Daren Cogdon Posted June 10, 2022 Author Share Posted June 10, 2022 It does. The spinner would have added another few grams, but not much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 It should fly very nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 10, 2022 Author Share Posted June 10, 2022 I hope so, once this weather cooperates! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 14, 2022 Author Share Posted June 14, 2022 She flew! Our club chairman did the honours of flying her, while I launched. Turns out that I didn't build in any down-thrust, so will need to sort that before the next flight. But fly, she did, and pretty well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 14, 2022 Author Share Posted June 14, 2022 A few screen grabs from the flight video... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 14, 2022 Author Share Posted June 14, 2022 Apologies for any strong language! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 17, 2022 Author Share Posted June 17, 2022 I flew her last night! Still got some tendency to pitch up, despite the added down-thrust, but we think it's because the horizontal tailplane has a slight bow in it. Still, it was pretty easy to flight - even in the wind! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 21, 2022 Author Share Posted June 21, 2022 Well, I've had another three flights with the Spitfire since last week.Sunday's flight didn't go so great because the battery came adrift and sent the Spit into tail-heavy mode! I managed to get it down in one piece, but the wind was too strong for a second test, so home I went to put in a brace to stop the battery from sliding so far back.(Before anyone asks, yes, I had velcro on the battery, but it obviously wasn't secure enough.)Tonight's first flight went utterly pear-shaped from the start. From launch, the Spitfire went straight up as though I was trying to loop it. It bottomed out about 18ins from the ground, and after that it was all over the sky. We trimmed it right down and I managed to get it back down on the ground. I checked the battery, and it hadn't shifted, but even with the motor throttled back it was wanting to climb. I'm sure the wind had a part to play in that, but it certainly wasn't helping. After I added another 30g of nose weight, I tried again, and this flight was much better. The wind shifted her about a bit, but she was nowhere near as skittish as before. We still had the down-trim wound in, but this time it was much more manageable. The consensus is that there's a warp in the tailplane, making the model want to climb the whole time. A look over the tailplane seems to confirm this.I might have to try getting some lollypop sticks to try bracing the tail better, unless anyone can suggest something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 The fuselage is quite narrow at the back, and so not very strong. Mostly that made mine flexible in flapping the tail surfaces around the axis, which would not give the problems in pitch that you are seeing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 23, 2022 Author Share Posted June 23, 2022 I do wonder, then, if the tailplane has some warp in it which isn't immediately obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 I think it will be visible if it is big enough to affect it a lot. Mine was the first low-wing for me and for child_flier, and the first with aerobatic abilities, so it suffered a hard life. Glued back basically straight it always trimmed out OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 The question is what position is the elevator after landing when it is trimmed out to fly level? If it is down compared to the tail plane then apart from having an under camber tail which itself can induce odd speed characteristics the elevator is also putting a twisting couple on the tail plane which can negate some of the effect of the down elevator. The result is the trim does not have the degree of effect it might have. It all comes down to the stiffness of the tail plane. A plane can be said to be correctly in balance for CofG, wing/tail incidence and wing warp when after being trimmed for straight and level flight at a particular speed all the control surfaces are exactly inline with their fixed surfaces. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 23, 2022 Author Share Posted June 23, 2022 11 hours ago, Simon Chaddock said: The question is what position is the elevator after landing when it is trimmed out to fly level? If it is down compared to the tail plane then apart from having an under camber tail which itself can induce odd speed characteristics the elevator is also putting a twisting couple on the tail plane which can negate some of the effect of the down elevator. The result is the trim does not have the degree of effect it might have. It all comes down to the stiffness of the tail plane. A plane can be said to be correctly in balance for CofG, wing/tail incidence and wing warp when after being trimmed for straight and level flight at a particular speed all the control surfaces are exactly inline with their fixed surfaces. ? The elevator is still down after landing. I purposely used a thinner type of foam board (3mm instead of the 5mm I used for the fuselage) to try to keep the weight down, but I did use a coffee stirrer stick to try to stiff it up. Something tells me that I should have used another one to keep the tailplane from warping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 23, 2022 Author Share Posted June 23, 2022 Anyway, I wasn't sure if I was going to fly the Spit tonight, but fly it I did - and it was fine! No crazy tail-heavy shenanigans, no looping at launch, no porpoising, just straight and level from the off.I couldn't add the spinner back on like I wanted to (it's too big for the prop, so the spinner won't sit properly on it), so added 10g under the cowling - and then put the lighter battery in it. I know it would have affected it, but it was honestly pretty good from the launch.It needed some amount of trimming to the left, but I think I know what that issue is - the plastic keeper for the aileron horn went AWOL at some point, so I think the aileron was moving on its own every so often! But I got her back down in one piece after six or seven minutes.There is definitely light at the end of this particular tunnel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 23, 2022 Author Share Posted June 23, 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted June 30, 2022 Author Share Posted June 30, 2022 First proper solo flight tonight.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 A bit breezy, and a heavier than desired landing, but this went well..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted July 10, 2022 Author Share Posted July 10, 2022 My third FT Spitfire got its first flight today. After chucking on about 40g of nose weight, and a lot of set-up issues (mainly due to unfamiliarity with the transmitter), we got a good few minutes in a rather stiff breeze. Then, once I landed it, I adjusted the elevator trim, and she was perfect. I even managed a pretty decent loop with her! (And that was my first with a big model!) This is the best one yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted July 11, 2022 Author Share Posted July 11, 2022 Screen-grab from my video.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 Another couple of flights for the third Spitfire. Despite the wind, it handled well, and landed at walking pace in the long grass. Still undecided on the paint scheme, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted August 18, 2022 Author Share Posted August 18, 2022 And here is how she looks now.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 PR pink, I like it. 😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted August 19, 2022 Author Share Posted August 19, 2022 A few little bits left to paint, but nearly there! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daren Cogdon Posted August 28, 2022 Author Share Posted August 28, 2022 So, yesterday I attempted to fly the pink Spit for the first time after being painted. It did not go well. The right-hand aileron servo wire parted company with the extension cable, and the model spun out of the sky! Luckily I managed to chop the throttle so that it landed fairly softly in the long grass at the side of the airfield, but it necessitated a trip to the workshop/kitchen to get the cables reconnected. So, I tried again today, and she went up without a hitch! Didn't do anything silly, but I only flew for a couple of minutes before bringing the Spitfire down again. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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