E-Flite powered 3s Harbor Freight P-51 Mustang

[TrashTek86]

Hey everyone! I'm new to the hobby and I'm hooked!!! Please excuse me if I'm in the wrong section.

I started with just a basic curiosity due to the fact that some of my co workers were flying their drones during breaks. and somehow found myself purchasing my first RC plane from bangood. It was a Eachine Mini P-51 Mustang. and I beat the CRAP outta that one!! and it was great. Looks like crap now but still flies! lol

I wasn't planning on going any further in the hobby until I came across a decent deal (or so I thought) on a Harbor Freight P-51 Mustang and I went for it. on clearance for $80.

I'm sure a lot of you know it comes with a brushed motor and a 72mhz system, and well..... my first flight lasted 4 seconds (smh). I had no idea on how to fly a plane without some kind of assistance like the mini eachine. That one came with a 6 axis gyro.

So that's what I did to this one. I did a little research and found HobbyEagle. I went ahead and purchased one of their A3 Super 3 6-axis gyros. and since the stock 72mhz receiver was big and bulky in the compartment, I ditched both the transmitter and reciever for a Flysky system. FS-I6X transmitter and FS-IA6B reciever.

Took to the sky and it was awesome!! I don't care what anyone says. Gyros make it fun for a noob like me!

But after a few flights, and only working with the one battery in came with, I grew tired of the brushed/NiMh setup. SO back to the internet I went and found HujuM1's youtube channel and his HF P-51 Mustang builds (Fire and Ice). If he's on this forum, THANK YOU SIR! He's been a great help. Since his setup seemed to work and was most detailed I decided to go this route with adding some LiPo brushless power.

I went with an E-Flite Park 400 4200Kv inrunner motor, RCelectricparts.com 30A ESC, and a Tattu 1550mah 45c battery all working with the stock gearbox. gearbox is a 14 tooth pinion and 62 tooth spur gear (making it a 4.4:1 gear ratio?) someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm a total newbie when it comes to any of this. That being said, it's slightly different from the build I was following and am not sure if it will all work and not catch fire in mid air . I am running the stock 8x6 prop size. BUT, just bench eyeball testing it, It has A LOT more power. and am excited to fly it. I have ordered a watt meter as well to learn more and make sure my components will work together.

All this being said, I know the money I've spent so far on this. I could have purchased something better maybe, but I've enjoyed the process of figuring all of this out. Anyways, here is the breakdown so far.

Plane alone
HF P-51 Mustang: $80
HobbyEagle A3 Super 3 Gyro: $42
E-Flite Park 400 motor: $42
RCElectricParts 30A ESC: $16
Tattu 1550mah 3S LiPo: $18
------------------------------------------------
Total $198

Other startup costs
FlySky FS-I6X TX/RX: $60
Enegitech Battery Charger: $25
LiPo Bag: $8
Extra 3S battery: $18
------------------------------------------------
Total $111

Luckily I was able to make it to a nearby park and maiden it today. And it was great!!!! I’ve attached a video of the flight.


If anyone has some insight on what my dual rates and expos should be on something like this, or any part of my build, feel free to share!

Thanks!!

 

[Piotrsko]

Wondered if those actually flew. Thanks. If you are generally flying and bring it back home repairable then there's not much I can add except keep it up, you're doing something right.

 

[Grifflyer]

Welcome to the forums!! That's a great flying plane!

 

[TrashTek86]

Wondered if those actually flew. Thanks. If you are generally flying and bring it back home repairable then there's not much I can add except keep it up, you're doing something right.

Thanks! I'm no expert, but its been awesome so far. In its stock form, it lacked power, and it really transformed this plane after the brushless swap. I'm still learning though.

 

[TrashTek86]

Welcome to the forums!! That's a great flying plane!

Thanks!! I did notice the wings bending when attempting a loop, so I'm looking into adding support. lol

 

[The Hangar]

That flew great, and you really handled it nicely! Awesome job!

 

[Figure9]

Took to the sky and it was awesome!! I don't care what anyone says. Gyros make it fun for a noob like me!

All this being said, I know the money I've spent so far on this. I could have purchased something better maybe, but I've enjoyed the process of figuring all of this out. Anyways, here is the breakdown so far.

Plane alone
HF P-51 Mustang: $80
HobbyEagle A3 Super 3 Gyro: $42
E-Flite Park 400 motor: $42
RCElectricParts 30A ESC: $16
Tattu 1550mah 3S LiPo: $18
------------------------------------------------
Total $198

Other startup costs
FlySky FS-I6X TX/RX: $60
Enegitech Battery Charger: $25
LiPo Bag: $8
Extra 3S battery: $18
------------------------------------------------
Total $111

