Spitfire

We've been waiting a long time to see this one fly, and a year on it finally has.

After a few teething problems in getting the motor running and the radio set up, it took to the air in spectacular fashion.  I've never flown a plane like it!  It has an incredible groove about it.  With the retracts up a full throttle in a low sweeping turn it's awe-inspiring!

It was pretty much all built by Les le Prevost from a Mick Reeves kit, has a fibreglass fuselage and built up wings & tails, and painted by Shane Browning, and between them they've done an incredible job.  Well done lads.

It's powered by a SC 120 4-stroke engine, which provides more than enough grunt to pull it into the air.  The take off run was quite long, but that was intentional as I didn't want it to lift too early.  The elevator was quite twitchy set as it was, but the ailerons gave a very realistic roll rate, perfect for a glorious victory roll before it was set up for a landing.

With the gear lowered and the flaps dropped simultaneously it slowed as if hitting a wall, but remained very controllable right down to a landing at no more than about 10mph.  Very impressive.  I'm sure you'll agree, the photo of it on Final below makes it look excellent.

After a few more flights to get the hang of it a bit more, I'm sure this plane's going to be a real show-stopper!