Official FlightLine RC 1600mm Spitfire Mk. IX Thread

[Shirty]

I fly the Futaba Radio Systems (18 SZ & 14 SG) and setup a multi-lock). Gotta throw a switch and rotate the left hand slider forward. Hasn't failed me yet. That and propellers off till setup complete....

Sorry mate the comment on throttle lock wasn't aimed at you, was just a general comment in regards to the throttle lock conversation. Was too lazy to write a new post. ;-p (I'm also futaba). I was just giving you grats on the maiden mate.

Another tip id pass on to all is to ensure all your switches are set in a way that if you accidentally hit one, it makes the plane easier to fly, not harder. Obviously doesn't work with throttle lock, but rates, flaps, gear etc. Depends how you hold your transmitter, but if your fingers can bump a switch, make sure the switch direction makes it easier to fly. Eg: if rates, the switch would go from hi to low, not vice versa.

otooles law: Murphy was an optimist. :-)

[radfordc]

radfordc,

First, it's good to hear you didn't get injured. These electric motors/props do serious damage to human flesh. I won't go into the safety speech as that's already been pointed out.
But, if you broke all your blades I would give your backplate a serious look over. Breaking all your blades put some serious stress on it. You may want to check the straightness of your prop shaft as well. To be on the safe side I'd order a whole new propeller assembly and not just new blades.

Yes, I thought about that. I checked the motor shaft and I don't see any runout or vibration. The spinner isn't damaged in any visible way. I intend to order the complete prop/spinner as a replacement. I am also going to set the throttle hold as I should have. I've been messing with electric planes for 10 years or so and this is the first "accidental" prop incident....complacency is a problem.

[radfordc]

radfordc,

But, if you broke all your blades I would give your backplate a serious look over. Breaking all your blades put some serious stress on it. You may want to check the straightness of your prop shaft as well

I took a closer look at the spinner backplate and there is damage there for sure. You can see the stress cracks at the blade roots. It's like that for all the blades.

[aring32]

Hey all, I coated my spitfire with Minwax and Varathane, and the results are nice, it looks quite a bit like the refractive metal surface of a real spitfire.

I also cut out the cockpit side door and have to say it needs some work although looks nice from a distance.

Here are before/after pictures of when i treated it; i brushed on a coat of the minwax-satin, and then the varathane-semi-gloss.

Maiden will be tomorrow at a war bird meet.

[aring32]

MAIDEN- I was quite nervous about the maiden, didn't know if there were going to be unexpected flight characteristics i should have known about, but once it took off on its own, my worries were rested.

It flies just beautifully, plenty of power, very predictable and definitely a cruiser

This thing is so dang awesome I've been flying the fms 1400mm p51 for years and this spitfire blows it out of the sky!

But one of the things i love about it except that its a spitfire is its vertical, it would just go up, up until i can barely see it and have to force it to come back down to mother earth. An example of it is in the pictures. I see no need for mods to make it faster as it already satisfy's my need for speed and its even probably to scale with the full size spitfire in terms of how fast it goes.



One thing i did do is make a channel to give the elevator a lot more throw for taxing, taking off, and landing. It definitely makes it a bit easier on grass.
I forgot to flip it on the 3rd flight and it flipped over on landing, but no worries, the rudder's top is just a bit crinkled but hot water will probably take care of it.

Overall, This spitfire is the #1 in my hangar.

[hellcat716]

The #32 yellow leading edge decals for the wing. Does it matter which side they go on? They are not marked left or right. Thanks for any info.

[MesRcPilot]

Hello Hellcat , two red markers(on yellow leading decals stripes) They are getting closer to the fuselage.....If we think of the same..Ciao
Note: post 1284 above, see colleagues Aring32, fourth and fifth images.

[TwistedGrin]

Flew the FMS 1500mm P-47, then the FMS 1700mm P-47 via modified power plant, then the FMS 1450mm P-51 via modified power plant, then the new Flightline 1600mm Spitfire.

Flightline 1600mm Spitfire hands down.....best of this bunch.

TwistedGrin

[spec450]

Those who know me know that I love Corsairs; they are my favorite prop warbird with the P-51 a close second. Many don't know of my love for Spitfires, there is something about that elliptical wing that I find sexy. When FlightLine RC and Motion RC announced the 1600mm Spitfire I preordered within an hour of the announcement.

The build was super easy for this ARF although the wiring from the wing to the receiver in the fuselage is a bit of a mess but nothing unmanageable, I'll need to do some thinking on how to clean it up and make it easier to remove the wing for transport. It’s not too bad now but I think it could be better.

I knew when I ordered the plane that I wanted to do something different with it, almost every spitfire you see has the British Roundels on in which make sense since it was a British fighter but I wanted something to set my plane apart from the others. I looked at what Callie Graphics had for the Spitfire and found one with U.S. markings which is what I wanted. I started with the base graphics of Maj. Garth Jared's Eleanor; he commanded the 309^th Fighter Squadron from November 9^th, 1943 until his death in action on April 18^th, 1944.

