Parallel but most are paralleling batteries to one ESC not two ESCs to one battery so you need to look for the correct male/ female connectors.
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The ESC's should be connected in parallel. You are correct that the 4S 5000 will act the same as 2 4S 2500's in parallel. I fly mine with 2 Admiral 4S 3000's in parallel. I get about 8 minutes. I would expect your 5000 to get 6 minutes.
BernieComment
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So I'm just finishing up my P-38 and hoping to maiden it this next week. Spent most of last night setting throws, working on the flap/elev mixes, etc. I figured I'd come here and read through some of the latest postings and I'm glad I did! GG, thanks so much for posting your tips. They all make good sense to me so I plan to implement them.
A few comments/questions that maybe the community can help me with...
I bought my P-38 second hand (but NIB) and got a lot of extra spare parts. I have the upgraded motor kit, extra cowls, structural plastic parts, and three sets of 3-blade spinners and props, as well as the two blade spinners and props that come with the motor upgrade kit.
My one concern is that all of my 3-blade spinners appear to be the older version (no channels). As much as I hate to throw away new parts my brain is telling me it's dumb to risk a $500 plane over a $10 part. So I'm leaning towards just tossing them out. But that said, am I safe to use them for a few flights while I wait for new spinners to be delivered? Or do they have a tendency to fail "instantly" without any warning?
Second question...Do the stock motors/props have enough power to fly better than "scale"? Is there enough power for some mild aerobatics or sport flying? I haven't installed the upgraded motors and don't plan to unless they make a significant difference.
Lastly, a couple of comments that may help others... I haven't read all 217 pages here so my apologies if any of this has been mentioned before.
Check all your servos with a servo tester before doing any assembly. Save yourself the headache of major disassembly if you find out late in the build that you have a bad servo. Out of the box I had two bad servos. The first was the nose gear door servo. The plastic gears were stripped. The second bad servo, well it's kind of ironic that GG mentions the elevator servo because mine wouldn't re-center with any accuracy at all. Sometimes it would stop short or long of center and other times it would "drag" slowly back until it almost reached center and then stop. So I swapped it out for a JX digital MG that I have and seems fine. But frankly for the cost of this plane I'm pretty disappointed in the quality of the servos. I'm just praying I don't have any go bad in flight.
I'd also recommend dressing your wire runs neatly and use some tiny zip ties to hold them tightly enough that they will fit snug in the wiring channels on the underside of the wing center section. The channels are just barely deep/wide enough for the control wires so once you add in the thicker ESC wires if you haven't kept things neat you'll have a really hard time with the channel covers. I haven't installed my covers just yet but I have a bad feeling even with everything neat and tight they are still going to be a real challenge.
Other than these two items I've been very impressed with the model. It's my first electric twin so I was really happy to see the tips GG listed and the link to the multi motor ESC calibration video.
BrentComment
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There have been thousands of flights made with the original spinners. Use them but do an inspection if you have a prop strike. Stock power is great. Checking servos for operation is great to do. Plus to check that they have the servo arm on the right spline, many times I have to move an arm one (or more) splines...Comment
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Thanks Evan, I really appreciate the reply and info on the spinners!Comment
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You are very welcome, the P-38 (really all the Flight line planes, especially the twins) flies awesome. Good luck with your maiden!Comment
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Hi Skavage,
I fly a lot and would only get 3 months on the old / no-channel prop hubs before cracks would appear.
If you ever notice even the slightest difference in fly-by sound, suspect the hub has a crack.
After throwing a prop and instant roll-over, I would not use the old non-channel hubs more than a few flights.
The stock set-up has PLENTY of power. More than you will ever need.
The stock servos are fairly reliable. But, they do fail from time to time. So far, they have provided symptoms before they fail. Only once have I done a pre-take-off control check and found an aileron servo frozen.
Good luck and report back.
-GG
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Thanks guys. I pretty much finished her up tonight. Just need to calibrate the ESC's and sync the motors. I saw this video linked earlier in the thread, am I correct to presume it's the best "guide" to get things set up correctly?
Lastly on a slightly different note, if anyone is interested in upgrading their motors either for the additional power or maybe for a rebuild, I'd be happy to sell my new Sport motor upgrade "kit". Based on the regular price of $110 I think $75 shipped to anywhere in the CONUS would be a pretty fair price? I'd also ship outside the US but the buyer would have to pick up the shipping cost.Comment
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You mean this video?
