Official FlightLine RC 1200mm Spitfire Mk.IXc Thread

[Jake Bullit]

Nice day at the beach yesterday with the Spit and several other models.

[Jake Bullit]

Nice day at the beach yesterday with the Spit and several other models.

http://youtu.be/zPRDaFbNTzM

[Mark Blair]

To continue on with my Spit story:

Here is the final compartment buildout:

You can see my AR630 installed, and I extended the plywood floor using some hobby
plywood bought at Hobby Lobby (below)


I paid about $3.50 for these.

I wound up adding a few more zip ties to the Servo Wire bundle and re-positioned the
bundle to the opposite or "bottom" side from what is shown above.

Tucked the wires to the right to get them out of the way of the ESC battery cable
and I was done.

I used an Admiral 4S 3000 mAh 35C battery and pushed it all the way forward.

This put my CG at around 76.6 mm from the wing edge ( which is 1/2 way between
the Manual's recommendation of 73 mm and some others of 80 mm). This is slightly
behind the black line on the wing of the PNP version. I use a $10 digital caliper from
Harbor Freight. Works like a charm. (BTW they also sell a 3" line level for $1.29 that
is great for making sure your plane is level when measuring cg).

============= The Maiden Flight @ PVMAC Chino, CA Airfield =================

I bound the RX to my Spektrum NX8.
Dual rates were on a 3 pos switch 70/80/100 % with 40% Expo.
3 flight modes: F3 = No SAFE or AS3X, F2 = AS3X no SAFE, F1 = SAFE + AS3X

The maiden ( with about 12 mph of wind ) went splendid. I took off from the runway with
70% flaps and it tracked nicely during the run up and lift off.

The flight was like butter, and the landing did not suffer from the narrow tracks of the
landing gear at all.

My only surprise at landing was when I thought I had slowed down enough to give
up elevator to pin the tailwheel and start using my rudder, the plane floated up about
2 feet. Apparently, the wing loading is very light.

If you have been flying other tail draggers (like the E-Flite 1.2 mm P51) this plane will
be a breeze to fly.

Thanks all. Happy flying.

[Mark Blair]

Hi,
I noticed a couple of folks asking about RX mounting.
Here's my work in progress with my New 1200mm Spit.
1. I unscrewed the plywood mount from its staves
2. I shifted it back about 10mm from the front edge to the center of the original front hole.
3. I used a 1/16" drill bit and a pin vise to drill 4 new mounting holes
4. I moved the fastening strap to the forward position
5. Installed Velcro on the mount
6. I think I'll add another piece of 1/8" plywood to extend the front edge of the mount
7. It looks like I'll have plenty of room to mount my AR630 with this mod.

[gazza]

im looking for a bit of advise regarding this spit, my CG is set as per the manual, im using a 3200mah 4s lipo, controls are set as per the manual, and when im flying it, on full throttle it goes up almost vertically, but on anything below 1/4 throttle it just sticks its nose down and dives for the deck, surly i don't have to be continuosly trimming the elevator everytime i make a throttle adjustment, yes i know i can mix elevator movement in with the throttle but surly i don't have to do this, as i can't see any mention of this trait on the posts on here, any help would be appreciated as its unplesent to fly it like this all the time

[Jake Bullit]

Had a few flights with 12x6 two blade now,and she flies fine.

[cepellod]

Hi Spitfire enthousiasts,
anyone had a problem with the elevator foam hinge ? Crashed my spit after a snaproll. Was at about 40m and it went down vertical with no response on up input on TX. The tail section was undamaged except the ripped hinge of the elevator. No crashes before and about 10 flights in Total.
Might be a good idea to change to nylon hinges before yours also let go.
Spare wings arrived today so mine will fly again !

I have used toothpicks to pin my hinges in the past. Quick and easy.

[cepellod]

I used to pin my hinges with toothpicks, quick and easy and almost invisable.

[Rene V]

Hi Jake,
a 12x6 has about have the ”pull” with 2 blades. With a watt meter you would be able to measure that.
The 6 inch pitch will also give you less speed as the 7, but that would not realy be a problem.
The stock motor will only be alle to transfer about half of its potential power .
My guess, It will fly but with limited climb possibilities and longer takeoff runs.

[Jake Bullit]

Following a crash that may have been down to not enough glue on a control horn. I rebuilt my "3 piece Spit".

She had nosed in and I had noted some cracks to the prop backplate which I glued up.

Anyway today I went to test out my repairs ,she took off fine did a couple of circuits then boom!
the backplate disintegrated spat out all the blades and spinner and the battery cover flew off!

Found 3 of the four blades and pieces off backplate and also recovered the hatch.

I already have a spare spinner and backplate for a two blade prop.

So my question is will a 12x6 APC be enough on a 4s setup with the stock motor,as that is what I have in my prop box?

[Rene V]

Success on your renewed maiden !
Pretty looks are important if you want to do static shows. I prefer a good flying plane any time over a good looking one. My favourite flying is like a display pilot would present the Spitfire in a aerobatic show. To bad the sound we can produce does not do justice to the Merlin music.

[Jake Bullit]

Mine crashed two weeks ago,had been flying fine.An aileron control horn was detached when I got to the model that was in 3 pieces! There was hardly any glue holding it in place..It would be better to let us glue our own.

Spit is now repaired and ready to go again,though she`s not as pretty as before.

[Rene V]

Hi Spitfire enthousiasts,
anyone had a problem with the elevator foam hinge ? Crashed my spit after a snaproll. Was at about 40m and it went down vertical with no response on up input on TX. The tail section was undamaged except the ripped hinge of the elevator. No crashes before and about 10 flights in Total.
Might be a good idea to change to nylon hinges before yours also let go.
Spare wings arrived today so mine will fly again !