I asked Callie for some changes and she was happy to oblige. I changed Eleanor to Terri in honor of my wife for supporting my aviation addiction and putting up with all the planes I have. I changed Maj. Garth Jared's name to my name, I thought about giving myself a promotion to Colonel but the research I did seemed to indicate that very few above Major were flying combat missions, I did find a couple of Lt. Colonels though. I changed his two Nazi kills to three because that’s my favorite number and finally the lettering on the side of the plane. The WZ was the squadron identifier, Major Garth's plane was WZ GJ (his initials) so I changed the GJ to DK (my initials). My decals arrived within a few days and looked great; Callie puts out a quality product, if you interested her website is www.callie-graphics.com

On maiden day when I left home there was really no wind, when I got to the field there was a 90 degree crosswind. Anyone who's flown a Spitfire knows they can be a handful in a crosswind with the narrow gear. I waited quite a few hours for the wind to be acceptable for my maiden.

I’m running an Admiral 6 cell, 5000mAh, 50C battery pushed all the way forward, I didn't check where the CG was, this is the battery and position that one of the test pilots from Motion was using and he liked how it flew.

Takeoffs are pretty straight forward, advance the throttle slow and steady and use right rudder to counteract the torque, a little up elevator and your flying. I didn't notice any bad habits on the three take offs that I had. It’s worth a little extra time to get the tail wheel straight when setting up the plane so it’ll track straight when taking off and landing.

The plane looks beautiful in the air and is a joy to fly. Most of the flights were done at 1/2 throttle which gave it scale looking speeds. Low presentation passes were done at 1/2 and full throttle. The plane tracks nice and straight in big loops and rolls are really nice.

I did my landings without flaps and they were a nonevent, on final I was at ¼ throttle, over the runway threshold I cut the power and she settled right in. I’ll need to experiment with the landing technique but I suspect with flaps or wind you’re going to need to carry a little power in to keep things stable. Once the mains were on the runway the small crosswind caused the left wind to rise thus scraping the right wing on the runway. I think some kind of protection is in order, perhaps some kind of clear tape on the wing tip bottoms to help minimize the scuffing.

On the third landing I bounced a bit so I powered up and went around for another try, being low and slow and hitting the power means lots of right rudder. About 20' above the corn on downwind I felt my next strap's buckle had become twisted at the transmitter. I don’t know why I cared but I jerked my hand to free it and in the process pushed full down elevator and into the corn I went. That was completely my fault and a lessoned learned.

Based on my three flights I'd say this is an honest flying plane, I kept the plane on low rates as called out in the manual with 30% expo and that turned out to be perfect for me and my style of flying.

I'd like to give a big thank you to Connor and Duane's son Griffen for going in the corn with me to find and retrieve the plane. The damage isn't really as bad as I had expected, a little Foam-Tac and she'll be back in the air keeping the skies same from the enemy.

Motion RC and FlightLine RC have another winner with this plane; the quality of the foam and paint is excellent. I’m looking forward to many more flights this summer.

Have you ever looked into "SPITFIRE 944" It was an american marked Spitfire Mk. XI all blue with no guns. I believe it was part of the 7th Photo Recon group based int he UK.

[Oxotnik]

Have you ever looked into "SPITFIRE 944" It was an american marked Spitfire Mk. XI all blue with no guns. I believe it was part of the 7th Photo Recon group based int he UK.

I think I saw this one in USAF Museum in Dayton today.

[MesRcPilot]

Here it is : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie3SrjLlcUY

[spec450]

Here it is : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie3SrjLlcUY

Yep! amazing video. When I finally get this model, that's how I'll be painting it.

[CDN_Iceman]

I am proud to say I am the owner of a new Spitfire. The plane is together and all that is left is to apply the markings and balance the plane.

Please bare with me as I am not new to the hobby but I am to warbirds. How do you balance your plane. I mean do you balance the plane right side up or upside down. I have read lots of reasons for either. I am in the opinion of balancing the plane upside down with the wheels retracted. I have many large sport planes that I balance upside down. I also have a large cub and due to its wing attachment I balance right side up,

On another note I took my battery hatch and one of the wing attachment brackets to Home Depot so they could match the color of the plane. I don't like seeing black servos on the bottom of my wing.

[downwindleg]

I am proud to say I am the owner of a new Spitfire. The plane is together and all that is left is to apply the markings and balance the plane.

Please bare with me as I am not new to the hobby but I am to warbirds. How do you balance your plane. I mean do you balance the plane right side up or upside down. I have read lots of reasons for either. I am in the opinion of balancing the plane upside down with the wheels retracted. I have many large sport planes that I balance upside down. I also have a large cub and due to its wing attachment I balance right side up,

On another note I took my battery hatch and one of the wing attachment brackets to Home Depot so they could match the color of the plane. I don't like seeing black servos on the bottom of my wing.

