Gary Clark 1

Hi All, I have now returned from 3 months away with work and hoping to get back into the spit. I'd love to try and get it flying next year. I have a fair bit of tidying and re-organising to do but I'm still on it and not given up yet! Gary

I had the Macchi 202 and it flew great. There are some slight issues with quality sometimes but they're about half the price of a seagul or hangar 9 equivalent so that's expected. It was my go to flier for a while until a very low inverted flyby resulted in a rapid and unplanned deconstruction of the fuselage! The wing is still perfect and I have a plan from outerzone that matches the span exactly so may rebuild the fuselage at some point. I've flown their P-47 too, also flies well Gary

Haha probably the same complexity of engine though! I think all the 30s were the white and 40s the blue. I emailed Ripmax to ask the same question and got an excellent reply from Bob. Unfortunately most of the stuff from back then wasn't made digital and he couldn't find any of the original drawings. He did send me some press releases of it though. Good of him to look for me. It's a cracking trainer. I flew mine hundreds of times and taught a fee others to fly on mine too. I always loved the decals on it too. I repaired mine (just worn and a bit beaten up) a fee months before the bad crash and made it look like this gave it a new lease of life but never the same. Didnt help when in crashed in the field it hit a huge pile of soggy cow sh*t that filled on available gap. Garage was stinking for weeks Gary

Correct but some have gear wells and that's what would usually limit gear operating speeds, that and the doors. I saw a lad accidentally put the gear down in a Hawk at 420kts (200kts limiting speed) at low level, only lost 2 zip ties on some cabling so I'm sure our models are fine 😀

I've seen people cut some foam to fill the area behind the wheel wells to stop the air getting in but I'd line them with 1/16 as Trevor says. Keeps them looking scale and stops them becoming scoops.....not that I think they would anyway tbh Nick, Love the Hellcat and I went through the exact same decisions with the Bearcat a few years ago. Either spend the money on retracts (just too much in my opinion) or put non scale ones in which I'd hate then not enjoy the final product. I've still not managed to finish 1 in the time you've done the P-47, seafury and 190 🤣 Gary

Kevin that is incredible, thank you. Another time this forum has been invaluable Gary

Thank you Robin. The 40 is very similar to the 30 but with a few differences. Good idea to copy that and scale it though. The 40 was definitely more popular, probably due to being a bit bigger, but it's just a silly sentimental thing that draws me to the 30. I've been looking through outerzone to try and Find a trainer that matches the span but I also can't the exact dimensions for the 30, why did I just not measure it?!! Gary

My very first aircraft I had was Ripmax trainer 30 bought by my mum when I was 15 as a birthday gift. I also got the transmitter and servos too which I (very unskilfully) put together. My dad stood on the wing in the garage before it flew and that sparked the build bug in me as I had to repair it.....well I didn't, I was introduced to a man at a local club who could and he then taught me to build and fly and became a life long friend. That wasn't the last time it was rebuilt in its life I'll add Anyway, I recently disposed of the fuselage as it was very badly damaged from a tough life and an engine failure on its last flight but the wing is undamaged and I have kept that. What I should have done is copy the formers and measurements and scratch built a new fuselage but I'm too late for that. Does anyone have one or have a drawing of one I could copy? I now have my own boys and I'd love them to learn on the same plane (and actual same wing) as I did but haste got the better of me. I'd appreciate any help. Silly request but may as well ask! Gary

Great job Murat. I love restoring old models, find it as satisfying as a scratch build. Looking forward to hearing about the maiden Gary

Hi All, I skinned the bottom of the D section so that I could remove the tabs and lock in the washout. Everything other than the final servo fitting and retracts is done on the right wing (other than sheeting and the wing tip obviously but I want the retracts in first) so I decided to put it on the fuselage for a moral boost. I ended up putting a few bits on to see how she looks. It's all roughly sitting on so not perfect but she looks like a spit!! A little moral boost before it starts again..... Double check I have a left wing and not a second right (experience has taught me that) then tidied up all the cuts for the spar then added slots for the extended spar in front of the main spar. Fingers crossed it goes quickly and I can get these retracts in 🤮 Gary

Hi All, Slow progress recently but I've managed to get the majority of the fiddly bits done like final mount of the aileron hinges and the aileron servo fitted which I have removed until I'm ready to secure it properly. I have managed to run out of pushrods so waiting on them arriving before I can continue withe the flap servo placement The flap indicator was also cut out and I decided to make a 1/16 ply door rather than just litho plate as the plan suggests I elected for a brass hinge which meant letting it into the ply and balsa on top of the wing. I secured the door hinge and a little glazing putty to hide it. Balsa side isn't secure yet but will probably be secured once the wing is glassed. I'll sand the putty smooth once it's dry but I'm almost at the top skin stage. I'll move onto the other wing once the flap/aileron servos are completely done and that side should be much quicker now that I know what I'm doing....so I keep telling myself. Pleased so far though Gary

Even better! You're making this easier for me with every comment Peter!

No issues at all Peter, thanks for checking.

