Official FlightLine RC 1600mm Spitfire Mk. IX Thread

[Pogo]

I'm in the middle of a great read I think any of you Spit enthusiasts would enjoy. I have read a lot of military history, especially aviation related and especially of the RAF in WW2 and this memoir ranks amongst the very best. Rather than my trying to describe it here's a link to the Amazon page where I bought it (I read on a Kindle).
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07NJ9DRCX/...22412850_TE_DP
Tom

[Elbee]

Pogo, Thanks, Tom. Will pick it up. Best, Steve

[nuts-n-volts]

Pogo, I concur. The Big Show is one of the best books written on WWII air combat, and life as a fighter pilot.

[Pogo]

Steve, you're very welcome. As nuts-n-volts has written, it is a very special memoir. I'm just to the point where plans for D-Day have been finalized. The author, who has knowledge of the date and location, cannot fly over France until the invasion for fear of being downed, captured and interrogated. It looks like he'll transition to Typhoons at some point so it will be interesting to read his views of that aircraft as well.
Tom

[steven gubala]

Great Airplane to add to my hanger

[Elbee]

Great Airplane to add to my hanger

SG, Welcome to Hobby Squawk. If you have a Flightline Spitfire, you already know how great it is, if you don't have one, I recommend it highly. Best, LB

[Hardway]

steven gubala Welcome aboard!!! Blue skys Bro!! Jerry

[Grossman56]

And welcome from me as well Steven, always great to welcome new members.
I've had mine for a few years now, its a great airplane!
In some cases, the CG was wrong, don't quite know how this happens but some of us had to add weight to the nose. In my case it was a couple of oz in front of the battery. suddenly, it was a whole different airplane. Landings were difficult, usually ending up knocking the retract out. When I added the weight, WOW I can grease it in no problem now! Just beware of the tendency to pull to the left as she completes the landing. Don't dead stick it in!!

Grossman56

[steven gubala]

Thank's for the warm welcome, I know what you mean by the cg, will give that a try and thanks for the tips greatly appreciate it.

[Vandoo]

Hello, I am a 50 year old newbie at this, both military and aviation enthusiast. This Spitfire is rated at "intermediate" skill. I have no interest in buying a small starter plane only to outgrow it after a couple of months. If I am being very, very careful, is it possible to learn the basics on this platform?

[OV10]

Hello, I am a 50 year old newbie at this, both military and aviation enthusiast. This Spitfire is rated at "intermediate" skill. I have no interest in buying a small starter plane only to outgrow it after a couple of months. If I am being very, very careful, is it possible to learn the basics on this platform?

Vandoo
Hello Vandoo and welcome to the Squawk. Glad to see that after 50 years you finally discovered the sport of RC model flying.
So to get to the bottom line of your question without any BS the answer is NO.
This sport is so indicative of the expression "walk before you run" when it comes to skill progression.
As a flight instructor, I saw many a starry eyed beginner that wanted to fly that big ol' warbird right from the get go.
The initial comments after the first flight with an instructor was something like "I would have crashed had I tried this myself"
Tail dragging warbirds are definitely a higher skill set to learn and no matter how very, very careful your intensions are, the probability
of disappointment, frustration and most likely loss of your new found prize are high with the odds being against you without some level of
skilled mentorship involved.
There are other threads in this forum dedicated to inquiring minds of novice flyers such as yourself looking for recommendations and the such and would suggest
that you spend some time perusing the forum and asking the questions there.
Take your time to learn and the experience will be long lasting and much more enjoyable as you head down the path to becoming a warbird pilot.

Best regards,

[Vandoo]

Thanks for a very insightful reply Charlie :)

[Elbee]

Vandoo, Welcome to the 'Squawk'. What OV10 wrote is sage advice. You will find the gentlemen and gentle-ladies here are most helpful. Glad you're on board. Best, LB

[steven gubala]

Welcome aboard Vandoo, starting off with an aircraft of that size should be a no no, especially if you have little or no experience at all. try going with a apprentance, or timber to start off. Nose landing aircrafts are completely different than tail dragger aircrafts.Good luck.

[Austang]

As was suggested for my son and I when we started flying, A high wing trainer, such as a cub or something similar in a taildragger, but more importantly you should start of with a flight simulator, we started of with Realflight 9 RC Airplane Flight Simulator w/ Interlink DX Controller MD 2 MD2 ,it worked well for us, you can fly what you want and crash as many times as you need lol.
Hopefully this link works.

[Hardway]

All true!!! Take your time and then you will be addicted for life!!! Welcome Bro!!! Jerry

[Grossman56]

So, how many guys here have been in this exact same place, raise your hands!

