I have been following this thread with great interest since I am in the middle of building this model too. I am now just past the 'which-retracts-to-choose-and-how-to-get-them-in-there' question. I went for Large Eurokit with Unitract struts connected by a 6mm steel rod.
Our field is rough grass, a real retract-killer, so I wanted something fairly sturdy. My opinion is that the stress of a hard landing has to be taken up somewhere, and the steel rod is supposed to be the 'weak' link here - if the surrounding areas are beefed up enough.

I didn't like the looks of the plastic wells and binned them - their fit is too tight, and if they are not cylindrical the wheel can easily get stuck if the setup is bent slightly. With a cylindrical well either it gets in (and can get out again) or doesn't and won't get stuck.

I will try to attach a few pictures, hope it works!

[img][/img] [img][/img] [img][/img] [img][/img]

Henrik.

Looks very neat Henrik.

Im still waiting for my german retracts to get here........ so at the moment my spit is grounded. Hand launching and belly landing this one is not ideal [8D]

Y'know, some of them aren't all that bad as the pictures make them out to be. The second picture is a Phoenix .40-.46 size Spit, and its amazing scale except for the undercart with its wheels in. But the hardwood brace is so solid that retrofitting true scale retracts is going to be a breeze. Apart from that, this is one of the most scale looking Spits I've seen in the ARF category. And it helps that its a great flier. I had an OS FL-70 engine in her, which was a lemon (idling at 4000 rpm, dying after a minute of idling, max rpm of 9800, missing in inverted flight, but that's another thread) and I now - temporarily - have an OS 50 SX with a 12x8 APC prop in her (until my YS 63 gets delivered) and she does screaming low passes with immaculate handling. Great takeoffs, great landings.

She's just 5 flights old, and I think it's about time for that ugly landing gear to go. Scale retracts, here we come.

Here are some pictures of how she looks on the ground right now.

Woohooo.....alomst 4 weeks after I ordered the retracts, and they are here!


Better dust off the spitfire

only need`d some slight trimming of the wood to make them fit.

SJN,

pls. let us know how it goes - strength and all. btw can you pls. re-write the part number as since the site is in Germany I cannot seem to find the part.

regards
Joe

you need two of these: ezf-100mk2 90 euro in total.

But lets se how thay do first

if they can take the weight of the 26cc gas engine, then it should take my 90 size and weight even better......i hope :-)

Great will wait to hear from you

cheers

This sure is a nice looking Spit docrob ..!!! Who makes it , where can it be purched..

Rgds

LE

Jcilia

what did you use for fuel prooffing , I have mine in a box and I am thinking of doing it do to my previous experience with my CPM F6F Hellcat which is great but painting is very sensible..
thks
LE

My spit came in last week. After looking thru most of the posts getting ideas, I've started on retract mounts. I'm using 90deg spring airs in mine, cause I just happen to have a set looking for a plane. Will use 3/16" struts at first, but later I'll make some oleos for it. The rest of the plane looks pretty decent. Has anybody had any concerns over the firewall? Require any strengthening?
Edwin

SJN,

Those German mech retracts look like quality engineering.....I guess you dont get the extra ply bracing they show on their site...though should be easy enough to make and install.....did you do this too?

I must say I think this is the route for me if they work out ok........were they friendly to setup?

Cheers
Wes

Edwin,

I added some balsa triangle stock/fiberglass/epoxy between the firewall and the fuse. I am using a YS 120 air chamber, so I was at first concerned about the fuse holding up to the torque that this engine is capable of producing. I strengthened it before I ever flew the plane, so I cannot say whether there would have been problems. No problems thus far.

I think that it never hurts to strengthen the firewall/fuse junction.

Good luck with the spit.

Noah

Wes, no, I did not add the extra wood.

I think im fine, it doesn`t weight that much. If I was installing that huge 26cc gas engine, i would beef them up for sure!


They did not just drop in. You have to cut a hole in the wing rib for the pushrod to go though....like on their pics. Also, I had to remove a bit of wood from the mounts themselves because the screws that assemble the retracts stick out too far. But this is very minor. I also has to remove about 1mm of skin for them to fit properly. The 75mm wheels are a very tight fit in the wheel wells.
My struts where bent very very little too much forward. I just opened up the wheel well a bit more at the front, and slid the plastic well a little forward about 1,5mm Still small stuff :-)

Im pleased with them They look very steady. Time wil tell if they hold up to my grass field

Just finished glassing the firewall backside and retract reinforcing. I was planning on using plastic hinges. Then I discovered the wing hinge mounting area's dont have the extra "MEAT" for contact. I dont like the looks of the round ca hinges provided. So, I think I'll use ca hinges that I normally use for my other 60 sized and smaller planes. Is anybody having trouble using ca hinges. If I add 2 more hinges for the ailerons (5 total), would that be prudent for that warm fuzzy? Should be joining the wing and mounting equipment by the end of this weekend.
Edwin

I used CA hinges on all surfaces with no problem. I don't recall how many I used on each surface. I did not use the ones that came with the kit.

Travis

I used the CA hinges that came with the kit and have been flying it for 18 months with no hinge problems at all.

Pete

I am aware that this issue has been debated before, but am still a little concerned about cg location with regard to ground handling. I dont want to bust a £15 prop every time I land and it goes nose over (or on takeoff for that matter)

What have people found to be the optimum CG location for a nice flying bird and a good ground handling one?

Cheers, D
(Spit maiden immanent)

I was at the GSP stores today to pick up a P40 , the spit was there and man these pics dont do it justice , it is one beutiful plane !!!!!!!!!I could not choose so I went home with the P40 , but I still have my eye on the spit .
Questions did the spit have control settings listed ?the P40 does not , also this is my first CMP , the fuse is so light is this typical , seem beutiful but just wondering .

