Daz's FT Spitfire build

[DazDaMan]

Wing surgery tonight, with the wings reattached with the rubber bands.

And I think that's it for the actual build!! I'll paint the Spit next, then do the canopy.

 

[AussieBison]

The captain looks professional!
Brilliant idea, I would be doing something similar in my future builds

 

[DazDaMan]

So, after a bit of a break, I started putting some paint on tonight.....

 

[DazDaMan]

Some more paint on it. I think I will need to rework the camouflage lines a little.....

 

[DazDaMan]

Apart from the canopy and a couple of little bits, the build is finished!

 

[DazDaMan]

The pilot in his office....

 

[DazDaMan]

I put some squadron codes on....

(Film buffs will recognise these from Battle of Britain.)

 

[DazDaMan]

I'm putting together a video of my Flite Test Spitfire build using Sir William Walton's classic Spitfire Prelude and Fugue.

My video isn't finished yet but, in the meantime, you can watch this....

 

[DazDaMan]

So, I finally got to breathe life into the Spitfire last night. Unfortunately, I need to sort an issue with the receiver but, apart from that, it's just about ready to go....!

 

[willsteffen]

How is your battery tray setup... I'd add a strap if you don't. Ive seen quite a few batteries launch out the bottom when the velcro lets loose during a split S maneuverer.

 

[DazDaMan]

SHE FLEW!!!!!

Excuse the strong language in the clip, but we were both fretting a little about flying her!

 

[DazDaMan]

 

[willsteffen]

Congrats.. I've scratch build 3 of these.. Great plane, one of the best FT planes...

 

[DazDaMan]

So, there were a couple of things that needed sorting on the Spit after that first flight.

First up, she's definitely underpowered. That flight in the video was at full throttle, and you can see there wasn't much go in her. It's either the motor, the battery or the prop. Easy (ish) fix.

Secondly, the trim. Mark (test pilot) said he had to put in full left aileron trim to get her to fly straight. He suggested some tweaking of the aileron pushrod to get it to fly correctly.

However, I did wonder why the trim was so badly off, so I looked at the wing - it looked as though one wingtip was much higher off the bench than the other (with the belly section flat on my worktop). I measured it using the dihedral gauge from the kit, and the right wingtip is about 1in higher than the left. This must have happened when I was building the wing (although I'm sure I measured it at the time, and it was correct).

Aside from building another wing, what could I do to fix this?

I don't really want to build another wing because A)I don't have any maker foam (only Westfoam, which is heavier), and B) if I build it from Depron, I would be just as well to build another Spitfire!

 

[Matthewdupreez]

So, there were a couple of things that needed sorting on the Spit after that first flight.

First up, she's definitely underpowered. That flight in the video was at full throttle, and you can see there wasn't much go in her. It's either the motor, the battery or the prop. Easy (ish) fix.

Secondly, the trim. Mark (test pilot) said he had to put in full left aileron trim to get her to fly straight. He suggested some tweaking of the aileron pushrod to get it to fly correctly.

However, I did wonder why the trim was so badly off, so I looked at the wing - it looked as though one wingtip was much higher off the bench than the other (with the belly section flat on my worktop). I measured it using the dihedral gauge from the kit, and the right wingtip is about 1in higher than the left. This must have happened when I was building the wing (although I'm sure I measured it at the time, and it was correct).

Aside from building another wing, what could I do to fix this?

I don't really want to build another wing because A)I don't have any maker foam (only Westfoam, which is heavier), and B) if I build it from Depron, I would be just as well to build another Spitfire!

quick question.... what battery are you using in it? a test fitted my spit with PPC and a 2200mah 3s..... it was terribly nose heavy...... and there's not much space to move it back........

 

[DazDaMan]

quick question.... what battery are you using in it? a test fitted my spit with PPC and a 2200mah 3s..... it was terribly nose heavy...... and there's not much space to move it back........

I used a Turnigy 2200 3-cell. I also put 30g of lead under the motor to balance it.

(FYI, I did build the power pod, but I ended up cutting it down by about 75% because it wouldn't fit for some reason, so the battery sits about 2ins behind the motor. The firewall is permanently glued in place.)

 

[Matthewdupreez]

I used a Turnigy 2200 3-cell. I also put 30g of lead under the motor to balance it.

(FYI, I did build the power pod, but I ended up cutting it down by about 75% because it wouldn't fit for some reason, so the battery sits about 2ins behind the motor. The firewall is permanently glued in place.)

so your battery sits above the LE of the wing?

 

[willsteffen]

As far as your left turn issue.. Make sure you have some Down/Right thrust angle added to your motor.. I place a small washer between the motor mount and the firewall on the top and left mount screws. Also, I've had to add a bit more aileron to get mine flying true.. No big deal to adjust those to fly right.. Who cares if the ailerons aren't perfectly level while it sits on the bench.. Also, add a little rudder too, everyone always jumps on aileron trim, when sometimes the rudder is out of whack....

Power - What is your power system. (motor, prop, battery c-rating). I didn't see anything about this in the thread..

 

[willsteffen]

One more question: Are the wings parallel with the stabilizer? Thats more important, than how it sits on the bench...

 

[DazDaMan]

so your battery sits above the LE of the wing?

It sits in that space behind the motor, with the front right up against the remnants of the power pod. Note the 30g of lead. We originally thought 25g would be fine, but I added the extra 5g "just in case".