What you have to decide is whether to spend your money on a trainer that you will outgrow, assuming that the airplane survives the journey, or spend the same hard earned dollars to change expensive foam into trash liner. Going the trainer route will theoretically, give you an airplane that you could sell when you've outgrown it. Food for thought.
I own the 1600 mm Spitfire and I can tell you that it is definitely not a starter airplane. Do you know how to properly CG an airplane? Do you know the difference in flight performance between a tail heavy and a nose heavy airplane? Aircraft setup is a huge factor in the success of any flight. Do you know how to properly set up an airplane? Do you know about the P factor when taking off with a tail dragger and especially when landing this narrow legged girl?
There are a lot of steps that get you to a point of proficiency to be able to fly and enjoy these types of airplanes.
Don't get me wrong, my Spitty is one of my favorite airplanes to fly, but she gave me grief at first until I got the CG correct, the book CG, in my case, was wrong.
As for outgrowing your trainers, mine has a place of honor hanging from the ceiling, still in one piece. The next planes I flew were the Pandoras (I have two). Realize, I have warbirds and jets that I fly and just maidened my Flex Innovations RV-8 last weekend. I took two planes to the field, the other one was my trusty Pandora, enough said.

Grossman56

[boomer108]

Welcome Vandoo! I was in that same place when I started out. I started with a trainer though but thought a minimal length of flying time was enough to advance to the Corsair warbird I always wanted to fly. Big mistake! Not only was I not ready for that plane but the manufactures recommended cg was way off and whoa buddy what a handful. Thank God I landed in a tree and didn't auger it in. I Fixed the damage and put away and in the meantime I bought a Pandora and set it up as a low wing tail dragger to get used to how a warbird will handle except the Pandora is very forgiving. Just like Grossman I still enjoy flying it along with my three warbirds. Take your time don't rush and enjoy the hobby and might I suggest try the Pandora. Good luck and good flying.

[Evan D]

I also extend a hearty welcome. I started flying a long time ago and when I had money to move into RC in the mid 70's I had 10 years of building and flying control line and free flight. Why do I say that? Well to fly them, especially free flight, I learned how to build (balsa) , balance, and set up a plane to be stable. I also learned how to repair. My favorite plane then, and still a top three, was the Fokker Tri Plane. One of the most difficult planes to fly. I did build one free flight and it surprisingly didn't fly bad. But to fly one RC was my target.

My first RC build was a Das Little stick and while not really a trainer it was at least high wing. After a couple flights and a couple rebuilds I got an ARF, a Lanier Comet. I really learned to fly with that plane and a Jr Falcon .049 over the winter of 76. About then I bought my dream kit, a VK Tri Plane. Many planes later and after flying a lot of slope gliders and even a foray into gyro-less glow helos I started building the Trip in 1979 and finished it in 1980. I have to say I was in the Navy back then and I was transferring between Memphis, Whidbey, Lemoore, Miramar for my technical schools before ending up on the Midway for 1977-1979 and then to the Eisenhower for 1980. Both building and flying time were hard to come by. But after that I was at Pensacola for three years and then to Rota Spain, Guam, Pt. Mugu, and Guam again (each for three years) before ending my career on the Constellation in 1996.



While at Pensacola in 1981 I finally got the time and proficiency to fly that Tri Plane. I flew the heck out of it, hundreds of flightsa , many bad bad landings. But I kept flying it and after the military and moving to Charlotte I still flew it on that special occasion. I've been here in Charlotte for 25 years now and still have that Tri plane. It's electric now and almost sacred to me. I still fly it now and then but not very often. But you know one thing? It's gotten so easy to fly after all these years.

Times are different now. People don't take a couple years to build a plane. You can buy it and have it ready to fly in a day or two, and have a good flying plane. You have the internet (thanks Al Gore!) with unlimited opinions (good and bad) about what to do and how to do it. And we now have gyros and flight controllers. With that I say get what YOU want to fly. Ask for help at the local RC club, ask for the local pro to do the first check and trim flight. Then get some flight time on it in the air with the pro taking it off and landing it. The big Spitfire is actually a very good and relatively easy to fly war bird. It's big and big is easier to see and fly. And from a price perspective it's even not that expensive when you do finally crash it. And personally I think you should think that way. Many say they are investing in this and that talking about this hobby. You aren't. These are all expendable toys. Don't get attached to them or you will be unhappy. Be happy when you get a good flight because the next (even after 50+ years of flying) may not be a good flight.

Do what you want to do. Follow your dreams.

And again, welcome!

[AirHead]

Hello, I am a 50 year old newbie at this, both military and aviation enthusiast. This Spitfire is rated at "intermediate" skill. I have no interest in buying a small starter plane only to outgrow it after a couple of months. If I am being very, very careful, is it possible to learn the basics on this platform?

Hello Vandoo (22)
In 1971, My folks gave me this book to learn from and I built 2 balsa free flight planes and used a Jetex 50, solid fuel thrust engine to fly them. Then I got my first COX Control Line trainer. Every kid wanted radio control, but it was too far off in "adult land" ....Fast forward to 2009 and I got my first electric RC plane! An FW190. I crashed it to pieces. I was sure I knew how to fly! My girlfriend at the time said: "You need a trainer!"....."Even us girls need a trainer!"....Wow! So, I bought a Hobby Zone Super Cub and I really got my money's worth learning flight again with that plane. A Phoenix Flight Simulator helped with many hours spent flying warbirds. Finally I bought the ominous F4U Corsair and others. I also got into floatplanes and jets and the collection is growing. The folks on this forum are flying experts; they really know how to do it!...One needs to put quite some hours into the learning curve, but once you get it, it will give you positive feedback and it will become your ticket to bigger and better planes....