Roger in Dubai

I fly my Kyosho Spitfire 90 with the RCV 91CD and can vouch that it manages to keep up with one fitted with an ASP 120 four stroke.   I have fitted a 90° manifold adaptor from Just Engines which keeps the silencer fully enclosed and only the silicone extension appears below the cowl in flight. 1 hole for the needle valve, another for the glow plug and job's done.  Very neat and tidy.   The engine has only ever let me down once and that was because I ran out of fuel...DUH.  At the time had been flying for close on 15 minutes and as long as you keep the airspeed up I was able to make  turn into the wind and gently put it down in the sand (live in Dubai, hence the sand) as there was no way it was going to make the tarmac runway and I wasn't prepared to stretch the glide (just in case).   Fitting a petrol engine may have fuel benefits but the extra holes, for me, detract from the "scale" appearance.  It is a great flyer and when in formation with another one and a couple of P47's and the Hangar 9 Spitfire, they look the "bees knees" or some other such vernacular !!   Enjoy it when you finally get to fly

OOOPS, silly me, should have read the first post properly.  I even have a 130CD sitting in the cupboard awaiting a suitable project.  Was going in the Spitfire but then battled to find a suitable mount and put the 91 CD out of the Mustang.  BTW, using a 90° manifold adaptor from Just Engines, my complete engine and silencer is within the cowl.  When I work out how to post photos, I will show you, very neat as only a hole for the plug and needle valve on the side of the cowl.  Great for warbirds.

Are these replies referring to the SP or CD range of RCV engines ?  James40 is looking for details on the geared SP range.  Most of the reviews etc I have seen concerning the various warbirds use the CD engines.   I do not have any experience of the SP range but can fully recommend the 91 CD.  I have one in my Kyosho Spitfire 90 and it flies at a good scale speed, to me anyway, and has never let me down.  Occasional problems with possible vibration causing the silencer to work loose but apart from that it fires up easily, idles really slowly and is a great engine.

I now live in Dubai and get a subscription copy each month.  Before that I was in South Africa and got it from my local newsagent.  Still have copies in the loft back home in SA from way back (more years than I care to remember !!).  The windsock idea is great, how about it David ?

You could give 308 Hobbies a visit, they are at 308 Holloway Rd.  Nearest tube station is Holloway Rd on the Piccadilly Line, come out of station and turn left, about 150 yds on the opposite side of the road.  I was in there about 18 months ago and they seemed to have a fair selection of the stuff you are after. Closed on Mondays if I remember correctly.  Check out their advert in the mag and give them a call.   Most of the "modelling" here in Dubai is ARTF, but what the heck, gets the planes in the air quickly, despite me preferring a kit build, it is a lot easier and the planes look good.   Good luck with your search and if you find any other shops, let everyone know.

Why wait, go and get the World Models Mustang 60, put an RCV 91CD and have FUN !!  You will not be disappointed.

Skipper    Looks like it would do that on landing with no U/C.

Go for the Angel.  Mine flies a treat and with the power set up as described on the box it will happily do all the aeros you could ever wish for.  6S Lipos a bit expensive, so perhaps you could put 2 x 3S in series or parallel (Timbo, please correct).  I went the easy option and have 2 x 6S packs available and get at least 7 mins per pack (1 x Flight Power and 1 x Thunder Power).    As I also take an i.c plane as well (can't fit more than 2 planes in the car) I get to fly at least a couple of flights with each plane during the course of our usual flying session on a Friday morning (live in Dubai).  An earlier post in a different thread by Boots (who lives in Cyprus) asked for solar cells, I second that as we have about 361 days of sunshine a year it would be great to take off and get the cells rcharged for free !   Good luck with whatever you choose, but remember the Angel is a great plane.

Mine still hasn't arrived here in Dubai.  Good job that I am flying to the UK in the morning on holiday and can collect it from a newsagent or West London Models.    followed by  when I collect it.