It's great having you on here Peter! Thanks so much for the help. That makes sense and it's usually a lack of confidence since I've never designed a wing myself. I was planning on using a spruce spar and maybe add a secondary spar for the first 1/3rd of the wing and put it approx 1" in front of the original. That's only because that's what BT did on his spit and it's a fair bit heavier. Gary

The only concern I have with Scaling it up is the spacing of the ribs. Its easy to add some ribs in when they are all the same but not so easy on an elliptical wing as they all change. Peter, what do you think? Will there be enough strength as is? I have compared it to my 69" spit wing and there are an extra 3 or 4 ribs in that and still 2.5" shorter on each wing . Some of the wood thicknesses may change a little too and I'll make parts from thicker parts in more critical areas but most of it will remain the same. I now need to be disciplined and not start this before I finish the spitfire!! Gary

I had the plan out for a look last night and going up 35% brings it out at 74" span. Not sure what engine I'd go for yet. I did have the original plan out too and compared them both. The original is still a good size so could still just go with that. I do really like the look of it and love the fact there is only about 3 straight lines on the entire plan. Very pretty plane Gary

Hi Earlybird, Has the build progressed any? I'm going to build my larger Rhapsody after the spitfire build is done Would love to see how it flies a bit bigger Gary

After a busy few days away with work, I managed to get back into the garage and progress with the flap. I cut 16 new 1/32 ply ribs for the flap and used a brass tube with the same diameter as the dowel to punch holes for the ribs to fit around the dowel. I fitted the G10 hinge and control horn and it all fits fairly well I will cut the hole for the flap indicator and its G10 door so that I can test the flap next. I will look at sealing/glassing inside the flap area and attach it soon too. I received the smaller servos for the aileron so will start that process again soon too Gary

Hi All, Not been to much to report recently. I spent far too long trying to figure out the position for the aileron servo as the thin-ish wing out there means it's tricky to keep the servo and arm fully enclosed. The RDS plan would have been fine but having committed to the set up above, it looks like a low profile /wing servo might have to be the answer as the thickest part of the rib is only 27mm. You can see the mounting plate I tried to use but unsuccessful. I decided to move on with the flap whilst I wait and cut both sides from g10 and also fitted the trailing edge sheeting on the top. That has been set with the wing and the fuselage the aileron so everything blends in and this is where I got to I fitted some 1/16 balsa behind the flap to blend it with the trailing edge but left that drying overnight. I managed to get a few ours to tidy my workshop out and clear my bench which sounds great until i realised I have thrown out the inner hinge for the aileron....top work 😡 moral of the story is don't tidy up Things are moving slow but I am cutting mirror parts for the other wing as I go so hopefully that one will be quick after working all the issues out with this one Gary

Well that aileron control horn was more fun that I thought it would be!! I initially followed the plan and made a G10 horn exactly as drawn and also a balsa wedge to epoxy it into I then attached the ball link and filed a channel for it to ride in the balsa wedge But it was about now I realised the problem, the ball link sits too high and would be protruding above the top skin as shown This meant taking approx 1/8th off the horn and deepening the channel for the ball link to sit in. This took a disappointing amount of time but finally it seemed ok and I epoxied in the brass bushes and skinned the top of the aileron. Ignore the overlapping brass tube, that was just to hold it in place to check the depth and it's one single tube now. Side view shows the difference I somehow managed to glue the top sheet a little too far aft so have a little void just at the top of the leading edge and the top skin but it's very shallow and will be hidden with a little filler. Really pleased to have the aileron done but I am waiting for some thinner G10 to arrive to use for the flaps so trying to decide what next. I want to leave the top skin until I've worked out the retracts 🤢 so maybe its starting to make the other aileron whilst it is fresh in my head but just keep saying "mirror image, mirror image, mirror image" so I don't end up with a spare.... I also need to sort the servo mount for the aileron and I'm thinking about 3d printing one that matches the angles perfectly instead of ply. Anyway, I need to sleep so that I can have my "2 starboard ailerons???" nightmare Gary

I also need to add the control horn before I skin the top.....may have forgotten about that!

Not as much done as I'd hope over the last few days but got the main part of the aileron done. I decided to add the leading edge sheeting before adding the brash tube for the aileron pin. This made it a little trickier to add the brass tube but meant I could use the tube to drill out a path for itself and therefore be support and secure but also means I can shape the balsa around it to sort the shape instead of adding it in after The balsa center is still there after being drilled and just slid out once complete. I made the hinge blocks from some mahogany (I think) as my plywood wasn't the best quality. The hole is slightly over sized to allow for a little movement while fixing the aileron but will be filled with epoxy to set the brass bush solid. Got 1 more to make then epoxy the bass tube in before the top sheet goes on. Gary

Thanks gents. I think the ball links on the original setup will probably work and keep the slop down due to no bellcranks and no clevis. I've left the trailing edge strip off until I have the aileron built so that I can make it match the aileron perfectly but I suppose I could add it and sand to match too. Thanks for checking though I'll hopefully get a bit more on the aileron done tonight once the kids go to sleep 🤨 Gary

I've used that too and the plan shows a system very like this but I find it can have a bit of slop in it which becomes flutter airborne. Either of you guys had this?

Thanks guys, lots a good points. Not seen those IDS before Ron, looks like a great idea. Question I do have though, does the geometry need to pretty bang on? I'm guessing they have to be exactly 90 degrees from the hinge line? This would take a bit of work as the ribs aren't perpendicular to the hinge line like most warbirds so would take a wee bit working so the movement is the same both sides. I got the bottom skins cut for both ailerons as it was easy to both at the same time and also both sets of aileron ribs cut. I'll be able to sort the hinges and the leading edge of the aileron but not the top sheet until I sort out the pushrod system. The wing is at the stage below. Happy with it so far but sorry about the state of the plan, she's been through a lot! Haha