Official FlightLine RC 1600mm Spitfire Mk. IX Thread

[TSHobbies]

Got mine ready to fly! Hope to maiden this weekend. Graphics from Callie... the nose art was washed out a good bit from the original ,not sure what happened there, but I did the best I could with the airbrush to bring back the colors.

[radfordc]

Today I installed a sound system in my Spit. I used the Mr. RC sound system with two TT-25 transducers. I mounted the transducers inside the underwing radiators. I removed the radiators without damaging them, glued a piece of 1/32" plywood to the interior surface, and glued the transducer to the plywood. I had to carve out a little bit of foam from the wing surface but only about a 1/4" or so. In the shop the sound is deafening; we'll see how it does in the air.

[Shirty]

Cool, got any pics of the install? Planning to fit a spare 4.1 system in mine.

[radfordc]

No, I didn't take any pics, but the installation was dead simple. I mounted the sound board directly behind the "blue box". I drilled 10mm holes at an angle through the wing from the radiator location to the sound board so that I could run the transducer wires. I used medium thick CA to glue everything. A real advantage of this mounting scheme is that there is cool air blowing over the transducers at all times.

[CDN_Iceman]

No, I didn't take any pics, but the installation was dead simple. I mounted the sound board directly behind the "blue box". I drilled 10mm holes at an angle through the wing from the radiator location to the sound board so that I could run the transducer wires. I used medium thick CA to glue everything. A real advantage of this mounting scheme is that there is cool air blowing over the transducers at all times.

This is the next task on my spit is to mount my sound system. I would love to see any pictures you can provide. I am currently weathering my plane right now.

Jeff

[Ole-Timer]

I finished my second Spitfire as an Australian Mk VIII Grey Nurse, Bobby Gibbes Aircraft. I layed open the outside of the rudder, installed a thin plywood template that enveloped the rudder in one piece then used balsa fillers to form the larger pointed rudder. As Callie’s original shark mouth was all wrong, I made a new pattern and sent that to her. She will now produce that version for this plane. I specifically had her remove the black center from the mouth as I air brushed that, along with several other things.

Bob

[Shirty]

Awesome. Aussie spits fly better, it's a fact. ;) nice job mate.

[rifleman_btx]

^YES!

[Grossman56]

Looks great, welcome to the forum as well!!
As a matter of interest, are any of you Aussy crew thinking of getting the new AT-6 and making a Whirraway out of it?
I'm positive that Australia was was the only country that used the T-6 as a fighter variant against the Zero, so pretty rare I would say, and uniquely Australian too!

Grossman56

[Ole-Timer]

Thanks, I appreciate that.

I learned to fly control line in 1969. Flew lots of 1/2A and several of the bigger ones through the 70’s. First learned RC on a single stick set up in 1979.

I have purchased all the 1600mm FlightLine warbirds to date. Each handle and land different for obvious reasons. I fly everything I own on the largest battery’s I can stuff in. The Spitfire has so much wing area that I’m using an 8000mAh with no issues at all. One thing particular to this Spitfire is how well it floats in ground effect when brought in too fast. It’s an airframe that you need to practice slow flight with and shoot approaches with the airspeed just right, not too fast. I prefer full on wheel landings, not three pointers. I’ve trimmed the front end of the gear doors up a full half inch as we have a nasty thing called crab grass that will grab those and flip the plane over with stock doors on.

The AT-6 looks cool, I just wish Eflite would send warbirds out with no markings as I get tired of having to deal with removing them constantly.

Shirty, I visited Perth back in Jan 1981 when “Indy”, CV62 USS Independence stopped by. Worked the flight deck then... Man, that was a lifetime ago. :f4phantom We had Phantoms on deck then.

Bob

[radfordc]

One thing particular to this Spitfire is how well it floats in ground effect when brought in too fast. It’s an airframe that you need to practice slow flight with and shoot approaches with the airspeed just right, not too fast. I prefer full on wheel landings, not three pointers.

You are exactly right. Last week I was flying on a dead calm day and landing the Spit as you describe. The other guys were amazed how slow the plane landed.

[Plastic_Aviator]

I finished my second Spitfire as an Australian Mk VIII Grey Nurse, Bobby Gibbes Aircraft. I layed open the outside of the rudder, installed a thin plywood template that enveloped the rudder in one piece then used balsa fillers to form the larger pointed rudder. As Callie’s original shark mouth was all wrong, I made a new pattern and sent that to her. She will now produce that version for this plane. I specifically had her remove the black center from the mouth as I air brushed that, along with several other things.

