Master Series Landing Gear

Hondo76251

Legendary member
Unless you're willing to do the extra work/engineering of building retracts, I really feel like fixed gear on something as cool as the master series really detracts from the looks in the air. They work great as belly landers. Most foamboard planes do really. You have to really beef up the landing gear area if you want them to last and even then, almost any hard landing will cause a lot more damage...

But that's just my $0.02...
 

shadeyB

Legendary member
is there an option for mounting landing gear on Master Series, e.g., Spitfire and Mustang? They seem like large models not to be able to use gear
Planning on fitting old set of retracts to the P-51 or Jug, will probably end up accidentally ripping them off with my not too customary greased landings 😁
 

KSP_CPA

Well-known member
There is a video on retractable gear for the Corsair by MostlyHarmlessRC (Here), and it looks like he just hollowed out a spot on the spar and glued down reinforcement.

It definitely is better than fixed gear or belly landing and MostlyHarmlessRC is most certainly a better pilot than I am. If you wanted to go really sophisticated, you can get some twist and turn retractable gear which mimics the Corsair's actual retraction mechanism (detailed 1:50 video located here) you can then hook up a servo or two and make retracting doors with sequencing (Impressive detailed setup video here). It would be tough to retro fit to an existing plane but really fun to engineer on a new build.
 

Usafa93

Member
I put LG on almost all of my planes. I had a spell where I was building 3DLabprint planes. I took the LG jig from the ME-109 and use it on all my full-size FT Warbirds. I will usually cut paint sticks and glue them firmly to the inside of the wings where the gear will go. I've never had an issue with the gear breaking through the wing on hard landings. I have, however, ripped more than a few off when hitting a curb. ;-)
 

Cycle Pilot

Member
I'm wondering the same exact thing. I'm in the process of building the Master Series Mustang but I've stopped at the wing. I really want to get a retractable gear in this plane. I have all of the parts. The problem is that the landing gear on the Mustang is close to the leading edge (most war birds are). There's just not enough room with this design to fit a retract servo up there. I'm debating on moving it aft and shortening the gear so I have the room. It will look a little odd when on the ground but will be functional. It will probably have a tendency to ground loop too, but I'm kind of out of ideas. I 3D printed a case to hold the gear. Here's what it looks like...

IMG_20200626_231738.jpg
 

Ketchup

4s mini mustang
I'm wondering the same exact thing. I'm in the process of building the Master Series Mustang but I've stopped at the wing. I really want to get a retractable gear in this plane. I have all of the parts. The problem is that the landing gear on the Mustang is close to the leading edge (most war birds are). There's just not enough room with this design to fit a retract servo up there. I'm debating on moving it aft and shortening the gear so I have the room. It will look a little odd when on the ground but will be functional. It will probably have a tendency to ground loop too, but I'm kind of out of ideas. I 3D printed a case to hold the gear. Here's what it looks like...

View attachment 173060
Your plane will probably have less of a tendency to ground loop, but it will be much easier to tip over. The landing gear has to be in front of the cg point, so you can’t move it too far back or the plane will tip. I’m not sure if this will work, but what about mounting a retract further back, but making the wire bend forward and then down to offset the gear leg further forward.
 

Scorpion

New member
It took a lot of work, but i managed to get some retracts in my P51 MM.

E Flite 10-15 retracts.

I had to cut the front spar and recut the bottom wing panels to accommodate the wheels. The wing is still very rigid with the front spar cut very thin over the wheels.
I also had to heat up a flat tip screw driver and melt the foam on the inside of the top wing panel to make room for the top side of the motor ends of the retracts. It was a very tight squeeze to get the top and bottom wing panels glued together.
I left the retracts as long as possible to try and fight any nosing over balance issues.

I cant say how it performs with retracts as I have yet to complete and or fly this Mustang.
 

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Scorpion

New member
Ive also converted the wing to be removable. It just looked difficult to access any of the electronics and difficult to take the battery in and out.
 

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Colorado Jim

New member
Ive also converted the wing to be removable. It just looked difficult to access any of the electronics and difficult to take the battery in and out.
Scorpion,
How did the P-51 fly? Did your removable wing work? Any revisions? Does the aft section of wing slide into a slot and lock down in front with the threaded screw? I'm starting this build and looking at modification options.
Thanks