stevenmax50

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Well I got my Tiger 60 for my birthday (Nov 30) and I have sorta organized my shop. Time to get started!
You should all know that Ihave pulled alot of ideas from this site so I will be refering to past postings for the mods I want to incorporate. I will be getting the Magnum 91 4 stroke for Christmas andI saw postings for an enclosed engine cowl so that will definatly be one mod. It looks very clean and just plain cool.
Another mod will be making this a taildragger. That one is alsoa done deal. Not yet decidedwith 100% is retractable mains. I really like the clean lines on a retract bird. And the thead I will be looking back at has a very interesting mod. Goldberg has an addendum they sent me to add retracts in a trike configuration. Ijust need to purchase their retrct mod kit. The thing is....I have read some very negative opinions of the Goldberg plans. Apparently if I insist on retracts it will not be as easy as insert tab A into slot B. SOOOO, if anyone wants to chime in on the subject, feel free to do so. I have a few weeks until Ihave to make a final decision. You guys should know...I am leaning heavily towards retracts.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_49..._1/key_/tm.htm That should be the link to the thread for the engine cowl and retract mods.

So here we go. I officially started my build last night. Alot of guys enlarge the rudder and elevator to increase manuverability. I am not that good of a pilot yet so I will be making these standard size. When I start to take pics of mods I will try to make pics with closer detail. Feel free to jump in with any suggestions fellas. I definatly appreciate any input.

One more thing. I gotta say this.Yesterday was the SEC championship game. ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!

GhostRider32

I had a Tiger 2, it flew great. I look forward to following this build.

The Tide took it to the Gators. I kinda thought they would. Their a good team. Texas didn't do to well last night but I figure the BCS game will be much more interesting. Florida, Bama and now Texas have all had real nailbiters this year and late 4th quarter come from behind wins so the BCS game should be a good one.

Hook'em Horns.

GhostRider32

I just realized that the .60 is laser cut, nice.

Wolflord

I am also building a tiger 60, I am doing the tailwheel mod but not doing the retracts. I not sure about the enclosed engine yet but still have time until I get to that point. I have some experince flying this plane as a trike, did my first low wing landing with this plane as well, glides really nice, which is why I wanted to build one. Putting a Saito 80 in mine for now and I hope it will have enough power.


I will be following your build.

blvdbuzzard

I have put retracts into a handful of planes. It takes as long if not longer to install the retracts as it does to build the whole wing. I helped put a Tiger together with retracts. It was not a stick tab A into slot B. It was not any worse then my other installs.

One thing I have done is mount the rails to the retracts before gluing the rails into the wing. I have had an issue where the retract would be flexed when it was tightened down to the rails. It was like they had a twist to the rails. When the rails are mounted to the retract first, they will stay aligned after the glue is set.

I do like the looks of a tri gear setup raising after take off. Just looks cool.


Dru.

stevenmax50

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Wolflord....be sure to check out that link if you are thinking of the enclosed cowl. It looks great after the covering is installed. Is that Saito 80 a 2 or 4 stroke? Either way it ought to be plenty of power.

Buzzard...what kind of retracts, mech or air?

kdc

This is the link to a revised cowl http://www.rcmplans.com/issues/reque...-092000-1.html

blvdbuzzard

The retracts he had were mechanical. Not sure of the brand. They looked like Hobbico. But then again, they sort of look alike.

We used saddle tanks to make room for the nose wheel retract. I want to say they were 6onces each, I could be wrong there.

Foam wheel made it easy to get the retracts to come up without straining.

I have not seen him or the plane for a long while now.


Dru.

stevenmax50

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This is exactly why anyone would want to start a thread here in RCU  Tips like the one KDC just gave us all are what its all about.  . 

KDC...thanks for the link.  I just took a quick look and it looks great.  It really brings home the point of an enclosed cowl on the Tiger.

Earlier today I was looking around in the spare room in my house where I piut all the boxes of Christmas decorations and what do you think I found.  Its a box from Hobby People about the size of a .91 4 stroke Magnum.  Looks like I can start on the firewall Dec 25th sometime after lunch!!! 

