Model review: DURAFLY - Supermarine Spitfire MK-24

About

My first encounter with British warbirds is in early 1980's through my uncle who worked on his plastic model kits, he got lots of AIRFIX plastic model kits he worked on it during spare times while i watch with awe beside his work table.  He got other brands of kits like TAMIYA, FUJIMI, REVELL and etc but the AIRFIX models are the most he worked on. I could recall the sharp smell of small tin acrylic paint very strong in my memory even after many decades.  Most notable ones he is working on are some British fighters with its distinct dark green camouflage and round bulls eye target emblem from the RAF HAWKER HURRICANE, DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO to LANCASTER which he likes a lot and put his finished works on display stand tripod.  I always amaze by the sheer amount of details on this kits and skills it takes to work on such miniature marvel yet i was pondering if i one day could enjoy the same hobby if get old enough to afford it.  One plane kit caught my attention was a SPITFIRE, the name itself strong stood up among the crowds and the overall shape of the plane looks very thin and aerodynamic...looks fast! Very aero and modern than chunky HURRICANE. The most striking feature on the Spifire from afar is its elliptical wing designs.  Reading its history from the kits details it the most iconic fighter for having a ROLLS-ROYCE GRIFFON engine and took fierce battle  during 'Battle of Britain' in 1940's World War 2.  80's plastic kit box art also are very eye candy to look at and very collectible till this day.  As for the art work of the SPITFIRE fighter with background of skies raging in inferno of dog fights its an epic image that inspire me to love this classic flying machine just how i love my 80's TAMIYA box art.

Decades later in 2013 at local R/C flying field i spotted my friend carry out something behind the boot of his car......a SPITFIRE!!!, so my childhood memories spark back into the light and i ran over to greet him so i could feel his plane.  I never knew the full name of the aircraft until i found out that this 1100mm wingspan R/C models was made by my favorite manufacture DURAFLY which i already own several of its warbird line up model in my hangar.  It's a SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK-24...sounds very macho and elite for a dog fighter and it does seems live up to its name to be something of the British version of the P-51D Mustang since both looks very rivalry it looks side by side yet both made a print in history books.  Historical noted that the P-51D Mustang uses the same engine that was on the Spifire (ROLLS-ROYCE MERLIN).   Seeing it in real person i finally have the motivation to 'must' have this awesome looking 'Spitty' side by side with my Mustang since both are historically the best fighter on the side of allied powers during World War 2.  Fortunately my wish was granted the owner Mr. Alvin L. sold off his Spitfire to me and i was all over it.  Lucky for me the plane is already custom airbrushed paint on the plane fuselage and wings added layers of weathering effect to make the plane looks artificially aged, realistic and make it looks as if its been through many sorties of mission and dog fights. Now the plane looks very shelf queen worthy!  As for me my childhood dream came true....i'm flying it!

Specification (as describe by vendor/manufacturer)

Brand name: DURAFLY
Model name:  SUPERMARINE SPIFIRE MK-24
Release date: 2012

Quality and builds

As usual like all the popular 1100mm wingspan DURAFLY model the Spitfire fuselage and wings are made form molded compress EPO foam (Expanded PolyOlefin). It also have the same electronic hardware's specification like its sibling the P-51D and F4U; 1x brushless motor, 1x ESC, 6x servos, 2x retract and LEDs on leading edge of the wing. On the down side this is the only model that doesn't comes with extra detachable aesthetics accessories such as drop tanks and weapon payloads which is pretty much standard across all DURAFLY warbirds.  So it doesn't really look cool or 'battle' ready war planes when taking good photos of it in action flying in the air or sitting on the shelf for the show,  Its like Cowboys going to a gun fight without hat and cowboy boots. .....i kind a bit disappointed to be honest. 

To summarized the overall physical attributes of the MK-24:

• It has realistic looking 'HAMILTON STANDARD' replica big 4x bladed propeller and in V2 version of Spitfire it comes as 5x bladed.
• Wing gun turret, under wing radiator
• Fully detailed foam molded surface texture of detailed rivet, panel lines and bulk surfaces.
• Scale cockpit pilot.

The plane comes as complete 'stock' PNF so it already have electronic hardware built in to make the plane ready to fly out of the box. I only have to supply my own radio unit and battery to get it running.  For the radio unit i'm using the classic TURNIGY 9X radio with FRSKY DJT 2.4Ghz transmitter module with FRSKY 8 channel receiver with RSSI telemetry support  unit for extra reliability and TURNIGY classic blue pack 11.1v 3s 2200mah 35~40C battery pack (12.6v when fully charged).  Total flight control only uses minimum 6 channel from radio receiver; aileron, elevator, rudder/steering, throttle, retracts and flaps.  For LED activation it can be on extra 7th channel with relay or direct powered from separate battery.  Unlike the P-51D and F4U i don't have to install external BEC to supply a clean independent 5V/3A current.  The stock 35A ESC with internal BEC (B-ZTW35ABEC) should able to supply a good amount of current and it doesn't need to pump huge amount of amps to spin the propeller to get up to speed.

