West Wings 24" Spitfire Mk.22

[staubkorb]

I started this build on the "old" site back in October 2012 but those posts and photos are gone. I'll try to reconstruct the thread from snippets that I cross-posted on other Forums - photos are no problem as I have them all. I'll open with where I am at present.

In a bold attempt to recover from a bad case of building lethargy, I dug this pile of bones out of the workshop yesterday afternoon and blew off the accumulated dust. The last work done was in Dec. 2012 ...

Filled in some areas that were not fully sealed, got the front part of the wing fairings done (sort of), sanded, two coats of clear to the rest of the airframe and then covered/shrunk the wings. Came out OK, but highlighted all the areas that didn't get sanded well enough - simply got impatient. Just the fuselage left to cover. Did a mock-up to get an idea where the CG is and how much weight I'd need in the nose - using the supplied prop/spinner - and will require approx. 4-5 grams. The infill I added was a good decision.

[Jim Moseley]

Nice workmanship, Pete.

[staubkorb]

Thanks Jim!
I got the fuselage bottom covered last night and, in spite of the compound curves plus working around the wing fillets and LE, came out very nicely.

[uhu]

nice one! and one of the greatest planes ever

[staubkorb]

I FINALLY got around to getting the covering finished on this buggar, using 5 pieces of tissue and three different glues. I have an off-brand glue pen (white glue) that I wanted to try and had only one sticky issue - dries well but the least bit of moisture/heat makes it "sticky" again. The glue doesn't let go (actually grabs VERY well) it is just "sticky". Probably will be all right once doped. This gizmo is great for getting the glue onto stringers.

The other glues were normal, thinned PONAL Express (white glue) and UHU Blue glue-stick.

This has turned out to be one of my best tissue jobs with jus a few minor spots to be tacked down (the areas at the front of the motor blisters). Weight of the covered airframe as pictured is 36 grams.

[staubkorb]

Glued the stab to fin spacer in place after getting the weight of it down from 0.38 grams to 2.5, ant the fin/rudder is also affixed. A quick balance check showed that about 8.5 grams would be needed (in the current config). The spinner weighs 2.5, so 6gm of clay was stuffed in and taped to the models nose and a "bed test" glide (u'mmm... make that 5 ) looked really promising.

The kit supplied a Peck 7" prop, but I'll probably use an 8 incher. The weight of the complete nose-plug/prop assembly (8") is right at 7 grams plus 2.5 for the spinner and mounting gubbins. The canopy and radiators are all slightly behind the CG, plus whatever the finishing adds will likely require a bit more in the nose. I hope to keep the "dry" weight (finished weight minus rubber) <55 grams.

[staubkorb]

I finally got a chance (and some bearable temperatures) to get a coat of dope on this thing last night. Today dawned VERY cool and damp (like RAIN) but by late afternoon the sun was shining and all was dry. Wind wasn't nice at all, tho - 10mph gusting to around 18.

Still, I ballasted the beast to the CG shown on the plan and gave the plane a toss while sitting on the stoop in the back yard, producing a nice STABLE climb (thanks, gust ) that transitioned into a normal glide and a very gentle landing .

I reconsidered a second test...

[AnYun]

That is beautiful, excellent covering! And seems to be a good flier too, not many Spitfires would climb without engine power

[staubkorb]

I was really surprised, myself, how the covering came out! Not to pat myself on the back, but it is the best tissue job I've EVER done - not perfect (there is on teeny-tiny wrinkle just forward of the starboard stab on the stringer and I could have done a better job sanding in a few areas), but more than satisfactory.

About an hour and a half after the above post, the wind died down to a breath so I made another couple of test glides. The first showed a definite tail-heaviness so another bit of lead was added in the spinner. Did the trick as the beast sailed across the yard and smacked into the wall after loosing only about a foot of altitude (same launch technique as the windy test). No damage other than the taped on spinner popping off and an 80BpM heart rate increase.

Now working on getting the prop/spinner mounting sorted and trying to find some detailed cockpit photos of the plane. Whether I do anything in there remains to be seen...

[staubkorb]

Trying to test glide a model Spitfire is a comedy of errors - there's just NO way to get a good grip on the thing in the proper place . Popped the spinner loose trying >:(.

Decided to heck with power-off gliding and stuffed a four-strand 3/32nd five gram (braided) motor in it and hand wound 100 turns so that it would have a bit of pull on release. Worked a charm !

Plane made it 3/4 of the way across the long axis of the yard, and even tho it was fairly turbulent, landed safely with the port wing slightly low. Also exhibits a slight left turn tendency - have to re-check the lateral balance.

Then came a heavy shower...