With millions of videos, I can only say it is ONE example. It’s impossible to say it is the BEST.
GGComment
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Yes GG, that's the video I was referring to. Funny but I was expecting it to be a little different than what you do with a single motor airplane but watching the video I found its the same. For some reason I was thinking I would have to calibrate each ESC individually and then do some magic to sync them, but that wasn't the case at all. Took me about 5 minutes to have it calibrated and the ESC's had brakes on as the default so nothing needed there.
I'm planning on flying with two 4s 3300 packs. I get most of my packs from RC Battery and it sounds like the 3300's should get me around 7 or 8 minutes based on what I've read here. Has anyone used larger capacity packs? If so can you share which ones? I installed my packs on their sides and while I've got some extra space length-wise in the battery compartment I have just a tiny bit more width. I haven't been able to find any packs that are longer, without them being much wider (thicker?).
On another note, has anyone else found the supplied decals to be pretty terrible? I've applied a LOT of decals both on models and commercial aircraft but this is my first time applying them on a foam surface, so maybe its a foam issue and not the decals? I'm a die-hard balsa/ply guy and other than a flying wing this is my only foam airplane. My beef is that the decals don't stick well at all, even when you burnish them down a LOT. The moment you start to peel off the clear cover the decals come right off with it. I finally gave up doing any burnishing until after removing the clear cover and then found that wetting my finger a bit and getting the decals a tiny bit wet, finally made them adhere good enough to burnish them down. But I have a very low confidence that they will stay in place for any length of time. I fully expect to lose most of them and will then buy some aftermarket decals that will work properly. Maybe someone can enlighten me...is it the use of them on foam that is the issue or are they as horrible as they seem?
Other than my whining about the decals and a couple bad servos I really like the plane a lot. I'm impressed with how well all the electronics work. I was dreading that the set-up would be really difficult and time consuming, but it wasn't. Other than some basic adjustments for servo direction and flap/elevator mixing it was as easy as any other plane so I have to give a big thumbs up to Flight Line in that regard. And it just looks so good sitting there finished. Can't wait to maiden her in the next few days or so.
BrentComment
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To keep the decals in place…
Paint her all over with a coat of water base UV protectant non-yellowing spar urethane. Crystal clear, satin finish. Minwax or Varathane brands. #1 Protects #2 Decals won’t come off
Also, don’t leave her sitting in the hot sunlight. The black areas will “gator”. Put a towel over her black areas when sitting idle. This goes for any foamie with darker paint.
No comment on larger packs. I use two Admiral 3000 packs = plenty big for long-enough flight times.
-GGComment
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I fly with 3300 4s packs on all stock, and fly for 6 minutes, lands with 3.9 still in the packsComment
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Originally posted by GliderGuy View Post
GG: I just got the Admiral 3000 35C packs. Just curious if you needed any additional weight (fore or aft) to get the CG.
TIA for your input.
TomComment
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No extra weight needed….pushed as far forward as possible.
Suggest you read other tips posted in this forum.
-GGComment
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GG: I've been using CHNL 3000 4s 55C packs which weigh approx. 2 oz. (each) more than the Admirals and had to add 1.25 oz to the tail of my P-38 with them as far aft as possible. With over 4300 posts on this plane it's difficult to find answers to specific questions and since you stated your using the Admirals I figured you could enlighten me.
Thanks, Once again.
TomComment
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Hi Tom…no problem. I’ll save you some digging. Go to post 4243 and have a concise reference to several tips.
The prior added tail weight should not be necessary, now.
-GGComment
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I removed the tail weight and my 2 Admiral 3000's are about 1 inch back from the front. Some prefer their aircraft a little more nose heavy. I balanced mine gear up with the nose ever so slightly down. With gear down it's noticably nose heavy.
TomComment
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That will help counter the nose up pitch when the flaps are lowered. You may need less flap/elevator mix.
Remember, she pitches up when the flaps go down.
-GGComment
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Does anyone have the paint match numbers for the silver? Much thanks!My YouTube RC videos:
https://www.youtube.com/@toddbredaComment
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When I got mine….
TAMIYA TS-30 Silver Leaf
Not sure about new paints the factory is using. Might be different now.
Note: TS-30 goes on odd looking, but dries to the correct match.
-GGComment
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