New Parkzone Spitfire MKIX

[WarbirdFan66]

Hi Pilots,

i was very excited when i saw the first pictures of the new, well not that new, Parkzone Spitfire. The Plane looks great and seems to fly very nice too, considering the flight videos i saw on the net.
I specially like the retract option but i was unable to find a guy on the net who has any experience with the new spit on grass...does she tip over, like so many other new planes.

To me it looks like all companies seems to think that every RC pilot has excess to a nice, flat tarmac landing strip. I would like to know what you guys think of the new Spit, her performance and looks, and the retracts of course???

WarbridFan66

 

[diveplane]

just bought a PKZ Spitfire airframe and i'm assembling it as i write this , hope to maiden it this weekend at our grass feild , will let you know how it goes

 

[WarbirdFan66]

mm very cool, good luck then, hope to hear from you soon

 

[ananas1301]

Well, Parkzone uses quite similar electronics in most of the planes (except jets and mini planes and so on). I´ve got the Parkzone Extra 300 and I have tried to land it on grass but it always does a flip to the front. Nothing happens but it just looks stupid when you go to your plane which is standing on its nose.
Anyway, I ve tried bigger wheel with 5cm diameter which are still too small. I don´t know much about the diameter of the Spitfire´s wheels but I would recommend you either handlaunching it ( so taking of the gear completely) or AT LEAST get 6 cm diameter wheels. That was my experience.
It might be different with you because the plane is built differently and so on and your grass is probably cut down really short, but these are just some thoughts to get you going, because grass will grow and after a month your landing might not be the same any more
Hope I could help you with this

 

[ryramZ]

Landing without nosing over can be done. It takes a lot of practice, and short grass helps. I don't have the spitfire yet but I do have the p 47. Most of the time I can land her without nosing over sometimes maybe nose over at the very end. I have only ended up on my back once. That's what happens when you are coming in to fast. Many guys add washers to the rear of their retracts to tilt their landing gear forward a little,which helps, also I have been utilizing a higher rate on my elevator for take off and landing. I think that keeping air moving over the elevator is crucial, usually come in at idle/1/4 throttle and sometimes give a blip of throttle input to help keep the elevator down, kind of knocking it down with a short, quick input. Spitfire has a longer nose so may be a challenge, but I'm up for it and can't wait. It's just one of those things that even larger models find problematic, so it's not surprising to encounter the same on our smaller models. Good luck, happy flying and good job Flite Test!

 

[Tim Hoyer]

Just a heads up for those of you looking for more power in this bird. I have an 800 watt upgrade with an aluminum motor mount, and ESC. Shoot me a PM

 

[WarbirdFan66]

@ananas1301 Well thanks for the advice but the point was to actually use the retracts on the Spit so taking of the gear is not really and option for me. And the grass on our field is not that short and its a pretty bumpy strip too, we try to keep it as short as possible but it not that easy...and im flying the P-47 and after i modified the gear a little noseovers are history...still wonder how the Spit will do, with its shorter gear and smaler wheels, and you are right bigger wheels help a lot

 

[WarbirdFan66]

@ryramZ I also fly the P-47 and after a little modification to the gear noseovers are no problem anymore...but your right, it took me some time too to find the best combination between flaps, elevator and throttle during the landing approach. Cant wait to find out how the Spitfire does, specially without flaps.

 

[ryramZ]

I waited to use my flaps on the p47 until I figured out my grass field technique. It's hard enough to keep the tail down without them. Lately when the grass is cut I've been starting to use them again with success most of the time. Before i moved I had access to lots of pavement and used my flaps all the time.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

RyramZ, which transmitter are you using?

I believe some people are mixing in coupling with their flaps, so when the flaps are down, the elevator is up. This way you're not having to keep back pressure on the elevator while trying to fly.

 

[colorex]

RyramZ, which transmitter are you using?

I believe some people are mixing in coupling with their flaps, so when the flaps are down, the elevator is up. This way you're not having to keep back pressure on the elevator while trying to fly.

Which is called Flap to Elevator Mix on my JR Tx.

 

[WarbirdFan66]

Im using a Spektrum DX8, and for landings i use 95% flaps, throttle on idle, and 5% down elevator, this way she comes in very nicely...

 

[ryramZ]

RyramZ, which transmitter are you using?

I believe some people are mixing in coupling with their flaps, so when the flaps are down, the elevator is up. This way you're not having to keep back pressure on the elevator while trying to fly.

I am using the dx6i. Mixes can be programmed, however I never use them. My flaps are set to 15 degrees which gives me more lift than drag. With my set up I need down pressure when I deploy flaps until she settles in. With speed up and flaps down she climbs nose up not down. I think holding back pressure feels more natural than down, I think that's why guys mix in down. That being said I want to control things myself, I have not ever used expo either. I do tune in my travel adjustments though. The cool thing is that after the initial change in attitude once she slowed down I can get off the down pressure and enjoy a nice stable decent with idle power 1/4 throttle. If my flaps were set at a steeper degree I would be fighting ballooning and slowing down to quick my idle power would have to be much more to counteract the more drag from more flaps, which seems contrary to slowing down to land. Great topic by the way. Later guys. Happy flying

 

[sukhoi69]

Hi, Hope to get the Spitfire soon after my SE5A turns up. I have the BF109 now and like it now I have flown it for a while. It is tip stalls very easy flies real scale like. Here is a clip of my second time flying it. The Spitty would look good beside it.
Cheers

 

[ananas1301]

What was it that fell/broke off the plane when you landed into the tree at 3:14?
I gues the canopy.

But nice flying! Very scale.

 

[sukhoi69]

Yep it was the canopy. The zippy lipo's are just a little too big. It stays on most of the time but using the tree to stop made it fly off lol.

 

[ananas1301]

Okay did you try to modify the battery compartment? Might be the next thing to do if you want to.

 

[sukhoi69]

Yes I need to shave a little foam out to make it fit better. Wasn't keen on cutting into a new plane, but now it has had a fair amount of use I will hack away.
Cheers

 

[ananas1301]

Yes I need to shave a little foam out to make it fit better. Wasn't keen on cutting into a new plane, but now it has had a fair amount of use I will hack away.
Cheers

Yeah I get your point.

I also don´t like to modify a brand new plane just to make something work a little bit better. I rather keep the stuff the way it was originally and just really nicely without any not properly done scratches.