P-51D Mustang Giant Scale (oz16948)

About this Plan

Top Flite Giant Scale Gold Edition P-51D Mustang. Radio control scale model. Wingspan 84-1/2 in.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Discontinued kit from Top Flite. See an archived version of the original listing page from the [now defunct] Top Flite site at: https://web.archive.org/web/201711... which also in turn links to a kit review from June 1999 RCM, at: https://web.archive.org/web/201711...

Quote: "The North American P-51 Mustang is probably one of the most famous fighters of WWII. The Mustang could cruise around the skies at 440 miles per hour and operate at a ceiling of 41,900 feet. Its range with drop tanks was from England to Berlin and beyond, this with the Merlin Engine. 14,490 aircraft were produced.

All the above are some amazing facts for their time, but the one that to me is most impressive is that the Mustang was designed, built, and test-flown in only 117 days. The P-51's primary mission was to escort the bombers to the target and establish allied air superiority. History has shown it performed its task and did it well.

The name Top Flite has been around for a number of years, and within the past couple of years they have revamped their warbird line into the Gold Edition Warbird Series. Some redesign and up-to-date building techniques were established which made a popular and well-done kit line even better. Then, just when you think it could not get any better, they start to increase the size of the kit line. The first to be Super Sized is the P-51 Mustang.

You get a feel for the size of this kit when you first see the kit box, which measures a big 49-1/8"L x 6-1/8"H x 15-7/8"W. Right from the get-go, you will be impressed with the graphics that are on the top and side of the box. Then, when you open the box, you will find a neatly packed and bagged lumberyard/hardware store. I did not have any damaged parts, and all parts were easily identified.

Construction:

The plan sheets come as four sheets: two for the wing and fuselage; a simple trim and taping of the sheets provide you with a full drawing of the wing and fuselage. The now "two sheets" measure 89" x 36", you better have some place other than the kitchen table to build this one.

Opening the 59-page instruction manual, you will notice it covers everything from tools needed to test flying, and with enough photos and illustrations to leave nothing to the imagination.

The construction as per the instructions starts with the tail group. The tail group is made up mostly of balsa, ply is used in the high stress areas. The stab is first. No slab sheets here, it has an airfoil shape and the ribs have building tabs to aid in alignment while it is being built. The stab is sheeted with 3/32" balsa, as well as the elevators.

The fin or vertical stab is next up and follows the stab as far as the building goes; it, too, is airfoiled in shape and also gets 3/32" sheeting. The rudder is a 1/8" balsa sheet which has been cut to profile and ribs are glued to each side and sanded to shape.

The wing is next and, like the stab and fin, each rib has building tabs to aid in the alignment and washout. They are then removed prior to sheeting the wing. The main spar is made up of 3/8" x 1/2" x 42" basswood. The main spars run on top and bottom of the ribs in the conventional manner. 3/32" balsa sheer webs are added to both sides of the spar running the entire length of the wing. This arrangement makes a very strong spar. The ribs that hold the retract units are 1/8" ply and have a ply doubler on each side. All the other wing ribs are balsa except for the center section. All ribs are notched for the spars and have lightening holes, the ribs for the retract units also have slots cut to hold the maple rails that the retracts bolt to. These slots were cut incorrectly on our review model and, once the rails are glued in place and the retract units installed, the unit will protrude through the top wing sheeting. The simple fix here is to add a shim between the retract housing and the maple rail which will lower the housing in the wing. Let me take this time to mention that the plans are drawn showing the use of retracts, for both the wing and a retractable tail unit in the fuselage. To build a kit like this and not install retracts ... well is just unheard of.

By the way, Robart now includes in their landing gear kits an adjustable air valve instead of the non-adjustable one that used to be supplied with the gear. The adjustable valve allows you to adjust the speed at which the gear is deployed and retracted. This enhances the scale effect of the gear when it is in operation. Instead of the gear slamming up and down at the speed of light, they can be adjusted to duplicate the action and speed of the full-scale prototype. The adjustments are easily accomplished by turning small adjustment screws on the valve, much like adjusting a needle valve on an engine. The air valves are also available separately so you can adopt it to an existing retract system by simply replacing the old with the new. The days of using wheel collars and air restricters to control the speed of the gear are a thing of the past, give one a try; I know you will like it.

The wing also features a preshaped leading edge and machine-cut wingtips which saves a lot of sanding and carving time. Once the two wing halves are constructed, they are joined together in the usual fashion via plywood dihedral braces before sheeting the wing. With most wing construction, it is common to wrap the center section with glass cloth after it has been sheeted. That is not the case here. First, the center section is sheeted then the entire wing is sheeted which produces a double sheeting over the center section. A unique way of taking care of the reinforcement of the center section. The wing is secured to the fuselage by two wing dowels in the back and two 1/4-20 bolts up front.

The fuselage is a tab-and-slot construction and is built inverted over the plan on a crutch. This ensures a straight and square unit. Once the bottom half is built, it is removed from the building board and the top formers are glued in place and balsa sheeting over them. The fuselage sides are 3/16" balsa with ply doublers. The fuselage formers have cutouts for the retractable tail wheel unit and air tank, as well as dimples or punch marks which show where to drill holes for the outer pushrod tubes and the pull-pull tail wheel steering cable..."

Supplementary file notes

Instructions.

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