flyf3a

Hi

Thanks, will have a look.

Burt

jbwilhelmi

My Feedback: (1)

Darrel at Sierra used electrics in his Tigercat.

Jack

CLBAKER

I have also used the 3 blade 14 x 9 and the rpm range was 8240 to 8450. The T-Cat flew (ok) but it didn't perform as well so I put the 15 x 8 props back on. I do like the way it flys.

F82FAN

My Feedback: (10)

Hello all,
I've finally posted some vids of the T-cat on YouTube for all the world to see!
Also put one of my new KMP 95" B-25 out there, too. Just click on the right side of the screen where it says "More from: F82FAN"
Check em out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf9kNFpsZdg


Enjoy!!!

mrcasey69

My Feedback: (1)

Beautyful, but short. Do you have more?????

F82FAN

My Feedback: (10)

Yup, just look on the right side of the YouTube screen for the "More from F82fan" button - that takes you to the rest of them - including the one where I had to belly it in after an air line blew off.
We were just getting used to the new video camera, too, so cut us some slack if it's not all pretty!!!
Enjoy!

mrcasey69

My Feedback: (1)

I noticed the other videos after I posted. Great stuff!!! Thanks very much for putting up the vids.

CLBAKER

F82FAN

My first flight on my T-Cat the factory retract nose gear did not want to lock down and the nose gear folded after I touched down. I was LUCKY no damage. I did some checks and removed the gear door and flew it three more times and the gear worked ok. I used Robart air tubeing on mine and have had no lines come off. The KMP gear is a little soft and started to bend so I installed Sierra air up air down and they work great. I have three air tanks and can cycle the gear eight times and still have over 40 PSI left. How bad was your plane damaged in the belly landing? The vidio is excellent even for a new cam, keep em coming.

ghost.fr

I GOT IT !!!! AND waOOOOO its a fantastic kit like every one said

Now got some work !!!
later for some picts

g

F82FAN

My Feedback: (10)

Hi CLB,
To be honest, it was probably MY fault that the line blew off, since I used the old "if some's good, a LOT is better" frame of mind when filling the airtank. I put in about 110lbs instead of the 100 max that it calls for, so I'll eat that one as my own fault. I did replace ALL of the lines and fittings with Sierra stuff.
There was NO damage at all to the airframe - it just broke the NLG steering arms off because it was at an angle when it touched down. I've changed out the entire retract system to Sierra's. Looking forward to the day when I can just fly the thing and enjoy it like I do my new KMP B-25. So far, the T-cat keeps me on edge the whole time. Not from her flying habits, but because I just have to wonder which system will go bad, next!
She is loud, rowdy, fast and beautiful, but not FUN to fly - YET.
Regards,
Wally

flyf3a

Hi

On holiday from next week and good as any time to get my kit together. Some thoughts on servos used please. Will normal sport servos do or does one have to beef it up a little?

Regards
Burt

ghost.fr

will you use futaba?

flyf3a

Hi

Yes.

F82FAN

My Feedback: (10)

I used all Hitec digitals on mine just for safety's sake.
5955TG on Elevators (1-ea)
5945MG on Rudder Pull/Pull and Nose gear steering
5925MG on Ailerons and Flaps
HS85MG's on Throttles and gear valve

Good luck!

stewpot59

My Feedback: (1)

Hi all.
Have any of you made the outer wing panels removable? I have some ideas, but would love to see what other people have done.
Thanks.

F82FAN

My Feedback: (10)

My T-cat is one piece, but we did make the outer panels removeable on the new KMP 95" B-25(go to the thread if you want to take a look at what we did on that...)

F82FAN

My Feedback: (10)

Hi All,
Don't know why there ended up being parrallel thread for the same airplane here on RCU, but as I was perusing it I saw that some guy in Taiwan did his as an electric and loved it. Only problem he had was with the retracts. GO FIGURE!!!
Anyway, here is his quote for anyone that hasn't seen the other thread and is wanting some electric power info (I did find my copy of Flying Models with our bird on the cover, but it doesn't mention what the guy used for power):


"Hi, guys,

I had my F7F maiden last sunday here in Taiwan and it flew like a trainer except some serious problems with the landing gears. During the build, I had lots of problems and I will try to post my experience lately. Hope this will help some of you still working on this bird.

I am using 4000w eletric power for my T-cat :

Himaxx 6320-250 250kv outrunner x2
Jeti Adavnce 90 ESC x2
APC 20x10 E prop x2
TP5000 10S Lipo x2
58A draw on each motor
13 servos : 2 ailerons, 4 flaps, 2 elevators, 1 rudder, 1 gear/air, 3 gear doors, 1 electric switch for landing lights
2 NiMH batteries : 1 for Futaba 9-CH receiver and 1 for JR Multibox
Total weight of take-off : 13kg (28.66 lbs) "

n9331v

I did the outer wing panels. I posted early in the thread, they are very very strong. I am doing them again on another.

scale9planes

Hi Burt

Also look on rc universe forums tigercat build. page 6

Regards
Anthony

n9331v

Found the post on page 30 of this forum number 730 and 731 for the outer wing panels. Hope it helps

F82FAN

My Feedback: (10)

Mr. Baker and Friends,
Anyone considering whether to put in the originals or aftermarket gear, here are a couple of pics of the gear against the KMP originals.
First pic is a main gear against the KMP Gen III gear.
Second pic is of the nose gear and the super engineering that Sierra does on their gear to assure positive motion both up and down to center the nose wheel in the well.
Last pic is my Warbird (Mustang 1:1 scale) in front of the hangar.

