LA7flier

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I added a small "lip" at the exhaust point which helps create a low pressure area directly behind it. This low pressure area draws the hot air out through the exit and helps create a venturi through the cowl. Thus, the cooler running engine with the baffled cowl than without a cowl at all.

LA7flier

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I wanted to show you a closer shot of the exhaust stacks. I made them from a mold and initially tried to mount them in a balsa base using some earth magnets. The idea didn't work and the last thing I wanted was to lose them in flight. I decided to mount them in 1/8 black G10. Using JB Weld, they were glued into the base and the base is screwed into two plywood mounts in the engine compartment. This allows me to remove them for easy removal of the cowl or general inspection. In order to keep the engine mounting bolts from loosening up, I drilled holes in the end of each bolt and after tightening them, used safety wire to tie them all together. This will keep them from vibrating during flight.

LA7flier

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I'll post some pics of the Spit before it's maiden flight and possibly, some inflight video if I can get my video camera working. Hopefully, somebody at the field will be able to shoot the plane in the air with my telephoto lens and I'll try to post as well....tallyho

Brad330l

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Best of luck old chap, beautiful Spit what!!!!!

mR JoLLy

Fantastic work. Enjoy the maiden.

JoLLy

Chad Veich

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Expecting only good things from the maiden LA7 and looking forward to the flight report and some pics of the finished Spit. Best of luck with it!

discusmike

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This site is killing me!It's reminding me of my Reeves spitfire i lost earlier this year.Very nice work,hope you score well.

discusmike

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Your gull wing turned out nice,ive tried to tell some of the heads at the field the spit has a gull wing,and they look at me like im nuts,i think there use to those not so scale arfs out there,that do not have this scale feature.

DaddySam

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LA-7
Just a quick note to say good luck on the maiden (hopefully the weather cooperates) - many of us are waiting to hear how it flies. Also, what kind of retracts did you use?
Thanks
Sam

LA7flier

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I had hoped to maiden the Spitfire a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, weather..specifically rain and wind has prevented me from getting out. Last Sunday offered a rare non-rain day. It was windy and more problematic, a cross wind. I decided to take the Spitfire out anyway. I took some pre flight pics shown below and sat back while my buddy took his big Ki-84 Frank up. It weighs 36 pounds and is powered with a G62. He took off and got caught in the crosswind....here's the last pic of it a second before it caught a wingtip causing a cartwheel down the runway. Needless to say, it was nearly destroyed. Undeterred, I started up the Spit and taxied out for takeoff. I was lining it up when the tailwheel stopped responding. I had stripped the rudder servo. That's it and I stood down. I'll wait for a better day.

jlovitt

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Scott-- Best of luck with the upcoming test flights. We have had record rain here in Northern California this spring for those outside the area. I'm looking forward to seeing this airplane at the upcoming 49'er Scale Masters Qualifier.

For Ken-- Sorry to hear about the Frank, that was a very nice plane.

See you both in Woodland for the Qualifier first weekend in May!

Jeff Lovitt
Davis, CA

CD, 49er Masters Qualifier

LA7flier

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Thanks Jeff. I won't able to make the Qualifier this year. I've learned my lesson about rushing to get a flight or 2 on a plane and then haul it into competition. The Scale Masters is too far away for me to attend anyway so there is no reason to try and compete this bird this year. It still has a long way to go to get it scale master quality competitive. Right now, I'm simply trying to determine if the plane is worth the effort. Ken claims that he'll rebuild the Frank. The wing was still in one piece but the fuselage was in about 3 or 4.

LA7flier

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Howdy all. I've received a few PM's inquiring about the Spitfire.....short answer...tomorrow or Sunday....it has been a trial to try and get this bird off the ground. The weather sucked the entire months of March and April....more rain and wind than in the past 20 years. Tried a couple times in May and ended up with radio interference problems whenever I ran up the engine. I replaced the receiver and made sure it was located as far away from the ignition pack as possible. I also replaced the stripped rudder servo with a metal JR 2721 hi torque servo. I flew my Vailly Hurricane last weekend just because I had become so frustrated with the Spitfire. If there are no radio glitches, I anticipate some good news...I'l try and get some shots of the plane in the air

Baldeagle

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Deffently something to be proud of. LA7. Good luck with the maiden. Rich

