Grumpy1940

Hi!
i have been working with exhaustplugs. 2 hours wetsanding behind, now i will make the welding seams. finally im happy with the shape.
well hoping to get some the ballast away from Teros nose with lighter set of tailcontrols..
i have been dremeling my wing open, still lot of undone. stored the fuse and wing molds, i wont sell any planes before i know how it flyes. now i have plenty of room for working with spitty. those molds needs really lot of space.
and also worked with friends on 1/12 scale brewster, full composite of course. its so relaxing to work with smaller plane for a while.
hoping to fly that little warbird on frozen lakes in february...

waiting for sun....

Cheers

Jukka

Grumpy1940

well, Otto! i would bevery pleased from good aerial pictures!! i garantie you wont be dehydrated on those hot days at spring time.
so for sure there will be 2 of spitfires on field that day. i will make mold for exhausts at weekend. and then laminate exhausts.
Tero can fill those stubs with lead. helping his balance problems. so there is for sure 3-4 months building days in darkness.
and we will look so white you could see our bones thrue the skin.. maybe i will have some panda tan after skiing season...

Jukka

Grumpy1940

exhaust plugs sanded, white glue simulating welding seams. glue will shrunks some.. when the glue is dry i'll apply high glossy black paint on it. after that i will but plugs in box and make the silicon molds for those. we'll see results later.

Grumpy1940

Ok, now plugs are ready for mold making... im happy with plugs.

Grumpy1940

Hi!
molds for exhausts done.
i made simple boxes for plugs. glued plugs on bottoms. then simply put 1kg (2,2lbs) silicon on those. hardened over night. then cutted molds open with paperknife..
easy business...

cheers

Jukka

Grumpy1940

Bottle in pic is empty now...
just laminated new set of tailcontrols for replacing those heavy ones. and its made under vacuum with tear of fabric.
will see the result later...

Cheers

Jukka

Grumpy1940

Controlmolds finally opened..
unsmoothen controls in pic...
and small update about productions.. i propably will drop out the dream from production. with list of reasons, not the smallest one my asthma (lounge problems)
and i just got a feeling my first customer had just too many reasons to complane from my product. and i really tryed my best, so i think my skill just arent there yet ready for production... sorry about that. i will be training with composites, and give full report how things go with my spitty. will see if some day im good enough...

cheers

Jukka

tetsa

Dude,

If you are referring to me, I really had no complaints about the product it self! The model I got is first class. It's not your fault that the Spit is prone to beeing tail heavy... This was the one reason why I was not able to get the Spit in to the air before the weather got bad.

We'll get there as soon as the spring arrives and our flying field opens!

stianb

Grumpy:

How can one complain about perfection?

And as tetsa says, it not you fault the mk1 has a short nose

Stian

tetsa

Well said, Sir!

Now, there were one or to MINOR snags. The first was that the rudder and elevators were sturdier than they had to be. This of course placed extra weight where it really was not needed... This is easy to correct by simply making the surfaces from thinner laminate. Or even balsa.

The second minor issue (that i didn't even mention here, but discussed with Jukka) was that the flap horn on the left wing was about 1mm too near the leading edge of the flap. This made the horn touch the upper surface of the wing ever so slightly, when the flap was actuated and the horn traveled above the wing surface. This I corrected with a fine needle file in a couple of minutes. On a production model the glueing of the flap horn would be left to the builder, so one could only look in to a mirror if one got this wrong...

The biggest issue is of course the short nose. I did not help the matter by choosing an engine that was long and light in weight... The engine is simply not heavy enough to bring the CofG anywhere near the acceptable range, and because of the physical dimensions of the engine, there is not that much room left for ballast in the nose. And THAT is the main grief with my Spit.

Those are the bad news. The good news is that all this is correctable by changing the rudder and elevators to lighter ones, and then filling every little available space on the nose with lead. Not a big deal!

So Jukka! DO NOT FEEL BAD MATE! Your Mk1 Spitfire is still the Spit to beat.

Grumpy1940

Hi Bros!
Thanks for kind words. there for sure is room for improvement. and its not smallest one that weight issue with gasser engines.
these controls laminated from 4 x 50g/m2 glass under vacuum are almost same weight than those build up ones. but might be just too light build for gasser vibrations. the nose is long enough for electric version.. i think there will not be any deadballast on nose.
but will see later how this all ends...

cheers

Jukka

IFLYRC-RCU

My Feedback: (28)

What !

I'll take one now as is. I garuntee I'll get it in the air.. I build to fly and I NEED a replacement for my now deceased FiberClassics Spitfire.

Now a serious note.. My FiberClassics Spit was VERY light and fragile.. with a single cylinder Quadra 100 cc engine. NOT a smooth engine, but very reliable. Shook like crazy ! 75 flights.. and the only damage was when I lost the engine on takeoff... [ dam ]

My point being, there is no way your design can be lighter duty than my FC Spit.. don't worry about durability... I suspect it will be fine. Heck, extra weight? who cares if it flies well.

