kenair

My Feedback: (10)

Retracts folding outward - all I can offer is the photo below, I think I used the retract rail locations shown on the plan and postioned the gear to fold outward, assemble your retracts and lay them out on the plan.

I did not want to do any modifications so I had retracting between the spar and LE.

I went 3 3/4" wheels (Robarts - only 3 3/4 I could find) so that I had a fit between the spar and the LE.

A scale retract operation would involve cutting the main spar and adding a sub main spar - too much work for me on this sport model, I went with the simple flip.

Good Luck!
-ken

planeoldme

I did about the same as ken did for the gear, it worked out fine and it's really stable on the ground but I wish I would have moved the gear in closer so it looked more like a spit would have.(they are a bit wide for proper looks) One thing to do for sure is to make sure the center of the axle is about on the leading edge when it's on the ground.(in the down position) You should be able to look down from the top wing and see about half of the tire showing, if you can get that then it won't be one of those crazy warbirds that over rotate on take offs.
I am trying to upload a few pictures but I'm starting to think I'm brain dead or something.

planeoldme

Hey, I think my brain might be starting to fire. It seems to have worked so now we will try it again.

kenair

My Feedback: (10)

planeoldme - awesome looking Spit you have there.

cheers - ken k.

planeoldme

Thanks Ken,
I usually read all of these threads without adding anything but this spit was such a joy to build and fly that I decided to chime in for once.

planeoldme

SMKRCFLYER, did you get the email I sent you about the canopy situation?

fockewulf37

My Feedback: (102)

Hey Richard,
Hope things are going well for you And Happy New year also... I don'y know about the muffler . But I perfer to run full time glow on any glow motor. Its easy to do and cheap...
E-mail me and i'll explain ...

Ty

[email protected]

koenig427

planeoldme, no I did not get the email.

smkrcflyer

planeoldme, Sorry I didn't notice that my son was logged in he is koenig427.

fvexecdir

Hey guys:

I built one of these kits with the retracts in the scale location. Not any easy piece of engineering because of the main spar location. In effect you need to build a spar in front of the retract location, and one in back of the wheel well location, and then cut the main spar out where the strut retracts up into the wing. I ended up with three full depth spars, with sheer webs on each, in the general location of the retracts. Probably over built, but the retracts take a beating and overkill in this area can't hurt. It was alot of work, but "totally cool factor" made it worth the effort.

I also built one with the retracts pulling up into the leading edge like planeoldme and kenair have it. Easier to do, and still has a high cool factor, especially if the retracts are properly sequenced. Never get tired of watching the wheels slowly disappear into the wings.

Rick

smkrcflyer

So is this plane worth building from scratch? Its a good size plane and there aren't many Spitfire kits out there. I was thinking about the Top Flite one but its a bit small. I have the plans and the die cut outlines.

planeoldme

Hello again Steve,
This plane was well worth the time I put into building it from scratch. We (my buddy built one also) copied all the parts onto thin cardboard and simply ordered the proper thickness of ply and balsa from BALSA USA and transfered the shapes. We paid $86.00 41/2 years ago for enough wood to build and fully sheet both entire planes with (and still had some good quality materials left over for other projects) A scroll saw and a full day of cutting you could be done. Then the rest is a typical build. It worked out great because as we were building we found some of the stamped items were actually off by quite a bit so we could alter our cuts at that time. Have the plans rolled out and aligne the wing ribs to the spar as you go. Then cut the notches accordingly. The main problem items were the wing rib notches that lay on the spar. All other items were fine. If we would have cut them out as our patterns showed they would have pushed and pulled on the spar giving you an akward leading and trailing edge. I believe the kit was discontinued because the stamps were wearing out and the precision to Dynaflite wasn't up to the quality that they should have been. So to answer the question as to is this kit worth scratch building? to me it was, but I don't know what you are after. For a very simple, and shell I say "semi scale" warbird this size I will answer it as a YES. You cant find anything affordable like this old kit, and being a spitfire makes it even more rare.
After reading this thread you guys have me maybe wanting to start another one and making some changes to it. The plane with a saito 150,retracts from Robart,Ram onboard glow and covered with Nelson lite fab and painted with his water based paints is truely a plane that always gets looks and questions from fellow flyers. They all love it.

fvexecdir

Steve:

Couldn't agree morewith planeoldme. I'm scratchbuilding my third iteration of this plane. It flies sweet, looks really good and gives you an opportunity to dress it up as much as you want. I went through the process of developing a set of templates for the kit, because I'm pretty sure I'm going to be building another sometime down the road. For what it is, this is a great plane.

