TF engine choice
 

I want to give the RCV engines a try, the objective being swinging an 4 blade prop.

The RCV SP series seems like a good candidate since the Fury cowling would provide direct cooling. The question is should I get the 90 SP or the 120 SP ?

has anyone tried one of these in TF kit?

RE: TF engine choice
 

The Sea fury swung a 5 bladed prop so a 4 bladed prop would be as stupid as a 2 bladed prop. Save your money and give up on the scale prop stuff. Make a nice static prop. Having said that, I would go for the 120. Yes I know, the Sea Furies that have non original engines swing 4 bladed props.

RE: TF engine choice
 

Vasek,

I don't know if "stupid" would describe using a 4 bladed prop on this plane with that engine.

I would however suggest seeking an answer from the engine distributor to see what they might suggest for this installation.

RE: TF engine choice
 

WOW!!! Tom

RE: TF engine choice
 

If you're going to throw that much money down on an engine I would go for a YS 110.

RE: TF engine choice
 

For the Sea Fury, I would suggest the 120 over the 90. RCV SPs are one of only two ways to use a large multi blade prop on a plane this size. The other way is to go electric, which would be a bit more expensive.

RE: TF engine choice
 

Thanks saramos for the informative answer! I also think this combo should work well ;)

as for those who use the word "stupid" instead of "I don't know" well.... :eek:;)

Cheers, Vasek

RE: TF engine choice
 

BTW I believe 4blades look cool on the fury

RE: TF engine choice
 

vasek,

There is an RCV 120SP up for bid on eBay now. As I write this there are four days remaining and the bid is up to $202. According to the information the engine's owner provided, the RCV 120 can swing a 15.5 X 12 four-blade prop. He used this engine in an ARF Hellcat with a 72" wingspan and said it flew his plane well. And, no, it's not my engine.

I'll throw in my dos centavos here with regard to the number of prop blades. Once the engine is running, no one will know how many blades are turning. In our models, being considerably smaller than their full-size counterparts, a two-blade prop is much more efficient than a prop of three or four blades. Let's face it, a full-scale designer, racer or fighter pilot would kill to have the power to weight ratio we enjoy with our models. While P-40 Driver may share the sensitivity of my supervisor at work, I have to agree that a static prop would be your best bet while your Fury is parked in the pits. But, hey. That's just me.

Al

RE: TF engine choice
 

The thing about scale props is that if it is truly the scale blade length (good luck finding a 4 blade prop that big) there isn't any engine appropriate for this size plane that could turn it.

RE: TF engine choice
 

True, this prop isn't completely scale, but I still think it's far better looking than the typical 13-14" 2 blade found on most planes this size.

Scott

RE: TF engine choice
 

Looks really nice saramos;)

do you have any pics of the engine install?

RE: TF engine choice
 

Here ya go. There are two issues with the RCV engine. One is, the glow plug is uncomfortably close to the prop, and RCV recommends the use of a remote glow. I chose to build an onboard glow using a microswitch which is activated with a wheel collar on the throttle linkage and a Nimh battery. The other issue is cooling a fully cowled engine. To resolve this, I use a small electric ducted fan with it's own ecs and lipo battery to exhaust the hot air out the bottom of the cowl. For the air inlet, I did not cut any holes in the cowl, I left a slightly larger gap between the spinner backplate and the front of the cowl. The cooling works well. Another thing to be aware of is the way the RCV mounts. I ended up making an extention to the engine mount box to place the engine in the right spot. I reinforced the box with carbon veil.

Scott

RE: TF engine choice
 

Gee, what's up with the photos?

RE: TF engine choice
 

Vasek,

I've got a Bolly 15x12.5 with a RCV91SP on my 1/8 TF P-51 and it works great. I had to be careful with the baffling for cooling though, the RCV tends to need a lot of cooling. I agree with Saramos, a 4 blade prop would look a lot cooler than a 2 blade.

RE: TF engine choice
 

The one on e-bay looks like one of the earlier versions. The design has been improved a bit over the past 3-4 yrs. Before bidding, you might ask how old it is and then ask about the issues you "might" run into on the RCV Support forum.

RE: TF engine choice
 

Saramos,

That's a nice looking spitfire. Would you share some details about the plane? I'm working on a kmp 1/7 scale and a yellow 1/5 scale project. Would like to run a 4-5 blade prop like you have. What kit /arf do have and could you show me some pictures of your set up. looks like a working radio hatch door, etc. Any info would be much appreciated. It would be nice if there was a place on rcu to get complete specs on some of these well built, succesful performers. Would save a lot of guess work, research, and the reinventing of the wheel. Also any line on a really good, light-weight, scale like, air operated, retractable tail wheel?


Thanks,

Rick

RE: TF engine choice
 

Hi Rick.
I built this from the Top Flite Gold edition kit. Retracts are Robart 605s with struts and dave brown wheels. I made my own radiators because I didn't like the shape of the kit ones, too boxy. I also skinned the ailerons because the Mk IV has metal covered ailerons. I added a hatch where the radio hatch is located on the Spit. It's hinged using a couple of dubro hinges, held shut with a catch made of a plastic tube and a small epoxy lump on the frame. I mounted a rare earth magnet in the hatch so I can open it with almost any metal tool. The exhaust stack was made by creating a model of one stack using modeling clay. I then made a silicon mold and cast resin parts. I then hollowed them out, mounted them on a strip of styrene, cut out the original stacks and mounted the replacements. I made a detachable chin scoop by shaping it out of florest foam, then fiberglassing over it and then removing the foam. It's held on with rare earth magnets and removed for flight (it covers the exhaust pipe and exhaust fan). The plane is glassed with .7 oz glass and West Systems epoxy. I used Duplicolor primers for filling the weave and making surface details. The Panel lines were made with 1/64" chart tape and primer for the butt joints and masking tape and primer for the lap joints. The rivets are 'burned-in' using a small brass tube mounted to the tip of an iron (I used the Top Flite trim iron). The paint was airbrushed latex exterior house paint color matched from a book I found that had all the Brittish color chips. The scheme is MK732 painted as H-25 of the RNAF cerca 1950. The markings and weathering are done with Humbrol and Model Masters paints. It's all clearcoated using a satin waterbased polyurethane. The cockpit was scratch built, and the pilot is from Century Jets. All up weight is 10 lbs 10 oz. There's some photo in my gallery, and I made a number of posts in Tubig's TF Spitfire Build thread during construction. This was my first scale build.

Scott

RE: TF engine choice
 

Indeed saramos, that's a good loking plane!