Greg's Leading Edge Gliders 60-inch P-51C
Posted by Greg Smith on Jun 22, 2005, 20:51
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| Greg's LEG P-51C - Excalibur III |
I flew this Leading Edge Gliders P-51C
Mustang for the first time on Sunday, June 13th. Sunday evening was
great for a test flight. The wind was straight in about 25-30mph at the
main hill at Wilson Lake. I heaved the red bird out into the lift and
it flew straight and true. About 6 seconds into its maiden voyage I
tested the roll rate. Wow! It rolls fast! I cruised around a bit and
started some half pipes. The lift was good and the pipes were 200-250
feet, minimum, and working well. The elevator was a bit sensitive so I
dialed it back a bit on the JR 8103 and proceeded to rip it up. CG
seemed perfect!
Joe Chovan brought his LEG P-63
out and we did some formation half pipes while waiting for a couple of
other guys to get their planes ready. While flying with Joe I put the
'stang through a lot of maneuvers and found it really enjoyable to fly.
I did notice that in the evening light the plane silhouettes out and
orientation can be a bit tricky. I believe this will improve with the
addition of the large plane numbers on the wing that the real plane has.
Joe and I headed over to Airport Hill to see if the lift was better
or smoother and it was. Joe flew my ship for a minute and gave it his
seal of approval confirming my impression that the CG was dead on. It
is great having a plane where the CG is perfect right out of the shop!
I love this plane!
Monday we had 40+ winds with gusts into the 50's! Erik took us to a
super secret 250-300 foot slope with a shear face for the last 100 feet
or so. Stellar lift! The Mustang is great. I had a final flight at
Minooka Park Monday evening before I headed back to Milwaukee. About 3
hours on the plane at this time and a huge grin on my face!
I didn't document the building of this particular LEG P-51C because
most of the work was done quickly while waiting for the wind at the
Midwest Slope Challenge. Thanks to Erik and Marly for their taping help
as well as Jack for the use of the LEG Shop in beautiful Lucas, KS.
If you want to see build thread for other LEG 60-inch planes, check rcgroups.com.
The plane is a pretty standard two-piece build. There are a few mods
like 3 spars, provisions for ballast and double taping on the wing but
the rest is normal. The plane is covered in Olive Drab Solartex and
painted mostly with Cherry Red Krylon and some White Tamyia paint. The
bird and flag are sign vinyl. I'll probably replace the flag when I
find an appropriate size to use. I also need to get a sign maker to cut
the plane numbers and the other words. Coming soon!
The finished plane came out at 64 ounces RTF. I used a JR 811
digital on the ailerons and a standard 517 on the elevator. The
receiver is a GWS 8-channel. The battery is a big honkin' NiCad. I
believe it is 2300mah. I also used a Maxx products combo switch. It has
a charge jack as well as a voltage checker. Pretty neat combo.
The CG is at 3-3/8" from the LE. Note that his is an older wing and does not have the strakes the current model has.
I built the Mustang for the MWSC 60-inch Warbird class but as it
turned out the wind did not cooperate for an official warbird race.
This gave me a chance to do some weathering and a few more details on
the plane before the test flights. BTW, it is modeled after the
Excalibur III racer from the late 40's and early 50's which is now on
display at the National Air and Space Museum.
I’ll post more reports as I fly this bugger some more.
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