New models from E-Flite

[Bravedan]

I have seen the P38 at my LMS where we had the components out of the box for an oggle.......VERY impressive except for full matt finish.....with invasion stripes.......???

I have their Thunderbolt, which flies perfectly well on the supplied base brushed package, ROG's well on suitable surface, hand launches readily with a minimal throw, climbs out well, loops from level flight, four point rolls (with optional rudder control fitted), etc, etc.

Unless you want to fly it as a 3D plane (and if so why on earth are you buying a Warbird?!!) the brushed setup is perfectly suitable and adequate.

The ONLY reason for going brushless on the P38 IMHO is to avoid the minimal risk of total loss of one motor.

Ducks and runs for cover....................................

[Bravedan]

BTW, why is this in the "Beginners"  section given the models involved???

[Tim Mackey]

You can run but you cant hide

How many reasons do you want ......... try these couple for starters

Better duration of flight due to much higher efficiency of brushless

Better longevity of components  - no cruddy brushes to wear out

[Bravedan]

  Water pistols at 300 metres.........................

Duration on the standard TBolt is nothing short of excellent, so in this case cannot agree.............you'd not see me putting a brushed on my Formosa, or on my Wings, where you do want ultimate snap power for the weight, but the TBolt flies for ages and ages when flown as a Warbird should, and if you don't fly it that way, why buy it???

Going Brushless on this sort of plane will only induce people into unrealistic flight performance.. All you need is a safety reserve of sufficient power, and the std setup does that...they got it RIGHT IMHO.

(I'm getting increasingly fed up watching people hurtling Spitfires and the like round the sky at (scale) speeds an F16 would not manage - the other day a guy spent some time saying how accurate the Spitfire model was he'd got .....and then did five circuits INVERTED and several vertical climb outs.........for Heaven's sake guys, go buy a 3D foamie.................................!!!!)  

For the cost of one ESC, let alone the brushless motor, I'll have a lifetimes flying on the brushed motor type even if I do have to change, but since I'm not stressing it very much, I don't expect I'll have to.  It's a polystyrene model with a finite life before hanger rash, etc, spells it's demise anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Brushless....in the right situation and where they contribute sufficiently to the need. In the P38's case, I really don't see the need for twin brushless. Somebody buy me one and I'll prove how good the standard package can be..............

Oh, and the base I write this "drivvle" from................. more than 35 years working with motors, starters, etc....................................from tiny up to several hundred horsepower,  Including technology way beyond the brushless model motor back to 1900's equipment still in service.

Back strictly to topic. I assume that EFlite have used dead matt paint on the P38 because it helps hide the polystyrene foam surface a bit.  The one thing I would say against them is that they are unskinned, whereas skinned foam planes like the Flying Styro ones do look even better and I'd suspect stand up to the handling they will get better.

I'm super careful on handling, and transport and storage, yet it's slowly flight by flight transportation wise getting handling marks.

The plus side to this is that it's very very light, with the flight quality benefits that brings.

The other thing I personally didn't like was the way that many edges are left bare white foam, like ends and hinge line of the ailerons. I touched mine in with matching paint,  after testing for foam safe ability (wasn't difficult to match luckily!)

[Tim Mackey]

Water pistols indeed

No I agree with you generally, but when you mentioned about no reason at all to go brushless, I got on my techiienerdmobile and jumped to the challenge....but you have a fair point, although of course brushless will generally last longer

I couldnt agree more about the way some folks fly ! I too shudder, when I see the Spit or similar being thrown around like a 3Der, I do like fast and furious, but in its place. Funniest comment which I just had to laugh at inside, was from a guy who complained that his spit would not do a decent stall turn  or inverted flat spin !! He was deadly serious.

On the subject of skinned foamies, I have several of both skinned and unskinned, and find that they both suffer easy hanger rash, but it shows up in different ways. As you say, the unskinned stuff easily roughs up, and my Alfa Sabre EDF although skinned, and looking superb when new, is now showing its age and flight log with several prominent creases, which are pretty much impossible to correct