FT Spitfire Build

Rokcrln

New member
So the Spit is almost ready for the maiden flight test. It came in at 515g w/o battery, I am going to use my 2200mah and that is another 185G but balances out well. I still need to dial in my throws and hope for a decent day this upcoming weekend.





Got the tiny trainer 4ch ready and prettied up for its re-maiden now that the expos are set the right direction.


I also have my built up Edge 540.1 ready for gear but I'll wait till I get better with my regular 540.


Now I was able to take out my Edge 540 for a few flights tonight with my 9yr old and he got some video with my IPad but I have no idea how to upload it. I'm getting him ready for getting the Spits maiden!

Go easy this is his first time recording flight or in my case "crash avoidance"
https://youtu.be/SKdCi4K0n1M

Kevin
Winters CA.
 
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JakeTheSloth

Active member
Nice job. It needs a canopy in my opinion to look properly ;) It's quite easy to do one, here's stencil (actually a part of paper model, but if you scale it it's going to fit). spit.gif

By the way, what is the size of each page of full size plans? Can it be printed by A0 printer?
 

Rokcrln

New member
So here is the maiden flight video from a friends gopro3 with case installed so sound is very muffled, went really well, was a pleasure to fly. I was a bit nervous as I'm a very novice 4ch flier

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BnC7XS-mLKI

And then part of the second flight he got on his phone but shut it off just before the tip stall!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vepVNB3f-QI

Here is the result of that tip stall from about 10-15' up.







The repair took about 15min or so.



And it worked because I just got back from a 15min flight on the 3S 2200mah and had 10.1v left. This now weighs right at 755g ready to fly. I'm very happy with these results. This last flight was with a decent wind so it was not as smooth as I told myself I was going to shoot for but came back in one piece and ready to fly again.

Kevin
Winters CA.
 
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laury415

New member
Built another FT Spitfire. Thought I'd go with a race plane type of color scheme this time.
 

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Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I had a tip stall followed by a cartwheel along the ground from about the same height as Rokcrin in my balsa-FB version of the FT spitfire.

Only damage a small crease in one wing tip about 3 inches from the tip, broke one of the false ribs. It still flys and damage almost unnoticeable. I might fix it next time.

Have fun!
 

JakeTheSloth

Active member
Okay, here is my spit, made from slightly different foam, as I can't buy $TF foam in Poland. It's not covered with paper, one side is smooth, other is covered with squares with cutting marks. I am using classic 9g tower pro servos, 2,2Ah 11,1v turnigy accu and GT22105/10 motor (my bro decided to buy it for me and he accidentaly bought 10 instead of 9 version, but it's more than enough) and 10x5 prop. I am very happy with the weight, it's about 550g with everything packed in. It's very stable and flies great. I am thinking about painting it and making a canopy ( I made one, but I'm not happy with it). 1:33 scale paper mustang for comparision ;)
WP_20170415_11_00_13_Pro.jpg
 

JakeTheSloth

Active member
I've ripped the turtledeck off and made some decals, here is effect so far. It looks like it's pink but it's red irl (camera makes such effect heh)
WP_20170428_20_52_47_Pro.jpg
 

Ron B

Posted a thousand or more times
Had to say good by to my 3rd spitfire last night as I got into the sun and couldn't see it so I set it for a wide circle like I have done in the past but it never came out of the sun. I have all the ranchers in the area keeping an eye out for it but not holding out much hope.
The electronics for this one is what hurts even though most of them have survived at least 4 other planes.
As soon as funds allow I am building another spitfire as they just fly so well.
 

JakeTheSloth

Active member
Don't give up too soon. It's good to have some sunglasses with good reflective surface, it helps a lot, you can even look straight on a sun with these on, and maybe a buzzer or something like that mounted to free channel.
 

nickf

Member
Hi,

I really fancy making one of these, but i'd like more aggressive flying characteristics rather than the almost glider type qualities of the standard build! I'm not after nerdic type speed just something a bit more slippery but without bad tip stalling.

Has anyone tried building the current design with a reduced under chamber or thinner wing section?

Thanks

nick
 

jpot1

Elite member
Nickf, I was looking for the same characteristics as you and I did not have the patience for the speed wing bevels. So I used nerdnic's plans but built the wing as a regular fold over. This gave me the thinner and tapered wing profile with less undercamber. I also only used a singl layer of foam for the rudder and elevator by adjusting the cutouts. Flys great and feels more slippery than the regular FT. Also much easier to balance and place battery with nerdnic's hatch design.

IMG_0407.JPG
 

Strix

Member
A guy stopped by our club field this weekend with a fancy DSLR camera fitted with a lens the size of a wine bottle.

He took many spectacular pictures of our models.

Here are a couple of my three year old photo recon Spitfire, PA-944. It's looking a little worse for the wear, but still flies like an absolute dream. Makes all the old guys in the club jealous. This year it will be attending its third Flite Fest!

_MG_2729-m.jpg
_MG_2681-m.jpg
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
A while ago now I built a couple of the FT Spitfires using different techniques and covered one in plastic covering. The covering covered the wing tip undercamber and reduced the drag considerably. A little extra sp0eed was gained but the whole design was considerably lighter than the original and so it was not as fast in a vertical dive as the original versions. Maneuverability was of course far superior.

If interested in the covering see the post about the Balsa Foamboard Spitfire:

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthre...T-Spitfire&highlight=Balsa/Foamboard+Spitfire

Have fun!
 

Ron B

Posted a thousand or more times
I am building my 4th spitfire now as they fly so well with just a few mods that I have to keep one in the fleet.