Why 90% Scale?

[rainsux]

Just received the current issue of (airplane) porn. It featues a
2-seat, all metal Spitfire reproduction at 90% scale.

If going to the trouble of building a Spitfire reproduction; why
90% scale?

I've got 1 hour in the back seat of a Spitfire T9. Both cockpits
were cramped. 90% scale will only exacerbate that problem.

Vaguely related observations:

- The Spitfire cockpit is downright roomy when compared to the Me109
- The Mustang is a spacious, compared to the Spitfire
- The Corsair makes the Mustang feel cramped

 

[Jaybird180]

Interesting question...

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Best fit for the available engine?

 

[PBristolJr]

10% Cheaper?

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

10% Cheaper?

More like 27% by volume and, I assume, weight.

 

[comanchepilot]

Fits in a hangar?

 

[wanttaja]

Best fit for the available engine?

Pretty much it, I think.

The 7/8ths scale Nieuport replicas are that size because the designer had a couple of spare wheels hanging on the wall of his garage. He measured them (24") and determined they were 7/8ths the size of actual Nieuport wheels.

Ron Wanttaja

 

[Dan Thomas]

Just received the current issue of (airplane) porn. It featues a
2-seat, all metal Spitfire reproduction at 90% scale.

If going to the trouble of building a Spitfire reproduction; why
90% scale?

I've got 1 hour in the back seat of a Spitfire T9. Both cockpits
were cramped. 90% scale will only exacerbate that problem.

Vaguely related observations:

- The Spitfire cockpit is downright roomy when compared to the Me109
- The Mustang is a spacious, compared to the Spitfire
- The Corsair makes the Mustang feel cramped

Many "scale" replicas have larger-than-scale cockpits.

Dan

 

[Fearless Tower]

Pretty much it, I think.

The 7/8ths scale Nieuport replicas are that size because the designer had a couple of spare wheels hanging on the wall of his garage. He measured them (24") and determined they were 7/8ths the size of actual Nieuport wheels.

Ron Wanttaja

???

Are you referring to Graham Lee?

I thought I read that the reason he chose 7/8s and the Nieuport 11 in particular was that with that swept wing design and the right power plant, you could get it certified as an ultralight in Canada.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[wanttaja]

???

Are you referring to Graham Lee?

I thought I read that the reason he chose 7/8s and the Nieuport 11 in particular was that with that swept wing design and the right power plant, you could get it certified as an ultralight in Canada.

That's why he chose the Nieuport, but he told the wheel story in a newsletter years ago.....

Ron Wanttaja

 

[wabower]

Some of the partial scale designs (Thunder Mustang or one of the other kits) have been mixed scale.

 

[brcase]

Some of the partial scale designs (Thunder Mustang or one of the other kits) have been mixed scale.

I worked on the Thunder Mustang Project for nearly 10 years. The main reason for scaling was to fit it to an available engine, especially since we wanted near original performance at sea level.

It was 3/4 scale from the side view. But since the Thunder Mustang only weighed about 3000lbs gross as opposed to something like 12,000lbs for an original mustang if we went with a 3/4 scale wing we would have way to much wing area for the weight and it would have slowed the top speed of the airplane, so we went with a 5/8 scale wing. Did make it a bit interesting putting 3/4 scale landing gear in a 5/8 scale wing. We also widened the fuselage, I think it was 2 inches from scale at the cockpit area.

Also that 3/4 scale size reduces the surface area by about 56% making it perform much better for the available horsepower. This is probably just another way of saying we scaled it to fit the engine we had available.

Brian