Actually it was a pretty well proven system and in use before the war. DeHavilland chose it because of its capabilities and the non-strategic nature of the materials turned out to be a very important bonus a few years later. Involved a balsa core and Canadian Birch skins. The Mosquito was developed directly from the Albatross if I remember correctly where they worked out the system. Thought by some to be the most beautiful piston engined airliner ever made.

The only problem with the construction was in the tropics where I'm pretty sure the Casein glue turned to cheese in the heat and humidity. Casein glue is an adhesive derived from milk protein which is what cheese is made of as well. Bit of a problem at 425mph and 30,000 feet.

Originally Posted by nemoskull

it was the worlds first composite fighter.
the 'duramold' process was a plywood style thing, IIRC. it was (casium?) gloo (my editors wife response to, 'baby, how do you spell 'glue'?) and wood around a former.
they added ribs later, but it was pretty much a monoccuoe composite low observable fight/bomber.
(well, it would have been today. early rader used lower RF and picked up all kinds of flying stuff.)

really ahead of its time, construction wise.

I heard they hired a furniture company to help build the wooden Mossie, brilliant!

I stand corrected...and enlightened! Haven't been back to this thread in a few days, and WOW! ...so much good stuff!

Glad for the interesting and informative discussion. I knew the Mossie was special, and fast, and maneuverable, but didn't know all of these newest entries.

Next time I fly her, I'll have to put her through some more agressive paces...knowing that she's flying true to her full-scale sisters!

Thanks, guys!

Tom

Originally Posted by airpower

I love simple solutions that solve everything,like how in the space race America spent millions of Dollars in R&D making a pen that could be used in space,in zero g. The Russians just used a pencil.
.

Sorry - this is just an urban legend and more than a little insulting to the folks who worked long and hard on the US space program (now languishing). See http://www.thespacereview.com/article/613/1

For those who don't go to the link, here's the final paragraph:

Originally Posted by Dwayne Day at thespacereview.com

The Million Dollar Space Pen Myth is just that, a myth. The pens never cost a lot of money and were not developed by wasteful bureaucrats or overactive NASA engineers. The real story of the Space Pen is less interesting than the myth, but in many ways more inspiring. It is not a story of NASA bureaucrats versus simplistic Russians, but a story of a clever capitalist who built a superior product and conducted some innovative marketing. That story, however, is a little harder to sell to a public that believes what it wants to believe.

The Mossie was a marvel in many ways and even though I'm seldom flying RC these days, I'm enjoying the little Mossie when I do.

Please see my RC Groups post # 2732 and it's references to earlier posts in the Parkzone UM Spitfire with AS3X thread.

Product shill warning: For those who are tired of my babble of using Gorilla Glue and Frog Tape, you'll probably want to skip this post.

For others, here is a link to my first lame attempt at a "how-to" for repair of the foam parts of the Parkzone UM Spitfire and Mosquito and similar models. It is a combination of stills and Photo Booth video that I knocked together using Photo Booth, iPhoto, and Final Cut Pro X/Compressor as quickly as I could. Sorry for the bottom-of-the-barrel production values and stumble-bum commentary but I hope it may help keep some tiny planes in the air and tiny plane flyers happier! (Like me!)
As for "universal" application of the technique, I don't yet own any Flyzone models so I haven't crashed one yet...
I'm just in the planning/component gathering stage for bash/scratch building some other models and have yet to try this technique for that purpose... but, I don't yet see why it wouldn't work.
I have a PZ T-28D model that I quickly reduced to a large pile of mangled parts this past summer that is awaiting the attentions of this and many other techniques for repair...

Anyway, I welcome questions and comments and constructive criticism and I hope this helps.
Youtube video:

Gorilla repair Mosquito Spitfire 1 HD 1080p (0 min 0 sec)

>Point of clarification #1:The Mossie nacelle had been previously broken and repaired before I bought it in a broken state (still photo).
>Point of clarification#2: The Gorilla Glue was applied with the clipped Q-tip to one side of the joint to be repaired, the two nacelle pieces were joined and then that joint was taped over with the Frog Tape (yellow) and another green masking tape was layered on top to reinforce the joint while the glue hardened. The repair could certainly be further smoothed with lightweight spackling compound.

Keep 'em flying!

Originally Posted by airpower

The Russians just used a pencil.

Or, as the US bureaucrats of the time would refer to it, a "manual graphite display generator"

pegasus.pony great video,really like the pilot

Originally Posted by jj604

Actually it was a pretty well proven system and in use before the war. DeHavilland chose it because of its capabilities and the non-strategic nature of the materials turned out to be a very important bonus a few years later. Involved a balsa core and Canadian Birch skins. The Mosquito was developed directly from the Albatross if I remember correctly where they worked out the system. Thought by some to be the most beautiful piston engined airliner ever made.

