Ronos Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Nearly there TWS, can't get out here, must be the windiest place on earth. Haven't thought about putting the weight in the spinner, I've put mine under the motor , shaped to the fuselage and stuck with some double sided carpet tape. With the weight in the spinner, does it affect the balance off the spinner or prop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted May 11, 2015 Author Share Posted May 11, 2015 Good question, Ronos. I think it would definitely affect it, and isn't ideal. On the other hand I've done it with several other models and not noticed any obvious problems. I think it's okay as long as the amount of weight is relatively small compared to the combined weight of the spinner, prop and spindle/nut, and as long as it is very evenly distributed. It is very close to the axis of rotation, after all, so any unbalancing effects will be quite small... ...although now you remind me, I can check it on my propeller balancer later on, anyway... Looking like the weather might improve later this week. Any idea when you will be able to maiden yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronos Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Don't know. When am at work (12hrs days or nights) it's good, when am off its wind and rain.☔️☔️☔️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted May 11, 2015 Author Share Posted May 11, 2015 Can certainly sympathize with you there, Ronos... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronos Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Still haven't been able to get out flying, too much wind and rain, any luck at your end TWS, and any updates on your Spitfire. Mines been stored looking sorry for itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 It's all done, Ronos. Radio installation completed, all the throws and dual rates set up, and ESC set up, then propeller on. I was away on holiday last week, and since I've been back it's been blowing a hoolie. I wanted to take it into the garden this week, to take some better photos on the lawn. I haven't even managed that, the wind has been so strong, never mind flying it! Hopefully June will improve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Well, no flight progress to report just yet, but I did manage to get a few photos of the finished article. One last thing: I experienced similar problems to others when attempting to tighten the prop collett onto the shaft. For completeness, the solution is photographed below - I filed a flat on the back and made a thin spanner from mild sheet plate to hold it in position while I tightened the nut from the front... And the underside was best photographed from its hanging place above the 'workshop'... Flaps raised... And lowered... More to follow. I'm going outside, and I may be some time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 As promised. Rather a lot of shadows with the low sun, but definitely better than my indoor attempts... (Nice shot of the dihedral...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 And a few more. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronos Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 TWS a fantastic job and well worth the wait. Looks great in the sun. I might change the colour of my spinner, to bring it more into speck. Well done vast improvement on the dynam stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 That looks great, definitely worth all that effort. Personally, I'd spend a few minutes on the colour of the exhaust pipes. Silver doesn't look right and with the rest looking so good, it would be the icing on the cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 Posted by Colin Leighfield on 04/06/2015 21:32:44: That looks great, definitely worth all that effort. Personally, I'd spend a few minutes on the colour of the exhaust pipes. Silver doesn't look right and with the rest looking so good, it would be the icing on the cake. Thanks Colin, useful feedback and very quick to address. Good to have a fresh set of eyes to pick these things out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 Well, apologies if anyone following this thread had thought I'd lost interest in this project. I had waited an inordinately long time for all the stars to align. I wanted the strip to be in a decent condition, and since I normally fly alone, it took a while to get some photos. The maiden is done! I am now formally a spitfire pilot! The climb out needed some right aileron trim, but she got up well without tipping over, and any fears I had about the flyability of the modified airframe seem to be unfounded. and a couple of smooth circuits... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 ...until, a bit of a disaster. The canopy parted company with the fuselage after a couple of minutes. This wouldn't have been a major problem except for the fact that the canopy holds the battery in position. With a severely backward CofG, it was virtually uncontrollable - or at least, it was beyond my ability to control it - so I cut the throttle and watched it do a couple of sad spins into the ground from about 30 feet up. ...and the damage? A broken wing tip! This thing is TOUGH. I am seriously impressed. Well, on reflection, the canopy thing serves me right for messing around with it - although in fairness, the original magnet was pretty poor at retaining it - I'm not sure if I just got a particularly bad example. Disappointing not to be able to play with the flaps (yet) nor execute a landing, nor fly more than once, but I think overall, I am more encouraged than put off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Just caught up with this blog - great job. I have just ordered one of these and it will be here