masteromodels

My Feedback: (11)

I flew my ESM 50CC Spitfire today and it flew great. I have a DLE-55R in it and I already added 3.5 lbs. to the firewall , but I think it can use another 1/2 to 1 more lb. It does not want to land and the elev. was very touchy when trying to to flair. Has anyone else used this combo and how much weight did you need?

thanks Bob

All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

Bob, move the CG forward one half an inch at a time. It will solve your problem. Dan.

91zulu

My Feedback: (2)

Where did you put the weight? On the fire wall or cowl. pics would help. I had a Pica 1/5 Spitfire and had the same issue. Made a stand off that extended over the engine and end up using less weight. Try to get it as far forward as possible. If you have it on the fire wall now and you move it forward you may not have to add more or even less. Show some pics of your set up so we could give you some ideas.

masteromodels

My Feedback: (11)

The way the ESM spitfire engine set up is you have to mount it to the firewall , in back of the muffler. My friend made a mold and we poured 3.5 lbs into it and I bolted to the fire wall . We made it in the shape of a horse shoe to fit. If you mount the lead to the standoffs for the engine it will eventually vibrate enough to loosen the mounts up , and I learned a long time ago not to put lead in the cowl , it will only strain the cowl mounts and again mess up the cowl and come loose. I will add another 1 lb. behind the firewall where I cut a hatch , and I think this will solve the problem. The plane has so much wing area that it will carry the weight easy but them I have to worry about a lot of pressure on the landing gear. Need good landings all the time to keep them from breaking out because of the extra weight. I was just wondering if anyone else had this problem because of the light weight engines being used today on war birds.


thanks Bob

Meschmidt

My Feedback: (15)

I am building one of these also. A DLE 55 is a very light engine, therefore I am putting a 4.2 Sachs in mine to help in balance issues. I'll post pictures as it comes along. Bob, I noticed the landing gear mounts are layered 1/8" ply to break free in case a not so good landing. This is to prevent structural damage. Going over the mounts with finishing resin will help some. Paul

All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

Bob, the correct location of the center of gravity is determined by a lot of factors, especially the plan form of the wing. It has nothing to do with the weight of the engine. If it takes a few pounds to get it right then it needs to be placed in position. Luckily for us, the modern day engines are all light so ballast is the only answer. Dan.

masteromodels

My Feedback: (11)

Dan what I was trying to explain that with the older heavier engines they automatic put the extra weight needed for most war birds up front and you did not have to worry ware to add and how much lead as far forward as possible , without having to worry about it coming loose. My friend has a TOP-FLITE P-47 with a DA-50 up front and he had to add approx. 2 or more lb. to get it to balance correct and land smoothly . I 'am also flying one with a G-62 in it and I did not have to add any extra lead. The only thing I do is line up with the runway and lower the RPM and let it settle by itself with a little throtttle and elevator at the end to keep it on it's mains till it slows down and drops the tail. The newer lighter engines have a greater power to weight ratio which is great for 3D but almost useless for short nose heavy tail war birds. I have a couple of DLE-55 engines and they run great , bit for a Hellcat or P-47 and early warbirds they need the extra weight. I just wanted to know how much weight guys were adding to the Spitfire with the DLE-55 so I can compare.

91zulu

My Feedback: (2)

You do not put the weights on the engine stand offs, you make either a pair out of 3/8s thick x 1/2 wide aluminum or one piece 1" wide in the shape of a L . The short side ( about 1" long) is screwed to the fire wall with 2 bolt and nuts, the long part extends over the engine. The length of this depends on the room you have in the cowl. Then bolt weight as far out as you could towards the front. This way you most times end up using less weight. The way you have the weight now on the fire wall , if you move it more forward it may very well be that is all you need or even less.
As for weight in the cowl there is a way in doing it. If you have screws at the side into the fuse all you have to do is glue metal strips inside the cowl where the screws go and the fuse glue 5 ply blocks in the area where the screws go into on the inside behind the fire wall. This is what I do with no issues. Putting weight in the cowl then screwing into just fiberglass or light wood will not work. Hope this helps.

masteromodels

My Feedback: (11)

Still no answers to the original question, anyone using a DLE-55 or DA-50 how much nose weight did you have to use to get it to fly correctly and balance approx 25% back

Thanks Bob

kinverflyer

Hi I had a DL50 in mine, until I retired her last Autumn, the 50 is the same sort of weight as the 55. I ended up with 30 oz of lead plus two 5 cell AA and one 4 cell all installed around the engine.
The further forward you have the weight the less you will need.

damagedgoodes

G'day Bob,

I had 1.3kg of lead above my DLE-55 and balanced the model at 150mm from the leading edge where it meets the fuselage. Never had any issues of the lead vibrating loose (have done several large gas models this way with no failures) however I do do frequent thorough airframe inspections on my models.