Build update:  This morning I fit the formers in the fuse and rubberbanded it all together to check the fit.  All looks well.  I went ahead and epoxied formers A, B, and C.  I will do the firewall after Christmas.  So far this laser cut is going together very easy.  I'm gettin closer and closer to decision time on the main gear.    

stevenmax50

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Hey Wolflord....which taildragger did you decide on?  You did see the taildragger setup that Krossk put on his in that older thread, right?  His looks like what I will probably go with on mine.  Can you post pics of your build?

stevenmax50

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The wing you see is only pinned together. I have not decided yet on mech or air retracts so I am just checking fit. Since I am 1.5 hours to the closest LHS I have to wait till the weekend to go buy the extra balsa stock I need to make a chin. I have the Tiger Delux wood kit on its way from Goldberg. I just ordered that this morning.
I know my Magnum .91 is under the xmas tree allready. I do NOT know if the Airtronics will be there also. If not I will buy it in early January along with the retracts and servos.

donniercjet

My Feedback: (10)

the best thing since sliced bread was the invention of spring air retracts. very simple to plumb and you dont have to worry about loosing your air and having a belly landing. i refer them to anyone building a fun fly aircraft. for what it will cost you for the retract servo and the mach. retracts, you can almost buy a set of spring air mains. robart also makes a set of air up, spring down retrracts. i think there the 150 series. i havent tried the robart set, but i have a couple dozen sets of spring airs.

also, i have found that it is easier to make a retract plate instead of retract rails. 1/4 inch cut out of the rib is better than 1/2, and with the plate it spreads out the load of impact better than rails, and you have more area to glue and it doesnt add any more weight.....

just my .02

stevenmax50

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I had considered the Spring Air. But I have read ALOT of postings complaining about communication with that company. Some have said that their emails were not answered at all. Some have said it took as long as 3 months to get a response. There is a thread somewhere here in RCU all about SpringAir. The posters who have the gear love them. But there were alot of posters who cant seem to get them. Maybe that was an old issue. At this time I guess it wouldnt hurt to check em out and see for myself.


I just checked out SpringAir's website. A complete main set is less than 150. I guess the next step is to send em en email and see what kind of response Iget.

MILDBILL-RCU

My Feedback: (6)

Steven, The pictures of the wing you say are just pinned to check the fit. I hope you realize that the ribs are upside down. The trailing edge does not get pinned to the building board, just the spar. Then the ribs go on the spar with the rear tabs down. This sets them level with the building board. Then the rear edge sits on top of the tabs. After the wing is further along in constuction, these tabs get cut off. If you already knew this, then I'm sorry for the butting in here, but if not, I would hate to see glueing take place & the problems that would transpire from doing so. I had a Goldberg "SKY TIGER" many years ago & I put flaps on it as a trail to see how well I liked them. Best plain I ever had short of an Ultra sport. Good luck with the build. Looks good so far. Bill

stevenmax50

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Yes it is still just pinned. And I did not think of it but it sounds like you are right. I will definatly change it when Iget home this evening. I'm a bit surprised Ididnt notice that. I do most of my work in the late evening so maybe I was too tired to see what must be obvious. Last night I put the plans for both wings together and pinned the spars to the board. I also put the ribs on (upside down).
Since Ihave been waiting on my landing gear decision, Ifigured Iwas at least a week away from glue. I will be going to Huntsville this weekend to xmas shop so Iwill be able to make it to a hobby shop to pick up some essentials. I have a whole list of items due to the approximatly 11 mods I plan on doing.
1. taildragger
2. nose cowl.
3, wing hold down blocks
4. wing pins
5. main gear (retracts)
6. wheel well chin
7. elev size
8. rud size
9. canopy dye
10. fuse stiffeners
11. aileron servos

Who knows. Imay add another before Iam finished

Wolflord

Steven, I am going with the Sullivan Tail Wheel Brckt 5-12lb 45-60, with a 1.5 tail wheel and I think I am going to put in Sullivan Skylite Wheels 3" for the front to give me a little more clearance. I am also getting rid of the Balsa push rods and going to a golden rod setup for the back end. I will try to get some pics up later this week.
Your build looks good, just a question did your wing ribs line up with the plan? Mine did not but they still are going to work.