Yeah, I get that on the servo thing and welcome to the forum. Haven't gotten around to that as I try not to jinx the plane with too many details before I've got some flights under my belt. As to the cg, I balanced it right side up and because the gear retract basically side to side vs front to back, I balanced mine gear down. I'm using an Admiral 5000mah battery and it's pushed all the way forward and flies great. There's video of my maiden some pages back. Take off and landing on the mains just like the real deal. Tracks great, axial rolls, loops, power stalls, etc. ENJOY, Brad

[CDN_Iceman]

Yeah, I get that on the servo thing and welcome to the forum. Haven't gotten around to that as I try not to jinx the plane with too many details before I've got some flights under my belt. As to the cg, I balanced it right side up and because the gear retract basically side to side vs front to back, I balanced mine gear down. I'm using an Admiral 5000mah battery and it's pushed all the way forward and flies great. There's video of my maiden some pages back. Take off and landing on the mains just like the real deal. Tracks great, axial rolls, loops, power stalls, etc. ENJOY, Brad

Thanks for the reply Brad.
Just one question regarding your comment about the battery moved all the way forward. Are you saying the battery is as far forward on the battery tray or beyond that?

Thanks

Jeff

[downwindleg]

Thanks for the reply Brad.
Just one question regarding your comment about the battery moved all the way forward. Are you saying the battery is as far forward on the battery tray or beyond that?

Thanks

Jeff

Hey Jeff, at the front end of the battery tray there is a white plastic reinforcement bulkhead with a cross through the middle of it. I push my battery all the way forward against that bulkhead. Actually it's kind of handy because it acts as an automatic backstop and I don't have to pay too much attention to markings I usually put on the inside of the fuse for reference on other planes. Brad

[CDN_Iceman]

Hey Jeff, at the front end of the battery tray there is a white plastic reinforcement bulkhead with a cross through the middle of it. I push my battery all the way forward against that bulkhead. Actually it's kind of handy because it acts as an automatic backstop and I don't have to pay too much attention to markings I usually put on the inside of the fuse for reference on other planes. Brad

Thanks Brad

[CDN_Iceman]

Today was an amazing day for my maiden flight.

There was a slight head wind coming down the run way but it didn't matter. I rolled the plane out for the taxi and proceeded with my take off. Once I was in the air I only had to make to clicks of up elevator and the plane flew amazing. I just don't believe how well the plane flies at half throttle and the scale appearance it has in the sky. While I played with the flaps to see how they would work I didn't use them to land. I have used flaps on other planes but I seem to have my flap to elevator adjustment off a bit. I will continue to work on this but the plane is just flies great. The take offs and landing on a grassy field where scale and very predicable.

I was able to get five flights with some inverted flying, slow victory rolls and even a knife edge lol. I just wanted to know the performance of the plane and I was not disappointed.

Thank you Motion RC as I thought the P38 and the A10 were great looking planes I am glad I waited for this plane. Thank you Calligrahics for the cool looking George "Buzz" Beurling markings.

Jeff

[Aros]

Today was not a good day.

I took the Spitfire up to the school and it was a perfect day for flying. Put my newer Admiral 6S 5000 in, did my usual pre-flight check, everything looked great. Took off uneventfully and flew my usual pattern and scale maneuvers with ease as usual.

Then suddenly it lost all power, she torque-rolled starboard side and smashed into the roof of the school. I had the plane flying over the parking lot and suddenly the wing dipped starboard and my immediate thought was "Wow that's a healthy gust of wind!" but when I saw that none of my inputs were responding I knew it was toast and all I could do was pray it wouldn't cause any real damage to the property. Turns out the principal was there. I didn't think anyone was there at the time. I noticed a door was open so I called out for someone and two ladies popped out of a room and I explained what had happened. My concern had nothing to do with my plane, but the fact that there was a LiPo battery up there and I didn't know what condition it was in. Thoughts of a fire swirled through my mind.

They brought me down to the principal's office - first time I can say that in 35 years - and I met with him, explained what had happened and my concern.

The good news, besides the fact that nobody was hurt nor any real damage to anything occurred, is that the roof is metal. Even IF the battery exploded it wouldn't do any real harm. He said the maintenance people wouldn't be able to retrieve it until tomorrow. However, I was concerned due to the high heat, sitting exposed to the metal roof but I was assured by a friend with decent knowledge of LiPo's that it is unlikely to catch fire if it didn't at the point of impact. I returned later in the day with binoculars to look at the battery and it was all alone with nothing around it to catch fire if worst-case-scenerio took place. And the principal was leaving when I was there the second time, so we spoke again and he said he actually had one of his maintenance guys show up and he assessed it and felt it was okay to leave until tomorrow AM.

The entire front of the plane was ripped off at impact. Motor, spinner, firewall, everything. The LiPo was ejected about 6 feet in front of the resting spot of the model. It's a total loss.

For the record myself and other folks have flown at this school for over a decade. This is the first time a model has hit the actual school and I feel terrible about it. I wasn't flying over the school when it occurred, but the roll spun it over to the roof where it hit. I have no idea what caused the sudden loss of power. Until I retrieve the model (and even then, I may never know the cause), I can only speculate. My first gut instinct is a receiver brown-out that couldn't be restored in time to save it. Or loose wire connection somewhere? Everything seemed fine during my inspection at pre flight. ESC? Something else? No idea.

Just bummed all around today. :(

[downwindleg]

Hey Jeff, unlike any other plane I can think of, it actually takes mixing up elevator with the flaps instead of down.........I've got mine set at 15% up if that's any help. Brad