RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
Hey Tom! Congratulations on the new Spitfire!!! Yeah, we were in the same batch from AK/KMP! I have a couple of other projects in the queue but can't resist jumping in on the Spitfire assembly! Can't offer any knowledge of the DLE muffler - it looks like the Saito FG30 and muffler will fit nicely inside the cowl so that only the valve covers and an exhaust pipe will exit the bottom of the cowl - I'm not sure what kind of vents I may need to manage airflow / engine temperature. Or should I really hang the muffler outside the cowling? Anyone have thoughts about this or am I obsessing? I think the supplied hinges look fine but I don't know about the rest of the hardware - posted comments suggest we be wary! The electric retracts look interesting but I've not tried them - pretty sturdy and I suspect the wormgear-like mechanism may give them a nice realistic looking action. I need to take a vacation so I can work on the Spit full time for a few days! John
Posted on: 2/27/2012 5:20 PM by Author "Johnnypipes" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10979014

RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
Tevan - thanks for the info and the quick reply - I'm anxious to get started! John
Posted on: 2/26/2012 8:17 AM by Author "Johnnypipes" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10976524

RE: ESM Spitfire 72.5
Hey fellow spitfire lovers, I've finally acted on a long-time desire to have a nice Spitfire and just this week a 72" ESM arrived UPS from KMP! Looks beautiful. I splurged and bought a Saito FG30 which I think is going to be pretty nice in this airplane. Been mulling over the Spit manual and looking at parts and already have a couple of questions: 1. Mounting the engine. The manual is not very explicit on this point but implies that the engine should be mounted so that the thrust line passes dead-center through the firewall. If I do this and adjust the cowl so that the prop shaft passes dead center through the opening in the cowl, then the fit of the cowl to the recessed area of the airframe is not optimal - I have to shift the cowl slightly from where it seems to best mate with the airframe. If instead, I move the cowl to where it best fits the airframe, the prop shaft will be about 3/8" off-center (low) with respect to the cowl opening (spinner end). This seems to give me 2 major choices: A. mount engine with thrust line dead-center to firewall and adjust cowl fit to center shaft/spinner in cowl opening or B. mount engine with 3/8" offset from dead center so that spinner aligns with cowl and cowl achieves best fit with airframe. Really comes down to which is the best reference for thrust-line position: firewall or spinner opening in optimally mated cowl/fuse. (I could also split the difference and mount with a 3/16" offset). Does anyone have recommendations here? 2. I had expected pneumatic retracts with the kit but it came with ESM electrics instead - these appear to be pretty nicely built. Does anyone have thoughts about the relative merits of pneumatics vs. electrics? Many thanks for this thread - I was very happy to find it. John
Posted on: 2/26/2012 7:29 AM by Author "Johnnypipes" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10976469