LA7flier

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Well....Spitfire 5, me 0....Spifire is still ground bound. I took it out yesterday and tested the radio with the engine running...no interference problems on the ground. Taxied out for maiden flight....turned into the wind....slowly accelerated....plane seemed to require very little rudder input and tracked straight down the runway.....tail came up...a bit of up elevator to stabilize and tail drops...still accelerating but not at flying speed yet....plane is directly across from me....tail moves up again... I give it up elevator and ...tail keeps moving up and over onto the nose....whole time I'm feeding up elevator to try and stabilize and nothing.....we wheel the plane back into the pit to restart. I'm embarrased at this point thinking how bush league I must look to the dozen or so spectators. My handler points to the elevator and asks if I normally have that much down trim.....I wiggle the sticks and no elevator movement....I wiggle the elevator with my hand and it moves freely up and down....hummmmm. Pull the wing and the servo works....the bellcrank and cables move....I pull the tail cone off and peer inside....crap....elevator horn broke at weld. No easy way to fix this without cutting the entire rudder and elevator off.....that's the game plan so still no Spitfire flight...at the rate I'm going, I'll finish my Tojo before the Spit flies.....

DaddySam

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LA7
Boy do you have my sympathy! At times like this you have to believe that there is a higher force at work, helping you prevent a worse problem when you do finally maiden that plane. I'm still working up the nerve for mine, and running out of excuses. Keep up the good work, and keep us posted. This is so much more refreshing than a magazine review where the plane "flew off the building board with only one half click of down right aileron...."!
Sam

blacksheep

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I cannot think of anything better to say that what has been said about your beautiful spitfire and hope that it flies as good as it looks.

Since you and others in this forum know so much about Spitfire detail I thought to pose a question to all. Where is the fuel tank filler cap hidden for the central fuel tank that was positioned in front of the pilot ( and which unfortunately caught fire and burned a few pilots in combat), on the Supermarine Spitfire of "the Battle"?

Thank you for sharing your project with all of us Spitfire devotees.

Best regards,

Patrick "Will" Williams
919 567-0042 in Raleigh, NC

Chad Veich

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Top dead center of the fuselage in front of the pilot, right over the top of the tank. You can see the circular recess for the filler if you look closely at the photo in link.

http://pegase.foxalpha.com/photog/0206/002136.jpg

LA7flier

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HI all
just a brief update....the Spitfire FLEW!!! I actually have some video I shot on my HI 8 camera if I can figure out how to convert it to digital and post it. The plane flew beautifully. Rock steady as one would expect at 34 pounds. Tracked straight down the runway with a brief "bounce" as the plane briefly left the ground before settling back for a second touch of the wheels before leaving the ground for a graceful right climbing turn. Gear comes up as the plane settles into the back stretch for a few circuits of the field. Several flybys but no vertical on this first hop. Engine is a bit rich which cuts down on the speed but it's brand new and I don't want to cook it right off so I'll let it be for a bit. Set up for landing and ...high and fast....go around which was "interesting". Thank goodness that wing is forgiving....second approach is picture perfect....gently settles on the main gear before rolling out.....only a few squawks to fix...mostly loose screws and such. this one is a keeper

DaddySam

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That's fantastic news! Congratulations!!!! I can't wait to see some video. I just ordered a device to transfer my 8mm camcorder and other analog stuff to the computer, so hopefully it can be done, and soon. What prop did you settle on for your Spit? I've put a two blade 3w 22-10 on mine, and am getting about 6200 rpm. Sound like it'll fly it? Got the plane rebalanced at 5.25" from the leading edge and down to 29lbs. Still very nervous about the landing, so any advice is welcome. Again, a hearty congratulations to you. Your project is truly an inspiration!
Sam

LA7flier

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Thanks Daddy
I flew a Mejlik 22x10....engine was pretty rich but the plane flew fine...top speed was less than I had thought but I'm sure it will pick up....actually, the climbout looks very realistic as the plane doesn't "leap" off the ground and climb at 45 degrees which an aweful lot of these birds do. At 29 pounds you should have no worries...landing a Spitfire is different than landing any other warbird...Spits are so clean that you can carry very little power into the flare...in fact, you can carry no power and it will land just fine. I basically landed close to but not quite a 3 point., I used full flaps and had no real problems.....I'll try to convert the video

Baldeagle

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LA flyer good news and congrats on your maiden. Love those Spits . On my Spits A&E when I give it full flaps I don't get any pitch change at all. Keep us posted. Still working on my Platt Spitts. Hope to get some paint on soon. Rich

Swager

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Where are those in flight pictures? I know they are here somewhere! Hummmmmmm?

Congratulations! It is a beautiful aircraft!!

LA7flier

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It looks like I'll have to spring for a digital camcorder that I can run my analoge Hi 8 tape through to digitalize before being able to post the video here....by the time I do that, I will have some digital stills that I plan to shoot next weekend so at least you'll see some stills...the video is pretty jerky once the plane leaves the ground as the fellow who filmed for me really didn't know how to steady the camera....still, there are some good moments and as a maiden flight, the video is always priceless.

Swager

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Any news on the Spit? How is it doing?