Cheers,

Dave

masteromodels

My Feedback: (11)

I have added another lb. of lead to the front to bring the all up weight to a little over 4lbs. and the overall weight of the plane ready to fly to 26 1/2 lbs. Now it is a little nose heavy but I have not tried to fly it again. I think the extra weight will help smooth out the landing approaches and smoother touchdowns. Now I waiting for the new landing gear from ESM, the ones that came with this one are the 2.5 with the rubber bumpers, but they just fell off. The new ones will not be here till March. So I will wait till they come in and exchange .

thanks Bob

Idigbo

Hi Bob, I did a simply reworked 50cc Spitfire, powered by the DL55 or one of its clones. I had to add about 2lb glassed into the front edge of the cowl, just behind the spinner. This weight was glassed in and included some liteply stiffener formers. The cowl is quite flimsy, so these formers went backwards to spread the loads. The cowl was fixed with about 8 x 3mm bolts and blind fixings. One of these fixings was as far forward as I could get one, the rest around the rear edge of the cowl. Its flown a fair bit now an has never been an issue. Final weight of mine was about 24.5 lb, but that included a bit more detail than standard, sliding canopy, fully glassed etc. There's a build thread on here somewhere but I can't find it at the moment! Sure is a good combination though!!!

Here's a pic or two anyhoo.

Ian.

Hellcat716

My Feedback: (2)

This is how you do it. I have done this on several warbirds with no problems. Gets the weight out front requiring less weight. Never mount weight to the cowl, that will lead to problems.

Idigbo

Absolute rubbish. What you perhaps should have written is..... "IN MY OPINION, I'd ever mount weight to the cowl, that COULD lead to problems."

Done PROPERLY, mounting weight in a cowl is a good way of getting weight as far forward as possible. Any method of doing anything could lead to problems if not done correctly. Same in life as in our toy aeroplanes

Ian.

glazier808

My Feedback: (1)

How ya been Ian!  Hope the holidays were good to you.   

Hellcat716

My Feedback: (2)

I simply disagree with you. The weight in a cowl will make the cowl screws become loose and lead to more problems. It is not rubbish. And yes it is my opinion and a good one.

Idigbo

Feel free to disagree all you like Hellcat, but there are many ways to skin the same cat

I do agree that there are some instances where it isn't a good idea but done properly and in the right instance, it works great.

Ian.

kahloq

Have to agree with Idigbo. As long as you plan for it, putting weight in the cowl will not cause issues.

I assume Hellcat means screws coming loose refers to the holes drilled in the cowl widen out over time. That would happen if you didnt do anything to compensate. Real simple solution is using very thin metal sheeting epoxied to the inside of the cowl where the holes are drilled. This reinforces the fiberglass of the cowl itself and prevernts the screw from vibrating causing that widening out effect.
I've got a H9 1.50 size P-51 that Ive had since 2008 that I did this too and no issues whatsoever. Did same to ESM FW-190A and ESM FW-190D9

kinverflyer

Putting weight in to the cowl is one of my favorite solutions in getting the balance right without any unnecessary weight, however I do not screw the cowl screws just into the the thin fiberglass I reinforce the screw points with hard wood blocks and always add a drop of loctite to the screws when securing.

masteromodels

My Feedback: (11)

How many of you guys are using the 205 electric retracts and how are they holding up?

masteromodels

My Feedback: (11)

I meant the 2.5 retracts with the rubber bumpers .

thanks Bob

Ankordave

Good morning,

Could you please tell me where you set the CG at?

Prekin

My Feedback: (19)

Manual says 153mm from L.E. on root rib.

ForcesR

Ankordave, do not set the CG at 153mm, it's far to aft which makes the Spitfire far to sensitive in pitch. The ideal CG location is 145mm, that's were mine is set and it's a pleasure to fly the 50cc Spitfire with the CG at 145mm.