Building the Clark Spitfire IX (Full Version)

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trlambsr -> Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/3/2007 9:45:35 PM)

Ok
not to good with computers but here goes
Splitting the wing into 3 pieces.
Tr




MarkShapiro -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/3/2007 10:20:43 PM)

Looking good. I have come very close to getting the Clark Spitfire too. Should be a beautiful warbird. Keep the pics coming. Are you using the Clark Merlin engine? When I inquired about purchasing the kit without the engine, the manufacturer (I think his name is John) told me that he would not sell the kit without his engine because he did not want to compromise the lines of his aircraft. I really appreciate his principles in this, but I was a little skepticle of the engine quality based on some information gathered on RC Warbirds forums.




trlambsr -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/3/2007 10:52:58 PM)

I am building the spitfire for a friend in fla. The kit came with the latest engine. I am not impressed with it. It weighs around 13lbs. The problem is it would have to have lead to replace any reduction. I would have preferred either a 3w or ZDZ but the choice was not mine.
tr




trlambsr -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/3/2007 11:01:23 PM)

More pictures of the wing tubes. Notice the pencils in the tubes. This is how I did it for a wing not designed for wing tubes. the wing is almost in the bones. So far it is only out 1/16" from end to end 9+feet. Hope to get that our when skinning

TR




argon -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/4/2007 5:21:50 AM)

trlambsr: Spliting that wing would be the answer for those who don't have big trucks to transport. I had asked for the wing spliting feature from the manufacturer but he said it was not possible...There you have it.
Was'nt MarkShapiro building a T-28...??? I'm building one!!
Keep up the excellent work... an remember time does not count the finish product does!!!

Argon




MarkShapiro -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/4/2007 10:25:04 PM)

Hey Argon. How are you. Yes. i am still building the T-28 and have more pics to post. I will do it on my own thread so as not to hijack TR's build here. TR, I am sure I would have bought a Clark if not for the seller's insistance on including his engine. I'm with you, a 3W or ZDZ would be perfect and alot more power, from what I understand. The model itself should be awsome!! Good luck.




IFLYRC-RCU -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/5/2007 4:27:23 AM)

Mark me up too on Clark Spitty . . .

I would have bought his kit.. but he would not sell it without his engine.[:@][:@][:@]

D A R N !

[&o]

I planned on an inline 3W 150 3 blade set up.

Ended up with a Fiberclassics instead. Am in the market for a large Spit again.. was hoping Mr Clark had changed his tune.. guess not. Too bad.

JIM




F4u5 -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/7/2007 10:12:12 PM)

I built/had one. Great flying machine. Did you get the cockpit kit? that's a kit in and of itself. Good luck....kepp pluggin' away.

Jeff




MarkShapiro -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/8/2007 3:31:42 AM)

Jeff,
Was it you who was selling a FC Spitfire here on RCU a couple months ago? Tempted then to buy it as I was lamenting the Clark Spitty. Seems odd that the buyer would not have the option to opt out of purchasing that engine. From what I understand, you can only use his prop too?




smurfjet -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/8/2007 4:29:01 AM)

Hey TR,

The build looks good so far. Please keep the pics coming. You really should try to talk the owner out of that engine though. If he must use it, send it out to Ralph Cunningham to rework the prop hub. As a stock unit, you are only able to run Clark's three blade prop and lets just say it will fly, but very anemic at best. Ralph will give you the versitility of running any two blader you choose.

Hey Mark, Jeff did sell the FC spit. Brian O in Denver picked it up. I sold her to Jeff in the first place and passed on the rebuy as I had my flying one going. Probably should have bought it back when I had the chance as I ended up selling the other one as well.

