RCGuy41

Here is the final project.

Brad

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

nice work there Brad, what was your over all weight when finished, have you done the maiden yet.

RCGuy41

Hi BigTim,

I'm going to purchase a scale today, to get the final weight; May 30th my club is havingour spring fun fly and I will maiden her then. Picking up my bird she feels about 71/2 pounds, when I balanced heryesterday I ended up putting 12 1/2 onces in the nose. During the biuld I did pay attention to otherbuilders recommendations, to keepthe tail as lite as possible. In the nose I have a Super Tigre 75 with the in-cowl muffler, battery sits behind the firewall under the fuel cell and the remaining equipment inthe recommended locations.

Brad

starcop

Hello Brad, Excellent work on the spitfire, I can't believe your finished and I'm still on the bench! I was making good progress at one time. I'm still working on other projects, but I'll get back to mine soon. I stopped to visit the guys at the R/C field Monday, every one is still flying and having fun. I'm getting ready to up-date my member-ship so I can start flying my other completed models. Well, be safe on your maiden flight, double check every thing, then double check things again. Oh' don't forget to double checks things! Did I also mention to "Dou" oh yeah, enjoy that flight, remember to relax and breath. starcop

revolver

Nice job Brad

That bird is very very good looking ,you do a nice work .

could n wait to see your first flight

Stéphane

starcop

Hi Brad, Ah, to finally have her completed! Yeah, I know how that feels; now I need to finish mine. Just need a set of retracts and it's all down hill from there. Enjoy the maiden flight! starcop

RCGuy41

Gents,

First of all, thanks to all ofyou guys for helping and providing words of encouragement during my build. Today during our clubs fun fly, Imaidened my Spitfire, nowthe bad news she crashed on the first half circut of the field and wentinto some tall trees on the south end of our field. I was able to recover the fuselage which had extensive firewall and cowldamage which is unrepairable. 1/3 rd of thehirzontal stabwas severed as mybird went through the tree and the wing is still 3/4 of the way up in the tree. Oh well; after retrieving the fuselage I performed the usual post mortemand found my linkage to the elevator was loose cuasing zero control in the elevator. My conclusion is a combination of my fault,not ensuring all linkageswere tight and vibration from the engine.

For those who are still buildingpay particularattention to the placement of yourfuel cell and engine, thereason the engine carb sits lower then the fuel cell centerline causing the enginetoflood.This is just one problem I found while tuning my engine and also trying to get my engine started prior to her first flight. Other then that and the crash, she flew very nice and was stable.For the rest keep up the good work and post whenyou can.

Brad

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Sorry to hear about that, Brad. Get back on the horse as soon as you can.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

bummer Brad that sucks[]hate to hear about a maiden crash you did a good job on it for sure, the tank location was part of the reason I went with a 91 4st pumped engine, it has so little flexability with the location in the fuse.

RCGuy41

Bob & Tim,

Thanks Gents, my next build is going to be a 1/4 scale Neuiport 28, this bird will probably take about a year. Then I have a TF Corsair to build. This will be the first time tobuild a biplane. Tim youmade a wise decission going with a 4S pumped engine. In our hobby I have seen stranger things happen; buy hey she did fly, not as long as I wanted, it's back to the building table, and I don't cry over a busted up bird, it happens. A member of my club coined it aptly, all R/C aircraft have an experation date, some sooner, some later. Again thanks

Brad

starcop

Hi Brad, OMG, I'm so, so sorry to hear that your Spitfire had such a crash. My heart goes out to you, you can always build another one, once you build one you can almost double the time it takes to re-build. Do it in time and just take your time, you have all the parts. Man I hate to hear the maiden flight goes wrong. I was shaking the first time I flew my Mustang after completion. I also had the glow plug fall out when I ran my first tank full of fuel, so I know all to well things will go wrong. That why I double, and sometimes have to triple check every knook and cranny for loose parts or possible problems, once air borne. Well it's good to know the airplne will fly stable as long as things are ok. Again, I feel bad for your loss, build another plane, you will do twice the job you did on the first one. Also it will cost less with all the parts you have in place. Get the wing out of the trees, take a long rope and tree pole. Good luck and keep us posted with all the new findings as you figure out what happend. When you get all the parts figured out try and do what the FFA would do with any crash, put things in place and determine the cause. starcop

Again, rebuild- getting back on the horse helps in the long run!

Smashmaster

Man I'm sorry to hear this. I have been subscribed to this thread for quite a while. I built a Mountain models Switchback a year or two ago. I put a beautiful finish on it with Dope,and silkspan. I lost it on the Maiden because I didn't completely tighten the EZ connector on the elevator. It flew for a couple laps before I noticed something was wrong, then I lost elevator completely. It wen't into the asphalt hard. Again sorry to hear about this.

RCGuy41

Matt & Smash,

Thanks gents, I was able to recover the fuse, it went through the tree, but as of 5/31 the wing was still up in the tree.Further investigation revealed the onboard battery was good all servos responded to radio inputs with good strong torque,myconclusionis;50% my fault (nottriple checking) and 50% due to vibration. On the servo arm I had usedalinkage post were thepush rodgoes through the post and issecured by an allen screw. The post flightcrash of the remains showed the push rod had an indentation where the allen screw met therod. Even though my Spitfire went down, I'm not letting thisincident stop me from building and flying, i'm going to use clip on clevis retainers and bend the pushrod 90 degreesfrom now on at the servo, there will be no more problems with vibration or set screws.

