Dave Grennan Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Hi I'm Dave from Dublin (42 years young), I've dreamed about flying RC planes since I was a small kid and now decided to do something about it. I got hold of some good second hand bargains. Namely a Spektrum DX8 set and and Artec Cessna Trainer foamie. I'm about to join the local club here so I'll hold off flying the cessna until I'm signed up and insured. I bought the artec on the basis that it was already pretty beat up and as such I wouldn't be too upset about thrashing it. I have to admit to being lured by the pz ultra micro spitfire. (I love warbirds). The UM Spit is small enough for me to fly it in the local football fields when there's no-one else around. Probably not the best model to do a first flight on but I did and managed a couple of circuits and got it down safe. Second flight zaaap, nose dived, broken plane. Fixed said plane and third flight was great. I've just been taking it nice and slow, nothing fancy I also have a question, a few years ago a friend gave me this P-47 and its been sitting in my shed ever since. Now before you start to panic, don't worry I know that flying something like this is Waaaaay down the road, but it's a nice dream and goal to have. My question is does anybody recognise what make or model it is? Its got a 57" wingspan. It has all the control surfaces. It also came with a nitro engine (irvine 53). There's loads of mounting hardware, control rods, horns and clevises etc, but I think a lot are missing too. If I go down the road of building this I'll probably retro-fit it with an electric motor as I'm no grease monkey. Do you thing it's worth pursuing? It will probably cost as much to kit out as buying one of those foamie warbirds. Just seems a shame to condemn such a beauty never to fly. I've really being enjoying reading through these boards a lot of really fantastic people and really useful stuff for a noob like me. Best, Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hi Dave, I assure you that, it's very addictive. The SpektrumDx8 is a great radio, so no problems there. And, yes the club will be a great help. Insurance while not mandatory is, most of us agree essential. the club should organise it for you I'd look at your warbird as around model no 3 or 4. Some people learn to fly quickly, others take ages. Maybe a low wing sports job as a second model, to get you up to speed. I reckon you'd learn a lot from making it good, and almost certainly you'll get help at the club. And of course theres lots of good advice to be had here ernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hi and welcome Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john melia 1 Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hi dave welcome, loads of good advice available for your perusal in here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area 51 Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Morning Dave. Fine part of the world you live from! Welcome and all the best with your new hobby.. You will love it, if you can grab a Flt sim for RC too as a bargain purchase, do so!, especailly whilst looking for a nice club to join... They are invaluable for keeping your skills polished in the darker months, also will save of glue etc when learning for the first time or wanting to try new skills! Best of luck and the forum is a great place for advice, inspiration and a laugh! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon B Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hi Dave, welcome to the forum! Converting IC planes to electric is fun, but access to the battery often requires some thought if you don't want to remove the wing to change batteries. Fellow forumite and moderator, Biggles Elder Brother has done an excellent conversion of an IC kit here. There are many different options for motors when converting, but here is a good motor, a suitable 100A speed controller is here and you'll need a 6 cell lithium polymer battery and a 4.8v Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery to power the receiver. You'll never have to spend 15 minutes trying to get it to start and won't go home smelling of fuel (although lots of people like that!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hello Dave Buy a decent engine and learn how to use it, you'll be flying before your battery's charged. Nice flyers Thunderbolts put it to one side a while, get flying whilst weathers good, will not cost you much to fit it out, learn a bit from the lads at club first. John P.S. you already have a decent engine Edited By john stones 1 on 03/05/2014 11:17:06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hi Dave - and welcome on board. (And thanks to Simon for the kind words and the plug ) The guys are right - this hobby is seriously addictive, you have been warned! Re the Thunderbolt: I'm not sure exactly what make it is but the P47 makes an excellent first warbird. No warbird is easy to fly, but the P47 is amongst the most "user friendly" for a first time experience. So that's a plus. Converting it to too electric is perfectly possible as is resurrecting the model generally. As long as the basic wood is sound everything else is fixable! Regarding cost - well no its not going to be a cheap way to a model - but it will be more exciting (in a positive sense!) to fly than a small foamie warbird and you'll get a real thrill out of the satisfaction that you did it yourself and turned a potential heap of scrap into a smashing model. I agree totally with Ernie's comment above - get 2-3 models of a similar size and construction method to this under your belt before you try it and provided you can fly them well you should have no big problem with the P47. In model flying size does matter - because it can drive weight! As models get heavier the wing loading goes up - meaning that they tend to fly faster and stall more easily - and of course the combination of speed and weight means they have a lot more energy. Managing that energy is an important skill. In more ways than many realise flying a 3lb FMA style foam model is very different from flying a 9lb wooded one - even though they may be of similar size. so just work up to it, build your skills and experience, and you'll be fine. Joining the local club is a great idea - they'll give you a lot of help. I don't know of any other area where beginners get unlimited free instruction! Make the most of it! