cambrian 109 fun fighter refurb

[Merlin spit]

i brought one of these of ebay  which has a can brushed motor fitted ,which ive cut out and at the same time made a hatch for the new brushless lipo setup

photo taken on phone ,il get a decent photo up soon of the whole model

[Merlin spit]

if anyone knows what the COG is on this model please let me know

overall the models in fair condition ,a few areas need a bit of strenghing and it has a fixed rudder im not sure whever  to fit one or not ?

also i want to brighten the paint scheme up a bit as i intend to use this model as a winter hack long term

 

[Richard Wood]

Austen,

I had an ME109 Fun Fighter way back when I were a lad.

It flew very well without a rudder,although I was content just to fly

circuits with it & the odd loop & roll.

It crashed when the piston seized in the cylinder of the cheapo

Thunder Tiger mk1 .19 (not a good motor back in 1982).

I've got a Fun Fighter Spitfire plan back in the workshop, so if

no one else pipes up here I can give you that COG info tomorrow.

 

Richard

 

Edited By Richard Wood on 01/03/2010 11:34:40

Edited By Richard Wood on 01/03/2010 11:35:44

[Merlin spit]

Thanks Richard,

I havnt had any luck searching for it on the web,also if you know what control throws i need that, would be a great help.ive decided  not to put the rudder in to service for now.

 

ive got my homemade motor mount in and have planned to screw in a battery tray on top of the old motor mount rails  ( pictured above)this way i can fit the ESC under the tray and can remove it,if needed.this will keep everything well forward and in the line of the small air scoop to keep things cool.

 

[Richard Wood]

Austen,

The CG position on the Spitfire is 67 mm back from the LE at the root

where the chord is 240mm. So that's about 28%.

A good starting point for your ME109.

I'll check on control throws for you tonight.

My Cambrian FF Spit is half built & I'm thinking of going electric with it so I'll be

interested in how you get on.

 

Richard

 

 

[Richard Wood]

Control throws for the Spit. are stated as ailerons - 4mm each way,

elevator 12mm each way, measured at the root.

The instructions also state that because of the washout the ailerons

will not line up at both root & tip,& should be aligned with the tips at neutral.

Hope this helps.

 

Edited By Richard Wood on 03/03/2010 09:13:25

[Merlin spit]

thanks Richard,il setup the 109 roughly the same will keep COG forward as its easier to fly than to far back and il setup dual rates in case i need a bit more for slow speed handling.

 

got the motor (turnigy sk 1000kv 600w) fitted with a 40a esc got the same setup in my ripmax spitfire turning 11*7 prop ,get a good 300W  which is good for scale flying at 3/4 power.got to weight the model yet but i think maybe a 10*6 prop would do for starters for the 109

Edited By austen rover on 06/03/2010 14:37:44

[Merlin spit]

ive added the yellow to brighten her up ,im not the best at painting so have left the rest as is for now .

got to get a spinner ,ive got a black one or a white one i could paint ,how would painting the spinner effect balance?

i notice the pilot has had  a hitler tash  painted on

[Merlin spit]

AUW so far is 2.6lbs ive got to add magnets for hatch and the prop and spinner and thats it.im using a 2200 mah lipo which when as far forward as can go balances the plane at 60 mm and thats without the spinner and prop ,there lots of space to move the battery back so looking good.

 im hoping to maiden some time next week

[Danny Fenton]

Hi Austen, I know a member at my club that has one of these still in the box I will ask if he can let me know the c of g and throws.

 

Looks great, I have a FF Spit to do electric for the Greenacres electric fun fly later this year.

 

Cheers

Danny

[Richard Wood]

Looking good there Austen.

Those yellow areas should really help with visibilty.

A coat of paint on the spinner shouldn't make much difference to the balance,

but you might want to square off the end to simulate the original's

machine gun.

Will you get a helper to launch the model?

I've heard of models like this being launched successfully with an underarm

technique  - interested to hear how you get on.

Mean looking pilot!

 

 

Edited By Richard Wood on 06/03/2010 16:39:58

[Merlin spit]

Thanks Danny, that would be great ,i may take this to the rcme fly in at greenarces.

 

I always launch all my planes myself, usually  because im  on my own Richard.

ive never tried the under arm method ,i use a javelin type throw  100% in to wind  from as near to the cog as possible keeping everything level though out.And of course i use all the power i can, any torque roll i get i use rudder to counter act.The 109 not having rudder means il have to be a bit more careful for the first launch and maybe quicker getting my right hand on the tx

 

Id forgot all about squaring the spinner ,not sure i want to hack the ones ive got maybe look for cheapie for it.

 

the pilots got trouble with all the spitfires behind him !!!

 

[Danny Fenton]

You may have to be careful flying that at the Greenacres/RCME do as I know there is a squadron of a dozen FF P-51 Mustangs that may be attending............. and no Not the Reds....... they will all be after you

 

Cheers

Danny

[Merlin spit]

well i flew the the 109 today, which was quite hard work but worth it in the end .firstly i made the worse error my in rc flying so far i checked the controls were right, elevator stick up= elevator up mmmm dont know what i was thinking.The resulting launch was a dart straight in the ground.Luck was on my side only the prop was broken,

 

second launch and the 109 shot a way but was very nose heavy so i landed about a 50 m away but in one piece .

third launch,first  flight was brilliant didnt even need trimming really felt like it was on rails ,i flew some nice low fast passes within a few circuits

i thought id give the under arm launch a go Richard and it was easy it pulled a way no probs ,using 11*7 prop pulling 325 watts

[Danny Fenton]

Excellent news, well done  I look forward to seeing it at Greenacres later in the year

 

 

[Richard Wood]

Well done from me too Austen, glad it went well.

Flying on rails - thats how I remember my '109 from way back!

Must get my Spit finished!

 

Cheers

Richard

 

 

[John Horsfield]

Great refurb work there Austen, looks really good.

Im intrested in a Fun fighter as my next project, nice to hear that they fly well when correctly balanced.

[Merlin spit]

thanks guys its clocked up 20 flights now ,im tempted to prop up a little for windier days .

john which you thinking of getting? i fancy the hurricane 

[Erfolg]

Austen, excellent, eco friendly, saving the planet, refurb. How about boosting the economy now, perhaps purchase a bigger spinner, to complete the look and feel.

 

I am envious of your model, seems that the Bf109 is not much modelled now.

 

Erfolg

[Merlin spit]

Thanks Erfolg, ive got a 2inch black irvine spinner on it now, but will get a yellow one ,i was looking out for a squared off one

[Kelly]

Hi Austen,

 

Just cut a fair bit the tip off your black spinner until it looks something like the original.

 

It will be a bit more curved and longer but it will look fine in the air.

 

Some yellow nosed 109's had back spinners.

 

 

[Merlin spit]

I might just do that Kelvin