The complete YELLOW AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE thread.
12-03-2017, 07:52 AM
#1952
I re-manufacture the Pica canopy. Contact me at [email protected]..."
or this pica one at Pica Spitfire canopy [C-399] - $18.00 : Park Flyer Plastics, Official Website of ParkFlyer Plastics Hobby Accessories ? Texas, USA
or would a Brian Taylor one from Vic's rc VicRC.com - Spitfire Product
cheers - ken
12-05-2017, 04:28 AM
#1962
My Feedback: (34)
I bought some plaster of paris years ago to see if it was useful to pull a plug off a kit canopy. Has anyone ever tried this? I have an original YA canopy to test it on. It will surely cast the surface, but I don't know what the porosity or surface quality will be and if the melted plastic of vac forming will stick to it or get cloudy from it. I have always used expensive casting epoxies for this purpose and I'm not motivated to spend the money in this case for a kit that no longer exists. I may give this plaster a go. I have everything else such as vac former and plastic. Leo
12-05-2017, 05:24 AM
#1963
My Feedback: (2)
Is would get me some hydro cal plaster. The model rail road guys use it and it's inexpensive and dense. I would think that stuff would work well. Of course you have to wax it or use some release too.
An old trick is to put a thin piece of abs etc first and then pull the canopy and that over the mold. That way you have a very smooth part.
An old trick is to put a thin piece of abs etc first and then pull the canopy and that over the mold. That way you have a very smooth part.
12-05-2017, 11:18 AM
#1964
My Feedback: (60)
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Litchfield Park,
AZ
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The plaster will work fine Leo and will not harm the original canopy at all. I think it will provide you with a smooth enough surface to get an acceptably clear pull over it. In all honesty though I don't recall if I ever attempted it over the raw plaster or not. I have always pulled a thin styrene layer over it first. Once you have the plaster mold I do not recommend that you attempt to sand it for any reason. It will have a thin outer skin that forms the smooth shell and once you break through it there is no getting it back. My .02 cents anyway.
12-15-2017, 02:26 AM
#1965
Here is my old Spit getting ready for more hours in the air after crashing some 10 years ago :-( The thread before the link to the elevator broke because of vibrations I guess. So this timeI have the elevator servo in the tail . Even harder to get i balanced with the leight AGM 30cc :-) Last time it flew was with a Supertigre 3250 and tunedpipe so i dont expect much vertical with the AGM and cannister. Its a tight fit and cooling for the engine is allways a challenge with these ww II planes.
I work weeery slow but it wil fly this winter i guess :-)
I work weeery slow but it wil fly this winter i guess :-)
12-15-2017, 05:17 AM
#1966
Here is my old Spit getting ready for more hours in the air after crashing some 10 years ago :-( The thread before the link to the elevator broke because of vibrations I guess. So this timeI have the elevator servo in the tail . Even harder to get i balanced with the leight AGM 30cc :-) Last time it flew was with a Supertigre 3250 and tunedpipe so i dont expect much vertical with the AGM and cannister. Its a tight fit and cooling for the engine is allways a challenge with these ww II planes.
I work weeery slow but it wil fly this winter i guess :-)
I work weeery slow but it wil fly this winter i guess :-)
cheers - ken
02-03-2018, 12:14 PM
#1967
YA Spitfire flyers - need your help on this. This summer I noticed the wing skin "bubbling" or "pushing up" at the joint where the left wing panel meets the center section, the pics show it some. The bubbling starts 7" back from the LE and is 8" long and is about 1/8" to 3/16" wide.. I can feel a hint of flex ever so slightly when I hold down the center section and try lift the left wing panel up and down. The wing panel were glued to gether with 30 min. epoxy, finish is 3/4 oz glass goth with Zpoxy, painted with latex. I have not taked on the left "radiator" to see if they are any signs of flex movement on the wing skin on the bottom of the joint, before and aft of the radiator there is no sign of skin distortion. The right wing joint shows no issues.
I did use a strip of 2 oz glass cloth on the joints on the bottom - can't remember what I did tot he top of the joint.
I have also done the additional front plywood brace mod.
Your opinions please?
cheers - ken
Iam wondering is this flex is normal or am I headed to a left wing fold up sittuation. The model first flew in August 2012 si I estimate ~ 100 flight on it.
Has anyone else seen this skin distortion on a wing joint on their YA Sptifre wing?
I did use a strip of 2 oz glass cloth on the joints on the bottom - can't remember what I did tot he top of the joint.
I have also done the additional front plywood brace mod.
Your opinions please?
cheers - ken
Iam wondering is this flex is normal or am I headed to a left wing fold up sittuation. The model first flew in August 2012 si I estimate ~ 100 flight on it.
Has anyone else seen this skin distortion on a wing joint on their YA Sptifre wing?
