FT Spitfire Build

[Ron B]

I thought I would post a flight of the spitfire but you have to go to about the half way mark as I flew my big cub first. I do this to calm the jitttttters down before I fly a plane i either haven't flown before or have little stick time on it.

allergies were giving me fits.

 

[nikil]

Can I use APC 10x4.7 props with this build ?

I noticed the plans mentioned using the 9x4.7 props, would it be okay to use an APC 10x4.7 slow flyer instead ?

 

[The-One-Who-Never-Crashes]

I noticed the plans mentioned using the 9x4.7 props, would it be okay to use an APC 10x4.7 slow flyer instead ?

If your motor and ESC can handle it, sure!

 

[Art Lane]

April 20th last post, what have you guys been doing?? Flying????
Has anybody built new Spitfires lately??????????????
Let's hear from you...
Art.

 

[Ron B]

hey Art
I hadn't seen you on for a while
about to get winter over with in your part of the country?
Lots of wind and lots of rain here but did get out 3 times so far this year and as usual crash and repair.
The more I fly the spit the more I like it.

 

[kulens]

Has anybody built new Spitfires lately??????????????
Let's hear from you...

Lol
Yes, even while you're building you can't post ;-)

But I'm pleased to share some pictures of my build (from the last 3 weeks).
I'll try to have its maiden flight this week (depending on the weather). If all goes well with the maiden, I'll start painting the spit somewhere next weekend (In the Belgian colour schema)

 

[jtbluefeather]

Found the parts from a kit I bought a few years ago that I had polyurethaned and "set aside" to dry. I decided to put it together last week. The paper is starting to delaminate, but a little spray glue is helping, and a paint job wouldn't hurt either. I think I may replace the turtle deck and front deck with solid foam. But I already love the way it looks! I'll drop another pic here after I get her done and before the maiden (in case of disaster).

 

[Art Lane]

Winter is over, hot weather here to stay,,

Hi Ron
Good to hear from you, I was wondering if this forum had ceased but I see some replies this morning.... Yes, HOT weather is here now and I've been out flying with the small Spitfire/pylon racer but not yet with the big Spitfire... Want to get more finger time before I try that out....
Didn't do any indoor flying over the winter, just lost all my "Umph" and no building either.... Guess old age is catching up on me, damn.....
Was going to go out this morn, winds are low, sun is out, and it's getting hot again..... 80F so far, at 8:30 AM in the morn.
Just got a message from our club exec, field is being cut and that means no flying till after lunch, hummmmmm....
Anyway, good to hear from you, maybe the next time I'll take my video camera out, when I take the 55" Spit...
In the meantime, have great flights all you fellows...
Art.

 

[kulens]

I've done the maiden flight yesterday. What a nice plane to fly! I haven't pushed the plane to much.

Setup:
- 9x6 prop
- 1130RPM/V motor, 27A, 350Watt
- 30A ESC
- 1800mA battery

The battery was ~90% charged and even after 10min flight the battery was still at ~41% (3.8V/cell)

So I can start the paint job, it'll be the Belgian colour scheme of course ;-)

 

[Frits37]

Yesterday was the maiden of the FT Spitfire of my son. A very experienced instructor of the flight club did the maiden. The movie starts with a short part of a formation flight with an F-16. It is made with my cell phone, so the quality is, well, restricted ;-)

Btw, with a 3S 2200 battery it was tail heavy. A 3300 solved it, though it only just fits in the powerpod. I had to cut the wrapping a bit to straighten the power cable

 

[kulens]

My second flight yesturday. With a 2200mA battery I could fly 20 min. and still had 3.78V/Cell left (~31%).

 

[Hack73]

Yesterday was the maiden of the FT Spitfire of my son. A very experienced instructor of the flight club did the maiden. The movie starts with a short part of a formation flight with an F-16. It is made with my cell phone, so the quality is, well, restricted ;-)

Btw, with a 3S 2200 battery it was tail heavy. A 3300 solved it, though it only just fits in the powerpod. I had to cut the wrapping a bit to straighten the power cable

Any pictures of your paint job? Looks really nice.

 

[1471]

Built the FT spitfire as my first plane a few months ago with the help of a mate and a beer or two. I'm borrowing a transmitter so all in all the plane cost me about £50 to make, a nice and easy way to get into the hobby!

A few pics of the build and maiden flight (other planes are my mates as I keep mines in his garage due to a lack of space at home)

 

[Art Lane]

Hey 1471, looks great and the pic of the flight is fantastic..... Right aileron, keeps er straight...
Nice job..
Art.

 

[jtbluefeather]

So, during a brief lull in the thundershowers today, I did a little flying and got the chance to fly my Spitfire. This is my first four channel plane, so there was a bit of nerves when I sent her up. My son did the filming, and he was (obviously) also very excited. After a seven and a half minute flight, this was the only remotely viewable footage. We have five more minutes of clouds, ground, buildings, and his finger. I think he did AWESOME considering the distraction of watching the Spitfire fly!

Winds were 10 gusting to 15, and all over the place, but it handled really well considering the inexperienced pilot! Time to clean her up, dress her up, and put a windscreen on. It is a really fun plane to fly!

 

[Frits37]

Any pictures of your paint job? Looks really nice.

This is it: paint from the bargain bin, to keep it cheap. The 'aluminium' part near the spinner is a foamboard repair, to make it look 'to be painted' ;-)

 

[Spitfire222]

Hi everyone,

I've been flying RC aircraft for many years, and I come and go as life dictates, but I'm back after a ~3 year hiatus. I built several Flitetest aircraft back in 2013, before life interrupted again with a new job, moving, etc.

You can see my original posts about my FT Spitfire back on pages 16-17 of this thread. On only it's 2nd flight, I lost the battery in flight, and did some minor damage. I've finally repaired it, and added a velcro strap to ensure the battery doesn't fall out again.

I've also upgraded my transmitter from 72 Mhz to 2.4 Ghz, with a DX7 and Orange Rx. It flies just as great as I remember, and I hope to put many more flights on it!

 

[jtbluefeather]

That's a beautiful Spit! I'd like to get my second build looking like that. I got my first one dialed in pretty well, and it flies great. But it's in pretty rough shape, paper delaminating, holes, rips and tears. But it'll make a great combat ship at FF this year! How did you paint that? Any tips for your techniques?

 

[Spitfire222]

That's a beautiful Spit! I'd like to get my second build looking like that. I got my first one dialed in pretty well, and it flies great. But it's in pretty rough shape, paper delaminating, holes, rips and tears. But it'll make a great combat ship at FF this year! How did you paint that? Any tips for your techniques?

Thanks! Sometimes I feel that I spend too much time painting and detailing these simple foamies before their first flights, but when it's finished, I'm always glad I did it.

This one was painted with regular Rustoleum spray cans, masking time, and lots of patience! To get the "fuzzy" edges on the camo, I cut out paper templates, roll up bits of masking tape, and place them along the edge of the template. I then place it on the plane and push down on it until there's a ~1/16" gap. I spray at a 90 degree angle to the surface to make sure there's even over-spray under the template.

The markings were all painted with templates as well, and the roundels are painted self-adhesive vinyl sheets. Lightly spraying some black paint into an old rag, and gently smearing it backwards creates the simple weathering effects. Hope this helps!

 

[dangermouse650]

Down under, we don't have ready access to your cheap foams so we use depron , expensive and will not do the bends that the ft foam will. I was very lucky to receive a kit of the spitfire for my first build, unfortunately i was still learning to fly so it did not last very long. This is my 2nd spitfire build, not as nice a paint job as some i have seen but she flies beautifully.