Excellent.  Well done David.  Amazing the similarities between fliers worldwide.  Your comments about the people coming into the hobby and those of us, yourself included, who have been in the hobby for prehaps too many years than we care to admit were spot on.   Just hope that the "instant gratifcation" of ARTF's can spill over to get more fliers involved in the BIY (Build It Yourself) part of the hobby.  That way they will surely gain even more pleasure from this great hobby.  Keep up the good work.

Robert   Strange to relate but that was my original intention, save for the fact that I am still trying to locate a suitable engine mount with bearers long enough to accomodate it.  I bought the engine and thought that it would not be a problem, was I wrong or what ?  At the moment AlanC is trying his best to locate one for me as still no reply from Weston UK.   As far as OTT goes, cannot tell, however, I do know that I am well down on top speed when compared against a Hangar 9 P47 with an ASP 120 in it.  Can always throttle back, I am told that that is why it is a proportional control  .  Seriously though, I would think it would go well and that is the reason I went that way initially.  I got fed up waiting and took the RCV 91 out of a World Models Mustang 60 and it now resides in the nose of the Spitfire.  Just waiting for some cooler weather in October to get it back in the air again.  Good luck and let me know what you decided and how she flies.    

OK Ed, I'm home now and have just checked the wing.  As suspected, a bit of "belt and braces"and can confirm small rectangular blocks on the posts for the aileron servos.  I tend to look at these things quite closely as over the years of flying RC (nearly 35 now) I know what may give problems and sort out the problem at the initial stages.   You will love this plane, it is really a great performer.  Fortunately here in Dubai we have a couple of sites to choose from and each has in excess of 250m of tar with accompanying taxiways, this doesn't do much for those wheels in the kit and even after the 10 flights I have had, they are showing major signs of wear on the inside edge.  I did paint the hubs silver and fill in every alternate "hole" with black.  This makes it look a little more like the actual wheels used.   Please let me know how you get on with the maiden flight.  Safe landings.

Ed, must admit I can't remember, will check this evening and re-post tomorrow.  Knowing me, I probably re-inforced it with a bit of triangle balsa stock.  Will get back to you.

I am presently flying the Kyosho Spitfire 90 with an RCV 91CD and agree that it runs out of"puff" when pulling long verticals.  But since when doe s areal Spitfire fly like that ?  However, it pulls it around with a fair turn of speed at full throttle and will easily do loops from level flight and don't even ask about the long sweeping turns onto the centreline and beating up the runway, absolutely magic.   As for CG problems, no weight added at all and balanced at the recommended position (think 135mm from LE at root) with moving battery packs around.  I use a separate battery pack running through a JR Multi-Box on the retracts.  Weight is exactly 10lbs as measured with my old fishing scale.  This puts a fair amount of splay on the legs but they are holding up well.  It tracks as straight as a die on our tarmac runway and landing with full full flap (about 40° gives a nice steep approach angle without a build up in speed.   The purist would say, it is not a scale outline, but are we not in this hobby to enjoy ourselves ?  This ones gets 10/10 in that category.  Even the "peanut gallery", fellow club members sitting under the shadecloth, remark on how well it looks in the air.  She never fails to put a big smile on my face as I taxi back in towards the pits (not in the pits !!) before flicking the throttle cut switch to bring to end another sortie.    You will not be disappointed with the combination.

Haven't got mine in Dubai yet.  However, anytime between 2 and 10 days after the official publication date in the UK is the normal time period.  But as we are still in August and getting the September issue, who am I to complain.  So I am waiting with baited breath as today is the 11th !!Edited By Roger Auker 1 on 11/08/2009 10:21:42

