07-02-2011, 10:29 AM
Gday All
There are now a few Durafly Spitfires floating around and I have to say she is a great looking aircraft. However as per the usual HK fare some mods are needed. I am hoping I can both share my mods and also get some advice as to how other members have modded theirs.
As the a/c is quite large I decided that the elev and rud servo's needed some attention so out with the old and in go some 929 mg's, I have left the aileron servo's as is as the links are shorter and are binding less than the tail links. Also to fit the mg's in the wing some surgery will be needed as they are slightly deeper than the servo's fitted. I was also concerned that running 4 digital servo's and 2 retracts would overload the ESC (Plush60). The mount tray for these elev and rud servo's also flexed away badly and that needed to be reinforced and re expoxied.
The retracts were appalling out of the box, major fiddling and eventually all was well. Whoever works at the factory responsible for that bit was obviously blind. Still not 100% happy with these due to a poor "lock" at each endpoint. Have mixed the Gear to Aux1 so both move in the correct sense, y leads no go here as one servo needs reversing.
The tailwheel couldn't support a paper bag, reinforced that bit with balsa and carbon rod extending into the fuse, have also shortened it to get the nose A of A a bit higher as problems with nose tip over when powering up on the ground has been noted. I may have to go down Andrew's route and rake the mains forward also, time will tell re that one.
The screw that attaches the tail does not line up correctly, re drilled that and all now well.
Moving forward our blind friend also installed the motor mount, I needed to shim up the motor to get the thrust line into something resembling sanity.
The default timing does not work at all well with the installed motor, currently sussing this out as we speak.
Even though the motor is stuttering it's head off due to the timing issue I got enough speed to note that the spinner is waaaay out of balance. Would like to get a 4 bladed prop and spinner to replace, any ideas where I could get one of these from? Installed prop is a 2 blade 11*7.
The decals are absolutely insane for a foamy. Very hard to position correctly, after boffing up the tail and noting that they do not sit well over the panel detail of the foam have decided to hand paint all the other bits on. Have also gotten ready a template for some nose art, will surprise you there however it will fit nicely with the a/c code of DUF and combine with my love of beer (Hooh yeah)! No historical accuracy is alluded to here.
I am still in the process of re-reviewing and and re-checking everything so if anyone out there has any advice and tips to complete this build or add to my comments above it would be appreciated. I really want this a/c to be spot on as I intend to add stacks of scale detail to the same level (award winning) as some of my model rail structures. This is my first step towards the goal of John C scratchbuilding. Thanks heaps John for inspiring me on Aus day with your magnificent machines.
If anyone else is comtemplating getting one of these spitty's please please check everything very carefully and also beware some adverse flying characteristics, Andrew R and Darren W have commented on this elsewhere.
Cheers
Rob B
There are now a few Durafly Spitfires floating around and I have to say she is a great looking aircraft. However as per the usual HK fare some mods are needed. I am hoping I can both share my mods and also get some advice as to how other members have modded theirs.
As the a/c is quite large I decided that the elev and rud servo's needed some attention so out with the old and in go some 929 mg's, I have left the aileron servo's as is as the links are shorter and are binding less than the tail links. Also to fit the mg's in the wing some surgery will be needed as they are slightly deeper than the servo's fitted. I was also concerned that running 4 digital servo's and 2 retracts would overload the ESC (Plush60). The mount tray for these elev and rud servo's also flexed away badly and that needed to be reinforced and re expoxied.
The retracts were appalling out of the box, major fiddling and eventually all was well. Whoever works at the factory responsible for that bit was obviously blind. Still not 100% happy with these due to a poor "lock" at each endpoint. Have mixed the Gear to Aux1 so both move in the correct sense, y leads no go here as one servo needs reversing.
The tailwheel couldn't support a paper bag, reinforced that bit with balsa and carbon rod extending into the fuse, have also shortened it to get the nose A of A a bit higher as problems with nose tip over when powering up on the ground has been noted. I may have to go down Andrew's route and rake the mains forward also, time will tell re that one.
The screw that attaches the tail does not line up correctly, re drilled that and all now well.
Moving forward our blind friend also installed the motor mount, I needed to shim up the motor to get the thrust line into something resembling sanity.
The default timing does not work at all well with the installed motor, currently sussing this out as we speak.
Even though the motor is stuttering it's head off due to the timing issue I got enough speed to note that the spinner is waaaay out of balance. Would like to get a 4 bladed prop and spinner to replace, any ideas where I could get one of these from? Installed prop is a 2 blade 11*7.
The decals are absolutely insane for a foamy. Very hard to position correctly, after boffing up the tail and noting that they do not sit well over the panel detail of the foam have decided to hand paint all the other bits on. Have also gotten ready a template for some nose art, will surprise you there however it will fit nicely with the a/c code of DUF and combine with my love of beer (Hooh yeah)! No historical accuracy is alluded to here.
I am still in the process of re-reviewing and and re-checking everything so if anyone out there has any advice and tips to complete this build or add to my comments above it would be appreciated. I really want this a/c to be spot on as I intend to add stacks of scale detail to the same level (award winning) as some of my model rail structures. This is my first step towards the goal of John C scratchbuilding. Thanks heaps John for inspiring me on Aus day with your magnificent machines.
If anyone else is comtemplating getting one of these spitty's please please check everything very carefully and also beware some adverse flying characteristics, Andrew R and Darren W have commented on this elsewhere.
Cheers
Rob B