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Josh Huber of Portland, OR
sent this 10/17/06;
I bought a P51 D combat plane awhile back,
and wanted to say thanks. This is the funnest plane I've ever
flown, and so fast. It took awhile to get used to the speed, but I
soon (5 or 6 crashes later) got the hang of it. This plane was fun
to build, the instructions along with the web site were more than
adequate for a first-time foamie builder. I piled it straight into
the ground at top speed at least 3 times, and it took more time to
go pick it up off the field than to replace the prop and get it back
in the air. Fellow pilots were also amazed at how well it flew,
even in strong winds, and how indestructible it was. After a gallon
and a half of fuel and 5 props, a fence post finally got the best of
her. So I just bought another P51 D from your shop, and will be in
the air in no time. Thanks again
Josh Huber
Portland, OR
We're so glad you got the
picture before it met the fence post
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|
Why do you have a picture of a BF109 under the
Mustang page - you ask!? Well Brian Woolsey sent us this picture of a
kit bashed P51B that he turned into the 109. Mighty nice morph job -
wouldn't you say? |
|
Flew
the P51 Sunday afternoon. With the ailerons in the correct position
and
with
some added downthrust it really picked up some speed!!
I started
working
on the combat moves and was having a great time!!
I then got a
"wild
hair" and came across the field inverted at full throttle about
10
feet
off the ground. It was pretty cool!!
Well, I got "jelly brain" because
I
pulled "UP" in relation to the plane instead of in relation
to the earth!!
The
resulting sound of that P51 hitting the ground was impressive to say
the
least.
Luckily, the field was soft from all the rain. The plane went into
the
ground up to the wings (vertically of course). It then started to cart
wheel
across the field. I thought for sure the plane was toast. To my
amazement,
though, the only damage was to the left wing (cracked one spar
and
slightly twisted). Easily repaired!
I
went back to look at the point of impact just to make sure there
weren't
any
pieces missing I wasn't aware of. This is when it hit me! I've
re-invented
the Post Hole Digger!!! Now
if only I could "plant" it at 8'
intervals... Anyway, I've already got it cleaned back up and the
glue is
drying.
It should be flight ready in a day or two.
Thanks,
Dave
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Sent:
Tuesday, June 10, 2003 12:25 PM
Subject:
P51 Photo
I thought you
might like to see one of your P51's done up in silver mylar with
conversion to electric power. I used a JETI brushless motor (15-3), a 9-6 folding prop and
seven-cell 1200 SCR batteries. With this setup I could fly
acrobatically for 6 to 7 minutes.
The best part was the vertical performance--she could be hand
launched straight up and out of sight in 30 seconds.
Alas, she is no longer with
us. I forgot to reverse the elevator servo after flying another
plane. Her end wasn't
painless, but it was mercifully quick.
Thanks
for a great flying and easy to build product.
Justin
Revenaugh
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Thanks for the details on your electric conversion
of the P51. Nice looking plane Justin! |
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Ever wonder what "Captain Nemo"
does in his spare time?!?!-------- |
| He flies foamie combat, of-course! Bob
(Ace) Conrad sent us these photos of his P51 all decked
out in invasion trim and silver tape. His other passion
is scale submarines and this is an excellent rendition of
the Nautilus. Ace says it will dive to 30 feet, has
onboard ballast control and full cabin lights. Both
models are a testament to his modeling abilities,
wouldn't you agree!? |
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|
John modified the Pocket
P51 and converted it to electric - this is how he did
it.................
re:
electric Pocket p-51
Well,
it worked . . .
The
primary deviation from the instructions was in the wing assembly.
Instead of fiberglass straping tape, I added a carbon fiber tape strip
top and bottom. (sold by Dave Brown products--1" wide, looks like
black ribbon from a birthday present)
The
wing is as stiff as a 2 by 4! No flex, no buckle.
WOW!
Parts
used:
Hitec
555 mini receiver.