stevenmax50

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The control rods will be mod #12,. I didnt even think about that but I never intended to put the old style rods in. As for the tail wheel, Iwanted to see what the LHS has in stock. If possible, Ilike to buy from them just to help keep them in business.
And no...my ribs did not line up exactly. Ijust ran home to pick up an ohm meter to do a chore here at my store and I corrected the upside down ribs. Man Iwish Ihad a LHS closer than 1.5 hours away. Ineed balsa stock, a spinner, tailwheel assy, hinges, etc. etc.

donniercjet

My Feedback: (10)

steven, check out these retracts. imo, the second set as you scroll down would be great for your build. 90 degree with 3/16 wire gear. from what i have heard, there not to bad of a retract, and they do answer the phone and e-mails. just a thought.....


http://robart.com/retracts/6-12lb510.aspx

Wolflord

Steven, you are lucky your hobby shop is so close. My closest one is 3.5hours away, so it is easier for me to order from them by phone than drive there every time I need more materials. Mind you when I go to to that City I stock up on what I need.

Just wondering for the people who have made a Tiger 60 as a tail dragger, what size of tail wheel did you use? I am also considering putting in a larger fuel tank to get longer flight times, thinking of a 14oz or 16 oz depending which on I can get to fit. Some of the other things I am doing is putting in a lypol pack for the receiver and a ubec to get the voltage down, and the big one of adding landing lights to the plane. Trying to figure out what scheme I want to use for the Monokote.

stevenmax50

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I will go check out those retracts as soon as I finish this posting. For all you guys that have built a Tiger...has anyone else have the same low opinion that I do of the elevator? I have built 4 differant models over the years and and none of them have had an elevator joined together with a wooden dowel by epoxy. I certainly believe in epoxy but this setup just looks very flimsy to me. I put it together per the plans and I will give the epoxy overnight to cure before I touch it again. But I really have no confidence in this setup. I plan on adding balsa stock to increase the size. What I am feeling is that this wooden torque rod could come apart under a load. The funny thing is I do not recall anyone having an issue with this on any other thread.Is my lack of experiance showing? Now i dont even know why my laptop has decided to type like this. What an evening. So am I just paranoid or is this an OK configuration?

Donnierjet...do you know if those Robarts are complete systems?

stevenmax50

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Looks like Imay be wrong about the strentgh of the tiger elevators. The epoxy set up overnight and it appears to have more strength than I anticipated. And obviously when I cover it with Koverall and polycrylic it will be even stronger. I must say I think I would have prefered a steel torque rod. Failure of this component would be bad....very bad. So if anyone has any ideas on how to strenghten this union i would love to hear it.
Also, what does the points over to the left under our names indicate? I have seen anywhere from 100 to something like 190. ???

stevenmax50

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I asked this question in the Glow engine forum, Club Magnum thread, but there are over 60m pages on that thread and it may be awhile before i get an answer.

The question is, what would be the optimal fuel for break in and then flight for a Magnum .91 4 stroke?  I live at about 600 ft above sea level.

blvdbuzzard

You could take a slot machine and cut a thin slot and put in a thin piece of carbon fiber. Wrap some carbon cloth and use some poly. Cut it out and replace with a carbon fiber rod, cut it out, fill the slot with balsa, slot for steel wire joiner.

Here are the mains from Tower. I also included the tri gear setup to compare.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...10W1&search=Go

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJZE4&P=7

I just like the looks of a tri gear setup. It is about as much work to get the nose gear in as both main gear though.


Dru.

stevenmax50

My Feedback: (1)

I really havent considered tri gear.  The Deluxw kit comes with a new firewall and I havent glued in the stock firewall yet.  Goldberg maiiled my kit yesterday and I was kinda waiting to see what the parts look like and how they fit once they got here.

John Hancock

Don't worry about the strength of the dowel on the elevator. Think about the amount of load you will be exerting on the elevator. The balsa will fail before the hardwood dowel! I like the build, keep it comming!