Warbirds Replicas Tempest - tips and tricks

[John Timmis]

The prop is balanced. How do I balance the spinner?  It distorts as soon as the prop nut is tightened. I have tried making a backing plate to support the the spinner. Cheers John

[Graham R]

I’m also having the same problem John.

[Chris Walby]

Depending on the prop you may need to put a spacer between the prop and the spinner + cut the spinner so that it does not rest on the prop.

 

The APC has a very deep root to the prop where as the Grouper is less so.

[Ron Gray]

1 hour ago, John Timmis said:

It distorts as soon as the prop nut is tightened

I’m assuming you mean the back plate is distorting, if so that means that the prop is not sitting correctly on the back plate. Before going any further, which prop are you using?

 

Ah Chris beat me to it. 

Edited November 9 by Ron Gray

[Eric Robson]

I made a spacer to go between the prop and the spinner, 8mm washers would do the same job. 

[Ron Gray]

I would advise using the Graupner, not APC prop for 2 reasons, firstly it’s much easier to fit it in the spinner and secondly there is less pitch down on opening the throttle.

[John Timmis]

I started by using a 12x6 APC prop which performed well apart from the noise. I removed the spinner & have been flying without it. This morning I changed the prop for one Richard provided , don’t know the make, but it has a more conventional shape. The spinner still does not run true even with a spacer between the spinner & the backplate . I’ll try a Graupner prop if I can find one. Cheers John.

[Ron Gray]

MSL

 

I run the 12x7 Graupner and it’s absolutely fine. I also got rid of the spinner and used an alloy one to start with then 3D printed my own as I wanted a more scale shape.

 

[RICHARD WILLS]

The SLEC spinners were only £3 so I guess we could expect them to be less than perfect . They have certainly been around for at least thirty years and were either a Radio Active or Micromold product . I have seen them moulded at Radio Active and by Dave Stapleton who owns MM.  

I have used them on many IC models in the past without issues other than the screws stripping the plastic if over tightened . 

I still use a yellow one on my Tempest and although visually I can see it does not run true , it does not produce any significant vibration . 

I am using a Graupner style 12x6 with a prop washer in front of the prop hub but behind the spinner disc mount . 

Having said that , Graham R is having the same vibration problem , so I think the solution is either to copy mine exactly and hope for the best , get a 3d printed one or find another 3" spinner that will probably be too pointed . 

The Dubro Spinner will fit and runs very smoothly . We have it in stock for the Spitfire but only in 3 blade form which is not much help for belly landing . 

However you can get a 2 blade version here 

https://www.align-trex.co.uk/planes/rc-plane-accessories/rc-spinners/1-3-4in-spinner-black-1-pc-per-package-dub270.html?msclkid=11e55babe2e412c0b2443c9b9e8420bd&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping MM&utm_term=4577335632823981&utm_content=PL - Everything Else MM

 

What I would do is buy the two blade then brutally sand the front rounded to ,make a more Tempest style profile . Should end up looking like Rons . 

Hopefully a picture attached to show you how it looks after I made one of my Mk9 Spitfire's into a Mk1

I guess you could pester Ron and cross his palm with gold , but with any 3D spinner you need to accept it is your responsibility as the user if it shatters . 

 

[Lipo Man]

One thing people could try is balancing the spinner after it’s mounted. I had spinner vibration problems on my FW190 and that was how I solved it. Here is what I did:

 

First, I downloaded a vibration measuring app for my phone. This shows a graph and gives a figure for the level of vibration experienced by the phone.

 

I made 12 marks with a felt pen around the perimeter of the spinner and numbered them from 1 to 12 like a clock.

 

Next I placed the plane on a cushion (so it would “wobble”) and set it running at a low throttle setting - less than 20% throttle. Then leave the throttle where it is and stop the prop with your throttle cut switch. Obviously you need to be careful at this stage…

 

Attach the phone to the fuselage (sticky tape, elastic band - whatever works) and measure the vibration before using throttle cut again - leave the throttle in the same position at all times. Write down the vibration score. 

Now put a piece of duct tape on the perimeter of the spinner at clock mark 1. Flip the throttle switch and record the vibration level. Cut the throttle, and move the tape to position 2. Record the vibration again and continue working your way around the clock. 

You should get a trend of the vibration being highest at one part of the clock and lowest at the opposite end. Now you know where to add tape. 

Final stage - try adding a second piece of tape. If the level gets lower again keep adding pieces until it starts to trend back up. And if adding tape increases the vibration, try removing the tape and adding only half a piece to see if your starter is too high. 

Once you’ve got the score as low as you can, remove the spinner front and transfer the tape to the inside and replace - being careful to put it in the same orientation to the spinner. Don’t remove the backplate or prop, obviously. 

It sounds more complex than it is - it took me about 15 minutes. I’d had multiple attempts continually remounting the spinner with the vibration never going away, and after doing this it’s been super smooth. For anyone struggling it might be worth a try - the app was free so you only have a piece of duct tape to lose.

Edited November 10 by Lipo Man

[Graham R]

 Will be trying one of these once it’s finished. 
it’s not so much as the balance on mine, it’s the bottom of the spinner that’s distorted.

[John Timmis]

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. Lots of good ideas here. I will start with a Dubro spinner. Cheers John.