Bob

That looks beautiful! Makes me wish I would have went with accurate decals on mine. Maybe I'll do that in the future. Heres a pic of mine converted to the Clipped Wing variant!

[Ole-Timer]

Sweet

There were a lot of clipped wing Spitfires in the day. Many LF’s were field modified that way. Ya gotta love foam warbirds, their fairly easy to modify and repair!

My first Spitfire is finished as Bob Tuck’s final Aircraft in which he became a guest of the Germans. Downed by ground fire...

[Shirty]

G'day bob,

we still get the big US carriers stop in from time to time over here, always worth a drive down to the beach to have a look. Sometimes when I'm out diving on a mates boat, we get to have a bit of a closer look. (Not too close tho haha). Truly impressive to see though we don't see em very often. (It's probably normal for you blokes, but I get excited when I see one lol). We have a couple of lancers here at the moment doing exercises, pic is a RAAF tanker and Aussie hornets next to the usaf b1.

pretty cool. Btw, thanks for your service mate. Good onya. :).

[Ole-Timer]

Hey Shirty,

Yes, joint taskings are a regular way to iron out the wrinkles in the ops side. My career spanned 32 Year’s from 1980-2012 and the change from Vietnam area birds to modern day tech was something to see. It’s really what kept me interested and moving up. I’m no monetary millionaire but if given a choice to do it all again I believe I’d do very little differently as I loved my jobs in military aviation. It was exciting and a worldwide experience I’ll always remember fondly. A lot of very knowledgeable folks out there behind the scenes making the rubber hit the runways. The attached pic is one of our tankers from the 171ARW in Pittsburgh, PA..., the unit I retired from. The world is our playground...!

Coolest memories were an SR-71 flyby in full afterburner and many Mach 1 plus passes alongside the carrier by F-4 Phantoms and F-14Tomcats.

BTW, your flying field is beautiful! In our local area we have lost four flying fields over the years and are now reduced to two. I’ve worked with our local recreation dept to establish the second flying site at one of the county parks. It’s a slow upgrade process but we’re getting there. The runway is rough but it’s 250ft of usable surface, just needs repaved. The openness of the site is awesome. The best perks are, they cover insurance, we have AMA, the grass n grounds are all maintained by park personnel, no usage fee’s.

The landing gear on the Spitfire handle the rough surface with ease and the large tailwheel is especially perfect for the task. Great job Flightline! This is the best stock landing gear to date I’ve seen on a foam warbird.

I realize most most of this post does not belong here but I’ll sum things up this way, FlightLine realizes most of us fly from some pretty nasty places and we need robust well made airframes with gear to match. Sixty percent of the guys I fly with love warbirds and will buy more of them if the plane will hold up to the butt kicking they get on our runway.

Its great to see the RC hobby has grown to these unimaginable proportions and having skimmed through other posts, to see so many dedicated sharing people hard at work collectively.

Bob

[Grossman56]

Here's what I'm thinking for mine. 'Skipper's' Spitfire from the movie Battle of Britain. A Mk IX in disguise.
And one taken while they were filming The Battle of Britain in 1968. That's Lord Hugh Dowding in the wheel chair and Douglas Bader pushing him. Douglas has artificial legs as we all know. I recognize Peter Townsend at the far right and I believe that's Robert Stanford Tuck on Bader's right, sitting. Anyone else familiar with any of the other chaps??

Grossman56

[Ole-Timer]

I recognized the same faces to but not the rest. I did find an explanation.

The air aces of 1940 with Lord Dowding visiting the film set of "The Battle of Britain". From left to right: Al Deere, Tom Gleave, Robert Stanford Tuck (seated), Boleslaw Drobinski, Douglas Bader, Ludwik Martell, Johnnie Kent, Peter Townsend, Lord Dowding (in wheelchair).

I don’t understand why the names were changed to fictitious ones based on real life individuals, perhaps to not revive bad personal memories of those who perished during the war when family or friends saw the movie.
Skipper would be Sailor Malan

”Fly for Your Life” the story of Bob Tuck is a good read.

[rifleman_btx]

I love history, seeing this is great stuff!

[Grossman56]

Johnnie Johnson,Ginger Lacy, wonder if they were there as well, I know Adolph Galland was an advisor.

Grossman56

[rifleman_btx]

Johnnie Johnson, I still have the parkzone spitfire, it has some wear, and in need of an overhaul but man what a fantastic flying plane