Pete here again from RC Airplane World, this time taking a look at the little VolantexRC P-51D Mustang micro RC warbird, available from KidsToyLover along with the Corsair, Spitfire and Messerschmidt BF-109 from the same range.
These little warbirds are very cool and it's great that we can buy and fly a 4-channel electric RC plane like this, for not much money. When I was a kid growing up in the late 1970s I was building and flying balsa wood rubber-powered free flight model planes about the same size as these warbirds. I would have loved to have one of these back then, but it's taken several decades of radio control evolution for these to appear in the shops!
The P-51D Mustang is one of several different micro warbirds available, this particular one is from VolantexRC. These planes are fully Ready To Fly (RTF), in other words they need nothing doing to them to get them ready for flight, other than charging the battery and putting 4 'AA' batteries into the transmitter (batteries not supplied).
The planes are made from foam so are very durable, and typically have a wingspan (length from wingtip to wingtip) of around 16 inches (400mm) which makes them an ideal size for flying in smaller spaces.
They have control to 4 channels - motor power, aileron, elevator and rudder - and are fitted with clever electronic stabilisation to help stop you crashing. The stabilisation works by automatically keeping the plane on a smoother and more level flight path if, for example, wind gusts knock the plane around badly.
The stabilisation has 3 modes - beginner, intermediate and off - and is activated by a 3-position toggle switch on the transmitter. Beginner mode gives you the most stabilisation, intermediate a bit less and off means that there is no stabilisation at all. To be honest, these little planes aren't very controllable with it turned off completely so even an experienced RC pilot such as myself will find it difficult to fly one of these with the stabilisation off.
It's the stabilisation that make these micro RC warbirds good for beginners, although a traditional high-wing trainer is always going to be an easier plane to learn to fly with. More boring, yes, but easier!
That said, of course there is still a learning curve involved when starting out in radio control flying and you still need to do a bit of research first (my website www.rc-airplane-world.com covers all you need to know).
Another great thing about these little warbirds is that they are very robust. Because of their light weight, they carry very little inertia and when they crash they tend to just bounce, rather than break.
The foam is very tough and the propeller is designed to pop off if it hits the ground badly, thus avoiding a snapped propeller blade. But even if you do break the prop, there are a few spare ones in the box so it's not the end of the world.
A clip-in undercarriage (landing gear) is provided if you prefer to take off your plane from a smooth surface, but in my opinion these warbirds look so much nicer without the undercarriage in place.
They are dead easy to hand launch, so you don't have to have the undercarriage in place to get them into the air.
Flight times are typically around 5 minutes or so, and the good thing about the VolantexRC micro RC warbirds is that each one comes with two batteries - most planes like this are sold with just one battery.
Charging the single cell li-po battery is done with the supplied USB charger, the battery takes around an hour or so to charge. The charger has a light that is red when charging and green when fully charged, so you'll know when to unplug and go flying.
Although these warbirds have the stabilisation, they are still best flown on calmer days. If the wind is stronger than, say, 10mph I would recommend you wait for a calmer day. Even with the stabilisation working away and doing its thing, these planes still get buffeted around by the wind simply because they are so light.
Aerobatics are possible but cannot be manually flown. There is a button on the transmitter and when you press it it will beep for 5 seconds or so. While it is beeping, move the aileron stick to the left or right and you will see your plane roll, or pull the elevator stick back and it will loop.
The rolls are surprisingly smooth but the loops can be a bit tight and messy. Still good fun to do though!
So would I recommend one of these micro RC warbirds? Absolutely yes! They're not expensive to buy (if you can't afford one, put one on your birthday or Christmas list!) and are relatively easy to fly. A complete beginner who's never flown an RC plane before should be able to learn to fly it quite quickly, but as I said earlier there is still a definite learning curve to deal with and you will still have to learn the reactions and co-ordination needed to fly any radio controlled airplane.
The P-51D Mustang is always a popular choice of RC warbird, but others in the VolantexRC range include the Spitfire, Messerschmidt BF-109, Corsair and Warhawk. From personal experience I would say that a Mustang is one of the most stable warbirds to fly, and looks great in the air!
These fantastic little planes are available from KidsToyLover, a great company to deal with and they ship globally from warehouses around the world. My P-51 only took a few days to reach me here in the UK.
Get yourself one of these micro warbirds and go have some serious fun! Even better, get a few friends together and have a proper warbird dogfight! This is the product link for the P51D: Link.
Pete's website is www.rc-airplane-world.com and Pete has a comprehensive ebook about getting started in the radio control flying hobby, available from his website.