MattyAndJo Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Hi Chris, I’ve been following this thread with a great deal of interest, as I’m a recent warbird convert have found these posts so valuable to myself, currently using a “Cambrian” to practice with whilst I finish off my Brian Taylor spit. However I can’t give advice anywhere near the level of the experts on this forum (I’m truly gobsmacked at the knowledge that’s available here) I would like to pass on one piece of very obvious but valuable piece of advice which was told to me at the start but never quite ‘believed’ because like yourself I’ve gone down the wot/acro route which don’t have such bad habits... At the very start our club examiner told me “Matt, don’t let it deadstick, spits don’t like gliding!” and as I found out at weekend boy was he right, after a low pass down the runway (looking great by the way) I throttled up to pull round, when... nothing, silence filled the air! It had deadsticked for the first time. It was like a brownout, I had absolutely nothing on the transmitter, my lovely cambrian spitfire nosedived straight down into the ground, I had never felt anything like it, it was literally like my TX had switched off. He was right... they don’t glide. But it doesn’t matter, its giving me something to do of a night time and should be back in the air in a week or two (after some hard core airbrushing) and all the pain and suffering is well worth it seeing them in air! Good luck with it and trust me the pain is worth it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Is that the 55" Cambrian Spitfire or the funfighter? I'm currently building the 55" one. CS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 If you have the money this has to be in the mix, trouble is they won't sell a kit you have to buy their engine as well. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyAndJo Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Sorry, its the 55" Cambrian... it "was" lovely... But it shall fly again!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Oh dear! Doesn't look too bad a fix though, and other than the slightly broken bits it looks great! Similar scheme to what I am doing with the invasion stripes. CS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyAndJo Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Thank you, yes it's not too bad a fix (I've had worse) and although the invasion stripes look great I found they can make orientation a bit of a “challenge” when it’s in the air. But again it’s all worth it, it looks fantastic flying, just not so great in bits on the ground..... sniff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kemble Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Since 1990 I've built 5 Spitfires to the Rob Millinship plan published in the April 1986 RCM&E, RC/1513. The plan shows a foam wing, but since I didn't fancy sanding away foam I designed a built-up wing using the same envelope. The foam wing has a section depth of 1 1/2". The actual section at that scale (nom.1/7th) is 1 1/4 " The rest of the model is quite simple to build if you are cautious about complexity. The first 2 with this wing section flew very well but from there on I redesigned the wing using a scale section, and the next 3 flew even better but faster. Incidentally the washout on the full size Spit is 2 degrees 20 minutes, and I settled for 2 1/2 degrees . The foam as supplied incorporates this washout. Mitchell knew what he was doing down in Southampton. I haven't experienced any tip stall with either wing. All these models were driven by the same K&B 61. The first weighed 9 lbs 4 ozs, rather too heavy with store bought balsa, and starting with number 4 I used 4 to 6 lb balsa where appropriate and reduced the weight to 7 lbs 3 ozs. It was a delight to fly until the engine quit above tall tall trees. Later discovered to be a tiny little seed hovering around the fuel needle. The only photos I have on this site show number 4. If you intend using the Saito it should be just right. Even a 50 2 stroke. One point about weight. Changing the tailwheel from 1 1/2 ozs to 1/2 oz saves 5 ozs up front ! Although I have number 6 framed up I think that one to a larger size, say 1/6 th or more is the way to go with this aircraft. I have a plan partly drawn and perhaps next year. Briefly, Spits are not too difficult to take-off, watching engine revs and elevator position carefully. Landing requires some practice and strong undercarts help, but when airbourne there is nothing as beautiful. If you keep the nose down they glide as well as any other brick, Height helps. Good luck Edited By Jim Kemble on 20/05/2014 20:08:42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Jim your comments sound pretty accurate to me. Spits at 6th scale and above are delights. There are a few smaller ones that fly really well but in general little spits are not so friendly! Matty, its a sad..not end, but incident for your spit! I echo the others when I say it looks really nice and I hope you able to stick the bits back together. For future reference if you do loose the engine try and keep it as flat as you can and make small corrections, don't bother trying to get it home as its not going to happen. I lost my 70'' P40 a week or so ago after my throttle servo departed its mounts and the engine cut. I did not have too many options so had to put it in the field. I did have a stroke of genius and decided to leave the gear up! Also, its not just a model issue. This video shows a Bf109 suffering an engine failure in Denmark and she pretty much drops like a stone. Luckily both pilot and aircraft survived with only minor damage to the belly of the 109. **LINK** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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