Upgrading the Spitfire

[BloODWicko]

Hi

Has anyone got any ideas on upgrading the spitfire? I am talking better motors, batteries etc.

I know you can use a Lipo battery, but i am sure you should be able to upgrade the motor as well.

After a complete rebuild i now feel that i could upgrade my plane.

Any ideas?

[denali]

I have used the brushless motor,esc and reciever from a stryker.The only mod required is enlarging the gearbox to accomodate the motor and getting a pinion to fit on the 3mm shaft.The motor is 1800kv and the plane flies great.Very fast and can climb at will.You may also want to re-enforce your wings with CF.I have not done it yet but have bought the stuff and just need to install it.I heard from some other forums that guys wings were folding on them.
I have also used some outrunners aswell but the ones I have are a little too much motor(3000kv and 3500kv)The plane flies good but the battery overheats due to the excessive load.The plane doesn't appear any faster with the outrunner as compared to the inrunner from the stryker.

[afpe45]

@denali,
I presume the outrunner motor is not connected to the gearbox but bolted on to a modifyed firewall, have you any photos of the setup.
afpe45.

[denali]

No actually I'm still using the gear box.It just depends on what kind of outrunner you buy.I'll see if I can get some pics for you.

[GSS]

Does anyone have any pictures of modified Spitfires? I have added a Li-po but can't see how I am going to attach a brushless motor.:(

[English Electric]

Hi GSS,

this is my first post!

I'm a regular over on rcgroups and ocasionally Wattflyer.

I only just heard about this Forum while reading a post at WF from MalcolmS about his PZ Spitfire wows.

I have a Spit which I've recently added a BL motor to.

It screws to the stock gearbox just like the original brushed motor [I'll upload pics].

You can use the original reciever by plugging in a brushless ESC to the throttle socket.

I tried running up the motor using the stock prop but it vibrated like crazy, it's way to bendy and weak.

You'll need to get a prop adapter fitted to the gearbox shaft to allow the use of a stiffer prop.

Here's a link to a thread I started on rcg asking about reciever and vibration problems: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=769544

Hope that helps..

Paul.

[GSS]

Thanks Paul, much appreciated.

What type of motor did you buy? I spoke to the Squadronleader guys and they said they will be introducing a selection of motors but had a number of conflicting opinions from their distributors and were looking to research this problem further before stocking them.

Also, what effect did it have on your plane? I heard that you need to strengthen the wings as the speed can cause them to rip off in a turn - is this true????

[jonsky7]

Quoting turbonut from that post on Rcgroups

"I hate to tell you this but the stock spit reciever has a throttle channel.Just plug the esc into that channel like a normal reciever! O well I guess i was a day late as is the norm."

So you don't need to buy another reciever? It's not that I can't read, just so many people have changed the reciever when the've gone to brushless, where they all mad?

[denali]

I'm running the brushless motor from the styker.It fits right into the stock gearbox.I use the stock prop and it works great.

[riker1303]

After researching the many forum posts on other websites i decided that my upgrade path would be to use the stock gearbox with a motor upgrade. I thought this was a good idea as you would keep the angles of thrust etc conforming in a similar way, as well as making the upgrade potentially easier for myself. I decided to go for a wasp inrunner brushless 2200kv motor, which came in a combo deal with a Himodel Fly 33a ESC.
The motor has a 3.2 dia. shaft, so the next problem was finding a pinion gear to fit it and mesh with the stock gear and shaft. I located a robinson racing 12t(tooth) 32p(pitch) pinion which is apparently the one to go for. CML distribute in the uk but you will have to get your local model shop to order for you.
The next bit was to fit the new motor in the box box. The Spit gearbox(stock) has a ridge inside the barrel which means the motor will not slide all the way in. So i used a dremmel to take off the ridge--this is quite a tricky operation-- and the motor then was a good fit, and the mesh works well. Decided to use stock prop and spinner.
I upgraded the radio and reciever to an old futaba reciever, using the parkzone servos which are fine for the purpose. I also put a carbon rob in the wing from underneath, flexing it slightly to follow the spits wing Dihedral. A spare bit of the hollow carbon tube now sits vertically behind the pilot and routes the aerial in a tidier way to the tail(similar to real spit aerial)

After the first day test flying i am gobsmacked by the improvements!

Power in reserve (not too wild, about half as much power on top) - with a lipo 20c 2000ah i can get 20 min plus flying time, and throw the spit around a little more with comfort that the wings will not fold.

At the end of the day i still like to try and fly her in a proper spit fashion but its good to have completed these upgrades and see positive benefits.

[mikeinwood20]

Hi all,

Im literally about to buy a spitfire but obviously I don't want to use the stock batteries, going lipoly!!

I heard that you need to switch something over on the esc/reciever? is this correct? Someone told me you need to switch the 'jumpers' over to accept lipo batteries.

If so can someone instruct me on how to do this, possibly attact a couple of pics?

Im going to keep the stock motor and prop, I just want to use lipo's for that extra power and duration.

Thanks,

Mike

[Roady]

Hi Mike

The instructions for switching over to Lipo are within the manual. It's a simple procedure by using the transmitter's throttle and listening for beeps when you connect the battery.

Manual here
http://www.hobbyzone.com/documents/PKZ1700-manual.pdf

[Radweld]

Today I upgraded my Spitfire to Brushless power, http://brchobbies.com/?page=shop&action=additem&item=778 Purchased this motor and ESC combo more as an experiment than anything else. I will put up some photos and instalaltion instructions later but installing was reasonably painless.

Performance is staggering, unlimited vertical performance and longer flight times too, however it made the spitfire nose heavy so I need to add some weight to the back to level it out.