Yes,I can finally show off the left side
Model will be maidened today,so look out for the airborne pictures and shots at the slope.
I'll have to add the stars and post more photos of the completely finished model....should look good.
what do you guys think of the covering job? I guess a lot of you don't like it but you have to admit it doesn't look too bad
guillaume

Actually, I think the covering job looks pretty sharp! It needs a couple of stars here and there to break up the lines a little, but it's a nice looking plane. I'm looking forward to the in-flight shots too.

Jeff

he looks very well Gui !

I don't think it looks bad at all. It's not up to 909 standards but then nothing I build is, either. And I agree with your philosophy regarding foamies, to a degree, at least. But not everyone goes to the extra step of painting their foamies. If they do paint, it's often just for trim color--wingtips, canopies, etc. Anyways, whatever--you have a nice looking plane, and it definitely looks better than most CAM models that I've seen, which appear to have been colored with markers and then covered with Scotch tape. So this is a major improvement by those standards LOL

I look forward to the flight report and video! With the extra weight from the Solartex this is surely going to fly better than the other ones, which were a bit too light really.

Steve

Looks great, good idea on applying the colour scheme.

Thank you for the nice comments guys,I thought you were going to critisize me and my covering technique because I see many guys using filler and painting their model,which certainly looks better than covering it.
Anyway,maiden was yesterday at the Machen,a different slope to the usual Bwlch mountain.
15mph Northerly winds and......
WOW!!!
from the beginning,it appeared the model was faster than expected.
I fly moulded 60" and a 3.2m one too,so I have a good reference to compare it with...obviously not as fast but much much faster than what all of us were expecting..and the turns were very tight too
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that I had to add 125gr (4.4oz) of lead at the front for the correct CG,making the model 1315gr AUW (46.2oz)...which I thought was a bit heavy (and i put everything as much forward as possible)..but in fact to model never seemed to struggle for lift.
Mike_y and Shane from rcflight.co.uk both had a go as well as another friend...Shane being an excellent aerobatic pilot,and he loved the P51 (he's now rushing to finish his for the WE).
In his hands,the P51 was SO aerobatic,it was side slipping with ease,knife edge being possible too...not very much scale but SO MUCH fun!
the rudder response was very good too,I loved doing stall turn and all kind of aerobatics you'd expect from a 3D machine (i might exagerate there,but this is just to give you an idea).
The roll rate was good but nothing crazy so I have to increase the throw on the ailerons.The elevator was found very sensitive too,so we had to reduce its movement by 1/2 (I have to say I set something like +/- 20mm so it had to be reduced).
The penetration in the wind was very good too,Shane even mentioned that you wouldn't expect a warbird to fly like this.
it had the usual stalling characteristics of a warbirds but we found it very easy to fly.and inverted flight required very little up elevator to our surprise.
Unfortunately,I only had my digital camera so I only got some medium quality videos,however,I managed to get a few airborne shots.the thing hanging at the front is the lead (i did not want to bury it until i am happy with the CG).
what's next? I will cut the stars and replace the HE1100 NiMh receiver pack for a heavier 2200 mAh NiMh AA size.
in the meantime,here are a few shots (I would have posted 10 but you'd find them boring so here are the most interesting I think).
guillaume

I forgot the main moments of the flight: that's about my removable wing.
I have 4 2BA size nylon bolts.On the first hard landing,they all snapped and I had to come back with the wing in one had,the fuse in another.....
luckily I had some spare bolts...but on my last flight,I was flying in the middle of 4 flying wingd in a combat session,and they were trying to land on me as I was inverted...after I got one hit with a smaller wing (no damaged at ALL,the p51 kept flying straight as if nothing happened when the wing was pushed away),another wing hit me and........my 4 bolts snapped in flight!
The fuse and wing came off,but the fuse kept flying on the flying wing!! it was just laying on the top,as the wing was being pushed backwards on the slope.Then the fuse fell and i was trying to control it with rudder and elevator only (quite unefficient believe me).
Again,NO SIGN at all of a hit on the wing and fuse,but it was so funny,we kept laughing for a few minutes.
I might have to use metal bolts or have many spare nylon ones with me.
The good thing is that this avoids any mark on the covering to an extend.
guillaume

I also need to add some black covering on the radiator's air intake.
I like this picture,it looks kind of unreal with the background.
more pictures of the completely finished model soon.
A proper video will follow too.
guillaume
ps:Thanks Mike,Shane and James for the great job on the sticks that allowed me to take pictures.

