 degrees and 30 degrees of flap are great settings for take off and landing flaps, use throttle management for descent to landing while keeping the fuselage level, she'll kiss the runway every time.

Good luck!!

Grossman56

[Shirty]

Grats on the maiden mate.

[Aros]

Official thread now...

[Dewey H Lee]

Hey Shirty haven't seen any videos lately. Whats up!!!:Confused: l all ways really enjoy them alot.

[Shirty]

Hey mate. Just had a busy year, RC vids have taken a bit of a back step lately. Did a couple of new turbines ones though, which are on my you tube. Just search "Shirty films" in YouTube, subscribe if you like and you'll see whenever the new ones are done. I've got 5 more Im working on ATM, but gotta find the time to get em finished. One will be epic, it's for my club with a bit of everything in it, lots of giant scale stuff in it. (Taking bloody forever to edit tho... lol). I'm hoping now things have settled down a bit with work I can pump out a few this year. thanks to motion, there'll be at least some new ones of the avanti, a10 and the spitty...

I am thinking of getting a new bluenose though. Mines 2 years old and over 300 flights, and she's got a lot of hangar/transport rash. If I get a new one I'll definitely make some more vids of it though. Cause as we all know, blue nosers fly best. ;)

[Dewey H Lee]

Cool Shirty be eagerly looking forward to them.
.

[Arycon]

So I need advice.

Second flight of my P-51 today. She flies great. Stable and good slow speed character. I spent the entire flight doing landing runs. I do that on all new planes to get a feel for them.
Problem is the actual touch downs havent been greased. I damaged one retract and need to replace it.

I know a lot of the problem is I need to land more gently, but these gear tweak and bend what seems like way too easily to me. They seem way too soft and malleable. Is this a common problem for the gear, or do I need more practice? Lol.

[Shirty]

Ummm. I've never bent the gear in some 500+ landings, personally I think they are pretty sturdy as far as retracts go. (Electronically, not so much tho lol). I'd suggest a bit of practice, and keep a little throttle authority on touchdown, and your best chance to grease it is on the mains, 3 pointers usually result in a small bounce im my experience. Mustang vids (both Tarmac and grass), are on my YouTube and all have landings with very little or no bounce, (apart from the Dallas darling one lol). Watching these might help.
;)

[AkumaZeto]

I snap the trunions or should I say used to till I got some billet ones made up. now the trunions are rock solid. The stock trunions are white metal and I can snap them in my fingers.

[Arycon]

Ummm. I've never bent the gear in some 500+ landings, personally I think they are pretty sturdy as far as retracts go. (Electronically, not so much tho lol). I'd suggest a bit of practice, and keep a little throttle authority on touchdown, and your best chance to grease it is on the mains, 3 pointers usually result in a small bounce im my experience. Mustang vids (both Tarmac and grass), are on my YouTube and all have landings with very little or no bounce, (apart from the Dallas darling one lol). Watching these might help.
;)

I will check them out. I touched down on the mains and bounced a few times. It didnt seem at all like a hard bouncing/landing either, and several people commented to that fact, but it was on tarmac. I cant judge how hard it actually was though since this plane is bigger than my usual fleet, but dang.

I did land on the mains by the way, but I didnt slam down on them by means. I was coming in slow and steady and bled off speed. I know to juice the throttle to level out a bounce and did. That has always worked well and saved this landing from being potentially really bad. No other damage. No prop strike. It really didnt seem bad at all. Regardless, gear bent backward ever so slightly and are jamming. One retract doesnt work now.

This is going to get frustrating fast if this keeps happening. These retracts arent cheap.

I will keep practicing.

[OV10]

Hello Arycon,
I'm right there with Shirty on his opinion..........practice, practice, practice with power and none of the dead stick throttle cutting that is inherently learned from the high lift wings of trainers like the Apprentice.
Have never damaged a trunion on any of my birds including the FMS ones and once in a great while have bent the mounting pin from the strut to the retract due to being stupid by not maintaining enough speed to fly it to a two point landing.
I always get a charge out of these guys that post a video of their landing that looks like they just dropped a 7lb block of wood from 5 feet and then complain about crappy retracts and not the lack of their flying skill.
Too many are trying to fly them in at a crawl because they have read comments from the misinformed using proverbial quotes such as "lands at a walking pace" or some nonsence like that.
Warbirds just aren't gonna float on in, you got to fly them in. The Mustang is however one of the easier airframes to use as a "tool" to work on advancing your skill set for landing techniques.
Just keep working it and it will come to you if you use the mindset of power and not the elevator to control your descent for approach to landings. ;)
Best regards,

[Arycon]

Ummm. I've never bent the gear in some 500+ landings, personally I think they are pretty sturdy as far as retracts go. (Electronically, not so much tho lol). I'd suggest a bit of practice, and keep a little throttle authority on touchdown, and your best chance to grease it is on the mains, 3 pointers usually result in a small bounce im my experience. Mustang vids (both Tarmac and grass), are on my YouTube and all have landings with very little or no bounce, (apart from the Dallas darling one lol). Watching these might help.
;)

Are you Shirty Films on YouTube? I just found a video there of the FMS Dallas Darling. Early touchdown, hops the tarmac, flares, touches down in grass and bounces lightly a few times. That it is pretty much how I landed yhis afternoon. Not violent. Not hard. Not greased for sure, but not terrible. Im not saying it isnt my piloting. Humbly trying to get better here, not to blame gear. It may also be the surface Im landing on. Years old street/tarmac with cracks and areas overgrown with weeds. It is hairy trying to come down just right.

