Prekin

My Feedback: (19)

What are those exhaust pipes in the last pictures??? Does they come in the box with Spitfire???

Dsa44

Yes Prekin, those are the stock exhaust stacks with the kit, at least the Version 2 kit with the invasion stripes.

Prekin

My Feedback: (19)

I expected some better stock exhaust stacks

paphman

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks. I got it done tonight and looks good.

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

Guys as many of you know these planes are brought in exclusively to the North American market thru two of my companies.
Caimandist.com and Gator-RC.com
The best place to buy the planes is thru Caiman Distribution a jointly owned company between myself and Robart Mfg.
Tower Hobbies was at one time selling the 3 Warbirds thru us on their site and to their dealer network Great Planes.
They still have the listings up but they will not be selling planes for us in the future as you are surely aware of the reasons. If you may have been waiting for Tower to get new stock I promise you it will not happen.
All I can say is ouch. And trust me I am not alone. Their issues have hurt a lot of good companies. For the people who work there, I am very grateful for the relationships we formed. They really have fantastic employees.
I have some dealers situated in various locations that are stocking and selling for us.
The best bet if you want one is to contact me. I have a pretty good inventory with next day shipping in most cases.
Our array of planes can be seen at Top RC Model USA - RC Scale Warbirds, Jets - Top RC Model USA - Scale RC Warbirds and Jets
Links to us exist on these sites.
To all that have tried our product line a big thank you for your support.
For those considering a purchase, we are a strong company and I can help you.
We sell all the accessories needed and a package deal is possible.
Thanks and have a nice day.
Mike Mueller
Gator-RC, Caiman Distribution, and F3A Unlimited.
800 803 3658

paphman

My Feedback: (3)

Dsa44

Best pilot? Warbirdpilots.com has both a 10" 1/7-1/8 scale and a 12" 1/5-1/6 scale. Wondering who would be the better fit? I found my son's old GI Joe figure at 12" and looked kinda big to me.
Might try to nab one of them at the Toledo show this weekend.
Thx DSA

kenverret

I finally got mine flying recently. Fly's great. weight 22lbs. 8oz of nose weight. Balance @130mm from leading edge.
Rimfire 50cc
Castle 160 ESC.
12S 2 5000 6 cell thp packs
3 blade 18x10 graupner reg. prop. with Dave Brown spinner
Separate 2 cell to run receiver and retracts
Performance is good. Unlimited vertical. Slows nicely for landing with about 20% power. Ground handling good flying on grass no nose over. Canted gear a few extra degrees forward with a couple extra washers under rear gear mount.
No overheating with functional air scoop that has internal ducting to bring air to front of cowling to motor. Exhaust cooling air through extra 1" hole in firewall then out to wing oil coolers. Motor temp. 110 esc. temp. 120 battery temp. 100.
Pulling 4600 watts at full power with fresh battery charge. 120 amp. draw Getting 7 minute flights with 20% left in batteries.
Looks nice fly's nice very stable.

Dsa44

Glad to hear that! I've been trying to figure out some cooling for my 160 on 10S. You have some great ideas, if you have a moment, some pics would be great!

Dsa44

Ran into Adam from warbirdpilots at Toledo and he was super helpful with fitment of the 12" 1/5-1/6 UK pilot! Even had pics from an install...That's the way to go!

RBean

I acquired TopRC Spitfire used from a club member. It has a DA 32 and Robart electric retracts. I've seen it fly several times. Looks like if flies fine. I've changed some of the control linkage so I can use my seven channel radio. I just about have it set up. Can anyone tell me the control throws? For the first flight. CG looked to be ok on the flights I observed.

RBean

I set the controls at my best guess and flew the Spitfire last weekend. The throws were ok and dual rates reduced 20%. I flew ok. Weather was a little gusty with a quartering cross wind. Managed to land ok, but took a long time to slow, even on the grass. Had to kill the engine. I think the carb was leaning out because of heat. The prior owner had a dead stick because of engine heat. After that he cut two large holes in the firewall and a larger opening in front of the tail wheel. I must have helped because he had several successful flights afterwards.

So I cut a hole in the rear bottom cowl and put a air dam and opening in the rear part of the scale carb scoop. I hope this will be enough. If not, I'll put more holes and air dams on each side of the scale scoop near the rear.

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

You might try a lower pitch prop as well. There's a guy in my area that runs 8" of pitch on his Spitfire for the exact same reason.

RBean

Small Scoop to the carb.


Additional air outlet


Air dam and oullet.


lower cowl.
I didn't load to pictures right is guess. I'll try again. I also put a small scoop on the left side of the cowl, just below the exhaust stacks to supply cool air to the carb. I have done this on three other inline type cowls and got adequate cooling.

RBean

Lifer, I'm using a 17-8 three blade prop. I think the engine itself is not overheating. After I shut it down the engine didn't feel tight. I think it is a hot carb and be beginning of vapor lock. We will see.

Calil

Hey guys, which is the better electric setup for this plane? I mean, esc, motor and batteries

RBean

I finally got the fly the Spitfire again today. Light wind more or less down the runway. I flew from the grass runway. Engine started fine. Take off was good. Maneuvers ok. Rolls, loops, cuban eights, reverses etc. Landed on mains with half flaps. Lands fairly easy for a warbird. Got in two flights. No signs of overheating, so my additional cooling efforts seem to have worked.

MikePS

how much nose weight did you have to add to get the CG right with the da32?

RBean

It bought it used. The prior owner added the weight. I don't know how much but it is a lot. I'm guessing 3 to 4 lbs at least.

zrooster

MikePS

Getting closer to pulling the trigger on this, and would like to avoid as much dead weight in the nose as possible. Considering a zenoah g62 as the powerplant...anybody have any thoughts on that?

Spychalla Aircraft

My Feedback: (34)

I own 2 of these that I am building up. One for my son and one for me. We have some old DA-50's we are putting in. Looking at things I think the 50cc is overkill but it should be fun. Sticking a G-62 in this thing would just be wrong in my opinion. Too small of an air frame. That's not to say you can't do it, but just because you can does not mean you should. Leo

MikePS

Thanks Leo. How much extra weight do you expect to add using the DA50?

Spychalla Aircraft

My Feedback: (34)

MikePS, Sorry, I am nowhere close to being able to tell you how much weight will be needed for the nose. I just don't know. Leo

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

A G-62 would really motivate that airplane. With an APC 20x15, I would expect 140mph or better. Problem is it's a bulky engine, as well as heavy and would require major surgery on the cowl.

FWIW