FT Spitfire rebuild with new nosecone fairing

FOGeologist

Member
Totally done (except for the exhaust stacks). All-up weight with Zippy Compact 1300 mAh 4s battery is 1020 grams, 23 grams higher than when measured before finishing. Below: A 1:24 video walk-around. Will have to get an associate to film her for me Friday or Saturday during weekly Flugtag.

 

FOGeologist

Member
I just flew the ship again. BOY is it smooth. It looks amazing in the air. Gone is the "floaty flier" tendency of the lightweight foamboard ship David W. designed for us, but instead you have a predictable and forgiving fighter that's a joy to fly. As it's a belly-lander, the ship sets down at some speed in the puffy grass in the park across my street. You need a little speed and a gentle stick-hand to put it smoothly down on the deck, but I'm doing OK with it and the ship is no worse for wear.

Now, all I need is a competent cameraman.
 

mrjdstewart

Legendary member
i wish i had a grass field. all i got is cacti, mesquite trees, dirt, rocks, and HEAT! not friendly to foam planes but what you gonna do? fly them like you stole em', then rebuild them when they die.

i have been wanting to build a spitfire, maybe i put it next-ish on the list. :LOL:

where you @ in N. CO? i'm from laramie and so glad with this hobby i do not live there anymore. :p

laters,

me :cool:
 

FOGeologist

Member
i wish i had a grass field. all i got is cacti, mesquite trees, dirt, rocks, and HEAT! not friendly to foam planes but what you gonna do? fly them like you stole em', then rebuild them when they die.

i have been wanting to build a spitfire, maybe i put it next-ish on the list. :LOL:

where you @ in N. CO? i'm from laramie and so glad with this hobby i do not live there anymore. :p

laters,

me :cool:
Frederick; it's 25 miles north of Denver just off I-25.
 

FOGeologist

Member
That's a great looking plane - well done!

DamoRC

Thanks! The nose is all wrong - too streamlined. Looking at my Durafly Mk Vb, it's really just flat until the spinner. I may build this ship again and fix all the stuff that's wrong with it. It's still a good chuck-plane with the lack of gear or radiators.
 

danbob

Active member
Thanks! The nose is all wrong - too streamlined. Looking at my Durafly Mk Vb, it's really just flat until the spinner. I may build this ship again and fix all the stuff that's wrong with it. It's still a good chuck-plane with the lack of gear or radiators.

The finished bird looks fantastic!
Scale the next one up, I think they fly better with slightly bigger wing area.
 

robobob

Member
Holy cow this thing looks awesome! I'd once considered trying to do a re-nose of the FT spitfire myself, but you've done a far better job than I could ever have dreamt of. The whole thing is just super duper cool.
 

FOGeologist

Member
The finished bird looks fantastic!
Scale the next one up, I think they fly better with slightly bigger wing area.

There is a distinct possibility of going 300%. I did a 1/4 scale J3 Cub, which was a thing of beauty, but the ESC was Hobby King JUNK and it burned up on the maiden flight, totalling the airframe. I still have the electronic equipment from this affair.

I could double up or triple up the foam board and build a big Spitfire for laughs.
 

FOGeologist

Member
My 3D benefactor just sent me the exhaust stacks.

I will paint and mount, then post photos. The new model is the neighborhood favorite, at least amongst the Playstation set.
 

FOGeologist

Member
Annnnnnd... fairly bad crash. Don't know why it happened - seemed to have rolled left under high throttle leaving my hand and tip-stalled. Ripped the motor out and damaged the port wingtip.

Will be repairing - maybe this is a great opportunity to fix the non-scale nose of this ship.
nosedamage.JPG
wingtip damage.JPG
 
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rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Just a little ouch on a beautiful build! Glad to hear she'll be back in the sky again soon.

And I'll add a vote for doing the next one at 300% and using the electronics from your Cub in it. Would love to see your detailed build photos and approaches for solving the challenges of a bigger one :D
 

FOGeologist

Member
Just a little ouch on a beautiful build! Glad to hear she'll be back in the sky again soon.

And I'll add a vote for doing the next one at 300% and using the electronics from your Cub in it. Would love to see your detailed build photos and approaches for solving the challenges of a bigger one :D

Thanks!

I'm thinking I was maybe running my mouth on that 300% Spit... Maybe not. I like the odd challenge! Having built a couple of these 1m ships has me wondering if I have the skills to try something substantially larger.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Thanks!

I'm thinking I was maybe running my mouth on that 300% Spit... Maybe not. I like the odd challenge! Having built a couple of these 1m ships has me wondering if I have the skills to try something substantially larger.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I got in trouble with my 8 foot wingspan project taking over my whole shop :p

It's fun for sure - and a whole new set of skills to learn which is really cool - but it's also a commitment of time / space / resources at a different level. Don't get me wrong - I'd do it again - but I'm going to wait until I smash this one into splinters and a minimum of one year to tackle another one that big.