Official FlightLine RC 1600mm Spitfire Mk. IX Thread

[Hardway]

Rob, Putting water down is the only way to go. Works great and positioning is simple. Be careful when you 'squeegee' the water out towards the sides of the decal as not to dent the foam. Paper towel works. Within a few minutes, the decal will stick on its own and you can squeegee again to smooth it out completely. Best, LB

If you put in one drop, maybe two at the most, of dishwashing liquid, like Dawn or similar in the water bowl, it helps beak the surface tension of the water and helps the lubricity of the decal fluid for positioning... Just don't make it sudsy. One drop will do!! I cheated and used Callie's stuff, but her graphics can be positioned in the same fashion.... FYI. Good luck and have fun!!

Jerry

[RCAV8R]

Thanks Jerry...I thought the A-10 had a lot, but...! :Drooling:Rob

[meadowhay]

I had the same thing on take off on my last flight. You have to let up on the elevator and get the tail up, let her run and get some lift on the wings, the motor has a tendency to drag it in the air when the wings haven't enough lift. Next thing I knew, she was standing on her left wing about 4 feet off the ground. Stuart's video really helped, especially the tip of switching from high rates when taxiing to low for take off. I finally had some good landings when I didn't try to pin the tail, but used the rudder to control direction until the speed was down. I was talking to a guy at Wings and Wheels who has big military drones and he said something interesting about the tendency to tip on a wing. Instead of having the wheels completely straight, he suggested a slight toe out. That way, it would tend to swing the airplane to the same side as the wheel in contact with the ground (or, at least no swing at all), instead of, say the right wheel wanting to swing the plane to the left, therefore dragging the right wingtip on the pavement as opposed to his suggestion which would swing the plane in the opposite direction, keeping the tips off the ground, does that make sense?? He said it would only have to be maybe a degree of toe out.

Grossman56

Toe out is usually a recipe for disaster, particularly with a model like the Spitfire. I don't know about curing any wing dragging tendencies, but it will certainly exacerbate the wandering on the ground.
Toe-in tries to auto correct any drifting from course by causing extra drag on the tyre on the outside of the turn, correcting it before it develops.
Toe-out will do exactly the opposite, creating drag on the inside of the turn, leading to a sharper turn with more drag on the inside... and so it goes on.
Try it, by all means, but be ready to dance on those rudder pedals

[Hardway]

Yes

be ready to dance on those rudder pedals

[Grossman56]

Well, I figured I'd ask, since I haven't head any mention of toeing out, but what you guys are saying makes sense. Besides, I'm dancing on the rudder pedals enough already!!

Grossman56

[Elbee]

Toe out is usually a recipe for disaster, particularly with a model like the Spitfire, be ready to dance on those rudder pedals

I have an ancient Pica (Dave Platt) Spitfire 65" Wingspan near 9 lbs. I have it toed in about 2 degrees each side and it is still a handful on a crosswind day, toe-out is not a remedy for consistent take-offs. I accelerate slowly at first and the tail rises quickly, once up I concentrate on keeping it straight 'enough' to stay on the runway, once back under full control, I rotate. This process takes about 5-6 seconds and a bit more real estate than most tricycle geared aircraft. At no time am I at full throttle and this Pica model doesn't have flaps. I have yet to finish my 1600mm Spittie, though I would presume the process to be the same. Best, LB

[Ole-Timer]

Never toe out, always insure there’s a degree or two of toe in. If your field conditions are anything like mine, your retracts will get some slop in them after several dozen landings. Manually twist your tires and make sure any wear has not caused a toe out condition. If it has, remove the retract from the servo and file the flat just enough so remounting it will keep the tire toe in to straight at worst case. I’ve had to do this with my Me262, P-38, and Tigercat retracts. So far my Spitfires are still fine but my Mk IX right gear is getting some wear and will be needing replaced or overhauled for next season.

I never use full up elevator during my takeoff run, just a little and I simply stay with the model and correct all surfaces as required so she comes up on her mains and flies herself off.

[RCAV8R]

I was up until 1 AM this morning putting on decals and stickers! I thought the A-10 was tough, but those yellow leading edge stickers about had my OCD cured! Later I'm going to try and write some steps for what I learned for posterity...there are definitely some things I learned the hard way that others can avoid. Rob

[Hardway]

Yep!!! That is why I painted the LE of both wings and the fuselage band.... Decals and compound curves like that make your head want to pop!!! LOL

[Hardway]

Painting them was not a lot of fun either, but there are no wrinkles or gaps!!! :Cool:

[RCAV8R]

Okay, so while my memory still serves, here is what I learned that I would pass on to those applying their stickers/decals for the first time:

1) Check Callie's website for instructions on how to apply using the wet method. I would recommend it especially for this plane, due to the many compound curves you have to deal with. It is impossible to get it right the first time!
2) There are two types of stickers; peel and stick (roundels) and transfer (white letters). There is only one sheet of waterslide (nomenclature). I recommend looking for the foam "stars" or burrs that are left from the mold and removing them with a light sandpaper. They will cause the decals to bubble. Clean with alcohol. I did not remove all the stars, but looked at each decal individually before application so as to determine just which ones would need to be removed.
3) Start with the light green band on the fuse (just ahead of the tail). The key to this decal is placing the top and bottom edges so that they line up with the top and bottom seams and overlap center by just a fraction (1/16 inch). That is how you know you have the right position. The wider side of the band faces the nose. This decal will bubble and working it for a long time does work out a lot of the unwanted wrinkles.
4) Next place the fuse roundel according to the measurement in the directions (145mm). Look for places where the decal intersects vertical and horizontal panel lines and the horizontal line along the bottom of the fuse for reference. This will help to line up the opposing side.
5) Note that the starboard and port sides of the fuse are different in regards to the markings, so I would start on the port side. Using the roundel as reference, and following the horizontal panel lines, put on the letters on each side of the roundel. Then apply the black waterslide serial number, again using the horizontal panel line for reference.
6) Now do the starboard side, noting that the waterslide serial numbers do have to go on LAST so as to go over the white letters. If the roundel is the proper distance from the band, all will work perfectly.
7) The wing roundels are straightforward, just use panel lines for reference and wet the surface and sticker so as to ensure you can adjust the placement.
8) The ensign on the tail is straightforward. Use the rudder and bottom for reference and place to as to get the 45 degree angle at the right spot on the leading edge of the tail (without overlap).
9) The leading edge yellow strips are a bugger and I don't know that I figured out how to successfully do them. I struggled to see the exact "fit". The matching edges are paired on the paper, and the red spots for the covering over gun ports are inboard closer to the cannon. The ends of the yellow end up at the lights. Eventually I came up with a process of placing the centerline of the upper and lower decals so that they overlapped and stuck together at the center. Then I worked the edges up and down out to the wing. The tips nearest the lights were not quite centered and tended to drift more up onto the upper edge as the curve was accentuated more there. Just work to get the centerline, knowing there will be overlap, and work the two together like crazy until the wrinkles are gone.
10) After that, everything is easy (although I haven't done the black striping yet)! :Cool:

I hope this helps for those who follow! Tally Ho! Rob

[axerhand1976]

it must be just me but, how do you guys install the callie graphics decal to the dash? if I start to peel it off the sticky part is on the back ? thx

[Elbee]

it must be just me but, how do you guys install the Callie graphics decal to the dash? if I start to peel it off the sticky part is on the back ? thx

Axe, Not certain I understand, but the Callie Graphics Instrument panel I received is a photo-print to be used with the MotionRC Cockpit kit. I simply glued it to the back of the instrument panel in that kit using clear SOBO glue that dries clear. You might have a different decal set than I. Best, LB

[axerhand1976]

thx , the one I got is a decal with a sticky backing, I guess I will try and glue it with ur suggested glue.

[Elbee]

thx , the one I got is a decal with a sticky backing, I guess I will try and glue it with ur suggested glue.

Axe, Do you have the MotionRC cockpit kit as well? If so, use the same glue to fill in the dials to simulate glass. This will also help keep the decal in place. Best, LB

[Sheriffjohn]

Your blue box is working normally, I believe.

It appears that the blue box is the same on the p38, f7f, and big Spitfire. It has a sequencer in it that will output to the gear door ports as soon as you hit "gear down" on the xmttr, and will output to the gear ports after a short delay. The only one of the 3 planes that needs this delay is the p38 since it has servo actuated gear doors. So on the p38 the delay allows the gear doors to open without racing with the gear; on the f7f and Spitfire, it simply results in a short delay in the gear dropping.

Don

Don, I got a new blue box from Motion RC and you are right. The box I had is working properly. So no matter how I configure the setup, there is a delay from the time I turn the switch to when the retracts actually start to move. This still bothers me, so I bypassed one of the retracts and plugged the other retract into the blue box. Doesn't matter which location. With this configuration, one retracts operates at the same time when the switch is pulled, then the other retract goes up a little later. I'm good with that.

Regarding the quality of the blue box, I believe that the problem with all the intermittent issues I've heard about is due to how the 3 cables are soldered onto the board. There are no strain reliefs and the solder points on the board are very tiny. Any kind of tugging on the cables can pull/break off the solder.

The replacement had one wire not attached!

When I installed the blue box, I took a glue gun and filled the area around the cables and box. I also glued the ends of the cables to the foam so there isn't any strain on the box of any kind.

SJ

[axerhand1976]

thx Elbee, I do have the cockpit kit from motion. I was going to use 30 min epoxy because it dries clear to but I will try the sobu glue since it is cheaper.

[Elbee]

thx Elbee, I do have the cockpit kit from motion. I was going to use 30 min epoxy because it dries clear to but I will try the Axe, sobu glue since it is cheaper.

Axe, you won't regret it. I use it for anything clear including domes on ordinance. It took three applications to fill the 3DP instrument panel void to the point it looked right. Works for lots of stuff; just takes a while to dry. Post pics as you progress. Best, LB

[RCAV8R]

Got back from weekend #2 with my Spit...flights 7-13. Man, do I love this bird!! I was up this week a couple of times until 1 AM putting on decals and doing some panel line detail. I wanted them it be subtle and didn't want to do a whole wash and weathering, so I painted the rivots and panel lines with a small brush and then wiped off. Tedious, but I like the look. To see it, you don't think there is a difference, but side by side (I wish I had taken more "before" pics) it pops more now.I'll try for some glamor shots later, but here is what I have, FYI! Rob

[axerhand1976]

well crap, I had to use epoxy because in my crappy town no one sells sobo……..oh well. xd