in a week and I had the same idea as you. I will probably fly it first to make sure everything works then dismantle and get down to the fun stuff. Thanks for going there first... is it still flying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 Thanks robk, I appreciate the comments, glad you liked the blog. Yes, it is still flying. Laid up for the winter at the moment. The patch is a bit rough on the retracts, so I'm waiting for the springtime... Good luck with your build. My only regret is that it is a bit too big/heavy/underpowered to viably hand-launch! Cheers, TWS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 Hmmm. It looks as though E-Flite have been reading this blog! I didn't see this coming! How curious to discontinue the Hurricane, and then invest in a Spit the same size. I guess at least this comes with the retracts already installed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronos Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Well it's been a long time coming but I finally got the Spitfire up in the air the other day. I set the flaps at half and it took off into the wind gusts up to 14 knots. She took off with a slight bias to the left with a correction with the aileron she straightened up and off she went into the sky. After setting the trim into the wind she calmed down and I was pleased by the way she flew. After about 7 minutes of flying I decided to bring her in for a landing. I put her into the wind dropped the gear,put the flaps on 30% and as she came closer to the runway I put on full flaps and she came in steady and almost came to a complete standstill about three feet still to go and then she was down. Considering the gusts off up to 14 knts, I was very pleased with this bird.Edited By Ronos on 18/05/2016 11:24:00Edited By Ronos on 18/05/2016 11:25:16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted June 13, 2016 Author Share Posted June 13, 2016 Hi Ronos, Thanks for the update. I guess I should begin to conclude this blog by reviewing my own experiences of flying mine, now that I have a couple of dozen flights on it. First things first, the idea to use blu-tack in the spinner cone as a means of correcting the CG seemed so logical at the time, but it is a BAD idea. After 4 or 5 flights, the spinner became very unbalanced, and when I removed the spinner, it transpired that the blu-tack had migrated to one side. It's as if under extreme rotational force, it flows like a liquid. Needless to say, I removed this and replaced with a piece of turned stainless steel mounted on the prop adapter. A dive test also confirmed that I could remove some of the nose weight, so I decreased it from 39g to 25g. It now seems very well balanced, with the CG about 4-5 mm rearward of the instructions' suggested position, or about 85 mm behind the leading edge. In terms of trim, like you, I found it pulled to the left a lot on take off - probably a lot of torque on the 3-blade prop. I needed to add a good couple of mm of right aileron trim to counteract this. Funnily enough, having trimmed this with flaps up, the effect of full flaps was then to induce a slight pull to starboard. Seems I got something slightly asymmetric somewhere along the build. I only have a 6 channel receiver, so rather than tinker with the flaps' end point adjustments independently, I found it easiest to mix back in some opposite aileron trim to the flaps: about 4% for total travel fixed it... In terms of flaps, I've no real guidance on landing practice except gradually increasing it from one flight to the next, and observing the stall behaviour while high up, prior to landing it on the same setting. While more flap angle decreases the landing speed (good) it also stalls much more abruptly and with far less warning (bad), so it seems landing on about 30 degrees of flap is about optimal. Horses for courses I guess... ...pics to follow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted June 13, 2016 Author Share Posted June 13, 2016 Note the unique way of holding the canopy down (elastic band)! ...and just to prove the retracts work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcaddict Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 having just recently bought the dynam spit I was wondering if anyone could suggest a touch up paint to match original cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bran Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 I never EVER trust the magnets supplied, and usually piggyback a super strength one intended for model railways, sometimes to both sides!! I then carry a two metre crowbar.............................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 I must be lucky, I've never had that happen. Oldgit, the original paint finish is so unrealistic that I simply re-painted mine in the authentic colours. It doesn't take very long and then touching up is no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted December 16, 2016 Author Share Posted December 16, 2016 Posted by oldgit on 16/12/2016 10:06:53: having just recently bought the dynam spit I was wondering if anyone could suggest a touch up paint to match original cheers The green can be touched up with Revell 68 Dark Green, which I found to be an excellent match. If you paint as far as the next panel line, it's indistinguishable from the original. I'm afraid the 'baby blue' didn't last long enough to want to touch it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcaddict Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 TWS is that enamel paint ? I put a sticker on then changed my mind - resulting in the paint lifting - doh!! Edited By oldgit on 16/12/2016 13:21:20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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