Mighty Mini Master Series Spitfire

[Wildthing]

The camera playing tricks
It’s angled to the right in real life. Pretty bizarre the way it looks in the photo you would swear it was to the left.

That must because of that one and only wrinkle . Very clean build you did.

 

[sh0sey]

Funny story about that wrinkle... i was letting the kids hold it and look at it, and my 5 year old decided she’d chuck it in the air and see if it was ready to fly. Without any electronics at that point (and thus being unbalanced), she flew as good as a foam board rock 🤣
A small part of me died inside when I saw the damage, but I quickly remembered that one of the things I love most about foam board planes is that you can afford for stuff like this to happen and it’s ok. I decided to leave the damage through the rest of the build. Just a reminder that the hobby is better with people (and my kids) in it.

That must because of that one and only wrinkle . Very clean build you did.

 

[Khuro]

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter plane that was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other Allied countries before, during, and after WWII. The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft. The Spitfire features a unique elliptical wing shape which is aerodynamically, the most efficient, because elliptical spanwise lift distribution induces the lowest possible drag.
The elliptical wing on the Spitfire wasn’t originally incorporated into the plane to minimize drag, but rather it was made to house the landing gear along with ammunition and guns inside a wing. The ellipse was the shape that allowed for the thinnest possible wing with the most area inside, giving engineers room inside to hold the necessary things.

When I set out to design the Spitfire, I wanted to expand my horizons with designing FB planes by trying out some of the Master Series techniques developed by John Overstreet. To keep things simple, and easy to build I chose to go for a fuselage that has a frame that gets skinned in foam, rather than taking the "mold together" route that Overstreet uses. I put a lot of work into adding the scale details using just foam. Like the large wing fillets that characterize the Spitfire, and all the radiators under the wing, and even as far as adding little exhaust stacks. I've also designed 3D printed exhaust stacks, and radiators for under the wing, which will be shared on Thingiverse. Because of the small nose and large size of the Mini Power pod, this design won't have a power pod or even a standard FT Mini Firewall, but if you already have one of the Mini Firewalls, you can make a few simple cuts to make it compatible with this plane. I really liked the shape that @nerdnic was able to achieve on his Spitfire canopy, link to his plane so I took his and made a few changes to make it fit onto my bird.

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@BATTLEAXE graciously reached out to me to help put together this nice video for the plane. So go show him a some love, watch some of his vids, and toss him a sub you can find his channel here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUFM8PpAbZs1F8PEJhgS2EA

Overview-

Speed-
Top speed is very respectable, and while your at speed the plane is very smooth. It slows down very well for landing and remains very stable as your speed decreases.

Handling-
The handling of this plane is very docile, the roll rate is very scale and smooth. The tracking on this plane is outstanding while right side up and inverted!

Stalls-
The stalls on this model are very gentle, and occur at very low speeds. The ailerons aren't the most effective thing at speeds so they can get a little mushy when you are coming in for a landing, but it's not uncontrollable I've landed this bird in a stiff crosswind without any issues.

Aerobatics-
Since the plane lacks a rudder the aerobatic ability is limited to the basics such as, Loops, Rolls, Inverted, Split S's etc.

Take offs-
I like launching this plane by holding it right behind the wing, wrapping my fingers around the wing fillets and giving it a firm toss.

Landing-
Landing this model is like any other FT design all you need to do is lower your airspeed and flare it in. Which I actually found to be a little difficult. Because this plane is quite slippery, I found myself struggling to lower my airspeed enough to land, and I've been starting my glide right before I turn into my final leg for landing when I usually chop the throttle to start the glide once I'm in my final leg.

Skill level-
If you want to put in the time to build this plane, it'd be a great first or second plane that uses ailerons, but since it's a pretty involved build it might not be the best plane for someone who is still expecting to crash.

Plans: Spitfire Plans V1.1
Instructions: Spitfire Instructions
3D Printed Parts: Thingiverse Link

Thanks to @GremlinRC for taking these plans and converting them to a Dxf file format so all of you with laser cutters or CNC machines can cut this plane out: Spitfire Dxf's

i can't seem to open the plans on the link

 

[Grifflyer]

i can't seem to open the plans on the link

Is it giving you an error?

 

[Khuro]

Is it giving you an error?

Is it giving you an error?

Not an error but the page itself doesn’t open

 

[Grifflyer]

Not an error but the page itself doesn’t open

Does this work?

 

[Khuro]

Does this work?

yes!

 

[Grifflyer]

yes!

Great!

 

[Aviator08]

I've been out flying the Mini Spitfire with the FT "radial F" pack and a 4cell 850 mAh battery. It is CRAZY fast, don't have a radar detector , but all the guys say it is well over the 100 mph mark. Tried to get some footage of it this morning, but couldn't get the camera to stay focused on it. Will have to try again. With the 3cell battery it was still fast, but no where near as fast as with the 4cell. BTW, I also added a rudder to it.

 

[Grifflyer]

I've been out flying the Mini Spitfire with the FT "radial F" pack and a 4cell 850 mAh battery. It is CRAZY fast, don't have a radar detector , but all the guys say it is well over the 100 mph mark. Tried to get some footage of it this morning, but couldn't get the camera to stay focused on it. Will have to try again. With the 3cell battery it was still fast, but no where near as fast as with the 4cell. BTW, I also added a rudder to it.

I've got to try mine on 4s someday!

 

["Corpse"]

I've got to try mine on 4s someday!

You do! I might have to build me one of these lol.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

I've got to try mine on 4s someday!

Definitely gotta do the 109, i think it might have more speed potential

 

[Aviator08]

Definitely gotta do the 109, i think it might have more speed potential

Okay, I see the photo..... is there a build thread for the 109?

 

[Aviator08]

Here are some pics of the rudder installation.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Okay, I see the photo..... is there a build thread for the 109?

I don't think so but you would have to ask @Grifflyer

 

[Grifflyer]

Okay, I see the photo..... is there a build thread for the 109?

Not yet, gonna finish up the plans and do a build vid with @BATTLEAXE

 

[Grifflyer]

Here are some pics of the rudder installation.

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Very clean installation!!

 

[Aviator08]

Not yet, gonna finish up the plans and do a build vid with @BATTLEAXE

Okay, I can be a BETA builder when you are ready.

 

[Aviator08]

Some of the guys want to pylon race with these. Here is one with a "racing scheme" so it can be seen better.

 

[Grifflyer]

Some of the guys want to pylon race with these. Here is one with a "racing scheme" so it can be seen better.

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Haha pylon racing these would be awesome! You've gotta try getting some footage of that!! If it's a racer it's gotta have a name