So I got my new warbird Thursday but I've been working my usual insane hours at work so I haven't had a chance to do anything with it until late last night. Upon first inspection, everything was well packed and arrived safely. After removing all the parts and test-fitting each of them I was surprised to see that they had indeed arrived with no damage. The website has a build video which I watched several times before beginning my build. I also read the manual which was well laid-out and easy to follow I was going to install the flaps option and do some mixing with the flaps and ailerons to get some crazy lift at slow speeds but decided to run the plane bone-stock to begin with in order to get a feel for how she flies out of the box. This decision came rather easily as the servos I had for the flaps were too big! Anyway, the build took less than an hour and was very straight forward with no surprises. The ARF I purchased came with all necessary hardware, most of it already installed. The only things I had to add were the tail-section control horns and connectors. I used the standard glue that came with the plane as I was too lazy to mix up some epoxy :-[ You can see in the pics below that these pieces were VERY small. After assembling them I used a small drop of blue loctite to keep the metal parts from loosening. Got the electronics all hooked-up and tested everything. No problems there. The retracts are slow and scale and all the servos are quick and return to center faithfully. Did I mention that in addition to the retracts and easy flaps option, that this 47" wingspan P-51 ARF is only $95!!! Motor, ESC, all servos and hardware and a scale 3-blade prop with spinner are all included! I ordered two Gens-Ace 3s 2200mah 55c batteries for initial testing. After everything was installed and setup, I placed the battery all the way forward in the battery bay and checked the CG. It was dead-on! Woohoo ;D ;D ;D Now to charge the batteries and get ready for Redwood School tomorrow!!!
Oh, I haven't applied the decals yet as I am going to make it an Oregon Ducks theme Still deciding on exact layout!
Sweet! That looks awesome. Can't writ to see it at the school tomorrow. Try to keep it in one piece until I get there! ...Tiger
Woohoo, the P-51 flew great! Lots of power on take-off, smooth and gentle in the air. Very scale-like and a real pleasure to fly. The only hitch was the retracts failed on the ground while doing a final before-flight-check. Completely disassembled them and cycled the gear mechanisms with a borrowed servo checker (thanks again, Jim!) and all seemed OK. Hooked everything back up to my radio and again the gear failed. So I left the gear down and made two successful flights of several ovals around the flying field. Kept the flights short so as not to succumb to the desire to perform aerobatics before I get the gear fixed Overall very pleased with this plane's preformance and flight. Will post more on the retract repair as I figure it out
I have a Beaver sticker for ya, I'll bet that's the only thing wrong with the flaps Mike. ;D Sounded like a fun first flight. Way to go.
Haha! I think the Beav's sticker would spontaniously combust! My wife and her whole family are U of O alumni. I became a Duck fan by default
Hey Mike - Was just looking through your great pics of the plane again and your receiver orientation caught my eye. You might want to consider moving the receiver so that the antenna is vertical. There is a major null off the end of any antenna. Vertical is the only orientation in which you are almost always broad side the antenna. The way you have it now, when you are flying toward or away from you, you are entering the null. With the vertical orientation, the only null is when you are directly overhead. That's a minimal problem since that's also when you have the greatest altitude and range (altitude is your friend in radio communication). You also need to remember to keep your Tx antenna vertical for all this to work to your advantage. Now I know a lot of guys ignore this and seem to get away with it most of the time thanks to good luck and modern electronics. Nevertheless, I think you'll find that a proper installation will bring you an extra margin of "luck". Lastly, you can avoid some of this problem by getting the receivers with two antennas. The reason for those is to minimize the likelihood of flying into a null (cross polarizatrion). The idea being that when you are in the null of one antenna, you are broadside on the other. Even with this diversity, it is still a major advantage to have one of the two antennas vertical. If you look at any of my larger planes you'll never see me using single antenna receivers. I love those little Orange receivers, but I restrict their use to park flyers where range is not an issue. My two bits for today. ...Tiger
Tiger, you're absolutely right! I knew this of course, but in my haste to get it together and in the air, I neglected that very simple truth As for the dual antenna Rx's, I don't have any currently but I'm looking at some of the 9-Channel OrangeRx receivers and some satellite receivers as well. Also the Spektrum AR6200 receivers with satellites are litterally being dumped on Ebay and elsewhere because of the new DSMX receivers for the DX8!! If anyone is looking for authentic Spektrum receivers, now is the time to shop!
You know the really nice compromise on low end receivers is like the OrangeRx R710 which has a few inches of coax before the active element. This lets you pick a nice place for the receiver like you did in the P51 and still lets you put the active part of the antenna out the bottom of the plane (vertical). This is an ideal installation, but it does cost a little bit more. That is... A little bit more, but not nearly as much as stacking up your new plane. On the topic of single antenna receivers, I just tried a couple of the new OrangeRx R410's and really like them. Only 4 channels, but that's enough for my little foam planes and it's SUPER tiny. Really a sweet little receiver and I've had no problems with them so far. ...Tiger
I buy the R610's (6-ch) because they're only $5.99. The smaller, lighter 4-ch R410's are $9.99 !?! If I go for more than 6 channels I'll get the R-910's (9-ch) because I'll have all 8-channels available from my DX8. I'm really looking at the OrangeRx satellite Rx's because they're ony $10 and they weigh next to nothing. I may drop the little extra $$ for a few AR6200's. They're going for $30-$40 on Ebay with the satellite Rx's. That's a great price for a Spektrum receiver and satellite!