Another technical advantages: With most EPO foam DURAFLY warbirds i always have random retract problem which get stuck when i try to deploy during landing because the wings are flexing about along with the wheel compartment under it in the air. Fortunately on the Spitfire it never happen because most of the wheel retract mechanism is located  close to the center of the solid fuselage at wing root where the structure are less flexed from the wing load and the wheels can retract out easily from the wheel wells.  The only Cons is when retracted its landing gear base width are very narrow introducing very twitchy handling when rolling on the ground.....that's pretty concern a lot on the pilot handling skills though.

Flight performance

When it comes to flight characteristic the DURAFLY SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK24 definitely stand out the most among all line of Durafly warbirds; its faster and flies straight like a dart!  If you used to handle fast plane like EDF jets, fast prop driven park-flyer and even some nimble aerobatic plane like F3A  the Spitty feels like that.... flies like its on rail.  All this possible because of its narrow fuselage and elliptical wing design make such flight characteristic more solid than other warbirds i've flown before.

 Below are details of my setups and some trims on my TURNIGY 9X radio unit for this plane:

E.point
----------------
Ele: 120% 120%
Gyr: 050% 050%


Thro Hold
--------------
State: Act
Hod pos: 000%


Expo
------------
Rudd: 45
Ail: 65
Ele: 65


Trim
-----------
Ail: 0
Ele: 020
Rud: 0


Timer
-----------
State: Act
Min: 006
Sec: 059


Prog. Mix
-----------------
Mix2:
state: ACT
Master: ELE
Slave: FLP
Offset: 0
Uprate: 0
Dnrate -050
SW: ID1


Aux-Ch
--------------
ch5: Gear



Airbrake
------------
State: ACT
Flap: 082

Start rolling ready to take off on the ground i notice the Spifire handles very twitchy when steered left to right as it started to roll off forward.  This is because the front main landing gear width is very narrow, any abrupt steering yaw from the rudder control can cause the plane to tilt side ways consequently causing the plane go balancing act like on tight rope maneuver. Too much and the wing tips will get scrapped with the ground surface.  The only way to mitigate the problem is to roll down the runway slowly with careful control on the rudder until enough air flow gained able to lift the tail off the ground then i can easily throttle way up for full take-off into the wind. It take so much concentration just to take-off especially if you do it on a very narrow runway.  If you're really bad at rudder steering control the best way is to take off the Spitfire on flat open field. I get agitated when take-off on narrow places such as on one lane narrow road or even highway width.   However by the time its reach into the air and landing gear tucked nicely back into its wheel wells it will be a smooth sailing...zero worries if you're an experience pilot.  Well at least its not as horrific as taking off from the ground on an F4U CORSAIR, that plane is a true nightmare horror even for experience leveled pilot...i had my days with it during my first maiden.  Beginners 100% will comes home with foam debris in their hands, i've seen it all! lol!  But the good news i bought all the debris scraps from newbies for the cheap! lol! As for the stats; the Spifire take-off length would consume about average 8 meter to 10 meters on windless day and can be less when hitting the head wind.

When its up in the air for the first time i'm surprise how 'locked' it was when the plane flew into intended orientation.  It flies straight like an arrow, any bumpy or turbulent wind does not easily shakes the plane about unlike all my warbirds i've flown before.  What ever i do the flight  characteristic on this plane is very predictable for example i knew when its going to stall, so when it happens it will show sign first before it says 'Surprise A** H*le!'.  Since its horizontal wing is almost straight configuration like an aerobatic plane it can easily aileron roll immediately on demand yet rigid in its fixed axis.  Due to its maneuverability the Spitfire does not naturally balance and stabilized itself on roll axis like the P-51D Mustang, P-47 THUNDERBOLT, TROJAN or CORSAIR neither a glider because Spitfire wing doesn't have much dihedral shape wing overall to dampen its rolling axis, so the pilot have to 'micro balance' it on the stick to keep it stable and always keep the speed up to stay afloat, pretty much like controller an aerobatic plane or an F3A type models.

* Extra note:  I do actually own a 800mm mini FMS SPITFIRE that flies exactly the same characteristic as the bigger Durafly version... I'm very surprise even the smaller version flew like straight like its on rail or an arrow, pretty locked on into position despite flying on windy day.  The really explained much about its how efficient the elliptical wing design that helped much how efficient the Spitfire flies.

