Parkzone P51 Landing Issues
07-29-2007, 05:58 AM
#1
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 38
Parkzone P51 Landing Issues
I learn't to fly with the Firebird Phantom (3 ch V-Tail)... I think I pretty much mastered it and have flown in some pretty substantial winds... Anyway, I recently bought the P51... The plane flys really well... I have ben flying on high-rate, doing loops, rolls, etc... My problem however, is landing... Because it has no landing gear, I have been cutting the motor and dead sticking the landing... On a number of occassions I have stalled a couple of feet above the ground, hit the wing tip and cartwheeled... Thankfully not to much damage though... Anyway, I was hoping to get some advice as to the best way to land this plane properly... Any help would be greatly appreciated.
07-29-2007, 06:02 AM
#2
Some Assembly Required
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 12,070
Hi uslimey and welcome to Wattflyer.
When I had the PZ P-51, I found it best to bring it in with the motor running and cut the throttle about 2 feet off the ground, flare it out and slide it in. Seemed to work pretty good for me. I didn't have much luck thrying to bring it in dead stick. It really needs to come in with a little speed. P-51s are not very good floaters.
When I had the PZ P-51, I found it best to bring it in with the motor running and cut the throttle about 2 feet off the ground, flare it out and slide it in. Seemed to work pretty good for me. I didn't have much luck thrying to bring it in dead stick. It really needs to come in with a little speed. P-51s are not very good floaters.
07-31-2007, 06:00 PM
#3
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Thanks Grasshopper... I spent a couple of hours on FMS simulator and now have the landings in the bag!... I am coming in dead stick with a fairly steep angle of attack (i.e. keeping the airspeed up) and leveling out and flaring close to the ground... I do have another question though... The plane rolls to the left on launch and requires full right trim on high rates to stop the roll. This means that the right aileron (viewed from the rear of the plane) is up by about 2mm and the left aileron don by about 2mm... I thought the misaligned motor mount was supposed to correct this issue... Does anyone else have this issue?
08-01-2007, 04:12 AM
#4
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Dutchess Co NY
Posts: 542
USLIMEY,
As usual 'Hoppy's advise is the same as I would give. As for your "dive and flair" method- great to have in your bag of tricks for windy days, but I would advise against id as a matter of course. Only takes once to be a little late on the "up" to change your mind (ask me how I know
). The P-51 is the hardest to fly of the bunch, and lands best with speed & power. I use the on/off bursts to turn and flair if I've hit the LVC --like only 9 out of 10 flights 
.
As for your tim issues I can offer only this; I've have/had at least 8 PZ warbirds. NONE ever trimed even close to the others. I've had bannana'd 'fuses, warped wings and mis-aligned motors. All were flyable and trimable, BUT flew much better after corrections to the basic airframe for manufacturing errors were made to correct the problem. No fault of PZ's to my mind they are great for what you pay.
As usual 'Hoppy's advise is the same as I would give. As for your "dive and flair" method- great to have in your bag of tricks for windy days, but I would advise against id as a matter of course. Only takes once to be a little late on the "up" to change your mind (ask me how I know
). The P-51 is the hardest to fly of the bunch, and lands best with speed & power. I use the on/off bursts to turn and flair if I've hit the LVC --like only 9 out of 10 flights . As for your tim issues I can offer only this; I've have/had at least 8 PZ warbirds. NONE ever trimed even close to the others. I've had bannana'd 'fuses, warped wings and mis-aligned motors. All were flyable and trimable, BUT flew much better after corrections to the basic airframe for manufacturing errors were made to correct the problem. No fault of PZ's to my mind they are great for what you pay.
08-01-2007, 04:32 AM
#5
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 38
K... Thanks for your advice... I am still working on the ideal solution... Actually, this plane is a filler plane while I wait for the new PZ T28 Trojan to come in... I am glad to hear it is the hardest to fly... Hopefully I'll be able to save the Trojan from too may hard landings!
In regard to cost/value for money, I couldn't agree more with your comment... The value is outstanding... I started with a HZ Phantom - 3 channels for $59... Yes, it had a few issues, but what do you expect... It got me flying and I am greatful for that... In fact that plane, with its many repairs (custom boom, custom tail, etc.) is now almost indestuctible... My 8 yr old son took the controls the other day, flew 2 loop, then nosed dive at full throttle into the ground... I picked it up, put the wing back on, put the battery back in, and threw back into the air... Overall, regardless of their flaws, they are extremely good value!
In regard to cost/value for money, I couldn't agree more with your comment... The value is outstanding... I started with a HZ Phantom - 3 channels for $59... Yes, it had a few issues, but what do you expect... It got me flying and I am greatful for that... In fact that plane, with its many repairs (custom boom, custom tail, etc.) is now almost indestuctible... My 8 yr old son took the controls the other day, flew 2 loop, then nosed dive at full throttle into the ground... I picked it up, put the wing back on, put the battery back in, and threw back into the air... Overall, regardless of their flaws, they are extremely good value!
