kahloq

Subscribed. I have an 89" spitfire mkiv. By reading thru the thread, maybe I can get some ideas.

Flyfast1

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Hi Dave,

I used the sliding canopy rails from Dynamic Balsa. Here is a link>http://www.dbalsa.com/cockpits/sliding-rails.htm

I spent a fair amount of time trying various ways to move the canopy forward and backward on the rails and eventually decided to use an air cylinder. So, I have a separate air tank, filler value, servo and air valve just for the canopy. There is some information on my installation in Post #1522; 1559 and 1565 of this thread. If I were to do it again, I would purchase an air cylinder with a longer throw. I think the one I purchased from Robart moves 2.5" and it looks fine, but it would look better if it opened another 1/2 to 1". I think an air cylinder with a 3.25" or 3.5" throw would be perfect. Someone else mentioned that Sierra Precision sells longer air cylinders than Robart, but there may also be other suppliers.

Let me know if there is anything else you want to know.

-Ed B.

Flyfast1

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Hey Ron, nice to hear from you! I look forward to flying with you this year. I'll let you know when I am ready to maiden the Spitfire. My wife wants to be there for the maiden, so I'll probably do it at our field, but I'll need to be careful to pick a day when the wind is down the runway.

I look forward to seeing your F-18. It should be a beauty and knowing how you like fast planes, I am sure it will be fast!

-Ed B.

Flyfast1

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I managed to make some more progress on the Spitfire today. I started with the squadron markings on the fuselage. I am using "VLE" of RAF 322 Squadron in the Netherlands, Spring of 1944. Here are some pics:

Pic #1: the masks for the squadron markings are applied to the fuselage. To align the masks, I taped a string to the tail and ran it down the side of the fuselage. The string makes it easier to align the paint masks.

Pic #2: paint applied. I used Model Masters Light Grey for the squadron markings

Pic #3: after masks removed. A few minor spots to touch up, but not much bleeding under the masks.

Pic #4: here is a closeup of the tail section, showing one of the aluminum hatches I applied and the rivets around the horizontal stabilizer

Ed B.

Flyfast1

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I also started work on the exhausts. I started by painting the manifolds flat black and the exhaust stubs flat brown. I thought it would be easier to paint the exhaust stubs before securing them to the plane, so I attached them to a piece of cardboard, as depicted in Pic #2 below. I then added some detail to the exhaust stubs.

Pic #1: flat black applied to the exhaust manifolds

Pic #2: I taped the exhaust stubs to a piece of cardboard for painting and started by painting the inside of the exhaust stubs with flat black and the outside with flat brown.

Pic #3: I noticed from photographs of full scale spitfires that the exhaust stubs turn white from the heat of the exhaust emitted from the other exhaust stubs. I decided to have some fun with this and give it a try. To replicate this, I used Model Master Light Ghost Grey paint. This is basically a medium grey color that I applied using my airbrush with the smallest needle (0.5mm). For those that may be apprehensive about trying this, don't be. This is my first project using an airbrush, so I practiced on a piece of cardboard and if I can do it, you can also! Besides, it's just paint, so you can always fix it by painting over it with the brown and trying again! In my personal opinion, this is one of those situations where I think "less is more". Only a small amount of the Light Ghost Grey paint is required to provide what I think is a nice effect. I did not apply the light grey paint to one of the six exhaust stubs on each side of the plane, since in the full size pics I looked at, the first exhaust stub does not have the discoloration, since it does not get hit by the exhaust of other exhaust stubs.

Pic #4: a closeup of a few of the exhaust stubs. I noticed before painting that the fiberglass exhaust stubs provided by Yellow Aircraft have some imperfections. I suppose that these could be filled, but I think the end result actually looks better with the imperfections that can be seen in this closeup.

I am looking forward to seeing how the exhaust stubs look installed.

-Ed B.

Flyfast1

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Perhaps someone here could help me with a question about painting residue from the machine guns in the wing. I am thinking of using my airbrush with the smallest tip to make faint streaks on the top and bottom of the wing. Has anyone else done this? What color paint would be best? Perhaps black or maybe a dark grey?

Thanks,

-Ed B.

Duplicator41

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Very rarely will you seeburn marksfrom the canon on the wings, possibly very faint ones from the machine guns.

Cheers,

johnb66

Hi all , been working my way through this thread as i have acquired a ya spit , it has never been flown or even properly built, was glued together and painted with emulsion!!and used as a display in an office, thanks to you guys i have managed to source a new canopy ( this was missing) , what i am still missing are plans / drawings e.t.c i have tried to contact YA but no replies to my emails , can anyone out there help me as it would be handy to have some idea of what else is missing as there is only one former in the fuselage no mounting blocks in the wings e.t.c it's basically a bare air frame so any help would be much appreciated ,

thanks
John

lbscottsdale

John,
I have a much used but still usable set of plans and instructions that I could send you. I am in Arizona USA so if you get a response from someone in England that would be better and cheaper for them to send the plans to you than me!
However if you have no luck in a week or so email me or respond on this thread and I will send them to you.

Cheers

Len (One time Brit!!)

Brad330l

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I could scan and send you the build booklet. It is not a great help but it does provide some info.
Copyrights???? Should this be OK? I am not selling it.

Hi Len.

Cheers,

Brad

lbscottsdale

Hi Brad,

Just a coat of clearcoat and a new exhaust between me and the field!!!!

Cheers mate

Len

Brad330l

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Cool mate. Keep us informed.