Cruise speed is about 73% stick throttle into the head wind or 85% on windless days slightly higher that most warbird i've flown.  When the wings are leveled with the horizon its hardly stall on its side but will sink rate to lower altitude after pass below 65% throttle stick.  When in the air the Spifire isn't good nor have rudder authority when yaw left and right to turn the plane orientation, the small rudder is just too weak to make a large yaw movement even at high speed.  It need to handle like a fast EDF jet via 'Bank and Yank' maneuver as if you're flying a fast flying wing, but that involve a combination aileron roll and elevator pull which need to be caution.   But aileron banking turning around below 40 degree on its roll axis down at 73% throttle will definitely introduce potential stall because elliptical wing tip design isn't build to banking/roll at such speed without compensation from rudder.  My usually best and efficient way to bank safely into left or right via 'Bank and Yank' maneuver is always accompanied with rudder 'counter' steering.  Once i started to initiate banking at very drastic angle the i will pull the rudder in the opposite direction to keep the tail from dipping further into stall.  Remember by the time the plane is rolling in its axis the rudder can actually act as an elevator.  As an aerobatic R/C pilot we called it similar to 'Knife Edge' maneuver where you can fly the plane straight with plane roll at 90 degree angle wingtips pointing toward the ground leaving the rudder to become elevator while the elevator becomes a rudder to keep the plane float in the air...very cool flying tricks indeed.  Aerobatic planes have large control surface so it can be done but for warbirds its just enough to compensate minimal changes.  In short its takes skills to bank/yaw properly on a Spitfire to avoid stalling.

When the weather goes bad the Spitty handles it like a boss; wind turbulent, bumpy air waves, thermal or any sort of heavy wind current at the slope or windy beach side the Spitfire can slice through easily like a knife even during landing too which is why if you look at my video or gallery i always love to fly this plane at the beach.  It terms of basic aerobatics maneuvers such as barrel roll and big loops it can handle very well as long you keep the throttle at 95% to 100% when initiating such maneuver to avoid from stalling.  An extra plus due to its robust flight characteristic the Spifire is the only warbird plane i would dare to do extremely low altitude low pass above wavy waters or wind turbulent grounds since its to easily get shaken by so called ground micro burst.  

Landing time! Despite all those great flight performance, speed and nimble characteristic that  makes a the Spifire a fun warbird to fly there is also a down side that can be challenging task to do especially for intermediate pilot; this plane have an extremely narrow width front landing gear which makes landing extremely challenging not to roll on either side.  In real life Spitfire landing gear are narrow and same goes to other few planes made by Great Britain in those war days.  Having a plane that fly fast and still land hot approach with flaps with longer runway the pilot still have to 'balance act on the rope' when touch down because it can be a bit wobbly trying to balance  on two wheels as it will tilt either left or right side until the rolling speed slows to a halt.  For me i always have my wing tips scrapped along the pavement as i try to keep up up right.  I must say the Spitfire is one of my number one least favorite plane to land, number two was FMS HENSCHEL HS-123 and lastly the BOEING STEARMAN PT-17.   If i need to fly these plane again i'll have to find smoothest and longest runway to make sure neither ended in scratches, i always get pale face and heart pounding moment when landing these plane....which is the reason why i seldom bring these models for weekend flight if the ground terrain isn't ideal.  For landing stats; the Spitfire would consume about 15 meter to 18 meters of clear straight runway to land till stop or less than 15 meter when hitting the head wind.

Just like all 1100mm wingspan Durafly model the Spitty runs on standard 3s 2200mah 40C li-po battery the overall flight time before it hits 3.6V per-cell was 7 minutes with mix of fast low passes, moderate loop aerobatics and mix of 70~80% throttle stick flight speed.  If just float and glide about into the strong head wind at beach side with 65~73% throttle especially flying at breezy beach the flight time can be as long as 8 minutes per-battery pack.  As for portability and transport again the DURAFLY 1100mm wingspan line up simply the best plane to move about without hassle and easy to fly on any small park without worries where to fly...have flat ground will go!.

One big question: Is the Spitfire good for beginner and intermediate R/C pilot?   Hmmmm...... not so good for a beginner plane but at very least ok for intermediate but definitely struggle for those who doesn't have a steady thumb and lack of judgment in keeping cruise speed steady during banking or turning because its a stall killer due to its elliptical wing.  It likes to go slightly faster than most standard warbird speed.  Second as i mention before is its twitchy landing, one wrong move it will chew off the wing tips gradually.   But in the hands of experience pilot or at least those who've been flying aerobatics, F3A and jets this plane is a thrills and excellent plane to fly.

