Blueyonder

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very cool.... It sounds like they really super-sized Tiger junior. Am interested in what you think will work engine wise. Would a OS 91 FX be enough in your opinion..?

thailazer

Going to have to see how much it weighs as it starts to go together, but I think a 91 would be more than enough.

Blueyonder

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Sounds good, thanks... Good luck with the assembly.

thailazer

It will be a while before I get it together as I have a Craft Air Mystique on the bench at the moment. I did weigh all the parts of the new Tiger 3 and it is about 14 oz heavier than the original. I am tempted to try to fly it on a .46 as the smaller one is over-powered with that size engine. I am sure a .91 would give it incredible vertical performance, but I normally like more scale power to weight ratios. I competed in Scale Master for several years with a 100 inch span 13 lb Twin Otter that flew on two .28 FSRs running 3 blade props. Did fine off a grass runway.

Looking forward to having two Tigers to fly in the spring!

Blueyonder

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So Tiger Sr. is only about 14 oz heavier than Jr..? Not bad..!. I plan to use a 55 AX on Tiger Jr, which at 5000 ft above sea level should be a good match but by no means overpowered. I know a .46 would probably be marginal on Tiger Jr at this altitude and a .60 would probably be marginal for Tiger Sr; but I prefer to have a few more horses than not enough. Would love to know if you are successful with a .46 on Tiger Sr if you do give that a try!

Blueyonder

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So, what do you think of the covering on your Tiger Sr?

Super08

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It is like sticky shelf paper. The glue on the back is sticky like tape and does not shrink with heat. Well it will a bit but at very low temps. I never did take mine to the field this year as I was busy with other things. If I like mine and it lasts a season I may recover it with Monokote or Ultracote.

thailazer

The covering on the smaller Tiger held up better than Monokote over the flying season, so that is why I bought the bigger one. Covering looks great on the bigger bird. The stuff is called V-Kote film and as many have found, there is not much information available on it.

Blueyonder

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Thanks much for the input guys on the larger Tiger. So far no complaints from me on the Tiger Jr covering.

thailazer

Finally got started putting the bigger Tiger together. As you can see in the photo, the wing is considerably bigger. Covering on this one has some loose edges and even some exposed wood. Other than that it looks great. The bigger version also comes with unhinged surfaces and CYA hinges supplied. I liked the smaller version as it has normal hinges that were pinned in, and I am replacing the supplied CYA hinges with Dubro standard hinges. Should have two Phoenix Tigers in the air by spring.

thailazer

Here is a comparison of the original Tiger and its big brother. I love how these planes go together but did run into a minor issue today where the wing bolt holes don't seem to line up properly. Other than that it has been smooth sailing. I replaced all the cheap hardware with Sullivan and Dubro stuff as I don't like little screws holding clevis connections together. The small one weighs in at 6 lbs 4 oz and the bigger one is 7 lbs 5 oz, or just over a pound heavier. With those changes, wing loading will actually be lower on the bigger ship than the small one! It should be a good flyer.

thailazer

Taking some measurements today and looking at the wing mounting, I see that the right wing panel has the hole drilled about 1/16 inch off where it should be, and it is drilled off at an angle much different than the other wing panel. Appears it was drilled out with a hand held drill. The left wing panel is right on so I can use that as reference as I figure out how to correct this issue.

Blueyonder

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Thanks for the updates... Nice looking Tigers. :-) A bit of a slow go here on my Tiger Jr. I found the slot on one wing panel is a bit tight for the wire landing gear so trying to figure the best way to resolve that.

Too bad on your wing hole issue... I'm sure that's a bit of an annoyance. Good luck on the correction with that.

thailazer

I have run into that issue in the past regarding a narrow LG slot. You can use a wire of the same diameter, or even the gear you plan on using, to make a tool. Sharpen the end with a file or grinder and use it to chisel away the extra wood. You end up with a nice tight fit.

Blueyonder

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Thanks for the tip. Wasn't sure which way to go... dremel, or ax, etc. lol... Appreciate the input.

thailazer

Got the maiden flight in today on the larger Tiger and I did use a brand new OS 46AX running VERY rich to break it in. The plane flew beautifully, even with a bit too much elevator authority, and on the first flight I was doing rolls and cuban eights. The only problem I had was vibration from the supplied spinner. It was visibly out of true, and the plane had much more vibration than my other 46 AX powered planes. Going to replace the spinner. I might also put in a smaller tank as the supplied one is huge. Landings and touch and go's on this plane were even easier than on the smaller Tiger. All in all, she is an elegant flyer, and not as "zippy" as the smaller version.

Blueyonder

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Nice to hear your maiden on the Tiger Sr. went well... Pretty amazing though that you were able to fly it with an OS 46 AX; although that does speak well to the power that the .46 can deliver.

thailazer

Yeah, and that was with a tame 11-7 Master Airscrew prop, and off a grass runway. 3.5 inch main wheels help on the grass, and I can't wait to get an hour of break-in on this engine so I can start to lean it out. Got a Dubro spinner on order so should have it back in the air next week.

thailazer

Have gotten some more flights in on the big Tiger and it is much more of a floater on landing than the smaller one, due to the lower wing loading I suspect. I was surprised to see how well it balanced with the small 46AX out front. I think a heavy gasser or larger two stroke would make it a fairly nose heavy plane requiring lead in the tail. Turning out to be a nice big fun plane to fly now that I got all the teething pains with the spinner and trimming behind me.

thailazer

After flying the smaller Tiger for a year, it has become my "go-to" plane as it does everything well and is a good wind flyer. This morning I decided to tighten the covering on the wing as it has had a lot of hot sun cycles on it with our hot weather this summer. The covering shrunk very easily on the wood and open surfaces. There have been complaints that the covering Phoenix uses is like kitchen cabinet liner, but I like it. It is thicker so it does not melt through as quickly as Monokote does. Wing is like new again.

Blueyonder

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Thanks Thailazer for the covering input. Great to get your perspective on how well the covering reacts to the shrinking process.

thailazer

Tower has them currently on sale for 89 bucks which is a great price.

rcjetflyer0718-RCU

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temporarily unavailable

thailazer

Well, that is a drag. You would think they would stock a slew of them if they were going to be on sale. That makes no sense.

thailazer

Am in the process of recovering the wingtips of my smaller Tiger and getting used to the covering Phoenix uses. It comes off with just a small amount of heat applied with a heat gun. Try it cold and it pulls balsa with it. It is tenacious stuff but quite easy to work with once you get used to it. I wonder where one could buy it.