Brad

crazystick

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Hey guy's,I have a Yellow Spitfire and one day I plan to build.I found this site on the Spitfire some time ago.It's verry good and on the first page is photos of each page of the instructions.The site has everything and more that you may want to know.
crazystick



http://spitfire9.com/yellowbuild.htm

sticktickler

I cut vinyl paint masks or permanent decals for these Yellow Spitfire kits (among others shown below). I can design any custom insignia or unit markings tail numbers and nomenclature just PM me for more information. My work is very scale and affordable.

Brad330l

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Yes this site has quite a few pictures of my build. I had forgotten about it.

Brad

Flyfast1

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Hi to All:

My spitfire is finally complete....well almost. It's basically done, but there's a few little things that I want to add to it. I ran the engine in my garage last night and all was well, so today off to the field I went. It was too windy to fly, but I was able to tune the engine and go through my pre-flight check. I lost two of my exhaust stacks while tuning the engine, so I am glad I didn't fly, because they would have been lost forever. I used medium CA to glue them in, but I guess the vibration eventually loosened up two of them. So, I am taking them all out and re-gluing them using glue that is thicker and will hold them in better.

The sliding canopy works well so far. For electrical power I am using two LiFe packs (A123 cells) through two switches into the receiver. I am also for the first time using an IBEC for the ignition. This eliminates a separate battery, switch and extension to power the ignition. I installed the LED for the IBEC in the cockpit dashboard so I can see when there is power to the ignition. The air system for the retracts held air for several hours, so that looks good and so far nothing else came loose. Here are some pictures. That's me in the last one.

Cheers,

-Ed B.

Brad330l

My Feedback: (1)

Well done mate and good luck. It will be worth all the 'pain' once you have flown it. As long as you have checked the CG 50 times and it has no indication of tail low then you will be right. I have actually flown mine a bit tail heavy after I lightened the spinner backing plate and used the scale fibre spinner cone but it flew Ok. I would not recommend that setting though for a test flight. As for the scale exhausts I used canopy glue and have not had a problem.

Cheers,

Brad

smurfjet

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The Spitfire looks great Ed. Good luck with the maiden flight. Without reading through the entire thread to see where you have it balanced, I would suggest 5.75 inches from the leading edge at the fuselage. It will be perfect.

I always use Zap Goop, shoe goo or even silicone to secure my exhaust stacks on the yellow spitfire. When the glue sets up they have just a very slight flexibility to help with the vibration.

Dave


Edit - CORRECT CG is 5.75 inches

Flyfast1

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For some reason, images still don't seem to upload correctly. I am using the same "Upload Images" option at the bottom of the message screen. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

I removed and re-glued all my exhaust stubs to ensure that they won't fall out.

Dave, regarding the cg, my manual states a range of 5 1/2 to 5 3/4. I balanced in the middle of that range. Will the plane be difficult to fly with the cg at that point? It seems that your preference is for 4 3/4, but it would take a lot more weight for me to get there.

I forgot to mention that my plane weighs just under 27lbs and I had to add about 1 lb of lead up in the nose to balance the plane. I also have one of my batteries mounted in the engine compartment.

-Ed B.

smurfjet

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Hi Ed,

I apologize and will try to edit my earlier post. The correct CG I have been flying my yellow spits is 5.75 inches. You will be fine where you are but make sure to shim the rear rail of the retracts with a thin beveled shim. I make them out of thin aircraft ply. This will not affect the retraction and will just get the legs forward a little to help you with preventing the nose-overs. I have one spitfire totally scaled out and it comes in around 28 pounds. Flies great with a Zenoah G-45 but not a speed demon at all. I have another with a g-62 and it weighs around 25 pounds. Not that much faster overall but more vertical.

I would try to add some pictures of the two I have now but RCU is acting up again. This website is not what it used to be in the tech dept.

Dave

Flyfast1

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Hi Dave,

Thanks for the clarification. Good to know it should be fine in the middle of the range. Thanks also for the suggestion about shimming the gear. Do you fly off grass or a hard surface?

I am using an FPE 3.4 (55cc), which in power I think is somewhere in-between the G62 and G45. I like the FPE engines because I have found them to be easy to tune and reliable. On this plane, my personal preference is to trade off all-out speed for better climbing ability, since I enjoy flying large vertical maneuvers, so I try to prop my planes to achieve that. I am starting with a 22x10, but may also try a 23x8. I find it interesting to see how small changes in diameter & pitch can have a big effect on how these planes fly.

I am planning for a maiden this weekend.

-Ed B.

Flyfast1

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Test post

kenair

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Hi, the YA Spitfire build booklet and photos of plans are on my site at [link]http://spitfire9.com/yellow.htm[/link]

cheers - ken

Ron101

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Ed your spit looks just amazing! great job
I'm dieing to see this one in person and see her fly

great work!

smurfjet

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Your spit looks great Ed. Good luck with the maiden! You will love the way it flies. The FPE 3.4 will be a great choice. You might try a zinger 20 - 8/14 prop. I know, "zinger" right? I thought the same until I tried one. I was using a lot of Mejzlik props but on the yellow spitfire these variable pitch zingers really work great. On the Zenoah G45 I use an 18 - 8/14 and the G62 I use the 20 - 8/14. There isn't anything in between. Try one you might like it.

Waiting for the maiden report from you. Hope all goes well.

Dave

Here's a some of my Yellow Spitfires. I have sold a few of them. The panther spit was the first one I ever built. The one flying, AP-Q, I just sold yesterday to a good friend. I still have AP-D and I just started a build on a Comp Arf Spitfire.