Matt keep up the goodwork on yourSpitfire, you willhave hercompleted soon. I knowit can be frustrating at times, not having the necessary parts, but everything is coming together for you. Keep the press onand by; lets say mid summer you will have your bird maidened. Oh, I almost forgot; I purchaseda cross bow the other dayand will use it too shoot downmy wing, it's that high up in the tree!

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Brad:

I've used EZ Connectors (linkage posts) successfully on many models, but all of them have been on the small side. The biggest one I've used them on is a 40 size trainer, and only then with the application of beaucoup Loctite. I'm reluctant to use them on anything larger.

The learning is part of the challenge and fun in this hobby. I've made probably 25 construction mistakes that resulted in big holes in the ground. (The most spectacular was the wing coming off my Sig Wonder in mid loop.) Hopefully I'm past the worst of them, but I know there are some of them still out there, lurking in the bushes, waiting to get me.

- Winston Churchill

starcop

Hi guys, Yeah, I always change my connectors to metal type, right off the bat, even on trainer airplanes. Plastic just doesn't sit well with me, they can break or be missed very easy. The metal type automatically close and they screw on then- you can clamp the end with mini vise grips for added protection. I've even soldered them, once I have it set perfectly. Most of my planes have the metal you can buy themin packs of 20 or more,cheap insurance! If you look at my Spitfire you will see metal on the finish product. Although I will ue the plastic connector on the flaps, it's a piece I'll just have to trust. I'll keep this post alive with the continuation of my Spitfire build, I'm getting ready to purchase my landing gear. Thanks all, starcop

Matt

starcop

Hello All, It's a crying shame, still haven't re-started finishing this Spitfire. Most of my birds sit in limbo, while I do nothing much any more. Seems I'm away from old friends who I used to fly with, no one does any thing any more. I guess maybe this Spitfire will be a dust bucket before long, I keep putting stuff, all around it. At least nothings gotten broken! Knock on wood, I will finish this thing one day, that's for sure. The economy has me at a stand still, I'm laid off twice now so this build will have to wait. I can fly but they want $350.00 to join the club, not a chance of that right now. I don't have buddys that fly any more so it's not very fun to fly by myself. Maybe I'll just have to go try it. Well, hope every one is weathering the storm! Maybe I can re-start this bird soon, it needs to be flown! starcop

I have several birds hanging around, at least I can fly those! My fuel might be old, but I can replace that.

Smashmaster

350 to join a club sounds pretty steep to me. I'm sure you could find a less costly place to fly.

starcop

Yeah, I have a pretty large school grounds that I've flown at before. $350.00 is rediculous to join a club; then pay $100.00 each year, that's one rich club if you ask me. If I was going to spend $350.00 I'd buy another airplane! I can always find places to fly, just because it has a run-way doesn't make it worth that kind of money. I know to some people it's different; they like social clubs, run-ways, grass fields and so on. I can find a large grass field at a park, parks too have plenty of room to fly. Later

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

starcop:

There's 5 AMA chartered clubs within 25 miles of Nampa. Surely one of them would be good for you.

Use this page at the AMA website, and punch in your zipcode:

http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx

Good luck

starcop

Thank you Bob, Yeah, I've heard of them but haven't checked them out. I really enjoyed the last club and the people but money is tight so I'll have to wait for a membership. Have a good one, thanks again for the information. starcop

Matt

RCGuy41

Good Day Matt,

I'm sorry to hear about your situation; getting laid off is bad enough, but getting laid off twice, sounds as if the economy is worse than the government is hawking. I have to agree with smash, $350.00 to join a club on top of your AMA dues is a little much, at my field for a new member it's $120.00, dues and initiation, and annual is $60.00 for a single member, then top that off with AMA dues. My club leases our field from the state and we work with the state park next us when they sponsor a riding tour by horse back. Hopefully in the near future you will be able to find gainfull employment.

On a side note, last week while at the field I took a trip over too the tree where my spit went into; the wing is still up there even though having a few severe storms come through the area. I plan on going out this week again; hopefully the wing came down, by the way had no luck with a bow and arrow tied to fishing line.

Some time this week I'm going to start a new build, its going to be a 1/4 scale Nueaport 28 c1 and will start a new thread. In the mean time Matt, keep your chin up things will get better, I hope.

Brad

starcop

Hi Brad, Thanks for the insperation! Yeah, things will turn around; they always do. Wow, I'm surprised that darn wing is still up the tree; It must be pretty high up; or stuck in really well. Hopefully you will see it fall soon, I'm the type who wouldn't leave with-out it! HA, ha, I'd have to figure out a method to get it down. That's just how I am, it would bug me seeing it caught in a tree. Maybe a grappling hook type setup would get it down? It's damaged any way, what would it hurt to just crash it out of the tree, so to say. Well, good luck with your new project, drop me a e-mail so I can see the build. I'm still sitting on my laurals, I'll get back to mine eventually. I'll just start full force one day and it will get done! It dosen't take very long once I get rolling, like I said ,I just need funds to get rockin and rolling again. I've been out at the gun range, so I keep busy other ways. Take care, starcop (Matt)

Neo gold

Hey, sorry..i know it was a few years back!!...did you finish the TF spit ?..flight?, i'm steadily building mine!.At the point of fitting my Robart gear...thanks.