02-06-2018, 10:27 AM
#1969
My Feedback: (34)
Kenair, I think your dealing with a compression buckle of the upper skin. Several causes. First is that the dark olive drab in this location is likely getting hot in the sun which can soften epoxy glass to nearly half it's original strength (ballpark) Second the really small spar joiner in the aft portion of the wing which looks to be original YA stock design is giving way as they do. Look at how it stops near the front where the long spar was installed. I would wager that you have really pulled some high G's in warm weather or had a hard port wing tip strike that has contributed to the buckling.
I have seen YA wings constructed with the standard short spars completely fail after a few years use. It is a weak wing as designed. Yours has likely only survived because of your long spar installation at the front. It is just not enough over time to resist the fatigue of the balsa and foam.
An Idea, weigh the wing down on the top to pull the skin out at the joint, get an iron hot and try to flatten down the buckle, "Iron it out", the epoxy will soften when heated. Let it cool and then inject epoxy into the wing all along the location with needle and syringe.
Finally stop pulling so hard in those turns!!! I know it's fun, but it could be life or death for this Spitty.
Leo Spychalla
I have seen YA wings constructed with the standard short spars completely fail after a few years use. It is a weak wing as designed. Yours has likely only survived because of your long spar installation at the front. It is just not enough over time to resist the fatigue of the balsa and foam.
An Idea, weigh the wing down on the top to pull the skin out at the joint, get an iron hot and try to flatten down the buckle, "Iron it out", the epoxy will soften when heated. Let it cool and then inject epoxy into the wing all along the location with needle and syringe.
Finally stop pulling so hard in those turns!!! I know it's fun, but it could be life or death for this Spitty.
Leo Spychalla
Last edited by Spychalla Aircraft; 02-06-2018 at 10:33 AM. Reason: Added thought
03-21-2018, 04:25 AM
#1970
Hi. Anyone having doubts with using nylonbolts for securing the wing? Don't remember what it came with originally. Nylonbolts advantage si that they don't vibrate and comes out easily in my opinion.
Thanks.
Thanks.
03-21-2018, 07:19 AM
#1972
YA Spitfire flyers - need your help on this. This summer I noticed the wing skin "bubbling" or "pushing up" at the joint where the left wing panel meets the center section, the pics show it some. The bubbling starts 7" back from the LE and is 8" long and is about 1/8" to 3/16" wide.. I can feel a hint of flex ever so slightly when I hold down the center section and try lift the left wing panel up and down. The wing panel were glued to gether with 30 min. epoxy, finish is 3/4 oz glass goth with Zpoxy, painted with latex. I have not taked on the left "radiator" to see if they are any signs of flex movement on the wing skin on the bottom of the joint, before and aft of the radiator there is no sign of skin distortion. The right wing joint shows no issues.
I did use a strip of 2 oz glass cloth on the joints on the bottom - can't remember what I did tot he top of the joint.
I have also done the additional front plywood brace mod.
Your opinions please?
cheers - ken
Iam wondering is this flex is normal or am I headed to a left wing fold up sittuation. The model first flew in August 2012 si I estimate ~ 100 flight on it.
Has anyone else seen this skin distortion on a wing joint on their YA Sptifre wing?
I did use a strip of 2 oz glass cloth on the joints on the bottom - can't remember what I did tot he top of the joint.
I have also done the additional front plywood brace mod.
Your opinions please?
cheers - ken
Iam wondering is this flex is normal or am I headed to a left wing fold up sittuation. The model first flew in August 2012 si I estimate ~ 100 flight on it.
Has anyone else seen this skin distortion on a wing joint on their YA Sptifre wing?
. I'll fill it , sand it smooth and epoxy in a 2 or 4oz cloth strip over the brace and sand it smooth & paint.
cheers - ken
Last edited by kenair; 03-21-2018 at 07:23 AM.
03-21-2019, 06:21 PM
#1973
Hi everyone. I’m building a YA Spitfire and have really enjoyed reading this thread and benefiting from everyone’s experience. I’m at the point where I’m lining the wheel wells and am wondering if I should leave an access panel that would allow me to service the aileron servo wire if it ever needs to be swapped out. It would be very difficult to thread a new wire through all the curves once the wheel wells are lined. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
03-22-2019, 10:53 AM
#1975
Thanks Bob. I was thinking of something more along the lines of possibly needing to swap out an aileron servo, where the servo wire connector and extension were buried behind the lining of the wheel well. Granted I could coil up the servo lead and leave it in the servo bay, with a corresponding longer extension, but didn't want to worry about voltage drop to the aileron servo with an unnecessarily long servo extension. I did have to swap out an aileron servo on my 1/5 Pica Spit, but being a built-up wing, it wasn't much of a hassle. This is my first time working with a foam-core wing. I'm loving it!
Joe
Joe