Cirrus
CS-10 sub-micro servos
Aveox
a-15 speed control
Speed
400 6v motor
7x600ae
battery
APC
5.7X3 prop
I
started with a 7 cell 600ae pack, and a speed 280BB motor... It
flew, but with the added weight it had to fly FAST... The speed
280BB barely had enough power to keep it aloft. SO, I upped it
to a 6v speed 400 w/ a 5.7X3 APC prop. Still kept the 7 cell
pack. It flew fairly well, although you cannot take it below
full-throttle. Loops and rolls were responsive, but it had an
annoying tendency to roll and tailspin if the elevator were pulled up
too hard.
After
reading your instructions from the 1/12th scale p-51, I installed a
stall strip, 4" on each wing at the root, fashioned from a piece
of triangle stock. It was amazing the stability this trick
brought--Thank You!...
The
plane flew, and flew FAST, but had a tendency to stall when landing.
(Yes, I had about 4 good crashes--destroyed the speed 280--before I
figured out what was wrong--the plane is still in great shape.
Anyway, my conclusion is that the wing area is too small for electric
conversion. If, however, you had a NON-symmetrical wing,
something with some good lift, I'd bet it would fly beautifully.
John
Sawyer
Then
he made some changes..............
I
finally went out and cut a new wing. Specs: Clark-y,
7" X 11.38% thick at the root, 4" X 10% thick at the tip.
Overall length: 28". I
ran 8 600ae cells, 6v speed 400 and the cheapo gunther prop (same one
that Zagi uses on their planes). Result: It rocked!
Great roll-rate, loops, etc. It still flew very fast
and was very stable. Landings were a bit hairy, but I
found if you come in hot, and keep it on the deck, it slows down
eventually and lands well. I am SOOOOO happy with the plane, once
I cut the new wing. It still tip-stalls at low speed, but if you're
gentle on the elevator it still handles well. Thanks
for the great kits...John
Sawyer |
Tee sent this picture to us of his Pocket P51 - panel lines and
everything, nice detail! |
Thanks, Monson
Mike writes:
Hey
guys! I may have written you before on this but Your p51 is JUST THE
BEST!!!!!!!
I have been building and flying planes for over 20 years and I
cannot
believe the fine flying characteristics of the planes you sell for so
little
money! I put a Speed400 with a mini Olympus on mine. It is so quick
and responsive
I can fly the thing within an inch of my head at full speed
and have
a sense of total control.
Can't
tell you how much fun I am having!
Sincerely
yours,
Mike
Anticoli
Randyl Britten
sent this
picture and some comments on construction you might find
interesting if you intend to make an electric P51
My electric combat P-51 project
based on your 1/12th scale foamie has turned out very
well, thanks in very large part to you guys. An image file is
attached as P51ME2.jpg.
I started out with every intention
of building it by your instructions, except where necessary to
adapt it to electric. However, it did not quite turn out that
way.
Shaping the foam fuselage was very
easy. I used emery coated metal shaping tools I got at the
Puyallup Expo, and sandpaper. Used with a light touch, these
tools cut quickly and easily, and did not clog up. Cutting
interior space in the fuselage also went well using a long, sharp
exacto-type blade and a light sawing motion. I tried the serrated
grapefruit knife without much success. The foam tended to ball up
under the blade. I guess my grapefruit knife was too dull.
I tried to add lightening holes to
the coroplast tail parts, but the rotary saw drill blades left
ragged edges that were not easy to get smooth. After covering,
the rough edges of the holes were still visible. In future I
would much prefer to use balsa tail parts for the sake of
appearance, and I do realize that they would not be as durable.
After adding the coroplast doublers on the fuselage sides,
covering with the packing tape supplied went about as expected.
It was impossible to avoid some bubbles and wrinkles, but it did
not seem to matter a lot by that time. Okay, the fuselage is not
a pretty piece of work.
At that point I set the project
aside for a few days, and somehow the remainder of the coroplast accidentally got discarded with the scrap. Because of that I ended
up using ¾ inch balsa ailerons. The wing turned out very nicely
with no wrinkles, except at the compound curves on the wingtips.
