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Discussion
Parkzone Spitfire Mk IX - first plane, little help
This post is a little long so feel free to just check the questions listed below, thanks!
Hi all, A couple of weeks ago I bought the new Parkzone Spitfire Mk IX as my first plane, I really liked the looks of it and the little I read about it on this site. It seemed like a great choice to learn to fly planes. It really looks great and I like it a lot. I know you’ve heard it before, a newbie starting with a warbird is definitely not a good idea. I am however not a complete newbie, before the Spitfire I’ve never flown airplanes but I am an RC heli pilot and have a 600 class heli, a Compass 6HV. I am very comfortable flying the 6HV, I control all orientations, inverted, flips/loops/rolls, fast forward flight/circuits, learning auto-rotations/piro-flips, etc. Flying helis is my main interest but I’m also attracted to planes. Since I have flight training already I decided to skip the trainers and high wings and go for the one I really liked, the Spitfire. I have to say, I thought it would be easier! After the first take-off I wanted to slow down, in my heli I can hover and fly sloooowly if I want to but the plane just goes! Also I know about stalling and flight theory but that didn’t prepare me for the lack of response at slow speeds, makes sense, without speed the control surfaces don’t have much to work with. I have flown it about 10 times now and I like how it flies, I can do level turns now, loops/rolls, Cuban 8s, etc, it’s smooth and tracks well but sometimes it feels light, wind moves it quite a bit (it’s foam, I know). Which brings me to the reason of this post: LANDING… Hand launching and belly landing over grass is no problem, I cut the throttle before the last turn and glide it in, keeping it level gliding as long as possible to bleed speed and land it. Landing (on wheels) on the long paved runway I have access to however is a different story, maybe is because it was quite windy today? It feels unstable and twitchy on approach and it’s difficult to keep it inline on approach. It’s also going fast! I would feel more comfortable landing it slower but being a low wing warbird I can see why that’s not possible. Needless to say I’ve busted it a couple of times when landing it on the runway. Fuselage is glued back together . I would like to ask you guys since I have no one else to ask. I know different planes handle different so this is specifically for the PZ Spitfire mK IX and people that fly it: 1. How do you guys land?? Do you cut throttle and glide it in, or 1/4 power, 1/2 power and then cut? How steep is the approaching slope? 2. How do you take off? It’s prone to tipping over, I know, do you keep elevator down all the way until airborne? Full throttle from the beginning or starting to roll slowly first? Do you correct direction at all, tracks straight? 3. On take off I have seen that it banks/rolls to the left when it lifts… is this normal, am I using a wrong method maybe? After I correct it and it’s up it flies straight but it has scared me a little a couple of times. 4. I have it trimmed-out at 50% throttle and it flies level. If I speed it up though it pitches up, is this normal? 5. Do you flare on landing? Pull elevator all the way on touch down to keep it from tipping over and having steering ability/rear wheel down? 6. How fast do you land? 7. I added a flaps mix for the ailerons, for landing but it doesn't do much (since ail surface is limited), anyone else tried this? Has it helped? 8. How much throttle should be used for hand launching this plane, 100%? Sorry for the long post, landing well seems challenging so I want to learn and would like to be better at it. Thanks! |
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Last edited by Castel101; Sep 26, 2011 at 01:17 PM.
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Welcome to the Spitfire hangar, Castel101. You picked one of the prettiest but also one of the fastest PZ warbirds thus far. I've had since the day they made it into LHS's here in the US, and I've really been enjoying flying it.
To answer your questions: 1. How do you guys land?? Carefully. The Spitfire is a fast plane, and it can take some time to get it to slow down. On top of that, the landing speed is a bit higher than most other PZ warbirds but not unmanageable. Do you cut throttle and glide it in, or 1/4 power, 1/2 power and then cut? I manage throttle all the way down and cut it at about 6" over the ground and then keep pulling back on the stick to keep the plane flying until it loses some lift and it settles down.How steep is the approaching slope?It's not steep. Practice slowing the plane down at altitude and then fly it down at a descent rate that you are comfortable with. 2. How do you take off?I gun it. Seriously. On the grass field I fly from, it's the only way I can get it to take off without nosing over. Also, I apply full up elevator and ease the elevator to slight up as it gains speed to keep it from getting into the air too soon and stalling. I also apply right rudder while it's on the ground to counter p-factor until it gains speed and lifts the tail. It’s prone to tipping over, I know, do you keep elevator down all the way until airborne? Kind of. You will get the feel for it as you get more experience, but I start with full-up elevator and let it go to almost neutral as the plane gains speed. Full throttle from the beginning or starting to roll slowly first? On grass, I gun it. On concrete, I apply more slowly.Do you correct direction at all, tracks straight?I always correct; apply right rudder to keep the plane from pulling to the left at slow speeds when taking off. 3. On take off I have seen that it banks/rolls to the left when it lifts… is this normal, am I using a wrong method maybe? It's normal. It's called P-Factor. There is a lot of info about it on Google.After I correct it and it’s up it flies straight but it has scared me a little a couple of times. 4. I have it trimmed-out at 50% throttle and it flies level. If I speed it up though it pitches up, is this normal? 5. Do you flare on landing? Not so much flaring yet. I find it comes down a bit flatter than most of my other planes, but it may be a bit nose-heavy.Pull elevator all the way on touch down to keep it from tipping over and having steering ability/rear wheel down?For the most part, yes. 6. How fast do you land? Only as slow as the plane will fly without stalling. 7. I added a flaps mix for the ailerons, for landing but it doesn't do much (since ail surface is limited), anyone else tried this? Has it helped? I haven't tried this. I will probably put flaps on mine soon since I put the split flaps on my 109 and found it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Good luck and have fun with the Spitfire. It's a nice flying plane. |
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All due respect to you as I don't know you but, nevertheless, I have to go on my own experiences of trying to train my cousin who "is" a very good RC heli RC Pilot.
