Well I got my 1/4 scale Clark Spitfire in December (early Christmas present) and I have managed to complete the interior cockpit, pilot and half the wing skeleton.

Does anyone know how many of Clark Spitfires are in Australia? I know one was bought off John Clark a few years ago in Tasmania.

I am located in Port Hedland, Western Australia and hope to have the first flight before Christmas this year.

I also was very fortunate to get to fly the only true 2 seat trainer Spitfire at Duxford in England in November last year. That's me in the back. A dream come true, what can I say. I was even allowed to do a couple of roll's! Well worth the money and now looking forward to my 1/4 scale to get airborne.

Very cool! I have seen that Spitfire on TV in the "Spitfire Ace" show. I bet that's an experience you'll never forget. Were you able to take any video?

Yes I got lots of video. There were three camera's on the aircraft. One in the cockpit, one on the fin and one in the R/H wingtip. Unfortunately the pilot on the day thought the switching was automatic BUT it wasn't. I have 20 minutes of footage with me in the cockpit!!! I have managed to get some external footage on previous flights and my son shot external footage going out and coming back. Good old digital splicing and I now have quite a good minifilm with me and my dream. Good to see the earth turning though as we went through the roll's. I ended up with what is called the Spitfire smile - and I kept it for a long time and get to revisit it every time I see the footage. I carry it on my palm PC and replay it and replay it and ......... you get the idea.

Not a real bad thing but the rear cockpit is a bit squeezy as the fuselage is starting to taper just in front. It must be a good 10 inches narrower in the back compared to the front. You soon forget though once the adrenalin starts to run!!

I have uploaded some video of the flight to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf54M3Hdmhc it is a 23 meg download and runs for about 8 minutes. I might work on background music later.

Hey keith
I was living in Nth London thru 93 - 95 and spent nearly every weekend over summer at Duxford!.........I had a ride in the same Spit back in '95 with Caroline Grace in the front seat !........low pass down the strip at 280AIS into a big barrel roll was sensational......unfortunately no cameras in the Spit back then........I recall the flight being around 350 Pounds for 20 mins....what is the cost now? ..............I would love to do it again.



cheers

Alan

Hi Alan.

Well the price increased DRAMATICALLY due to Sept 11 2001, as my 30 minute flight chocks off to chocks on was 1,500 pounds. I think you must have flown in the Grace Spitfire as this one was only flown for the first time after rebuild at the end of 2004. See below. The one I flew was modified to a true 2 seat trainer (raised rear cockpit) for the Irish airforce and that is why it is green (it is not primer).

I have finally come up with a paint scheme for my 1/4 scale John Clark RC Spitfire. I will now be making a Mark VIII with the retractable tail wheel and in RAAF Grey Nurse colours. Picture below but more info at : http://www.aviationmuseum.com.au/aircraft/Spitfire.cfm

John Clark has a retractable tail wheel I can fit but I will need to be creative for the gear doors as it is not standard.

Cheers

Keith

The Tillamook Air Museum has a Spitfire TR.VIII, the prototype for the trainer series, which is maintained in airworthy condition complete with the authentic canopies and Bill Greenwood of Colorado has a TR.IX which is flyable and also retains the authentic canopies of the two seater. Both of these aircraft are "true 2 seat trainer" Spits, though they do not carry authentic markings like the Irish bird you flew in. (lucky dog!) Bill Greenwood's two-seater was owned and operated for many years by Woodson K. Woods right here in Arizona and I have many fond memories of the airplane, though none from the cockpit!

G'day Chad.

I've been to the web site for this bird and it may have even been cheaper than the one at Duxfort BUT if I tried to get a ride in her, it wouldn't have happened as they don't let anyone over 95 Kg weight fly in the back seat. I am over 6 feet tall and unfortunately weigh more than 95 Kg (210 lb) due to mid life spread.

The day I was at Duxford I saw 4 two seaters on the aerodrome but this one was the only one with the raised rear cockpit! The one you show is the only other one I have seen so far.

I'll be back in England late next year so I might have to save the pennies again I think.

