Converted IC models for the slope.

[Tim Mackey]

Well its often said that anything will slope in a good blow. Obviously many IC models have rather blunt and thick wings and this Spit is no exception.

First a little background..... Mark "foamy cardboard" Kettle of Vulcan fame, had an uncle who did a lovely job of assembling this Sportsman Aviation / Jamara .90 sized Spitfire. After being fitted with retracts and a .90 4T SC engine etc, he was all set to maiden fly her when he sadly passed away. Mark inherited the model, but being a glider guider at heart, he asked me if I thought it would slope - and if so, I could have it on condition that I converted it.

So, after stripping out the engine, rudder servo, fuel system and retracts and tailwheel, I set about moving everything I could up front onto the redundant engine mount bearers. I extended the elevator snakes and fitted the servo up there too, along with rx, battery, and a big chunk of lead. A spinner from a MIG 3 was screwed to the cowl, the undercarriage and cowl holes filled in and crudely covered with some solartex, retract bearers removed, ribs strengthened and covered over with invasion stripes. I managed to reduce its weight by over a pound, and with her balanced at around 1cm in front of the original, she and came out at a tad over 6 lbs. All was set for a maiden flight at our last pss meet. Unfortunately we had pretty much zero wind, so it never came out of the car.

Today however....... 25 mph smack straight onto the west slope of the big rock..... and I had a day off ! Half a dozen of us enjoyed a cracking session from around 4.30 up until gone 9pm with combat wings, sport models, and Vulcans and then my mate Jem threw her off, with another clubmate trying to catch a few shots on my phone camera. Flew straight out of his hands, and a few clicks of elevator trim saw her away. Flew a lot better than any of us expected to be honest, so all in all, a success.

Phone-only photos, but considering that, and the rather dark skies, my mate did well to get what he did

Thanks Mark and you can look forward to a go on the sticks very soon

Edited By Tim Mackey on 27/06/2016 23:43:43

[Stephen Jones]

That`s a nice success story .

I have often thought of chucking some of my models of a cliff .

Steve

[Ian Jones]

Oh that looks so good Tim, get Mark to press the video button next time too.

[Tim Mackey]

Thanks chaps.

Ian, it wasnt Mark - he wasnt here sadly, but another flyer did have a tail cam on the chase plane, and yet another bod tried to get some film on his I-Pad which may be uploading to U Tube.

[Mark Kettle 1]

What a great result and report on the alteration Tim. I bet Brian's spirit was with you when you made the maiden flight. As I said to you Tim many moons ago your flying style and manner on the slope remind me very much of Brian. Enjoy flying the Spit to the max.

Hers's a picture of Brian a few weeks before he passed away, he managed to fly his P47.

Taken on Sunday 28th September 2014. Bill Fallowfield holding the Thunderbolt.

Here we all are many years ago larking about on our local slope, with the normally rc pylon racing & club 2000 O'dell's.

Here is some video of the Thunderbolt flying filmed by his flying mate Deepak.

 

 

Edited By Mark Kettle 1 on 28/06/2016 05:36:23

[David Davis]

He was a better pilot than I am!

[Andy Meade]

Great success Tim, nice to see the Big Rock doing what it does best

[Ian Jones]

Posted by Tim Mackey on 28/06/2016 00:04:03:

Thanks chaps.

Ian, it wasnt Mark - he wasnt here sadly, but another flyer did have a tail cam on the chase plane, and yet another bod tried to get some film on his I-Pad which may be uploading to U Tube.

Oops misread that bit. Anyway looking forward to some moving pictures .

[Mark Kettle 1]

Yes I'm looking forward to the video.

[KiwiKid]

Congrats on the successful flight Tim. It's great to see an IC model ticking along on ridge lift.

One of my favourite models is a Great Planes Lear Jet, PSSed

I just noticed this model the other day on the HK site. Looks like a good contender. It's designed for IC or electric flight, so has scale (or less) intakes to reduce drag and could be beefed up for PSSing: **LINK**

[Dave Bran]

Great, but why lose the rudder?

[Tim Mackey]

Well I was just trying to shed as much weight as possible - Ill prob fit a mini servo and install lightweight pull pull lines now i know she flies ok. Didnt lose the rudder literally - just taped it straight Dave 😉

Edited By Tim Mackey on 30/06/2016 09:32:39

[Andy Meade]

[Tim Mackey]

Mr Meade you were v quick there mate 😆

[Andy Meade]

now THAT was a quick edit! hehe

[Mowerman]

A few years back, a man arrived on my nearest slope with a high wing glow powered trainer. After removing the prop and U/C he demonstrated slope soaring to his small son, then did a super landing and off they went home.

Just shows , almost anything can be flown from a slope, so why do I manage to break my models? (and my ankle on one occasion)

Edited By Mowerman on 02/07/2016 19:13:25

[Stephen Jones]

Is there a knack to flying on a slope. I have never flown on a slope and i have down loaded a Flight Sim that has Gliders, Slope Soarer .

And i am struggling to keep um airborne for long.

Steve

[Tim Mackey]

Well yes there is like anything in life u need to acquire the skill.
Head over to the other topics within this pssa section and ask away - youll get lots of advice 😉

[leccyflyer]

Nice job on the Spitfire in the OP, Tim

My pal Derek's Cambrian Spitfire funfighter flies brilliantly in anything around 15mph wind and really looks the part.

My own Cambrian Funfighter Spitfire, having previously flown under OS .25FP and AXI 2820/10 power has also been converted to PSS and wasn;t as sprightly as Derek's slightly lighter Spitfire. When the proper brown and green Mk1 Spitfire took a chunk out of the wing of my MkIX version they were the only two models in the sky.

Before then, I'd managed to get some air to air video camera gun footage of the Mk 1.

Derek's now made a second Cambrian Spitfire funfighter for the slope, in a Mediterranean PRU scheme, which has yet to make a maiden flight. As a result he kindly donated his old Spitfire to me, for which I'm very grateful.

[KiwiKid]

Awesome leccy, one can never have too many Spits.

This is my 1.4m Durafly version flying in around 12kts. It really comes alive around 20kts.

**LINK**

By the way, I am not sure if that Tomahawk model I referenced earlier was on sale at the time, but it sure is now!

**LINK**

[Mark Kettle 1]

A nice video KiwiKid.

[Tim Mackey]

Well chuffed to report that the Spifire conversion has won me two accolades this season. First off it was voted best flown model at the August PSSA meet down on the Lleyn. Now check out this bad boy - won best scale glider at the 2016 Lleyn Bring -n-Fly.

I reckon the installed sound system helped It does fly very well actually - needs a decent blow, but nonetheless a definate success.

[Mark Kettle 1]

Nice one Tim, .

 

Edited By Mark Kettle 1 on 26/09/2016 02:57:02

[Bob Jennings 1]

Nice one Tim!

That shot sums up the sport for me!
Hefting models up to a flying site, cumbersome and a bit of a strain. We set off heavy and then all the weight goes and we set them free. The result being a huge fat grin!

Any more shots of our fellow 'Glider mules'?

Cheers,

Bob

[Mark Kettle 1]

Previously the weekend of August 13/14th 2016 saw the PSSA stage their annual PSS Fly-In at the Lleyn Peninsula North Wales. This fly-in was from a place called Anne's Place, a picturesque stretch of the coastal headland overlooking Hells Mouth Bay and sea a few hundreds of feet below. Tim won on 13th Saturday the 'Best Flown Prop Model' the prize a bottle of wine from Phil Cooke.

Some video.

...and landing