Aesthetic value

In original form the Spitfire doesn't look very appealing at first because the whole model camouflage color looks too 'candy' like colors when i came out from DURAFLY factory.  The previous owner of this plane who have background in plastic modeling hobby took an effort to add some color correction with layers of proper camouflage coloring and some weathering works through air brushing.  The results a realistic looking British warbird that just came back from countless of sorties and dogfight....aging and looking good!  Totally looks like an oversize scale plastic models worthy of a 'shelf queen'.   Among all my DURAFLY warbird collection the Spitty took the top spot for best looking warbird that looks like its been through countless of battle scars.

In term of solid physical details the Spitfire does have lots of 'touchy' textured details such as bumps, rivets and panels lines along the fuselage surfaces, wings and parts like wing guns, ducts under the wings, cockpits, antennas and also LED lights on its wings.  Everything aesthetics on this plane is almost on par with details you would find actual miniature size plastic models kits.  The only misses are; the Spitfire doesn't comes with extra detachable accessories such as wing payloads, rocket launcher and  drop tanks which are commonly seen on other DURAFLY warbirds models.

Side by side lining up with its DURAFLY siblings the Spitfire on table viewed horizontally the Spitty looks very thin, narrow like malnourished animal compare to its nearby like P-51D MUSTANG, F4U CORSAIR, P-47 THUNDERBOLT and other which looks more 'meaty', muscular and bulked.  As for collectible value among R/C plane enthusiast the SUPERMARINE SPITIFIRE MK-24 definitely a rare sight on the market, there's not many R/C plane models introducing Spitfire but rather lean very much on American fighter such as the P-51D Mustang as a common and recognizable WW2 fighter of choice by popular media and cult.   That means a SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK-24 has more collectible value than a P-51D MUSTANG for being rare.

Videos/Medias
Here are sample of video of  i posted on my Youtube channel contain fun flying my DURAFLY SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK-24

• Model gallery:  DURAFLY Supermarine Spifire MK-24 - 1100mm
  • Video: Fine day to fly with Durafly MK-24 Supermarine Spitfire
  • Video: Durafly Supermarine Spitfire MK 24

Vendor/seller

Here are list of reputable vendor/seller which i bought from and also verified by community forum discussion groups. Also i've experienced buying from these places that have good support and services:

1. Seller HobbyKing.com (*Note: V2 model with 5x bladed prop):  Durafly Supermarine Spitfire Mk24 V2 with Retracts/Flaps/Nav Lights 1100mm (43") (PNF) *(discontinued production model)


Support group/articles:
Places where you can find help and resources related to this product:

Rcgroups discussion groups - New Durafly 1100mm Mk24 Spitfire (Version 1):  https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1708361-New-Durafly-1100mm-Mk24-Spitfire
RCgroups discussion group - NEW Durafly V2 Mk24 Spitfire 1100mm:  https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3047017-NEW-Durafly-V2-Mk24-Spitfire-1100mm
Actual real aircraft information 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire
Actual real aircraft information 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_(Griffon-powered_variants)

Summary

Its funny yet unexpected, living years after my childhood phase finally i've ended up having the ones i never though i would own and fly one; the SPITFIRE....the same plane that i used to ponder upon when i was around 3 to 6 years old back when i was looking at my uncle's old AIRFIX plastic model kit box back in the early 1980's.   So fate have reunited me with this plane indeed.   The flying experience was indeed amazing and very different than other warbirds i owned because the Spitfire have its own unique flying characteristic  that helped me understand how and why it excel well and famous during the World War 2.   Fast, straight, nimble, ferocious yet twitchy when on the ground it gets the R/C pilot on the edge behind the stick.  With its aero design, elliptical wings and narrow landing gear it helps me understand the flight physics, historical facts, dog fight performance  and the experience of fighter pilot have been through from the past inside this plane.....it made me 'aha!' and 'now i get it' moments what makes this plane so special in the past.  I'm guess i'm lucky to be born as an R/C pilot  able to experience by flying it rather that just collecting static models and make assumption through just reading wiki and historical fact only.  8 minutes of flight is enough to make me a week worth of smile on this plane.

Overall DURAFLY; SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK-24 is a worthy R/C warbird models to fly and essential pilgrimage for those who wants to understand how World War 2 fighter works which lead better understanding the experience how WW2 fighter pilot have been through not only in history book but by feeling the plane under the thumb stick controller itself.  By next month the plane should be about 9 years old yet still strong and able to grace the skies...only the R/C pilot is getting older and very weary, lol!.  Unfortunately  both the DURAFLY SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK-24 Version 1 (The one i have now) and the Version 2 (Comes with 5x blade propellers and improved motors and esc to handle extra blade thrust) no longer in production since 2019 but the owners of the models still actively discuss their enthusiasm and passion in RCGROUPS.com forum to this day. Glad i'm still hanging on to this model.  Hanging high on my hangar's wall the SPITFIRE looks very elegant and keeps me smile all day reminds me not to give up my ambition to fly!