I used scrap foam to make the leading edge fairings that are a
distinctive feature of the P-51 and adds a lot to the scale-like
appearance.
The electric power went in easily.
I used an Astroflight Brushless 02 with an Astroflight Superbox
reduction gear, powered by seven 1100 MAh cells from SR
Batteries. This is a fine, lightweight e-power combination that I
have used very successfully for over two years in an electrified
Airtronics Q-Tee. Both the Q-Tee and the foamie P-51 weigh in
well under two pounds with about the same wing area and wing
loading. I deliberately stacked the deck for a successful flyer
by using this power train. The prop is a Kyosho 9x8 for
electrics.
I used light ply to make the
bulkhead mounted on the front of the fuselage block between the coroplast doublers. A one inch hole saw was used to drill
through to the central interior space. The inside space for the
battery pack was adjusted until the CG was in the right place. A
short piece of cardboard tube, left over from a roll of Micafilm,
glued to the bulkhead completed the light weight motor mount. The
Astroflight Brushless 02 motor, less than one inch in diameter,
and its integrated electronic speed control, fit easily and
mounted securely with rubber bands and mounting tape.
The cowl is made from a two liter
plastic soda pop bottle. I carved a plug in the shape of the P-51
nose from another piece of two inch foam block, and shrank the
pop bottle to the plug with a heat gun. This is a popular and
inexpensive way to make cowls, canopies, and other durable, light
weight model parts. The pop bottle material can be shrunk about
30% with high heat. Plugs can be carved in the desired shape from
hardwood or foam block.
I used two FMA Direct S-100 micro
servos for the elevator and ailerons. The elevator servo mounted
cleanly just behind the cockpit canopy. In a future version I
will try an interior mounting to clean up the appearance. When it
came to shaping the cockpit canopy I decided I’d had enough
of the packing tape wrinkles on compound curves. After shaping
the foam canopy with the emery boards I covered it with a layer
of Model Magic filler, and sanded that down again to its final
shape. Then I used Testor’s gloss white spray paint and trim
tape to finish it for scale appearance. The rest of the model was
spray painted with Testor’s metallic silver. Testor’s
spray cans are the ones to use with no problems and can be used
directly on the foam. Most other spray paints will attack the
foam.
This model is decorated as the
ME-2, or Me Too, the second member of my growing P-51 squadron.
It has several flights by now and flies very nicely. It hand
launches easily and climbs out at an aggressive angle. With power
off, and thanks to the light wing loading, the P-51 easily glides
a long way before settling gently into the grass. I have not yet
pushed flight duration to its limits. Its longest flight so far
has been six minutes, and still had plenty of power when it
landed.
It does not exactly tear up the
sky, but it is plenty fast for me thanks to its clean low drag
lines. I’ve been calling it my combat trainer. It loops and
rolls easily and can change direction very fast. The Me Too is a
load of fun and I definitely plan to build another one, and put
just a little more power in it. The brushless 02 is just not
enough power to be competitive with the gas guys. But I have an
Astroflight Brushless 05 just waiting for the ME-3...
Specification As Built Actual P-51D Variation
from
1/12 Scale------------- -------- ------------
--------------
Span 38.5 in 37 ft 4%
Root Chord 9.5
Tip Chord 6.25
Average Chord 7.875
Wing Area 300 sq in
Weight 28 oz
Wing Loading 13.3 oz/sq ft
Length 33 in 32.25 ft 2.3%
C. Randyl Britten
Software Engineer
Gasboy Development
Bruce has an excellent site, go to his site to check out his building
procedures. http://rc.explosive.net
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| Bruce Forester sent us
these photos and the following text. Take a good look at the nose of these
planes and notice the size of the engines he has and then read on to find
out the details. Some one at the Forester camp is very good with a
graphics program too, the photo at the right is just the way it came to us
through E-mail. Looks nice Bruce!
I
have completed several of your kits and thought you might like hearing
about them.