Rick

koenig427

Thanks guys for the information about this plane. I heard it was a good flyer. I actually got a kit when they first went out of production for $50. But sold it to a friend who crashed his. He is still flying it. Maybe I will build one. I just need to get a canopy. You have given me a lot to think about.

smkrcflyer

Sorry my son was logged in again.

Steve

web-pilot

Hey Bill,

If you decide to build another one, please let me know! I want in!

planeoldme

George, you will be the first to know but with that big Corsair hanging in the air I would think you would want to finish that one first. You have all the parts for it and you know I want to be the one to paint it and detail it for you, so start sanding.
How is the new field coming out? E-mail me so we can rap....BILL

kenair

My Feedback: (10)

HI, I test flew my Dynaflite Spitfire with the US 41 engine and a 18x10 prop. The plane fliew very well and lands good. I needed 3 oz of nose weight . The total all up weight less fuel is 16.5#, my wings are sheeted. I used 3/4 oz cloth and z poxy then latex paint. Robart 630 retracts. Robart 3.75" wheels.

I'm pleased with the flight performance so far. I need to add on the scoop and wheel pants and paint the front canpoy frame.
The paint scheme is Battle of Britain, MK II, Pilot Officer George Corbett, more history at www.upaero.com/georgecorbett.html

cheers -ken k.

planeoldme

Great job ken, glad she finally flew. She looks good and you should enjoy her for quite some time..............Bill

smkrcflyer

I got 2 real nice canopies from American Eagle.  They look like they match this real good.  I also have most of the die cut parts now.

http://www.flyrcmodels.com/

hy flyr

My Feedback: (27)

Hi guys,
There really isn't to many threads on this kit. This is the longest one I could find. I bought this kit off RCU a while back and I am now starting to build it. The plans are old and yellowed and the wood is warped and I've replaced some of it already. Looking at some of the Spits here has me pretty excited about this build! I'm still up in the air on what retracts to use. I may use a Saito 125 for power. Feel fee to offer up any advice or tips!! [8D]

kenair

My Feedback: (10)

I've flown mine for one summer, the biggest problem I have with the Dyan Spit is that it will not bleed off speed and ist down on landing and thus I flat run off the end of the field, other than that if flies well.

I may look a retrofitting flaps on mine.
Good luck on yours!
cheers - ken k.

Baldeagle

My Feedback: (7)

hy flyer I don't think a Saito will be nearly enough power to fly. I habe a G38 in mine and it flies it but it is not fast. I do have flaps on mine and they do help slow it down.

warbirdmustang

My Feedback: (21)

The only one of these I've actually seen fly was powered with an ASP 108, and had heavy homemade retracts in it, but flew scale like. Not overpowered, but not underpowered either. Now that kit didn't have a lot of other details and was pretty light( don't remember the weight). Seems like" back in the day" the engine of choice of the magazine articles for this kit was a Supertigre 3000, which is similar to a G38. I think it depends on how you build it and what you add to the kit. It calls for a .90-1.08 2 stroke on the plans, I think, but I think that assumes open structure, light build and monokote.
Bryan

hy flyr

My Feedback: (27)

Thanks guys for the advice and thoughts! The instructions call for a 90 2-stroke or a 1.20 4-stroke. I think if it's built around 11 or 12lb range the 1.25 should be plenty of power. But..I could be wrong! My Dynaflite PT-19 flies pretty strong with a Saito 1.50 and it's not much bigger than the Spit. As far as retracts are concerned, I'm working with Lenny now for some retracts. Yeah, I'm excited!