nnSpitfire Review (design and build)

Video

Written Review of the nnSpitfire Build

Foam board is an interesting medium. On the one hand, it is light, easily cuttable and fairly affordable. Yet, on the other hand, it is sometimes difficult to get it to act in a way that will create the complex shapes of aircraft that were originally designed with aluminium, compound curves and true airfoils. Nic Lechner, however, goes some way to counteracting this with his latest design - the nnSpitfire. 

The Spitfire is famously curvy. Just looking at the wings alone, with their elliptical shape, raises the question of how one would go about creating such an object from a piece of 5mm foam board. Flite Test got this to an extent with their FT Spitfire back in 2013. 

Although the top was fairly representative of the famous wings of the Spitfire, the bottom had their traditional under camber which didn't exactly look that scale. Nic's wings, in contrast, have foam board sheeting all the way to the edges which make for a more realistic appearance. 

The sharp edges of his very efficient 'speed wing' design cut through the air resulting in the speeds he has achieved on his aeroplanes such the MiG 3. 

Unfortunately, the speed wing is quite a lot more time-consuming than the Flite Test version. However, if you want the speed and the looks, it's worth it. I found my first attempts at glueing the wing together were challenging, mainly because you need about 4 hands to squeeze all of the glue from the wing tips and trailing edges. With some practice though, I'm sure it would have been far easier. 

Moving onto the detail of the design, one of the standout features, like on many of Nic's designs, is the canopy. It is a massive improvement on the FT Spitfire, a plane that didn't even come with a canopy in the plans. The way that the 'glass' curves around into the bubble alongside the card frames looks incredibly scale and is very impressive for a model aircraft built with just these basic materials. 

To conclude, the nnSpitfire is evidence that the FT community has taken foam board to the next level in terms of design. Flite Test is fantastic for its beginner-friendly techniques found in most of their planes, yet the next natural step for many is to go to more challenging but rewarding designs that take a little more time and patience, but ultimately result in amazing end products. 

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- James.