Gorgeous Flying site and a GREAT model!

James

And now you understand why we build those planes heavy!!! They fly MUCH better than when they are built light; actually like REAL warbirds!!

I might even go out on a limb and say that Solartex may become a preferred EPP PSS covering material in Europe as well as the US if results like these keep being replicated

If this is already the case please forgive my ignorance...

Steve

guillaume wrote....

here are a few shots (I would have posted 10 but you'd find them boring

Please post as many pictures as you like, I am stuck here in London all week with no chance of flying. It brigthens up my dull weekdays to see shots of others having fun at great locations

This forum is like having quality slope magazine land on my desk every 30 minutes, it gets me through the week

I have never really bothered with PSS due to performance limitations but it seems that slim profile fuselage helps to keep the drag down but still looks good.


Tony.

Hi guys,
I knew I forgot something: I should have taken pictures of the slope viewed from the bottom...nevermind.
Steve,
I couldn't tell you whether Solartex is the most popular way to cover EPP with.I know I will only use it from now on,it adds strength to the structure.I never thought a "heavy" PSS would fly well,but i proved myself wrong here.I am even thinking of adding a ballast tube now.
Tony,
I took about 35 shots and you guess it,half of that or so were good.I didn't want to post too many because they can take a while to upload if you are not using broadband...I guess you are then I'll know for next time.
The fuse on the CAM P51 is not very wide,but then I found that the full size one is actually very similar.It is not a very "fat" plane,so it still looks like the real thing..and it definitely looks good.
You'll be able to make your mind up with respect to the performance once we have shooted a video
guillaume

Hi all,
yesterday was a bit crazy in South Wales: wind 40/50mph South West...nevertheless,we were a few at the slope.
one would have thought the P51 would not fly in these conditions,and it would not even launch....but one was proved wrong:
it was hard to launch it,but a technique was eventually found out (either with the model on the head or holding the nose tight and the rear of the fuse with the other hand) and launching became a reality.
In these high winds,it was flying well,with a good speed but I had to be careful because the smallest mistake would blow me off the slope.
I practiced Knife-edge and I can confirm indeed that the model will do knife edge.
I have increased the aileron throw and the roll rate is now much better,more like what I am used to.
On launch,the Coroplast control surfaces (elevator and rudder) were vibrating so much I could not even see them moving as I was inputting on the sticks but they were fine in flight,I found them up to the job.
It was nice to have an EPP model in these conditions because a few launches resulted in unplanned emergency landings (as I said,every mistake....) and the model did not suffer.
Let me point out that I flew the P51 with NO ballast at 1305gr AUW,which is light for these conditions.
We even shooted a video (thanks Mike), but it was so windy the video was not clear because Mike could not stand still....not worth posting.
Local skilled aerobatic pilot Shane had a go again (for the video),and he was flat spinning the model (nearly perfectly) and doing all sorts of aerobatics you'd expect from a... ? I am not sure there is any competition here
I did not get any shots of the model airborne but I finally put the stars on,along with the 11 number,and a fake air intake.I took some pictures before heading to the slope and here they are.
Final step will be to add some blue "stripes" on elevator/rudder as for the full size one.
Anyway,to all that thought the CAM models were not good performers,all I can say is "Try them for yourself" and I am sure you'll change your mind quickly. Even in these high winds,the p51's speed seem to be as fast as the flying wings it was flying with....it's looking good for future pylon races up the Bwlch.
Not only are they aerobatic,but the speed is here too (much to everyone's surprise I guess).
guillaume

In fact,one of the reasons I did not get any pictures at the slope is that the decoration was flying away (1 star came off,1 other held with sellotape.....)
When I say give a CAM model a go,I really wish I was flying with some of you because I let anyone have a go on my model
I fly mode 1 but luckily the MC3030 can be changed to mode 2 in a matter of seconds,so if anyone ever pops down to South Wales...
Picture from the rear of the fuse

and finally,a bit off topic for the "Miss America" thread,but a picture of CAM's latest P51,the Voodoo Red (photo courtesy of Bruno from CAM).
I am posting this one to show the canopy which I am going to fit on my model soon too.
It's a Graupner item,and it looks like it's been made for the CAM kit
Should look good.
guillaume