Ripmax Spitfire EP

[Bravedan]

After rebuilding the front motor mount area stronger than the cuckoo spit and tissue ply (read posts above) mine now balances spot on with no lead, but weighs 1175g with 2300mAh 3S right forwards.

[Lunch-time flyer]

Following on from my balancing issues....

 

I didn't want to put in a larger battery, so I re-jigged the motor mount to get the battery right up into the nose, put some re-enforcing into the nose cone which had been showing some wear and tear, and balanced it spot on... still have to weigh the finished product, but took it our for a test flight and it was fantastic! Never flown anything so solid, looks fantastic too. unbeleivable!

 

Thanks for starting the posts, without this I would still have it sitting on the shelf! Now I can't wait to get out there again!! 

[Tim Mackey]

Thats great news LTF - enjoy

[Lunch-time flyer]

What's your thoughts on the nylon bolt to fasten the wing?? - I had a slightly harder landing than anticipated and was very pleased with a sheared off bolt and no damage... but looking for a replacement I see that many people don't like them at all following catastrophic failures in flight... I can't see the wing getting that much of a shear force in flight myself...

 

Anyone any experience of problems or otherwise with the bolt?

[Tim Mackey]

Mine came supplied with 2 x steel bolts, which I have used.

I have far bigger and heavier models than this which use nylon bolts satisfactorily, so wouldn't anticipate a problem.

[Kelly]

My first Ripmax Spitfire had the single large nylon bolt, I had no problems during  50+ flights .

 

My latest one has the twin metal bolts as per Tims,no problems with those so far.

 

In my opinion no worries with the nylon bolt .

 

Kelvin

[Lunch-time flyer]

great, thanks.

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

I fly a rebuilt Balsacraft Spitfire (see page 2 I think of this thread) from a dolly like Leccys (page 5).

I suffer from a regular sharp left turn as it gains speed, so much sop that I now generally set off cross wind, and it could be the wind weather cocking the model straight.

 

What I think is happening is this. The forward push above the front wheels is lifting the tail wheel so I have no ground steering. Then the motor torque is pushing the left wheel into the ground causing more drag and my left turn.

 

So questions are:- Does yours do it? Is my theory anything like right? What can I do about it to make it at least appear more predictable to other people.

 

Cheers

Chris

[leccyflyer]

Chris

 

That's interesting.

Though some of my take offs (without a dolly) do incorporate a sharp left (or right) turn, I've always accounted for that as weathercocking. That's my excuse, anyway.

 

My dolly tends to behave very predictably, without the behaviour you've described.

 

My dolly take offs for my Cambrian Spitfire normally take the form of a very gentle curve to the right - as I set the rear wheel to promote that, in the absence of rudder, but I definitely experienced a sharp right turn on Sunday with my FW190 which was a sharp turn into a rapidly switching wind. When I went to pick up the dolly, it was facing in the direction from which it had come!

 

It could be that your nose is a bit further in front of the front axle, lifting that tail wheel as you say. Perhaps if you moved the foam cradles back a touch it would help keep the tailwheel grounded?