Dave




trlambsr -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/8/2007 1:20:50 PM)

Here are some more pic. Have been doing things a little different than the plans.
I like to use what I know works.

tr




bla bla -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/8/2007 2:00:44 PM)

Why dance to Clarks tune.
Mick Reeves has:
1/4 SCALE
Span 110 inches. Engine 60 to 100cc. Weight 35 lbs.
Semi kit with epoxy fuselage/cowl, Plans, Alloy spinner, Canopy, Wing joiners,
Set of CNC cut wing ribs and tail surfaces. Dash. £370
Alternative with wood fuselage, epoxy cowl and CNC cut fuselage formers. £214
EXTRAS. Retracts, air up, spring down. £195. Sprung oleo legs. £55.00 pr.
Wheels. (3) £23.00 . Plans alone £23. Decal set £35.

Stick in whatever engine you want.




dragoonpvw -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/8/2007 2:28:56 PM)

This is a beautiful plane when it is finished. I have one ready for glass. Plus I have a second with the fuse and tail done. My buddy has Jeff's ready to fly but needs to finish some other projects. I have finally convinced him to use the clarke engine in it for a while as it is a good engine for the plane and flies it beautifully. I like the the scale linkage for the tail feathers too. Jeff put the servos in the back which works great too but the scale linkage is very positive and light.
Which engine do you have. I have the merlin 1 on my ready to glass one and the merlin2 on my other. The merlin2 is more powerful and has a larger prop than the one that Jeff had. It has a newer ignition on it too which helps a bunch. I also have the Hurricane which is gorgeous. I got that when John said he was thinking of stopping work as I did not want to miss it.
I am interested to fid out why no-one wants this engine, the only two guys who I know had issues were Jeff who had an older engine and one guy in California who ran without the correct oil mix. I have the 3-w 150 in my 1/4 Mustang and it is a great powerplant but full power is only for racing and being silly, the plane flies the whole routine at half throttle and weighs 44 pounds. The Clarke is a great plane. Enjoy it.
the only other thing I can think of is the balance tabs on the elevator, I put a little carbon fibre cloth on that area where it goes around the corner of the stab as Jeffs had stress cracks on his when we inspected it.
good luck
Paul




trlambsr -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/8/2007 2:57:23 PM)

Thank you for your input. This is what I hoped would happen. I could not find anything out there to help in this build. Other than way back. Nice tip on the elevators.
The only thing so far is the build manual has a lot of thing out of sequence like the leading edge installation before skinning????
TR




F4u5 -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (3/8/2007 4:54:15 PM)

Hey Paul, if the servos are in back of the fuse, it was either changed, or not my plane. I installed servos in the fuse in front of the cockpit. I didn't use the scale set-up, opting to use a carbon fiber rod to the elevator and the rudder. As for the engine, I don't see a problem with the engine, mine ran OK once I got it set correctly. I had to re-time it as it was off about a 1/4 inch on the dial, and firing too late. But, for my liking, the 22x8 3 bladed prop just didn't give the authority I like. With the hub and spiiner set-up Clarke gives you, you are pretty much relegated to a 3 blade set-up he sells. With the skills, you could adapt his set-up. I have recommended to several people that if you can get a new prop hub, you could fly with a nice 2 blade and use the 3 blade for static. Even tho the 3 blade is scale and looks good, a 3 blade, especially wooden, prop is just not as efficient without the gearing to control pitch. But, that is just my opinion. i sold my FC Spit to build a 12 footer winter 2007, with a v-150 inline twin

TR, I still would recommend this plane to anyone interested in a spit. The glass fuse is a great option. Mine came out at 42 pounds, with about 3 pounds of nose weight to balance it. If you need any help on the build, contact me. I think I have a lot of pictures of the build I did.

Jeff




Dave in UAE -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (8/17/2007 4:56:00 PM)

For what it is worth, I run my engine every month or so during the build and after 5 gallons of fuel I am seeing 6900 static rpm on the 24" prop and the 26" prop gives me 5900 rpm. I run mine in temperatures from 26c in the winter to last weeks 45c temps and she never misses a beat.

Mine is the Merlin II with the CH ignitions and a faulty battery has been the only issue in the last 3 years. Total running time 22 hours with 3:25 at flat out.

