Before I start - I should tell you that I don't film maiden flights. Call me superstitious, but most of the disasters all over YouTube, are maiden flights, so I only film the 2nd flight - if it survives!!

I woke up this morning to blue skies and little wind - ideal for the Maiden of the Spitfire. By the time I got myself organised, the wind had come up considerably. But I was not about to let that stop me.

So I grabbed everything and headed to my local fly zone. As stated in my build log, the instructions are a bit lame, so I had no indication of how much throw to put on the control surfaces, so I started right in the middle at 50%. Checked everything 5 times, faced into the wind, and through her up at about half throttle.

She headed up at a 45 degree angle and I opened the gas and she pulled away... very "nose up" - if you know what I mean and my throw rates were WAY off. She was a handful. So I brought her down and made some tweaks. Basically I reduced the throws considerably and put some clay ballast in her nose. This time she was much better balanced and would fly level. However, the elevator was still way too aggressive, and she would flip on her head in a tight turn. Back down for more adjustments. Reduced the throw again, and this time I threw her with the under-arm method. No probelm... she pulled away nicely.

By now the wind was so strong it was making my eyes water, but the spitty did not feel a thing!! I brought here around for some nice low level passes, and she does look the goods in the air.

Inverted is fine too. She does need a little bit of elevator input to hold the invert, but very stable. I gave her a really good run for her money. Full throttle is no problem, she handles it well. I ended up adding a little more aileron authority as she was slow in a roll, but now that is sorted, the flying is just very good.

THE VERDICT

The verdict here is a good one. FINALLY we have found a good range of EPP warbirds that can actually fly, and are well built. I don't really have anything negative to say about this bird. I did not make any major modifications to the build, so that is a plus, and all of my electrics are standard.

She could easily accommodate a bigger heavier motor up front, OR go the other way and fly her on 2S, which I will be doing in hopefully in the next few days. I will report on how she handles that separately.

THE SETUP

Motor EWatts 2213 1550KV Motor.
ESC Turnigy Plush 25A
Servos HXT900 x 3
Radio AR6000
Battery Rhino 3S 1500mAh