Picture of former Spitty....

saramos

What???

I've been following this thread for a long time, and there's one thing I am sure of. The 'some day im good enough' was clearly a day some several years ago!!

Scott

Grumpy1940

Good morning!
ou well. im not very experienced with composites, far away from professional. and i was planning only very small production, and there where some dings, and that tailweight issue. and i really felt sorry for Tero. (and im sure he wasnt happy with that) And i would be sooo sad if customers started to complane about issues. this is just a hobby for me, so i dont want bad feelings for myself from it. it would purely destroy my enthuaism. so will see later if this spitty is excellent flyer.... maybe just maybe then... if not for sure no sales.

just my few cents...

Jukka

tetsa

Come on man! There is simply NO reason for you to feel sorry for me! I was never unhappy with the Spit I got from you. I was unhappy about the bloody winter coming in...

transatlanticflight

Grumpy,

I hope this is only the winter blues...Your spitfire project is still the most captivating thing on RCU. Slowed by weather was my understanding. I'm still hoping you will stay on this for the production run, but I would understand avoiding manufacturing the composites for health reasons.

How's this for inspiration? Flight worthy prototype or not...I will gladly buy the plug and/or all the molds, to carry on where you leave off...this is one dream that should not die. I'm 100% serious.

Rick

Keep up the good work.

Grumpy1940

Hi Bros!
Thanks! Tero, you have been just honest to me when reporting your opinions, really thanks for that! so dont worry bro!i will now take time for finishing things with spitty, going to make her ready for showtable in 2-3months. i have promised to get her to Model-expo 2008. my health is better now coz of medication. i was almost passed out few times at summer and fall. i didnt get any oxygen....
Rick, i propably will never sell the molds just in case i need more parts for replacement. and too much work and money in it too.
price would be insane for anyone. after the maiden i think about these things again.. ok? and i think mold edges are wearing fast, i need to fix those every 2-3 planes it think... pva would save the mold wearing, but i want sharp details....
for now i have packed molds in plastic and stored. now cleaning the shop so there is more room for making installions.
next i will fill all the seams, mistakes and make the wing fit perfectly to fuse. and shoot alloy color on it.

cheers

Jukka

David Smith

My Feedback: (1)

Jukka,

Are you sure you're not starting to suffer from the epoxy? It's nasty stuff, I used it for years in my modelling but about 10-15 years I started to become sensitive to it and now get all sorts of skin problems if I use it these days. I have heard of people suffering from heart and breathing difficulties because of epoxy exposure as well.

I have a set of CNC cut parts plus cowl & canopy for a BT Mk 1 Spitfire sitting at Kimmo's right now, but the short nose puts me off building that as well. I reckon the IX is prettier anyway

Tero - winter? What winter? Must have a different climate in Espoo if you call this winter!

David in Elimäki

Grumpy1940

Hi David!
build the mk1 light and i believe you wont have any problems. the mk1 bt was a england national champion in f4c!!!
indeed this winter is strange and bad... water and wind driving me crazy.
doctor sayed its not epoxy because my skin doesnt react with it. im using good protection all the time.
they suspect dust at work.... but we are moving to new building, i hope it helps....

cheers

Jukka

tetsa

Indeed! But it's not the lack of snow, it's the soggynes of our field and the lack of light... I know that people are using the field, but I certainly don't want to fly off the muddy surface.

But the thing is that my Spit is ready to go after a couple of evenings work. The day is already getting longer so I'm sure we'll get the Spit airborne in reasonable time. Still, don't hold your breath... ok?

Tero

David Smith

My Feedback: (1)

I'm still breathing....but hope you'll decide to drive east for an hour or so for that test flight. Right now,. as you say, the fields are too muddy even for my ratty 5 year old hack models, and no snow to stimulate me into fitting them skis again.

transatlanticflight

Grumpster,

Glad all the well-wishers have renewed your spirit. But seriously, you need to name a price for the plugs to prove they're out of my price range! Of course, if you won't let it go at any price than that's a different thing all together. If production proves to be a no go for you personally - health, or other trouble...selling the plug would be a good alternative...it would be a crime not to see all your beautiful work enjoyed by all.

Just my thoughts bro...$$$$

Rick

PS. When can I get on the list?!!!!

Grumpy1940

Hi Rick!
fuse plug is in reasonable shape but the wing plug is in 2pcs. i simply step on it and bend it to 2 pcs coz of storing problems.
so it would need markable rebuilding work.... of course all the metal sheets is there...

cheers

Jukka

transatlanticflight

GRUMMMPPPYYY.....

OK...I won't ask why you broke it in half...but couldn't you have at least used a saw? Still, send me pics of the plugs in their current condition and a price for all in a PM, if you are seriously willing to sell.

Cheers,
Rick

stianb

grumpy: you can not let this be a one off model! Not even two.. This one is too good to be lost.

Can`t you give the molds to some local glassfibercompany that can make parts for you, you keep the copyrights and make some money of it and very little work?

To loose this one would be a crime!

Stian