For extra weight I am planning on using 2 3700 mah Nmh bateries up front, one of these weighs the same as the 2 of the 1500 mah Futaba Nicads I was going to use. Hopefully this will cut down on the weight in the nose. John used 1lb of ballast in his prototype, however I do build heavy to start with.

One question I do have is, does anyone have photos of their rudder and elevator bellcrank assemblies as the "Bellcrank Detail" drawing on the fuselage plan is a little confusing.

Cheers

Dave Muldoon




dragoonpvw -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (8/18/2007 4:31:54 AM)

Dave,
I will photo you a couple shortly. I have one that that is all that is done in the fuse so it should be pretty clear. My other is ready for glass and I am not sure how it will show. What do you seem to be having a problem wth?
good luck
Paul




Dave in UAE -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (8/18/2007 10:50:56 AM)

Hi Paul

I understand how everything is suppossed to go together, when I cross reference the side-view of the fuselage fom the plans to what I have done it all looks fine, even compared to the real airplane it is the same.

Where I am getting confused is when I look at the detail view of the bellcrank in the uppper right-hand corner of the fuselage plan, the location of the F-21's and the F-22's seem out of place and this doesn't make sense to me. My interpretation looking at the real aircraft, aft bellcrank assembly is that the F-22's are spacers between the two bellcranks themselves and the smaller F-21's are soldered on the outside to prevent lateral movement outward.

I will try to post a picture of my interpretation.

My wing has been set aside ready for priming and paint as I move onto the fuselage, the cockpit kit is another story altogether. I'm trying to take as many photos of the cockpit kit going together as I can to provide a reference for others in the future as John did not build one for his airplanes.




Dave in UAE -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (8/18/2007 11:19:55 AM)

I'm trying to uplift a couple of pictures but it doesn't seem to work.




Dave in UAE -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (8/18/2007 11:23:05 AM)

Okay so it does work, now I understand how the photo uplift thing works!!

The two pictures are of the aft assembly by itself and both of them together. As you can see I show the F-22's as spacers, John shows them soldered side-by-side and that is what is confusing me. I will uplift my photo of the real machine to compare

Dave




Dave in UAE -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (8/18/2007 11:26:00 AM)

Unless I am missing the point, I think I have it correct as per the fuselage side-view and the photo of the full-size machine.

Dave




trlambsr -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (9/16/2007 1:09:09 PM)

more pictures




Grumpy1940 -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (9/16/2007 5:24:50 PM)

Very nice work with flaps!!!
keep pics coming! i will for sure follow this thread!!! im addicted by spitfire... [;)]

cheers

Jukka




Dave in UAE -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (9/17/2007 8:20:28 AM)

Nice work on the flaps...

Mine are done as per the plans, I have not tried to make mine scale by any means, yes very boring I know. I have a Don Smith Mosquito next in the pipe-line so perhaps that one will get a little more "scale attention" and the Clark Hurricane after the Mozzie will be "done to the nines" as a Mk II E complete with the 40mm, but that is another story altogether...

Once again nice job, the 3-piece wing is an interesting idea, talked to John about that 3 years ago and he was happy with the way things were.

As for the engines, I am seeing 5900 static rpm with the 26 x 12 prop so will go back to the 24 x 12 where I had 6800rpm static (John gets 6700 rpm on his initial run-ins of our engines before he sends them to us), and will use this one for the initial flights, or perhaps just leave it.

The PSRU he is working on would be nice but it is just too heavy for the engines right now, the scale prop he made for my Mk V is a thing of beauty and would love to see that fly, I have seen it running with a scale prop for the Mk IX and it realy is impressive.

Dave




Dave in UAE -> RE: Building the Clark Spitfire IX (9/17/2007 8:28:56 AM)

Well I guess I will take back what I said about the PSRU, just looked on John's website and he has cancelled the project. Not sure how long tha has been posted as he had it running the summer of 2006, oh well it was nice to see that very set-up he shows on the site running, took a bit to get it started due to the size and weight but once she fired, boy it was impressive.

Dave




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