P-51D Mustang Ready-To-Fly (OVERSIZE)

After mastering this plane i decided to upgrade it because i was very confident with its flying characteristic. I upgraded the average performing park zone motor to an E-flite 480. This took the model from 175 watts to 275 watts. I would have used HL's new erc motors but they weren't available yet. I had to make my own motor mount adapter (i used 1/4 inch plywood). It wasn't too hard, anyone that can cut measure and drill can pull it off. You can buy a direct bolt on motor mount from Ebay but they're all metal and that's asking for trouble in my opinion. Motor mounts are plastic for a reason, they're like a shear pin so you wont cause real damage to the fuselage, so i opted to build my own adapter and reuse the stock plastic motor mount. I upgraded the weak 18A speed control to a stronger 30 amp (purchased when HL had that great electronics sale a while back). I bumped up the battery to a 2100mah 30C. Larger batteries will fit under the canopy with no problem but you have to do some foam trimming to the removable hatch, it will be obvious where. I opted to pick up a replacement hatch and modified that instead of my original, they're pretty cheap. Finally i topped it off with the Trojan/Corsair aggressive 9.5x7.5 prop. You will need an adapter to fit the stock shaft to the new prop (they have a larger diameter hole) but you can buy the plastic ring prop spacers and they work GREAT. So now this plane screams. You can barely hang onto it when you hand launch. Its rock solid, reliable, unlimited vertical, same great flight behavior, long battery life and FAST. I haven't clocked it but it seems faster then my skyblazer jet. I'm very impressed with the outcome and hopefully others can use this as a road map to turn this average plane to a hot rod.

This is a great Model. The Foam is very hard and Durable. Just picking it up you can feel its made to last. It has big advantages over the discontinued Art-Tech P51D which i also own. Its Heavier then the Art-Tech and it's flight characteristics are much more behaved, its very stable. Once trimmed out this plane will fly level in mild winds all day long, the Art-Tech will not. The battery life is a little short when flying almost wide open but the speed of this model is impressive. The big 480 brushless motor really performs. I would recommend upgrading to a higher capacity Lipo or if you're like me and have 8 1300 mah batteries laying around you can pick up or make a parallel cable and use 2 per flight. You have to notch the underside of the canopy out a bit but they will fit.
One other note about battery life, I'm not sure what it is with this model (probably the weight) but you have to be very careful about flight time. When the battery gives out, the model drops like a rock. The prop still spins but its not near enough to keep it in the air to make an extra pass and line it up on your runway. It comes down and in a hurry so be advised.
My only real complaint about this model is the tail. Especially for the price this should be a true 4 channel model. The non-functioning tail is fine because this model tracks straight and true but be warned! It is very fragile. Putting back on the shelf the other day my hand slipped and the tail tapped the wood and nearly dismembered it. I reattached it with hinges and 3M tape and ended up making it a working tail installing a servo (they include the push rods and links in the kit). It something that should have never happened and unfortunately because the tail is integrated into the fuselage, there's nothing you can do. The tail is made to be upgraded but i would definitely do it and get it over with before you fly this model. The slightest tail bump into anything and you'll wish you did.

I just purchased the P-51 and flew it for the first time, what a great flying aircraft, very stable, had to add weight to the tail for balance, I have been flying RC planes for years and this is one of the best RTF planes I have flown, I had a small glitch with the plane, the second flight was going along great, when the motor started decelerating and accelerating to the point the plane would lose altitude, I was able to land safely with no damage, I am concerned with any future flights, I have to contact Hobby-lobby for help on this, I have no idea of what has occurred, all the batteries were charged, I have a feeling there is a problem with the speed controller, I will give more info later. I would recommend this plane without hesitation.