08-01-2007, 06:13 PM
#7
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 38
OK, so I adjusted as suggested, which seemed to work fine... I flew yesterday, and on the second launch the plane lost power and dropped to the ground... The nylon gear on the shaft of the motor had slid all the way to the end of the motor and was no longer engaging... I tried 5 min epoxy on the shaft, flew for about 3 mins today and it did the same thing, in the middle of an acrobatic move (flying inverted). I tried to roll out and pull up, but lost altidude during the roll and hit the ground pretty hard. Not good... It landed belly down, and tore the scoop off the wing!... Now I am looking at slightly more extensive repairs... Just out of interest has anyone used Great Stuff foam to repair holes in the wing... Does Great stuff eat the foam or is it safe to use?
08-02-2007, 02:04 AM
#8
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Dutchess Co NY
Posts: 542
Uslimey,
That sucks. Drive shaft grear loss is a common failure, only a new shaft and gear will fix it. I've been useing red Locktight on new ones with great success-no new failures.
I don't know about Great Stuff, but I think guys here have used it. I use Gorilla glue, to me it is the only way to go on a PZ bird. It's easy to split the top and bottom of the wings apart for repairs, I've let in sheet foam (meat packing tray pieces) to re-inforce areas on the inside of the wing. I've repaired stuff that was truly garbage thanks to Gorilla glue. Check this out, as it works a treat on wings
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18021
you won't be disapointed.
Good Luck
That sucks. Drive shaft grear loss is a common failure, only a new shaft and gear will fix it. I've been useing red Locktight on new ones with great success-no new failures.
I don't know about Great Stuff, but I think guys here have used it. I use Gorilla glue, to me it is the only way to go on a PZ bird. It's easy to split the top and bottom of the wings apart for repairs, I've let in sheet foam (meat packing tray pieces) to re-inforce areas on the inside of the wing. I've repaired stuff that was truly garbage thanks to Gorilla glue. Check this out, as it works a treat on wings
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18021
you won't be disapointed.
Good Luck
08-04-2007, 03:10 AM
#9
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 38
k,
Want to know whats even worse... I bought two ne pinion gears today... The first I applied a little lock tight to... I flew one battery at a fairly low rate - 60-80% throttle... Landed perfectly, no problems at all... Launched at full throttle for a second flight and the plane lost power and hit the ground... The pinion gear was shot... I took the plane apart and put the scend pinion on... I launched perfectly flew high speed for about 90 seconds, I started into a loop and it lost power and stalled out... It brought it down with a rather hard dead stick landing, only to fingd out another pion gear had slipped on the shaft... The plane has been virtually destroyed because of this issue... Its had so many hard landings and new needs a new fuselage as a result... I am a little dissapointed to say the least... In my opinion the motor shoul have a press fitted bronze gear, not an "el-cheapo" nylon gear... Moreover, the motor shaft should have consistent dimensions (i.e. not be tapered)... Clearly the warranty on the plane doesn't cover crash damage... But its a little sad when all the damege is caused by mechanical failure... Given my experience with this plane thus far, I would say it flys great when it flys, but there's no way I would recommend something that is plagued by mechanical failure... The fact that I have gone through three pinion gears and have had six hard, dead stick landings out of a total of 9 flights is absolutely disgraceful... I have a T28-Trojan on order - at this point I am almost ready to pull that order and go with another brand!
Want to know whats even worse... I bought two ne pinion gears today... The first I applied a little lock tight to... I flew one battery at a fairly low rate - 60-80% throttle... Landed perfectly, no problems at all... Launched at full throttle for a second flight and the plane lost power and hit the ground... The pinion gear was shot... I took the plane apart and put the scend pinion on... I launched perfectly flew high speed for about 90 seconds, I started into a loop and it lost power and stalled out... It brought it down with a rather hard dead stick landing, only to fingd out another pion gear had slipped on the shaft... The plane has been virtually destroyed because of this issue... Its had so many hard landings and new needs a new fuselage as a result... I am a little dissapointed to say the least... In my opinion the motor shoul have a press fitted bronze gear, not an "el-cheapo" nylon gear... Moreover, the motor shaft should have consistent dimensions (i.e. not be tapered)... Clearly the warranty on the plane doesn't cover crash damage... But its a little sad when all the damege is caused by mechanical failure... Given my experience with this plane thus far, I would say it flys great when it flys, but there's no way I would recommend something that is plagued by mechanical failure... The fact that I have gone through three pinion gears and have had six hard, dead stick landings out of a total of 9 flights is absolutely disgraceful... I have a T28-Trojan on order - at this point I am almost ready to pull that order and go with another brand!
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