P-51D Gunfighter 1600mm EPO w/Electric Retracts, Flaps, Lights (PNF)

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Customer Rated

Jul 08, 2014

Picked her up today, everything went together fine , awesome looking bird:) only problem I have is one of the retracts is broken:( won't come out sometimes and has trouble retracting, sounds striped/broken, haven't flown her yet because of prob I've got so hopefully I can get 1 extra retract for her, will post up after I get it sorted and fly! Cheers

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Customer Rated

Mar 28, 2014

As others have pointed out, this model from HK has some serious issues. I'll just comment on what I've had problems with so far. The retracts are really crappy. Swung them once during the build and they completely failed. Took apart the mechanism only to find a really poorly designed limit switching system (basically the first time the stops were hit the mechanism fell apart). I've order another set similar and will see how they fair. https://www.toysonics.com/digital-servoless-retract-landing-gear-54g-pz-15091-1pc.html
The included screws for attaching the motor adapter to the motor are completely the wrong size. Looks like 2.5 mm dia (check for yourselves) is required and 2.4 mm screws were provided. Not a huge hassle to get the right ones but what the hell?
A bunch of other small annoyances that I won't get into but be warned

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Customer Rated

Jan 12, 2014

I have bought alot of stuff from HK, but not anymore. I'm tired of all the work I have to put into their "kits". I bought this P-51 kit. Let me give you my critique* Pros: Beautiful scale molded foam. great paint job and decals. But thats all! Cons: Underpowered undercarriage, Underpowered motor, Underpowered ESC, and the cheapest servos money can buy. Conclusion: Everything about this kit is garbage except the foam, decals and paint. Its not worth taking to the air in stock form. Be prepared to buy new motor, ESC, undercarriage and servos. If you don't, you will loose this plane eventually if not quickly! I went through the ordeal of changing to the stronger undercarriage only to have the ESC fail on the next flight. Right into the ground she went. Most of the electronics in HK's kits ruin any plane they carry and by the time you upgrade everything to make the kits quality, you might as well buy a quality kit. I'm done with HK (except for lipos)

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Customer Rated

Oct 21, 2013

Starmax P-51D Gunfighter, So far has been surprisingly a great airplane. The landing gear has held up just fine; has always worked as well. The battery compartment is the only repair I've had to make; the battery needs to go as far forward as possible, Tunigy 3300 mah, 4S. The model fly's excellent once it's balanced correctly; I see alot of pilots use the stock battery tray; it's not correct for my battery or CG in the instructions. I highly recommend this model because of it's durability, it's okay how it goes together, not perfect but it works. I've owned FMS, LanXiang Models and this one for some reason has lasted longer than those, so maybe it's that good, could be hit or miss too. I have a good one, it's been fun to fly. I did replace the landing gear, it was damaged by me during a poor landing. For $50.00 bucks, I installed a nice drop in metal set with struts. Now, it's beautifully RTF again. 5 Stars well done! Cheers*.

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Customer Rated

Sep 25, 2013

I purchased this lovely warplane about 4 months back and have made a few upgrades to make it a nice aircraft to live with.

I made a set of wedges to go between the retracts and the wings which moved the wheel axles in line with the leading edge of the wing. this simple modification stops it nosing over every time you land on grass.

I manufactured a plywood tray to mount the battery on to move it further forward into the negine cowl to get the C of G right which has made it a much more balanced aircraft.

I fly mine on 5S with an 80 amp plush sppedie with the standard motor and propeller and now it is a joy to fly.

Gazz

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Customer Rated

Jul 07, 2013

Hello Pilots, Over-all great airplane, not too many surprises. One is the tail wheel steering wire, you need to build a wood plate and drill two holes for the wires to go through. If you don't the wire can rub through the foam, not sure if it would cause a problem; but I fixed mine. I was missing a servo horn screw, bad things could have come from that, check everything, then check again. Aileron servo was the one missing a push lever screw to hold it on. They have come out with a lot of cool details for this airplane, should fly great. Haven't had it's maiden flight yet. I set mine up with three position flaps; everyone's different. Seems to be a very durable airframe, there are several RC upgrades you can buy $30.00 dollar Oleo Leg Metal Retracts, from Hobby King, or PW-RC out of China, he builds them to size for you as well. I have a Top Flight P-51D Mustang with a serious nitro engine, the thing fly's very well, so I hope it compares to that model. I'm running a Turnigy 3300 mah 4S lipo battery. I'm also using the Turnigy 9X Radio system wonderful setup by the way; the price is "Amazing! I've been flying for several years, RC Universe you can look me up; user name is starcop. Enjoy this "Warbird, it's a beautiful piece of history. Get one for yourself and you'll see why,

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Customer Rated

Jun 05, 2013

It cam in a large box, well protected.
and the building was quite easy, except that you have to get a microscope to see the manual, text and images was so tiny that my father had problems reading it!

otherwise all the things fitted good, very little to build, thats a plus!
all the wires from the main wing could have had a multi-connector instead of alot of servoconnectors everywhere.

it flies really nice, nice speed with a 3300mah 4s on half throttle.

videos will come up later on!

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Customer Rated

Mar 16, 2013

Bought this plane a while back still have not got her up in the sky yet.
It's an impressive big and nice looking plane building wise was a bit tough as the instructions are not that help full and wiring instructions are none existent I have read a few reviews and a common statement is that the landing gear is really week so I have replaced them with the hobbie king replacement one concern is the 4 blade spinner is not drilled centre you can easily see this by looking at it and u can see the movement when mounted on the motor and turned so I am trying to find a replacement don't want to shake the plane apart when full throttle is set also I have read that the servos are not the best so to avoid disappointment I am also replacing the servos with good quality ones but it is still a great looking plane and for the size of it a great price

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Customer Rated

Jan 03, 2013

I bought this with a open mind, as this seemed rather cheap for a model of this size and what you got.
I was very surprised to be honest this model was exactly as described and is everything expected.
The plane was easy to put together, the CG was bang on using a 4500Mah 4s1p pack.I don't trust models with becs at this size so I disabled the bec and use a NIZH pack to run the radio.
This also helps with a bit extra weight up front for the CG.
All parts fitted together perfectly and this model has a big presence in the air.
Aerobatics are easy with this model as it has lots of power and scale flying is a breeze.
It has no slow flight nasty tendancies and to be honest flaps are not needed to either slow it down or stop it dropping a wing.
If it is flown too slow it will drop a wing but anyone flying that slow should not be flying it in the first place.
The retracts work flawlessly on grass and it takes off in 15 foot in a slight breeze.
The concern was are the wheels forward enough to handle grass without tipping over? this was not a issue as the wheels are big enough to grass.
I would highly recommend this model to anyone looking for a good size warbird that is a doddle to put together and with a decent amount of low wing flying easy to fly.
The sound of the 4 bladed prop sounds just right and it has more than enough power for scale flying and doing huge loops and basic aerobati

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Customer Rated

Dec 29, 2012

Hobbyking continues to amaze me with their quality for a low price. This plane was packaged so well it would have taken a bomb to damage it in shipping. All pieces were in the box and some spares. I have yet to fire it up, but from what I see initially its excellent value and if I have to replace a motor, an ESC or even retracts it will still be cheaper than anything I can buy in Canada even with shipping.