Kelly

Hi The unmagnificent man, What is your Messerschmitt, have you any pics, here is mine ,yet to fly   Cheers Kelvin

Hi David No not yet, I would like to take some pics and take the old vid camera to finish the blog . Almost flew the Boomerang ,could not find the time. I have flown the Spitfire since I broke it . It was a bit of an adrenalin rush as I forgot to check the CG after fitting the lighter Lipo. A torque roll to the left,over compensated rolled to the right corrected and up she went vertical climb,over on her back rolled upright off with the power to about 50%, a bit of down trim  sorted nice flight . Checked the CG  later, it was a a little bit further back than than it should have been. I do not get the time to fly as often as I would like, but my stick time  on the Realflight simulator saved my Spitfire from another crash . The simulator has its limitations but pushing a model into difficult situations on the sim  builds up skill levels and confidence when out on the flying field. Kelvin

Hi Craig Sorry the review is under the Features tab and so is the Speky. Cheers Kelvin

I like trabants and Reliant Robins (Had a Reliant some years ago,the only car I ever got done for speeding in ). Craig I think the Futaba is a good choice if on a budget. A review of the futaba is to be found on the home page of this web site. Kelvin Ps I have also owned a 2CV.

Hi Craig Spektrum vs Futaba is like Volkwagen vs Skoda? Get my drift? ps  I drive a Skoda  .

Hi Caig If  like me you are on a budget go for the Futaba 2.4. Happy flying Kelvin

Hi Timbo and Jetsome Yes the contact was very brief , it has not burst into flames so I may try a slow charge. The leads are the same length and the female is completely shrouded, the curve on the wires was just enough for the male to make slight contact  (sods law)  I will make one shorter in future. I am using a short piece of un-shrunk heat shrink tubing over the exposed part of the male connector as protection when I am installing  the lipo until I get round to making one lead shorter. Many thanks Kelvin

Now then, I was fitting my lipo and oh no the wires on the lipo touched lots of sparks , have I ruined my lipo or will a re- charge save the day ???? aaaargh . Advice please for a clumsy numpty Cheers Kelvin

Thankyou David and Peter. Last bits Tail struts fitted Radiators, nice touch. Although not completly true to scale they just look so right . For some unknown reason radiators are not included with  the Spitfire  . Notice the colour is lighter than the underside of the wing? Sorry if this offends some people but all the Luftwaffe Bf109's had the "Haken cross". Finished. I still have to final check the control  linkages and do a  motor test run and balance the model etc. I thought it was the same scale as the Spitfire but I think it is slightly bigger? The 109 is easy to put together, just a few points, 1/ The small hardwood blocks for the cowl mounting screws are almost impossible to install, so I left them out seems to be strong enough . 2/ Some brushless motors seem a little bit too wide for the motor mounting . 3/ Cockpit canopy a bit fiddly had to trim mine at the font to make it fit flush . The corner of the canopy was snapped off  (see pictures beginning of blog),fixed it by using thin strips of duct tape along the back of the frame lines to attach the broken piece, then a few drops of thin cyno in the join line at the front .this worked very well . 4/ It is a  very well made ARTF at a modest price . I could find no  flaws in the construction. Overall  a very realistic model of the famous 'Emile' Not much else to say if anyone has any questions feel free to ask. Not sure about a video, I will have to ask my youngest son to have a go with my 10 year old Sony video camera . The Ripmax Messerschmitt Bf109E.

Back again.doing well this week. Prop adaptor was long enough me just not with it last night doh. Fitted the canopy after first installing the Pilot or should I say head and shoulders,the instrument panel c/o IL2 sturmovik and a gun sight.  Holding the canopy in place prior to drilling for the retaining screws(used 6 screws as opposed to four)   Instument panel Assembled cockpit area I have modified a commercial spinner it is slightly longer than the one supplied in the kit but it is after all a semi-scale model, I think it looks okay? The almost completed fuselage, just needs the tail struts fitting. One more night should see it completed? Bye for now.

Hello Tonight I finished installing the speedcontroller and receiver.  wired all up to check the rotation of the prop. I discovered the prop adapter shaft is not long enough to fit  the prop plus spinner, a good excuse to visit my local model shop tommorow . Some pictures of the completed installation.  Two more evenings work should complete the snapper. Nite all .

Back again. First problem, the  motor is a bit of a tight fit in the engine mount So to give it a bit more space I marked out sections on each side of the motor mount and cut them out increasing the clearance by several millimeters.   The structure was still solid but to be sure I reinforced the sections with ply over the holes. The motor now has plenty of room to rotate. Those of you who have the Spitfire will have noticed by now that the motor mount in the 109 is identical to the Spity. Goodnight all.

