Cosmetic mods to aircraft

Fair enough, Archer That’s more like the answer I was looking for…

A bigger fin, huh? Well, if I had to do that (and I don’t really want to!) then the colour scheme would be decided already…! :rolleyes:

Aah, the ‘Hiscock Enigma’. :rolleyes:

Daz, if you’re talking about Spit look-alike gear doors then it wouldn’t smooth the gear much. When viewed straight from the front it is basically a flat plate which shouldn’t add much drag, but the fittings and the interference will contribute to a higher drag factor! Also when viewed from the side you are adding vertical surface which is ahead of the CofG which may be slightly destabilizing in yaw. To solve that you could end up needing a larger vertical fin. On the other hand the effects may be negligable, but it’s worth considering.

:rolleyes:

Looks like Melvin’s crystal ball is cloudy today, with those answers you would be great as a fortune teller!! 😀

I was being enigmatic.

If you made the doors out of carbon-fibre (actually not THAT expensive as it’s a flat sheet) or fibreglass I would have thought that the weight would be insignificant.
I personally would go for it !!

TNZ

Well, it does have fixed gear, but I thought that “smoothing” the gear would be better than having them and the brakes hanging out like that.

Mind you, from a servicing point of view, it might be better to leave them off…?? :confused:

Looks like Melvin’s crystal ball is cloudy today, with those answers you would be great as a fortune teller!! 😀

Daz, the question is would the decrease in drag (assuming it’s a retractable gear!) from the gear doors be enough to offset the increase in weight? I always thought the Isaacs Spit had a fixed gear, in that case it would almost certainly add drag to fit gear doors. I guess you wouldn’t want to see a nice pair of spats on it? 😉

One way or the other.

Inclusion?

More than likely.

I was actually wondering whether the inclusion/deletion of undercarriage doors would decrease drag or not.

You’ll end up with a nicer (and lighter) aeroplane

Good stuff.
you just build it how you want.
It will be after all your aircraft !!

TNZ

Well, if I did that, then I’d have more headaches than I really need with this Spit!

At the very, very least I might put undercarriage doors on it. Those legs look very gangly, and the wings might get a set of cannons fitted, but if it’s too much work then it’ll look like this one, just with a nice colour scheme…

Oh well…:rolleyes:

Good stuff.
Don’t be put off by what other people say, you just build it how you want.
It will be after all your aircraft !!

TNZ

Not very far! I plan on at least starting the empennage next year. I’m trying to convince people to give me money for Christmas/birthday instead of actual presents!!

As I said above, my colour scheme might well be based on SM845, or possibly a Spitfire 24 – the addition of black and white stripes to the wings and fuselage might make the Spit a bit easier to spot!!

While I would have liked to modify the cowling, exhausts(Ed Johancsik’s 60% Spit (above) has about 5% extra power due to the exhaust set-up) and add dummy cannons etc, I don’t particularly want to give myself more hassle than is already needed!!

How far are you with the Isaacs Spit planning?

I’m presently doing a load of research for the Pietenpol, and am about to purchase the plans.
I’m going to paint it in pre-war USAAC colours (blue fuselage, yellow wing with red stripe rudder etc).
I also learnt this weekend that I can register it as a Microlight here in NZ due to the wing-loading & power rating being low.
Saves heaps of paper work and beauracracy with building.

I reckon half of the fun with starting a project is getting ideas for it and visualising the finished product.

Chris
TNZ

I meant the hassle of having extra paperwork for cannons etc!

I probably shan’t bother with the paperwork hassle.

Be very clear Daz.

Aircraft ownership and paperwork hassle go together.

Moggy

Sod it

I probably shan’t bother with the paperwork hassle. I didn’t think a couple of dummy guns would cause much of a headache, but I have been proved wrong!

Straight, from the board, Isaacs Spitfire with a natty paint scheme…. :dev2:

Well, be thankful I’m not a member of the r.weaver school of aviation….!