My Cousin wanted to get into RC Airplanes (Fixed Wing) models. He came into the concept in good mental attitude but, as soon as we started to train he became very cocky and did not want to listen. He crashed about every RC Airplane model that you can imagine. He crashed a large gentle giant (Hangar9 Alpha 60 - presently discontinued): http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HAN2600 He crashed a number of E-Flite models being that he got tired of the GLOW. My main point "is" that you need to realize that Fix wing RC Airplane Models are totally different and just because you are an avid and accomplished RC Heli Pilot you need to listen and allow yourself to train just like a Newbie, otherwise you WILL crash. No matter how indignant it might feel or look to you, a session with a good Instructor at the RC Club with training lessons on the basics of flying Fix Wing is highly recommended. My cousin is now both an accomplished RC Airplane and Heli pilot but, the learning of Airplanes was a very expensive one! |
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Edge, thanks a lot for the information. This really helps and I'll keep your tips in mind for my next flight. I guess just cutting the throttle and gliding was making it too close to stall speed and making it more unstable, we'll see. How did the flaps helped for your Bf-109?
PittSpecial, I appreciate the comment. I know since I fly helis I thought it would be easier but landing is challenging. I have no problems flying it around, keeping orientation and doing basic acrobatics, is the landing precisely that is tricky (belly landing over grass is easy, on wheels/runway :S). I am motivated to check a local RC fixed wing club and see if I can learn some more from them, based on your comment. I was mainly also looking for comments specific to the Spitfire since even in a club most likely no one would be flying this plane so RCGroups is the best resource, and all planes fly a little different so I was looking for tips, thx! |
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Here is a trick picked up from E-Flight on my Stearman advance the throttle trim until the motor just turns over as you get better you can move it just a little. This will help keep the plane tracking straight, also if you go to you tube and search RC landings you can see how the pilots are stalling or flaring about 2 feet from the ground. Better to see other’s mistakes then to do them yourself.
You need to keep your airspeed up for control and to keep from stalling Also the most important thing is line up to the runway before you start then you do not have to worry about that, just think of flying the airplane just by you. The correct approach is 85% of the landing, this way you can work on other problems when landing and practice and practice. |
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Something else to keep in mind that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that it's important to land directly into the wind. I've got one of the early PZ Spitfires, and I find that heading straight into the wind is the most critical factor in determining how easy the landing is. If it's straight into the wind, a last minute flare and Bob's your Uncle. Otherwise it's a lot more difficult, even if you're not at much of an angle to the wind.
Keith |
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Key things when landing the PZ Spitfire
I have had the PZ Spitfire with retracts since it first came out and have about 20 flights on mine.
Here are the key things about landing it well that I have learned: 1. Set up your approach properly. Fly far enough out on your downwind leg that you will have time and space to do a proper base leg and line up on final approaching your runway facing into the wind. 2. Once lined up, roll the throttle back to about 10-20% and use the elevator to keep the nose slightly below level to carry enough speed to make your runway. If you notice you are getting slow and will end up short of the runway, add a small amount of throttle until you are sure that you will make it past the threshold of the runway. Once you are sure you will make the runway, pull the throttle back. 3. Hold the elevator to keep the Spitfire in level flight and slowly descending. Once the wheels are about to touch, put a tiny bit more elevator in and she should settle down on the mains or even do a 3-point landing. Be ready with full up elevator and right rudder to steer her once she's down. 4. Be sure to have her pointed fully into the wind, as crosswind landings are likely to end up with a scraped wing or noseover, if not worse. I love the plane and was worried after my experience with the squirrelly ground handling of the PZ Bf109, but the Spitfire is an excellent flyer and much easier to land. That's my 2 cents. JD |
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