[Jake Bullit]

Looks great. Good luck with your maiden.

[cepellod]

I am putting together the 1200mm Spitfire Mk IXc. I really love the Spitfire and it's history. The 1200mm Spitfire, does the original proud and the kit quality is out standing, I am very happy to have found Motion RC and my purchase.

I last flew RC 25 yrs ago and had, the bug pretty bad back then. I scratch built and flew a 1/5 scale Waco biplane back then. I am retired now and have the time and the thought of flying a Spitfire has rekindled my interest in flying again. I always flew methanol gas powered airplanes .40 to 1.20 two and four stroke engines. Going electric is a challenge for me. I has meant a real change in thinking, lithium batteries and their care and feeding are a completely new technology for me, but I am making progress in this direction. I am also amazed by the brushless motors and their control system. My only issue with the kit, there was an unequal amount of throw between the left and right wing flaps, which I could not balance out, with the ball clevis's provided. I went on line an ordered some straight linkage with a z bend for the servo arm and through type clevis for the Bell crank. I was able to trim out the imbalance that way. I think when model was assembled one servo arm was one tooth off from the other and there was no way to pull the servo to correct this error. I don't have the full flap throw that was recomened but I thought the recommended amount of flap was excessive anyway.

Not one to leave well enough alone, when I first unboxed my plane, I knew what I wanted to put my own mark on the build. I decided, I wanted invasion stripes. I did some research and found a historically correct paint scheme and proceeded. I masked the areas using painters blue masking tape. This turned out not to be the best choice. After applying my flat white base coat and masking and painting the flat black stripes. When I lifted the blue masking tape, some of the camouflage paint I had been protecting and some of the flat white paint lifted away with the tape. The effect wasn't all that bad, where the paint had been lifted it left a silvery streak, which almost looked like natural wear and tear with the aluminum showing through, if only it had been horizontal in stead of vertical. Now the problem was to repair the camouflage paint and flat white areas needing attention. I am not experienced with air brushing, so I decided on brushing in the affected areas. I couldn't find a source for exact match paints, but I do have a supply of acrylic art supplies. I mixed my own paints to match the camouflage, flat white and black were no problem to match. The under and top grey's and the kaki brown were a more of a challenge. After a little bit of trial and error, I was able to match both the grey's and kaki almost perfectly, but I couldn't quite match the matte finish. No problem I decided to roll with what I had.

The next issue were the graphics. The large self sticking graphics such as the roundels were fine and I have no experience with air spray and they out of my comfort zone to tackle. But the real issues were the body lettering, the Invasion scheme was offset from the original, leaving the striping area free of lettering, and used two different sizes of letters. I used frisk paper to make stencils for the letters and this worked fairly well but some areas with compound curves on the body made sealing the frisk difficult and air brushing may have worked better than brushing and the sealing problems led to bleed over. Good thing I had made an ample amount of touch up paint to tackle the bleed over.

When you do a job like this, you are your own worst critic, and you know were all the faults and mistakes were made. Truthfully the paint job will not stand up to a super fine inspection, but if you stand a few feet way it looks pretty good and in the Air, nobody will notice anything. And I am perfectly good with that. And what I gleamed from the starboard side of my example below, is that the invasion repainting of the actual aircraft was a hurried affair and not at all times perfect, if you notice the Z and it shows a bit on the other small size lettering. I am assuming the drawings are rendering from an actual photograph of the original aircraft.

The lettering GWZ lead me to name the plane Gee-Wiz. She is ready to fly, but I am not, being twenty-five years out of practice. I have the Motion RC, Tiger Moth biplane ready for assembling and plan to practice with it before flying my Spit. So do wish me luck and I hope to have video before too long of my maiden Gee-Wiz flight.

[Clive]

Hey guys,

I am pleased to be able to join you in that I just assembled my Flightline 1200 mm Spitfire IX. I bought the Radio Link AT1011 Tx, Rx, telemetry and gyro. I also got the Motion RC recommended 4000 mAh battery, which I know must be located as far forward as possible. This is all a first for me, having come from methanol-engine RC aircraft some 35 years ago, and recently re-started on the Delta trainer.

I am seeking any help, please, with installation of the receiver, gyro and telemetry card, connecting them all up (which channels to assign to each function, where the plugs and wires go, etc), and setting it up (binding, calibration, etc.).

Any help would be much appreciated, especially photos of your installations.

Thanks

Clive

[Jake Bullit]

Maidened my Xmas present a couple of weeks ago.I`m not good with wheeled models and the grass was quite long with soft grounds ,so t/o and landings were tricky for me.Only had the hatcam on.
Been out again since and she`s till in one piece.May need to increase elevator rates for better ground handling.
Lovely plane,but I get very nervous flying something so nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmqmOc_Mx_Q

[Jake Bullit]

Got my Spit on Christmas Day and built today Boxing Day. I also got a 50GBP Christmas card from FedEx for customs from Holland to UK,I didn't receive a bill from my previous purchase back in July on a P51 800mm . Anyway she looks great, just need some weather now for a maiden flight.

[SanExup]

nicka117 It's one of the nicest warbirds, that I own, to do touch and goes. And the 1600 version. I admit, I do use a lot of expo on the rudder to help dull down my overcorrections and keep the wingtips off of the ground.

[nicka117]

Thanks guys, yeah, I like extremely slow scale flying. Love doing circuits around the field, shooting a tone of approaches and what not. I'm thinking I can put in the 6 channel spektrum receiver from my 1.1 trojan and try one of my Spektrum g2 4S 2200's. I know that's below what's recommended but I can easily get 13-15 minutes on my trojan because I'm off the throttle so much. Almost never at WOT. That seems like it will reduce the weight and make it fly slow better. Obviously I have to make sure the cg is correct with that lighter battery and not let it get tail heavy.