The first Mustang (Yellow) has an O.S. 40LA on it. The only modifications
that were made was to put a 1/4" balsa spar in the wing, top and
bottom.
Also
a rudder servo in the tail and I cut 1/2" off the nose. It flies
great and has a long glide path at landing.
The second Mustang (Red) had an MVVS 40 with tuned pipe and unfortunately
did not fly.
This was my fault not the fault of the plane.
I cut 1" off
the nose and
when I cut it off it must have not been straight.
This caused
too much twist
at take off.
The Third Mustang (Blue) has the MVVS 40 with tuned pipe and it is so fast
it is hard to
describe. This plane has to
be "flown" all the time. It's
great fun and a
real show stopper. The
modifications were to run the
plastic former
all the way to the tail for support, the 1/4" balsa wing
spars and this
time I didn't cut anything off the nose. This one also has
rudder servo.
The Fourth plane was your new Corsair, Blue) with an O.S. 46FX attached to
the nose. It
flies great and is very stable. With
an 11x7 prop it wants to
leap out of your
hand at launch. It is very
fast. The modifications were
to put 1/4"
balsa spars top and bottom and mount the wing servos sideways
for clearance. This one has a rudder servo and a 40-70 adjustable mount so
the engine can
be moved farther forward. I
mounted the servo's in the
tail.
They need to be much farther forward for balance.
All planes were built with standard size servos and receivers.
Another thing I like is the speed at which these planes can be built.
It
cuts my building
time by 70%. Which is a good
thing, as the cost of your
planes being
less than balsa kits has allowed me to have more planes.
With these size
engines, these planes are not for the faint of heart. Next
summer, it is
hoped that we will be flying combat with these planes.
Interest
is growing at our club for these foam speedsters.
I have one
Mustang and one Corsair that I haven't built yet.
When they are
done I will let
you know what happens. I sent along some pictures I thought
you might enjoy.
Sincerely
, Bruce Forester
This
is a note from Bruce about a 60 powered Corsair he just built.....
The weather
broke for a day that I was off, so I took out your Corsair that
I
put an O.S.61FX on to see what might happen. This plane is so cool it is
hard to describe. Take off, or throw if you
will, was flat, level, and fast.
Like it was on a string. If it wasn't so fast a person could get in
a chuckle or two. However, one must
concentrate as it is fast, fast, fast. The
really surprising thing is how stable the plane is. We tried to get
it to snap, it just won't. The speed is
just awesome and the rolls happen in
less than a blink. A couple of us traded off flying as everyone watched
what was going to happen. The flight was
great, fast, and stable, then it was
time to land. Power was turned off or it just died I'm not sure.
Anyway,
because of the altitude it was just glided around for awhile to
bleed
off the speed. No power and the plane just didn't seem to care,
again
it was very stable. It was lined up for landing and never faltered all the way to the ground. Just leveled it
off about a foot off the ground
and
let it glide until it was time to set it down. No problems of any
kind.
If you look close on the fuselage you can see your company name on
the
side. The decals are home made on our computer and then printed on
photo
grade paper. Then they are taped with clear packing tape to the
plane.
This works really good and gives unlimited potential.
Hope
you enjoy the picture. Keep up the good work, you are making me look
real good at the field.
Sincerely,
Bruce Forester
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| These plane started out as P51s
  
These are how some of our kits end up. Larry Brown built these from our
P51 kit, he writes (about the low wing): A 450 Turbo, APC 7-5, and seven
700mah cells bring the weight to 36ozs. Not overpowered and not
underpowered; it flies in scale. BEAUTIFUL! High speed low passes stop
conversations and the soft, Ferrari like sound turns heads ..... He went
on to tell a little about the bi-plane and an unfortunate demise. However,
I believe he intends to make these available in a ready to fly plane so if
your interested, give Larry a call at:
Air Show RC Flight Products
3960 W Pt. Loma Blvd #H-435
San Diego, CA 92110 or call at: 619 222
4337 |