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hi Dave I endorse everything that everyone else has said here. Don't be afraid to ask questions on this site, you'll get lots of useful advice but you'll also get that in spades from your local clubmates. Which club are you going to join? The one in Phoenix Park? (The love of my life was from Navan!) DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Grennan Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 Thank for the excellent advice guys. I really enjoyed reading Biggles Elder Brother's conversion thread. Certainly nothing in there which would scare me off. Simon B: Thanks for the links.. Quick question here, is there some reason I shouldn't use an ESC with a built in BEC for the receiver? Just as an aside, I noticed there is a huge amount of VERY affordable stuff becoming available from China. I mean ESCs, motors, servos etc. In some of my other interests I've found that the quality coming directly from the far east is surprisingly good. Even if you do have to wait ages on delivery. Just wondering what you guys think. David D: Yes I plan to head over to the Phoenix park tomorrow for a chat. You could do a lot worse than a Navan girl! Thanks again, Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly boy3 Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hi Dave, nice to see the" youngsters" joining the hobby LoL. I was 51 when I started and still daft on flying 25 years on. If this forum was around then, I would have been in the air quicker, less crashes, less money spent on the wrong stuff etc. So much knowledge on here willing to be be shared, its mind boggling. Welcome to the forum. Cheers FB3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 "To BEC or not to BEC, that is the question"! And a thorny one it is too! For smaller models - say using upto a 3s 2200 mAh battery I think you'd get more or less universal agreement that its fine to use the BEC in the ESC. For 12s powered monsters - again I think everyone would agree a separate BEC is essential. But where in the middle is the changeover point? Ah - that is not the subject of so much agreement! Speaking personally I would say it depends mainly on how much current you think your servos might pull. Many power supplies built into an ESC will only be really happy supplying maybe 2A maximum. In a model that might have 6-7 servos 2A total servo current isn't much! 99.9% of the time it will be OK - because you are unlikely to have all the servos under heavy load at the same time. But - what about the other times? And what about times when the current might not exceed the max - but its very close? Can you depend on this supply to be 100% reliable operating close to its limiting current - because the consequences of it failing equal the loss of the model and the associated safety issues. So - for me. 1. 3s upto 4 mini-servos then OK use the BEC in the ESC 2. 4 full size servos in a "sedate" model - again us the ESC 3. Over 4/5 servos (especially if one of them is a retract servo) - or in models were I'm going to put some serious load on the control surfaces (aerobatics for example) - then use a separate BEC. Now I stress these are just my "rules" - other people may well have different ones and that doesn't make them or me "wrong" - its a judgement each flier must make for themselves. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Vrandecic -Mes Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hello Dave ,Welcome on board, my support and greetings from Croatia... Regards Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony F Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Hi Dave....think I found your model ? = **LINK** Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Grennan Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Hi Tony, YES!! That is definitely the one alright. Seems to be some sort of generic brand. Actually I've just been giving it the once over and I think I can see how it all goes together now. There are pre-made housings for the servos. They've even put in some thread through the wings for pulling the servo cable through. Looking at the picture, the only thing that looks different is the main gear. The landing struts on the ebay link (on the main pic) looks quite flimsy. However the actual struts which I have and are shown in the second ebay pic, are much beefier. Thanks Tony. Thats a great help. Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Grennan Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Tony, from using a few clues from your lead, I found that the manufacturer is 'Global Hobbies' and a little more research led me to this instruction manual. http://media.globalhobby.com/manual/123745.PDF Which seems incredibly close to mine. I'll print this off and compare it to mine and this should give me some good leads on how to proceed. Thanks again. Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony F Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Your welcome mate , took a bit of searching but glad I could help good luck with it and show us when it's finished and it and you are ready to fly !!! Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Grennan Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 I just laid all this out on the kitchen floor tonight and enjoyed looking at all the various parts and figured out where a lot of them go and at least the purpose of others, BUT taking a look at all the work needed to convert this to electric, i.e. modifing the front end for a battery hatch etc, i'm coming to the conclusion that a project like this one is probably best undertaken way down the road when I have more experience with less challenging builds. I love building stuff and I'm no slouch when it comes to a bit of engineering but sometimes its no harm to admit that more experience would probably make a project like this more rewarding. Given that there so many ARF kits out there in both balsa and foam, I think I'll go down that road for my first real build and maybe return to this P-47 when I've broken a few of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Not a bad idea Dave You'll acquire more bits along the way and may kit it up with them, and when you're ready they fly well John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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