Welcome to the forum. I started out with ready to fly models & tiny transmitters. All good, no problem & I could fly the airplanes, sort of. I didn’t have any models with gyros, but the models I bought were easy to fly.
My first build airplane was a Bloody Baron, way too much airplane for the noob I was at the time, but I managed to fly it solo for a couple of minutes before crashing it.
The following is what made it all good for me to move ahead in this hobby:
~ I built a second Bloody Baron based model & got help from a local club member for buddy boxing. That put me on track to really learn something.
~ While the initial expense for a transmitter & an FT fast build kit was not cheap, I’ve been able to reuse the most expensive items for other easier to fly models that I’ve since built.
~ I continue building different models. Some easier to fly & I continued to get help from club members until Social Distancing. Like having a member land for me so the model lasted more than one flight. Remember, no flying aids like gyros.
~ Despite still crashing & destroying airplanes, I’m a much improved flyer & I’m really learning a lot on the flying end. Plus all that, my builds are improving & flying much better, will soon look better & mostly all I need is foam board, plans & servos. The kits I’ve built use swappable power packs. It’s not expensive to rebuild or replace a crashed airplane.
This is my experience. I don’t regret learning on, crashing & destroying airplanes I’ve built from Dollar Tree Foam Board. In fact, the challenge makes it more fun despite my number of 20 second flights. I can actually fly an RC model, sorta. I recommend picking up an FT kit & you’ll probably get the bug to scratch build, design or modify available plans & fly your own RC ideas.
Good luck & what ever you do, welcome to the hobby.

 

[TrashTek86]

That flew great, and you really handled it nicely! Awesome job!

Thanks! And thank the gyro for that! Lol I do have the gyro functions on a 3 position switch so I’m slowly easing from auto-level to normal (stabilization) to gyro off modes

 

[Crazed Scout Pilot]

Hey everyone! I'm new to the hobby and I'm hooked!!! Please excuse me if I'm in the wrong section.

I started with just a basic curiosity due to the fact that some of my co workers were flying their drones during breaks. and somehow found myself purchasing my first RC plane from bangood. It was a Eachine Mini P-51 Mustang. and I beat the CRAP outta that one!! and it was great. Looks like crap now but still flies! lol

I wasn't planning on going any further in the hobby until I came across a decent deal (or so I thought) on a Harbor Freight P-51 Mustang and I went for it. on clearance for $80.

I'm sure a lot of you know it comes with a brushed motor and a 72mhz system, and well..... my first flight lasted 4 seconds (smh). I had no idea on how to fly a plane without some kind of assistance like the mini eachine. That one came with a 6 axis gyro.

So that's what I did to this one. I did a little research and found HobbyEagle. I went ahead and purchased one of their A3 Super 3 6-axis gyros. and since the stock 72mhz receiver was big and bulky in the compartment, I ditched both the transmitter and reciever for a Flysky system. FS-I6X transmitter and FS-IA6B reciever.

Took to the sky and it was awesome!! I don't care what anyone says. Gyros make it fun for a noob like me!

But after a few flights, and only working with the one battery in came with, I grew tired of the brushed/NiMh setup. SO back to the internet I went and found HujuM1's youtube channel and his HF P-51 Mustang builds (Fire and Ice). If he's on this forum, THANK YOU SIR! He's been a great help. Since his setup seemed to work and was most detailed I decided to go this route with adding some LiPo brushless power.

I went with an E-Flite Park 400 4200Kv inrunner motor, RCelectricparts.com 30A ESC, and a Tattu 1550mah 45c battery all working with the stock gearbox. gearbox is a 14 tooth pinion and 62 tooth spur gear (making it a 4.4:1 gear ratio?) someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm a total newbie when it comes to any of this. That being said, it's slightly different from the build I was following and am not sure if it will all work and not catch fire in mid air . I am running the stock 8x6 prop size. BUT, just bench eyeball testing it, It has A LOT more power. and am excited to fly it. I have ordered a watt meter as well to learn more and make sure my components will work together.

All this being said, I know the money I've spent so far on this. I could have purchased something better maybe, but I've enjoyed the process of figuring all of this out. Anyways, here is the breakdown so far.

Plane alone
HF P-51 Mustang: $80
HobbyEagle A3 Super 3 Gyro: $42
E-Flite Park 400 motor: $42
RCElectricParts 30A ESC: $16
Tattu 1550mah 3S LiPo: $18
------------------------------------------------
Total $198

Other startup costs
FlySky FS-I6X TX/RX: $60
Enegitech Battery Charger: $25
LiPo Bag: $8
Extra 3S battery: $18
------------------------------------------------
Total $111

Luckily I was able to make it to a nearby park and maiden it today. And it was great!!!! I’ve attached a video of the flight.


If anyone has some insight on what my dual rates and expos should be on something like this, or any part of my build, feel free to share!

Thanks!!


View attachment 163669 View attachment 163670 View attachment 163671 View attachment 163672

I'm glad to hear such success. I love giros I have been flying for about three years and am able to role my airplane and fly inverted and other tricks but I still use the safe on my UMX Turbo Timber. 4 second flights is just the begging of epic fun. Let me tell you I have had a lot of depressing 4 second flights. If your looking for another plane to buy I highly recommend the E-Flite UMX Turbo Timber. It is a perfect plane to learn on. Make sure though that you get a 6 chanel Spectrum Radio so that you can use the safe feature. Keep me posted I love to help in any way I can.