PM me if need be. Dont want to overload the thread.

[Shirty]

Yep. One n the same. The grass next to my strip is very bumpy from the kangaroo holes, too far near the patch in the middle (which I was in this landing), and it's almost guaranteed a bounce if I land out there. Hence the "jump" at the end too with not nearly enough speed to cause lift. Not my best effort, but no issues - which is all we can ask for. Judging by what you've written, I'd say you have a good understanding of the process (esp using throttle), and you just need to get a few more flights up to get familiar with it. If ithats as hard as it gets - no you shouldn't have issues with the gear. Hope it helps mate. ;)

Ps: I wouldn't worry about clogging up the thread, what we're talking about is relevant to flying the plane, and you'll find plenty of ppl with good positive opinions here that are only too happy to help.

[Arycon]

Yep. One n the same. The grass next to my strip is very bumpy from the kangaroo holes, too far near the patch in the middle (which I was in this landing), and it's almost guaranteed a bounce if I land out there. Hence the "jump" at the end too with not nearly enough speed to cause lift. Not my best effort, but no issues - which is all we can ask for. Judging by what you've written, I'd say you have a good understanding of the process (esp using throttle), and you just need to get a few more flights up to get familiar with it. If ithats as hard as it gets - no you shouldn't have issues with the gear. Hope it helps mate. ;)

Ps: I wouldn't worry about clogging up the thread, what we're talking about is relevant to flying the plane, and you'll find plenty of ppl with good positive opinions here that are only too happy to help.

I do appreciate everyone being so great with advice. It helps. Im debating if I need to upgrade to the CNC parts made at Small Parts CNC.

As for my gear, part of it is surely me getting used to the plane. This is my first real big plane that isn't a floaty foamy. Agree on the need to fly it in. I do now realize that each time I landed (and tweaked the gear) I ran over and veered into the grass off the strip. I say strip, but it is a regular road in a housing area that never got built. The road is old and cracking. I have maybe 7 to 8 feet wide of clear tarmac to squeeze down on. I am skilled enough to do it but keeping the plane straight after touchdown is the problem, I think. The grass clumps and bulging road cracks might be the majority of the culprit here.

The gear are holding up well. To be clear, it is the 4mm attachment strut that is bending, not the oleo shaft. The rod is bending between the trunion and oleo strut. That is what I meant by malleable metal.

Im wondering if cutting down a 4mm motor shaft would help here. Maybe a tempered metal would hold up better. I will try that.

Can anyone comment on the Small Parts CNC upgrades? My plastic didnt crack on landing. All looks good. Just seems like the strut attachment rod. Not sure if I need $80 in CNC parts to upgrade the trunions and retract side plates. Would be investing a lot in this model. Trying not to do that with planes anymore. A couple hundred dollar plane quickly ballons into a cash eater.

I will order a new retract and hold off on everything else until I get feedback.

[OV10]

I do appreciate everyone being so great with advice. It helps. Im debating if I need to upgrade to the CNC parts made at Small Parts CNC.

As for my gear, part of it is surely me getting used to the plane. This is my first real big plane that isn't a floaty foamy. Agree on the need to fly it in. I do now realize that each time I landed (and tweaked the gear) I ran over and veered into the grass off the strip. I say strip, but it is a regular road in a housing area that never got built. The road is old and cracking. I have maybe 7 to 8 feet of clear tarmac to squeeze down on. I am skilled enough to do it but keeping the plane straight after touchdown is the problem, I think. The grass clumps and bulging road cracks might be the majority of the culprit here.

The gear are holding up well. To be clear, it is the 4mm attachment strut that is bending, not the oleo shaft. The rod is bending between the trunion and oleo strut. That is what I meant by malleable metal.

Im wondering if cutting down a 4mm motor shaft would help here. Maybe a tempered metal would hold up better. I will try that.

Can anyone comment on the Small Parts CNC upgrades? My plastic didnt crack on landing. All looks good. Just seems like the strut attachment rod. Not sure if I need $80 in CNC parts to upgrade the trunions and retract side plates. Would be investing a lot in this model. Trying not to do that with planes anymore. A couple hundred dollar plane quickly ballons into a cash eater.

I will order a new retract and hold off on everything else until I get feedback.

I can comment on the CNC side plates cause I'm the one that introduced both of the styles to this forum.
Primary reason for getting the plates is for longevity. No matter how good a pilot you are on landings there is always the lateral stresses induced to the dog ear mounting tabs where they sooner or later fracture at the 90 degree bend and or the metal pivot pin on the trunion pulls out of the plastic side plate hole. All my FMS retracts have been upgraded with the CNC Small Parts side plates and have not had a single issue in 2+ years.
Regarding the 4mm "malleable" strut pin, it is actually not a bad weak link with regards to bending before tearing up the plastic framed retract.
Your decision on investing on an upgrade of metal sideplates/hardened strut pin for longevity is a gonna come down to how long you want to deal with the marginal strength of a stock retract and it's subsequent frustration of frequent tweaking.
Hope I've given you a reasonable foundation to consider about using these excellent aluminum parts from Small Parts CNC.