Hi Elliot Your web site has gone,are you still with us ,was hoping to see pics of the Bf109. Hope all is well Regards Kelvin  

11/  Horizontal tailplane fitted taped to keep it nice and square( the spitfire's tailplane fitted perfect, the 109's was slightly out of true)  12/  Fitted the rudder and elevator servos  the rudder fitted  and  the pushrods installed. 13/  The control horns and connectors all fitted and connected.  Control surface throws almost spot on . Just a point of interest, are  the  colour scheme and markings based on a actual Bf109E If so who's aircraft was it???

Hi Dave ,bet we all know who won't like my Pilot Back to the 109. Planned on finishing the tail assembly only part done. 8/  Trimming the covering prior to fitting 9/  Two halves of the elevator ready to be joined with piano wire. Keeping the elevator straight and true while the epoxy sets. 10/ Elevator attached to the horizontal tailplane.   The piano wire joiner is much stronger than the thin wood used on the spitfire.  I have been reading reports of this failing on the spitfire . Thats all folks. Hope to do a bit more tomorrow.

Back again burning the midnight oil. Finished the aileron assembly tonight, again I followed the instructions, finished with bang on 15mm throw with no binding . 4/ Attached the ailerons as per the instructions couple of drops of cyano on each hinge  (same method  as the Spitfire). 5/  Fitted the two wire push rods z bends to the servo arms.   6/ Fitted the control horns and linkages. 7/ Tested for full and free movement, trimmed the bolts and pushrods Viewed from a distance the control horns look like the balance horns on the full size Emile, very clever Ripmax .  Hope to fit the tail feathers tommorrow Nite- nite

Hi Peter Sorry for the stop/ start with this blog, I am one of the forgotten  army of 24/7 carers in the UK had a rough week with my son ,he is the one I am caring for. Back to the snapper (Emile). I have decided to assemble as per the instructions, so page one aileron servos and extension leads. 1/   Coated the rear of the servo mount/hatch with a thin layer of epoxy to give the sero tape I am using a better surface to stick on. I did consider making small servo bearers to give more support but decided the tape was firm enough.   2/  Fitted the extension leads as per the instructions and used the string  pre-installed in the wing to pull through. I did need to add a extra length to the string,not quite long enough for me anyway. 3/ Installed the servos in the wing using the four small screws for each hatch. One fitted perfect the other was a bit proud of the wing surface so a few minutes(very) careful use of the dremel  resulted in a perfect fit.   I did install the servo the wrong way round(see photo) have now installed the right way Doh.  It is 11pm so just before I go, Peter Hacker A30-14L  brushless motor. Hacker X-40  speed controller. Flight power Li-poly  3300Ah 3s 1p  11.1v 12x7 Prop.( may be a bit big)? and a commercial spinner see photos at the start of this blog.  I am new to EP so I trust my local model shop to advise and supply my lecky bits.  My RC is the new 2.4 Futaba ,ideal for EP Now I have started I hope to continue tommorrow. Regards Kelvin  

Sorry for the delay, just not had the time(or energy) this week to start. Maybe tomorrow  all being well. Cheers Kelvin

Hi Elliot Glad to see you have the Spity back together(Good stuff epoxy). On sunday I flew my Spitfire for the first time  since my crash  . Fitted the new lipo went up like a rocket, scared myself to death brilliant Nice retracts by the way Regards Kelvin

After a hard day having my photo taken in the cockpit of a Spitfire Mk5 ,  I have started work on the 109 by painting the all important pilot 'Herman the German' Hope to start putting the snapper together tomorrow Kelvin

Hi Rick My Spit perfoms well easy to fly and aerobatic, tends to float on landing so needs a bit of space . Good video(not mine) on you tube I have some more and will post them if you are interested. Here is a picture of mine. Sorry about lack of build on the 109, it may be hit and miss. I am a 24/7 carer for my eldest Son so time is at a premium. Hope to have a go over the weekend. Kelvin 

If you reverse the servos on the futaba 2.4, will the expotential setting be reversed?

I was hoping to start the assembly tonight  not had the time . The instructions are very clear with photo's      Hope to start tomorrow Kelvin

Hi Rick Have you seen the build thread here http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=620608 A Ripmax clone may be available in Australia? Back to the 109, it is 1/9 scale same as the  Spitfire so slightly shorter wingpan than the 48" of the Spitfire. I will be fitting a Hacker A-30-14L series  brushless motor. Kelvin 

Hi david, The propeller, click to restore the photo to its original size,much sharper image .