Awesome! Was it your first rc plane as well? My spitfire and bushwacker both suffered from the under cambered wingtips. I reinforced them with popsicle sticks which solved the problem.
NEXT LEVEL P-40 Group Build
- Thread starter BATTLEAXE
- Start date
Cow the Flyer
Member
No, it wasn't I've built the tiny trainer, mini scout, mini corsair, bloody baron, bushwhacker, and now the P-40 and others that I forget right now. I have had the problem before but forgot to use the Popsicle stick reinforcement.
Cow the Flyer
Member
I will try get some pics of it soon but I didn't take any before the maiden. I didn't paint mine, and used the dollar tree foam board so its not the best looking but I did use different color sheets of foam for different pieces so it still looks okay.
Zetoyoc
Elite member
I finally got good weather and free time to line up. have to take advantage of the unseasonably nice weather. last weeks hand launch of the p40 did not go well. after repair i discovered it had a lot of left thrust / torque . so i added more right angle to the motor and adjusted the rudder a bit. I also made a quick and dirty set of landing gear for it. taxi tests went well so off to the field.
Zetoyoc
Elite member
Thanks. I am new to this club but having a nice runway and a backdrop of mountains isn't half bad. I agree with the take off and landings adding to the experience. Now that I have a good runway I am going to try to adapt all my planes to have landing gear of some sort. It was especially nice for the maiden or re-maiden. Even with my adjustments I still had some left thrust but I could detect it and adjust during taxi and takeoff. While when I just toss it at full power or so. There isn't much time to detect a problem and if you do it is already sort of flying, well in my case, sort of spiraling onto the runway.lol
ScratchBuildMast
Elite member
For some reason, I’m not getting any alerts...
Zetoyoc
Elite member
I took the p-40 out for it's second flight today. It was windy and grey sky. I put a slightly larger prop on it to help against the wind. But it turns out ,yes orientation was my biggest concern in these conditions. A few times I found myself surprised by the direction my turn actually went 
I hate to mess up my cool paint job by putting orientation stipes on it but well crashing it would likely mess it up a tad more dramatically. Lol. So stripes it is
I hate to mess up my cool paint job by putting orientation stipes on it but well crashing it would likely mess it up a tad more dramatically. Lol. So stripes it is
Marty72
Elite member
Yeah, I had a horrible time with mine. Anything beyond simple, let's say scale flying is sketchy for me. I put red stripes on the bottom of one wing, and surprisingly, I didn't find it helpful unless the plane was really close. I have to really pay attention when I fly that plane! The Sportster in yellow and black with wings twice the width of the P40 is a joy to fly. However, I did crash once when the fog rolled in and I lost orientation. Crashed it hard, still surprised it was repairable. The Sportster sort of looks like P47 in the air, and if you make it nose heavy, it's flies so fast and beautifully, not unlike the P40, just a lot easier to see.
Glad you mention the orientation issues, I really thought it was just me.
Glad you mention the orientation issues, I really thought it was just me.
Zetoyoc
Elite member
well, I did paint mine all black with only red ailerons lol not much to orient with from a distance against a grey sky. not as bad when it was full sun but today in the wind and bad light. it was a bit more exciting
I have some white vinyl tape I may just use to put stripes on mine and go out again with it tomorrow and see if it helps
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Its funny @Marty72 you mention the red didn't help. I find that red doesn't work for me either. Unless its contrasted against white. Red is the first color you lose under water as distance is increased, might be the same principle in the air at further distances. Yellow is always a good one. I liked the orientation on my Sportster too. Bottom of the wings yellow, tops black, it was perfect. I find as long as I paint the bottom different them the top I am good. My last few builds have had a black and whit stripe thing goin on. which I like. Yellow and blue also do well, the Explorer was like that, again had the black and white stripes on the bottom of the wing too... seems to be a theme there
Cow the Flyer
Member
I don't have too much of a problem with orientation until I do a crazy maneuver and it does something I don't want it to but I just level out and put it into a turn and see which way it goes to tell me if I am going away from me or coming back. It seems to work alright.
I have noticed that this plane is very durable, mine did a spiral into the ground and with some hot glue/ Popsicle sticks it was flying perfect again.
I have noticed the torque issue a little especially when hand launching it but I corrected it with some rudder trim.
I have noticed that this plane is very durable, mine did a spiral into the ground and with some hot glue/ Popsicle sticks it was flying perfect again.
I have noticed the torque issue a little especially when hand launching it but I corrected it with some rudder trim.
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Rudder trim you say huh... gotta try that, makes sense
Zetoyoc
Elite member
That is what I did today. I gave it some power and turned and could then tell where it was going. sometimes it wasn't quite where I had expected it to go but it was easy enough to get it back. This time I wasn't mere feet off the ground. that helps.
I do need to try more motor angle to fight the left thrust but ill have to move the pod forward some to get more clearance. for now, I have a good amount of trim on the rudder to help compensate. It tracks very nice once trimmed.
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Hey did you see my new Scout. You should look at the Scout thread if you havent
Marty72
Elite member
So I flew the P40 this morning, visibility was outstanding, so I gave it a try. I had no orientation issues today, now I watch it like a hawk and the red strip definitely helps (blue bird days), when visibility is outstanding. I just won't fly it on cloudy or foggy days. I expect to be upgrading this plane's power plant in the near future, I'll start out with 4s (w/ C pack), and a 60 amp esc and see how that goes. If that's doesn't work, I'll go to the Rimfire 35. I just think this plane needs more speed to fly like I think it should fly.