Keith, I may not make the cut either. I'm 6' 4" tall and somewhere between 215-220 lbs. Think Mr. Greenwood would look the other way for 5-10 pounds? I did have the pleasure of sitting in a Mk.XVI Spit a few years back and I was quite surprised with how much room I had. Of course, I wasn't wearing any flying gear or a parachute and the canopy was open so maybe it was a bit deceiving! If you look closely you will notice that the two pics I posted are of two different Spitfires. The top one is the Tr.VIII, the only Mk.VIII ever converted, and has the retractable tailwheel just as you plan on putting on your Spit model. The other one is Bill Greenwood's airplane. Best of luck with your Spit.

Hi Keith

1500 quid....holy snapping duck ****e !.........well a once in a lifetime experience and you're along time dead so why not ! The memory of flying a spitfire is something you never forget.
Yep you're were right is was Caroline Grace's Spitty (ML407), she was in the front seat doing the driving and not a bad sort either back then in her snug butt hugging flight suit.


cheers

Alan

Hey Keith, you should have spent your $$$$ on a ride in the Mustang at Jandakot before Bill passed away. not a Spitty, but the smile is just as big when you get out and about a third of the price.
Good to see another West Ozzy on here.

G'day wiz.

I was given the ride in the Mustang for my birthday present by my wife BUT the week before the flight I got a phone call to say that the Mustang had been sold and I had the money re-imbursed. Such is life. Fortunately we were going over seas at the time to England and we were going to Duxford anyway. We asked an engineer if anyone did flights in a two seat Spit and the rest is history. Actually, on the day of the flight we left Stirling in Scotland to drive the 6 hours to Duxford. It was fogged in until 9 am and the cloud didn't lift enough until about mid-day. I arrived at 1 pm, took the flight at 2 pm and left for Canada the next day. Talk about perfect timing!

Actually if I had the choice between the two, I would still have chosen the Spitfire even if it did cost twice as much!

I am up to completing the ailerons on the Spitfire wing and will post a photo or two soon. A 9 foot 4 inch wing span looks impressive. The undercarriage is nothing short of excellent.

Catch you later.

(Just corrected the times, after all I am from down under)

[envy]You lucky dog !!!!!! [/envy]

...hmmm must have been pretty dark...................

Thought I'd upload some video of my Clark Spitfire engine. I visited John in November last year while on holiday at Toronto. He very generously mounted my engine and gave it a run for me. Sounds sweet. Not a real Spitfire but the exhaust really finishes it of. Not your usual RC engine exhaust, that's for sure.

Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrDNNEOq9Tc

Here are the ailerons going together (coming together pretty slowly but it is coming together).

It has been a slow process with a few diversions to construction. I have bought a second hand near complete 1/5 scale Seafury and have decided to finish this as a trainer for the Spitfire. These are the photo's of where my Spity is up to and the Seafury I have bought. I am putting a 3W80 in the Seafury and actually is pretty close to the physical size of the Spitfire! It has a 92 inch wingspan but the fuselage cross section is the same as the Spitfire. The spinner is the same size.

Well if anyone is still looking at this thread ....... I have cheated! I have not had the time to do anything extra with the Spitfire or the Seafury ssssssoooooooo ....... A Clark Spitfire came up for sale that was completed some time back and I bought it. It is actually one of John Clark's earlier models with the older style engine with the mechanical ignition advance and the cable aileron link. I have re-tensioned the aileron cable with slight DROOP to allow lifting during flight. I will see what the power is like and I may install my newer engine with the electronic ignition advance. Below are the photo's as she is now, dressed up as a MK XII with the eliptical wing tips and fixed tail wheel. I have read that 2 MK XII's had the full eliptical wing tips so they are staying for now at least. I just want to get it in the air! Things that needed done were re-application of the silicon on the fuselage formers and mounts at the front for the fuel tank. The fuel tank had to be thoroughly cleaned out from the GREEN slime inside and replacement of the fuel hosing. I will give it a quick test flight before I go all in and change the aileron cabling for rigid rods to take out the slop. Anyway I will post a link to YOUTUBE when I get it uploaded.

Well time just disappears. Haven't been back to this site for a while! Test flown my MK XII BUT not all good news. Learnt a lot and have some repairs to do. In all, it is a great looking model but the challenge is to get the most out of this engine. The MK XII doesn't have the largest intake so some modifying is the name of the game. Here are some links:

Heavy model inspection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RtG6BRaDrI


First flight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HONqM6j9NkY

Got some work to do but all is good.