Brian   Agree with everything you say about the flying qualities of the Spitfire 90, it really is a fantastic plane and "feels" right.  I am tempted to up the engine to the RCV 130 CD (purchased specifically for this plane) but due to the lack of availability of a suitable engine mount I went with the RCV 91CD instead.   Like you, I am also concerened about the wheels and their longevity.  We fly off tarmac so you can imagine the wear.  Even after about 10 flights or so, the inside edge is showing major signs of wear due to the geometry of the retracts.   As for the covering, I had several areas requiring surgery and with VERY careful application of the iron managed to get it stuck down.  Areas around the fuselage near the fin had lifted and I had to use some "Clearcoat" and ironing and still had to do some touch up with paint carefully blended to approximate the colour.  Looks good otherwise.   I just love the steep approach angle with full flap and the slow landing speed onto the mains and then watch the tail gracefully descend onto the runway (still in one piece Eric !!).  Absolute magic !!  Edited By Roger Auker 1 on 05/08/2009 06:36:56

Good luck with the test flight Grant.  Hope all goes well at Cosford.  Looking forward to seeing the video. Must try to get across for Cosford in the future.  Visiting the UK next month (21st Aug to 4th Sept) but will be returning to Dubai before any major model or full size airshows. Edited By Roger Auker 1 on 17/07/2009 14:19:02

Good one Eric, but no sorry, all in one piece and ready for action.  Yak Mad, hadn't heard about the FW 190 but if it flies anything like the Spitifre you will be in for a great flying plane.  Was out at the field very early this morning (it's our weekend in Dubai) and had another 2 great flights before it got too hot and humid (43° and 85% humidity).  Managed some formation flying with 2 other guys with P47's.

Disagree, many Mk 1's were brown and green, visit Airliners.net and type in G-AIST in their search engine and you will see a good example.  As mentioned by Yak Mad, the 90 sized Spitfire lands really slowly with full flap and touches down on the mains.  The tail falls slowly to the runway and returns to the pits for another sortie later in the morning.  Does this sound like I am really enthusiastic about this plane, you bet !! Edited By Roger Auker 1 on 16/07/2009 13:32:57

Hi Steve   My post earlier mentioned that I have the Spitfire 90 and it really is a great plane.  Get one and you will not be disappointed.  Also have the Kyosho FW190 in the cupboard awaiting a "rainy day".  We don't have many of those in Dubai, so may be in there for a long while !!

Hi Ian, great looking planes, well done on the mod to the P40.    I am presently flying their Spitfire 90 with an RCV 91CD up front and really looks the part.  Covering is already a satin finish on this plane and the guiys at the field say it "looks the biz".  Very happy with it with the current set up.  Will attach some photos once I learn how to fire up Photobucket and then download from there.  Retracts appear to be OK but as we fly off tarmac, so they should.    

Thumbs.  That is the way I was taught back in '75 and , like the Mode 1 or Mode 2 argument, there is no right answer.  Whatever feels comfortable.  As for thumbs slipping off due to sweat or oily fingers, that is what clothes are for.  A quick wipe on the nearest piece of clothing (normally rear of shorts !!) sorts that out ASAP.   We fly at the moment in temps of between 30° (early morning, like 6am) and 43°C (by 10:30 or so as it is summer in Dubai) accompanied by high humidity and I have never seen or heard of anyone complain about losing grip on the stick.  Just take a look at the print it leaves on your thumb after a flight to know that the sharp knurling works !!

Wow Grant, what a plane, congratulations.   Living here in Dubai and working on the new Concourse at the airport, I get to see the Emirates A380 each day and cannot wait for my trip aboard on 21 August to LHR.  Have been on it whilst on the ground several times including a tour around it in 2005 at the airshow here.   Impressive "beasty" and look forward to the video and details of cost for all of the components mentioned in your earlier mail.  Would have to be in Emirates colours of course despite me also coming here from South Africa 5 years ago.  SAA tail colour scheme would probably also look good, nah Emirates it is.

Top Flite Magnetic Balancer and "Clearcoat" the light blade towards the tip.  As mentioned always remove the label (strange how many people keep it on the prop) and ALWAYS balance any prop before use. Discard props if they happen to have "met" the runway and now show signs of reduced diameter or damage.   Never reduce the length of one side of the prop to get it to balance.