Ton Van Munsteren's P-51 Mustang

[Rosco]

Funny Peter, I couldn't help but notice that your scheme looked similar to a scheme I used on a build once. I used the scheme from a Mustang called the 'Vicious Virgin'.

I was going to do it again on my TVM mustang for the Mass build but decided on something else!

Rosco

[Peter Garsden]

Ah yes indeed. Looks similar but different. There are so many different versions, it is difficult pick one.

No one has noticed the decal error. It should say Fragile but agile not Fragile but stripey. I gave Tim at Model Markings the wrong phrase without checking properly. So I won't win the accuracy prize.

So in real terms this versioin doesn't exist either.

Mea Culpa

[Peter Garsden]

Ton - 2 questions please (1 and 2(4))

1. Is the cowl meant to have a hole in the front? The plan shows a hole, but I was not sure if it was meant to be a vent. I made a hole and ensured that there was also a hole in the insdie coverings on the back and top of the cowl so as to allow air in. I am not sure, however, that there is anywhere for the air to escape.
2. I maidened the plane yesterday. It flew very well, but I need to make several amendments
   1. The C of G is too far forward. I had to apply a lot of up elevator to keep it in the air. The elevator was not as responsive as it should have been. I have redesigned the battery box by putting it further back. It is now half under each side of the F3 and F4 as shown in Ton's plane elsewhere in this blog.
   2. The cowl came off mid air - it is held by a screw into balsa which just pulled out. I have reinforced the hole with car filler, so hopefully it will now hold. I think this was because the air pulled it off, hence my question above. It landed in boggy field and just stuck where it was. It landed too fast, but that was because it is too nose heavy.
   3. I have reprogrammed the motor so that it brakes when it stops. The free running prop caused it to land faster than I would have liked.
   4. I would like to replace the prop with a folding propellor. Can you recommend a supplier of something suitable similar to what you show above Ton? I can't find anything for a large enough diameter spinner. The prop I used was chipped on landing.

[Richard Elliot]

Peter

I don't think there was meant to be a hole in the cowl.

Mine doesn't have one and I've never had any cooling issues.

I would recommend that you use an APC ic prop. I have only broken one in all of my hundred odd flights on our rou th grass patch. If the motor is not powered the wind milling prop will actually act as a bit of a brake.

The model will slow a bit for landing but remember it's quite a slippery model so it's never going to be a walking pace affair. Moving the battery back may help but try some stall tests with a bit of height because if it's too far back it will flick into a spin if provoked.

Hope this helps......you have a great looking model there.

Cheers

Rich

[Peter Garsden]

Thanks Richard that's brilliant and helps a lot. I think I will block off the air intake. Don't want it to fly off again.

Good tip re stall also.

I have found some good and big folding props on the Electric Wingman site (I am really a glider man and we use them but smaller diameter ones) I just noticed that Ton had fitted a folding prop for his P51B above.

Would also like to see what Ton thinks.

[Rosco]

[Peter Garsden]

Rosco - great video, enjoyed it a lot. I could hear the wind and the clicks of trim at first to get it sorted out. It flew great once you got it trimmed. You must be very pleased with it.

I have flown mine a few times. It looks to fly very similarly.

I find that I just don't need full power at all, which means that I land with a cool battery. So the power to weigh ratio is great.

I have adjusted my ESC to brake the propellor which works very well. It does land at quite a speed though, so maybe the weight is still too far forwards.

I find I have to be careful with the battery to make sure it is far enough back for the C of G to be right..

It rolls and loops really well, and I enjoy flying it. It also does really good "wingovers" a la full size.

Where is the picture taken of your maiden? Looks sunnier than we are used to here in Macclesfield England.

[Rosco]

Hi Peter,
Thanks for the comments on the vid.
Yes, it was a bit windy but I don't mind a bit of a breeze, it can make flying fun. I have a second vid of it (taken after the maiden)and it is flying much better after some adjustments.

I had an MA 11x5 prop on it and I went to an MA 10x7 and it seemed to fly better. I also adjusted the battery position to be more forwards as I needed to hold the nose down during the maiden - alot of the trimming you can hear is on the elevator. It only needed a few clicks of right trim but lots of down on the elevator.

I still need to play around with a few things but I'm quite happy that it flew like it did.

I have a build log of it in the 2015 mass build thread and if you have a look, you will notice that I built it with some slight differences to Ton's original plan.

I'm from Adelaide in South Australia and the picture is taken at our (my) flying spot - Victoria Park.It is winter here at the moment but it does not get anywhere near as severe as I imagine your winter would be.Funnily enough, that day was the only sunny day amongst a couple of weeks of our cold miserable overcast and windy days!

Rosco