The only problem with the construction was in the tropics where I'm pretty sure the Casein glue turned to cheese in the heat and humidity. Casein glue is an adhesive derived from milk protein which is what cheese is made of as well. Bit of a problem at 425mph and 30,000 feet.

I've always thought of these as two of the most beautiful 4-engine aircraft:
DH-91 and Lockheed Constellation.

Originally Posted by pegasus.pony

Please see my RC Groups post # 2732 and it's references to earlier posts in the Parkzone UM Spitfire with AS3X thread.

Product shill warning: For those who are tired of my babble of using Gorilla Glue and Frog Tape, you'll probably want to skip this post.

Anyway, I welcome questions and comments and constructive criticism and I hope this helps.
Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7875FiFXLQ

>Point of clarification#2: The Gorilla Glue was applied with the clipped Q-tip to one side of the joint to be repaired, the two nacelle pieces were joined and then that joint was taped over with the Frog Tape (yellow) and another green masking tape was layered on top to reinforce the joint while the glue hardened. The repair could certainly be further smoothed with lightweight spackling compound.

Keep 'em flying!

Good video Pegasus.Pony. Enjoyed it. I was wondering if that was a specific product of Gorilla Glue or the standard (if there is such)? I bought some a few years ago and they may have changed the container since then. Mine was hard as a rock when I went to use it. I went out and bought some Foam Safe CA after crashing my Mossie and your repair looks much better than mine. I will have to repair it again no doubt. A little off topic but I've read somewhere the Spitfire isn't that capable at slow flight but the article I read may have been a different thread other than the UM PZ model. Would you say yours is good at slow flight or not? Thanks,
Don

Originally Posted by hifinsword

Good video Pegasus.Pony. Enjoyed it. I was wondering if that was a specific product of Gorilla Glue or the standard (if there is such)? I bought some a few years ago and they may have changed the container since then. Mine was hard as a rock when I went to use it. I went out and bought some Foam Safe CA after crashing my Mossie and your repair looks much better than mine. I will have to repair it again no doubt. A little off topic but I've read somewhere the Spitfire isn't that capable at slow flight but the article I read may have been a different thread other than the UM PZ model. Would you say yours is good at slow flight or not? Thanks,
Don

Hifinsword,
Thanks! The video's goofy but I it was designed to pass on some info I thought might be helpful.
I need to plan 'em a little better...

Gorilla Glue: Look for the product in the bottle I showed. GG markets a bunch of different products, particularly known for their yellow polyurethane glue in a more cylindrical bottle, not for use on foam models I don't think...

Short answer: Spitfire good at slow flight? Not in a confined space or windy conditions... And "slow" is a relative term.

I think the UMX Spitfire is happier at medium to high speeds as UM's go. The UM T-28 is the best handler at lower speeds for 4-channel 1S UMs. The 3-channel Champ is the best slow flier IMHO not considering the film-winged UMs like Vapor, Night Vapor and Ember, which I haven't owned but believe are really good at low speeds (like confined indoors).

At the soccer field where I fly, with lots of room, the little Spitfire is magnificent. It absolutely looks like the films of the real thing on those low passes. It could use more power (what couldn't?), but is very versatile and easy to fly in the conditions that most understand the UMs are suited or designed for.
It will do some really nice aerobatics. Of course, skill, experience and quality of the TX has a lot to do with longevity of a model!

I think the new UM P-40 is very much like the Spitfire (same "formula" with AS3X) but they haven't been generally released, yet.

My 2¢, hope it helps!
Cheers!

Originally Posted by CRASH GORDON

pegasus.pony great video,really like the pilot

Thanks!

What did you do to that little cub?? are those actually slats??
more picture or plans please
thanks

Originally Posted by gaexcalibur

What did you do to that little cub?? are those actually slats??
more picture or plans please
thanks

gaexcalibur,
That's a Hobbyzone Champ and those are removable slats and fences that I tried on it, for very slow speed flight. The parts were cut from egg carton plastic foam.

I followed info from a user, twoplanekid in this thread:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...ht=twoplanekid

Fun and very interesting! Check it out!

Cheers!

Quick question,I just got this little beauty and on testing it the motors kept cutting out on wot is the usual or have I done something wrong in the setup of it.

Don't think anything is wrong but you are running 2 motors and it puts a good load on your battery. The Mossie will not be happy with marginal lipos. I use 500mah with mine.
Gary