I have the CMP spitfire and zero. The spit is quite a bit smaller in fuselage, less glass and so is much lighter. But both planes have short nose so I expect to have better luck balancing with spit than with zero. I'm waiting for the motors to come in. Plan to use Saito 180 for zero and YS110FZ for the spit. I expect that my zero will come out couple pounds heavier than spitfire even though both have 71" spans.[:-]

I have had my CMP Spit for a while, but just got around to building, er assembling, it recently. I bought this plane because I already have a RCV 120SP for it. I have not even fired this engine up yet. I just got a 20x12 prop and the starting adapter. I still need a 3.5" spinner. Oh and I need a pilot too.
I have to build the firewall up 1 1/2" to reach the recommended mounting dimensions for the cowl. I think I will do this with four 1" square blocks rather than one big block. I will also add some rubber matting on both sides of the firewall to lessen the vibration, I hope.
I did have only a couple of issues so far: The rivet and paint lines on the cowl do not line up with the fuse. They don't make matching paint, and I already have two scratches on it.
I installed regular mechanical retracts because that is what I had. Our field is mowed like a putting green though and it should be ok. I am using Hitec 605BB pretty much all the way around.

This is my first warbird so I will be nervous flying it. I have flown quite a bit of low wing planes, 3d planes and a pattern plane, so I should be ok. If I really focus, it could be ready in a couple of days. I plan on switching to an 18x10 3 blade prop eventually. That would look so cool.

Be carefull drilling the wing bolt holes. Instructions say to drill 75mm from the center line. But it doesnt mention how deep. Well I drilled thru the wing fairing right next to the fuse. DOH!!!! DAMN!!! 65mm from the center line and you miss the wing faring all together. Now I have some glass work to do. Also had to file a bunch to get the stab in the slot. If you dont, it'll scrap paint off. So I gotta find touch up paint also. But will maiden first. I broke 2 of the screws that fasten the tail wheel mount, heads twisted right off with little effort. Will chunck the rest of the screws. I was originally gonna use plastic pinned hinges. Then I discovered there is no extra "meat" behind the hinge slots. So I got some GP CA hinge material and will use that. I didnt notice the 4 hinges per aileron before, that should be enough. Spring airs are mounted and wing is fastened down. Will do stab tonight and and make the "Y" cable for the aileron servos and mount the servos. Have no reference lines for mounting the motor (like the instructions show) so I'll do it like I did a corsair awhile back. TAR method. Stand the fuse upright and use small C clamps to hold the engine on the motor mounts and set it on the firewall. Then place the cowl over it and make sure it all lines up. I use a hot scribe for the initial marks on the glass, then drill. This fuse and wing are so light I wonder about the wisdom in using huge engines. I was thinking of down sizing from a saito 120 to a 90 if my all up weight is below 9 lbs. If over, I'll do the 120.

Took it to the field yesterday to show some buddys and got a lot of the standard arf comments. This is too short, that is too fat, gear it too this and that. But overall, first impressions were positive. What do you expect for a cheap arf. I only bought it cause there were lots of faverable comments here on rcu. I made sure everyone new not to buy it from GSP. Raidentech did everything it said and I had it in a week. They did me right.
Edwin

ohh man...I should have mentioned the wing bolt holes!

luckily I had forseen this problem before I began drilling........and I just wondered about how many poeple would have drilled all the way through the fusealge too........its a VERY easy mistake to make [:@]

I almost did. I did drill two holes closer together and filled them in. I forgot to put the tail wheel in prior to gluing the rudder, oops.[:'(] However, I used a spare Sullivan and think it will be better anyway. I am waiting to install the radio equipment because of the cg with the engine. I have an OS 91FS but I really wanted to use the RCV. Though, if I don't use the RCV, I could probbly easily sell it for over $300.00. Decisions, Decisions!

Have any of you heard feedback on the RCV engines, epecially the SP series? I really want a good running engine in this bird.

There are 3 in our club. One is an evaluation unit sent by the US distributor to one of our pattern guys. Its the .58 and he likes it alot, AFTER its had a lot of fuel run thru it. It has also quietened down quite a bit. Not so much gear train noise. A 2nd .58 is used in a trainer that somebody supplies on our CAP cadet training days. I've flown that plane a lot and it flys pretty much the same as any other trainer. Another buddy has been having fits with a 120sp. While starting it sounds like a hammer hitting an anvil. Has lots of gear train noise. I have done the test flights using it and have 2 dead sticks out of 2 flights in a 60 sized H9 mustang. Right when you think you have it set, it died while going to idle. Happened twice while doing the stall test. To be fair, I dont think he is following the proper setup and tuning of this engine. Its not the same as tuning any other standard 2 stroke or 4 stroke. This guy is a machinist and has so far made a new muffler with a bigger bore and got rid of the carb and is putting on a saito 120 carb. What do I know, I'm just the pilot. If the sp is anything like the cd then it will quiten down after 2 or 3 gallons and actually sound pretty good. That 120 is also a real stump puller. TONS of thrust. WAY WAY more than that airframe needs. We did try it with a 18x10 prop and that was too underproped for that engine. About 7000 rpm. It took full throttle to stay aloft. I dont remember what the first prop was but 1/2 to 3/4 throttle was more than enough. Next time he's putting on an 18x12. I can count on it being exciting every time I go up with that engine. He wants to put it in my spitfire. I said no way. He needs an ugly stick to work out the bugs. It'll probably be a good engine once it settles down.
Edwin