Welcome to my Yellow Aircraft Build, I expect to test fly the model in the spring of 2011, now 2012, so things will move at a nice pace.

My color scheme will be of a RCAF "City of Winnipeg" 402 Squadron flow by Squadron Leader L.A. Moore, I live in Winnipeg so a 402 bird is special and a way to honour S.L. Moore. 

April 2010 - found a kit on the web had it shipped to Pembina, ND, shipping and broker fees are a lot less if I pick up the kit in the US.

Spent a week reading all the build threads on RC Universe and other webs, great info to improve a already good kit. I summarized the immediate tips into a YA Spitfire build tips PDF file.

I also took photos of the YA plans and printed them off on 11x17 sheets and hung them in my workshop, so I could review a specific area without unrolling that large drawing which is a 1/2 scale.  I also PDF'd the YA  kit manual into a YA Spitfire kit manual PDF for easy reference.

After a few warbird builds, one of the first things I do is mark the center of balance or center of gravity and from the other build threads on the web I get an idea of how much lead in the nose (usually) or tail is needed to balance the bird. I also like finding a willing pilot early on to see how he will fit.

I stiffened the fiberglass wing tip by sticking 1/4" square balsa sticks in with Elmer's Polyurethane glue.  I also added couple of 3/16" diameter wood dowels pegs to help the wing tip the bond into the foam wing.  On the main wing I melted new servo wire tubes in the wing panel to route the aileron servo wire to the flap servo cavity instead of the YA run into the wheel well. 2010-04-11 ...wingtips glued on.

I also glassed the top wing center section to reduce the amount of hangar rash as I install the lg braces etc.

I put a coat of Bondo polyester resin on the plywood firewall to seal the plywood and added a 1/4" plywood ring to the lower cowl.

2009-04-23 - our spring weather has been fantastic, a month ahead of last year so I've been flying more. I did some glue bond test with glues I could easily find in Winnipeg. I used small maple pieces and the bottom of the this yellow part. IMHO, outside of using polyester resin, the best bond I found was with the Permatex Perma Poxy, followed by the Stabilit glue.

2009-05-01 - odds and ends. I started cutting out the spinner a I did not want to tackle any thing major. I traced the cut out from a Top Flite P-51 spinner and transferred the pattern to the YA Spitfire spinner. I picked up a tip about this tool called the "Nibbler" which I am using to remove the spinner material.  I also trial fitted the DL 50, I can see I'm going to have figure out a muffler solution.

2009-05-30 - the last two weekends have been rained out for flying so it's been a good time to return to the workshop. I've built the balsa stab and elevators. I tried something new, I hinged the elevators to the stab and then sanded them to shape. Previously I would tack the elevators tot he stab, sand to shape and then hinge and then hinges would be a bit off requiring more shaping, we'll see how this works. I also decided to go with the YA cockpit tub and glued that in. I glued in the wood supports for pilot (Hangar 9 pilot), nothing worse that the pilot coming loose after the canopy is glued on. It's raining today so a good time to pressure test the retracts for any air leaks before installation.

Clark Industries warbird paint swatches, additional gluing surface on the tail wheel former, balsa stab saddles.

2010-08-29: Horizontal stab built and glassed with 0.7 oz cloth and Z poxy. Elevators built and covered with 21st Century fabric. As noted on Brad's thread ( http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7644110/mpage_7/key_/tm.htm ) my elevators also came out to long, wished I had trial fit them before I covered them with the covering, live and learn!

Dubro pushrods glued in the rear of the fuselage sides for the elevators, rudder, and tail wheel. Plate glued in bottom outside of cockpit to fasten pilot too.

2010-9-25: Spitfire Dawn Patrol - My buddy Tex and I are early risers so when we are camped out at a fly-in we'll fly the Spitfire dawn patrol in the early light - what a blast. A bit cool at this warbird fly-in in late September, about +4C, the ground fog was neat, thanks to Peter S for the photo.

2010-10-17: The tundra is starting to freeze over so that means our flying season is just about done! I've glassed the wings. I used Z poxy thinned with methyl alcohol with 0.75oz fiberglass cloth. I also spray primed the fuselage with Krylon spray can grey primer, I chose to do this while I'm still able to spray outdoors.

2010-10-18: DL 50 engine mounted and muffler chosen. The YA stock firewall is positioned fairly close to the nose which does not leave much room for a Pitts style muffler so I knew I would have to use a side mounted muffler on the DL 50. Other builders have cut out the firewall, moved the firewall back and added a prop hub extension to their engine, this makes for a nicer install.  I did not chose to go this route as I have not much experience in polyester fiberglass and did not feel comfortable cutting out the firewall.

I found a old Tatone muffler mounted on a old Quadra 35 and decided to use this muffler, it seemed to fit the best of what I could find off the shelf. I'm not thrilled about the side muffler but it is what it is. I used 3/4" square maple blocks for engine standoffs.

2010-11-13 Aileron Hinging - at times a pain in the butt. I tried a new method, before I have sanded the aileron leading edge, I, with a HB pencil, scribe a centerline down the length of the aileron leading edge. I've cut the heads off some 1" long finishing nails, push the nails into the aileron LE, lineup with the wing trailing edge and push in. This marks the location for the Robart round hinges. I drill out the locations with the 3/16" bit add the small triangle TE stock, and sand to shape. Big snow on Nov. 18, 2010, End of 2010 flying season.

2010-11-28  Wings joined - yipee!!! - a big step for me. 

I used the wing mods found on the other threads - the plywood rib along the retract blocks and the extended front dihedral brace. I used Elmers polyuerthane glue to glue the braces in the the win panel. I like to drilled holes in the parts that are to be glued with polyuerthane glue, I figure the glue expands through the hole creating a rivet effect.  I glassed the joint using 2 oz. fiberglass cloth and Zpoxy (thinned with methyl alcohol).

The two holes in the center section. This was my fellow club warbirder Jeff's idea. Since the some of the heat from the engine (rear carb) will get in the fuselage, use the front oil cooler scoop to push air in and vent out the rear wing hole - similiar to the electric guys. I'll glue a painted screen over the rear hole so that the hole becomes almost invisible when in the air and on the ground only the bugs will see the hole.  Not sure if it will make a difference but it is worth experimenting the concept.

2011-12-31 photo

2012-02-20

I've got 90% of the painting done. I needed 1.2 pounds of lead to balance, in keeping the servoes ahead of the C of G helped with the amount of lead need to balance this bird. The all up weight less fuel will be 25 lb, 15 ounces.

I ran a plastic push rod  for the DL 50 choke through one of the exhaust stacks, I also installed the Hobby King air filler valve in the adjacent exhaust stack.  All or the control surfaces push rods are hooked up.

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