What a difference. Sell a couple of other birds if need be to put these retracts in - it makes SO much difference!
One word of warning: when you put these gear in, you will have to Dremel out a BUNCH of the nose gear mount plate and bulkhead, relocate the pull-pull tubes and also move the fuel tanks around to clear the retract cylinder since it goes forward of the bulkhead into the tank area - no biggie, though!
Regards,
Wally

Signoir

I purchased my Tigercat about 2 years ago and at that time Paul told me .90's would fly the plane. So I bought and installed Saito 90TT's. Later I found this forum and I can see that this is not the case. I really want to use radial engines. How does this plane fly with the Satio 170's? How much "adjustment" to the cowls are needed to get the 170's to fit?

I am a little obsessed with this plane and I just want it to be right. To give you an idea as to how much, I just bought a new car this weeked because the Tigercat would not fit in my old car.

chasrb

Go thru this forum and you'll see what I have done with the Saito 170's in my TC. They will fit right in with a new mount and some firewall modding.

Keithfl

Successful testflight!

Well it's been an awful long build for an ARF, but mine has flown at last. Electric power, 27 pounds AUW, heaps of performance. Even has some of that twin engine hunting / harmonic sound. I have to agree with other comments about it flying like a trainer - it does seem to. There really was no indication the airframe's substantial weight, once in the air. It needed no trim, except for some elevator trim when the gear was retracted. The stall seems to be benign, regardless of flap setting, and I even managed to land it without bouncing. Not bad, considering my thumbs were shaking.

There's been lots of whining on this thread about deficiencies with the kit, and I admit that if you're expecting an airframe that's ready to have servos screwed in & go fly, then you will be disappointed. I was searching for an F7F kit for years, and was prepared to accept virtually any format - glass/foam, balsa build-up, ARF, whatever. I was absolutely stunned when this one arrived on the market - great size, fully molded, and a great color scheme to boot. I viewed it as a completed outer shell, with much of the internal engineering being left to the builder. In that context, I still reckon this kit is fantastic, and great value as well.

First thing I did was get rid of the factory retracts, and put Robarts in instead. I used the factory struts, but inserted 0.25" music wire coils, as I fly from a fairly rough grass field (*!@#* motorbikes) and thought the additional springing necessary for longevity. One of our club members kindly bent up some coils, which work great. At 0.25" you can hardly make them budge, but when taxiing, those coils get a real workout.

Gear doors are all operational, with the main doors being operated by retract servos. I read some of the posts earlier in this thread about using belcranks, torque rods, plywood mountings and other contraptions to operate the doors, but went with simplicity instead. A single servo in each nacelle, with a direct pushrod to each door. I have a delay programmed into the Tx such that the gear has about 10 seconds to retract before the doors close, so sequencing is taken care of. The nose gear door is linked to the nose gear itself, so just opens & closes under retract-power. The rear half-doors for the nose gear have been omitted, as a means of getting some cooling air in to the batteries. Gear door hinging & attachment points are done with PC board. Slots were cut into the inner skin of the doors and the PC board epoxied in. Done this way, there are no ugly screws or bolts visible from the outside, and those fittings aren't ever coming loose!

All control horns were replaced with PC board, epoxied into slots in the control surfaces. Again, no ugly bolts or mounting plates.

Wing strength bothered me, so I made up a carbon joiner tube for the aluminium spars, and opened up the wing centre section so that the tubes could be epoxied directly into the carbon tube. The carbon tube had the dihedral angle molded in, so everything is an exact slide-fit, and should be completely bulletproof now.

I drive a reasonably small vehicle (Mazda RX-8), and measured eveything up before commencing. If the wing tips were made removable, the wing centre section would fit across the back set, and if the horizontal stab was removable, the fuse could fit on the reclined passenger seat. All good. I used carbon rod alignment pegs for all removable pieces, and molded a glass tube for the horizontal stab joiner tube to slide into, inside the vertical stab. Steel hex-head bolts are used to secure each panel.

Instead of having air lines and servo leads dangling from the underside of the wing, needing to be plugged in to their respective partners in the fuselage, I have all connections on the top side of the wing. That way, the wing can simply be dropped into place & bolted down, then the connections made at your leisure. The wing really is a bit heavy to be manhandled while you try to plug bits in. After attaching the wing, I just have one 6-pin plug and 2 air lines to connect, and that's it.

Dummy radials add a nice touch, and I tried to go the extra mile with the cockpits. The rear cockpit now goes deeper, all the way to the wing skin, there is a proper instrument panel, decent pilot figures, and some degree of seat & internal structure detail.

The motors (Kontronik outrunners) are drawing about 2250W per side, and spin Xoar 17x8 props at 8700rpm. All up, somewhere between 5 & 6 horsepower. Batteries are 10S 9000 Lipo's.

Now I've just got to keep it in one piece.

chasrb

Great report! I am happy to see that it has been what you expected.

A couple of things I'd like to see of your build:
The how you did the PC board for the gear doors and the gear door setups themselves and servo and air setup.

Thanks