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The
GWS Tiger Moth parts are bagged in appropriate sections
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The
foam wings have a semi-symmetrical design
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A
colorful manual and decal set are included in the kit
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above are the Tiger Moth 400 parts just removed from the box. I
found no damage on any part and each of the various types of pieces
were bagged in their own categories. The geared Speed 400 motor
and 10x6 prop are included in the kit along with plenty of hardware
and some clay for balancing the model.
Initially,
I discovered that the wings were a real semi-symmetrical airfoil
and not just another undercamber design. I then discovered that
this model had full-house controls for rudder, elevator, and ailerons!
Lastly, I realized that the yellow paint did not come off easy
or flake like on the film coating on the smaller slowflyer version.
The parts could be handled without hurting the finish. I was immediately
pleased with this new design.
The
kit comes with a full color manual and two decal sheets. The second
decal sheet is various "GWS" cutouts.
The manual has great photos and instructions that follow the text
by number. I have found a tube length error and some orientation
issues that I will cover later in the review. Overall, the photos
in the manual were very helpful and only minor building experience
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GWS
EPS-400C(D) Geared Speed 400 System
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ICS-300
Electronic Speed Control (ESC)
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The
ESC came with an optional heatsink
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received a GWS ICS-300J ESC with the review kit but suspect that
it may not be the correct choice. The manual says to use an ICS-400
ESC. My ICS-300 ESC was rated for 8amps continuous and up to 15amps
peak short term so I figured it was worth a try on my Speed 400
motor. Additionally, the ESC came with an optional heatsink that
looked like a good idea to install. As it turned out, my ICS-300
ESC worked just fine. |
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The
ICS-300J ESC is modified for the supplied heatsink
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The
heatsink is placed onto the thermal pad
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and
then held in place with the new shrink wrap.
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steps to install the heatsink started by removing the existing shrink
wrap on the ESC because a new heatshrink piece is supplied to hold
the heatsink in place and the plastic layer must not go in between
the power transistor and thermal pad.
Make
sure that the protective layers are removed from both sides of
the thermal pad and then place it directly onto the transistor.
The heatsink can then be placed onto the pad and then held in
place with the new shrink wrap. Make sure that after you heat
the shrink wrap that the heatsink is held firmly against the thermal
pad and the transistor. There should also be an opening for air
flow at each end of the heatsink.
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The
control rod tubing is first glued in place,
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and
then the wing nut glued before assembling the fuselage.
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The
fuselage is held together with rubber bands while drying
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Fuselage
Assembly:
The first step in assembly is to glue the elevator and rudder tubing
into the sides of the fuselage tail. Although GWS supplies a tube
of glue in the kit, I choose to use 5-minute epoxy just because
it was a bit faster to dry.
The
manual says to cut the tube to a length of 260mm but this was
rather short and did not agree with another photo farther along
in the manual. I choose to cut my second tube at a length of 300mm.
The
above photo on the right shows the wing nut glued into place and
you can see that my first 260mm tube is a bit short. It can actually
go as far as being in-line with the wing nut.
I then glued the fuselage together with Aileene's Tacky White Glue
and held it with several rubber bands until dry. The supplied GWS
glue work work fine here as well. |
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The
fiberglass rod support is glued into the bottom wing
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After
cutting hinge slots with a razor knife,
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the
ailerons are glued into the wing.
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Wing
Assembly:
The first step in the wing assembly is to glue a fiberglass rod
support into the top side of the bottom wing. I used epoxy here
but the GWS-supplied glue will also work fine.
After cutting out the ailerons from the wing, you need to cut some
slots for the hinges and drill holes for the torque rod. Now is
a good time to paint the exposed white parts of foam back to Moth
yellow. It can also be done fairly easy after the model has been
test flown as I did.
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The
aileron gap was set to match the torque rod
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Support
plastics are glued into the wing and fuselage
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The
wing is secured on both leading and trailing edges
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I
used the GWS glue to attach the ailerons to the wings. Instead of
cutting grooves into the aileron for the torque rod to sit in for
a closer mate, I decided to leave the aileron out a bit to match
the gap with the center part of the wing and allow less binding
on the plastic hinge material. Either way should work fine.
The next step is to glue some plastics into the wing and fuselage
that will secure the wing on both leading and trailing edges. The
landing gear support is also installed at this time. |
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The
wing is locked in place with a single screw
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A
perfect seam is provided between the fuselage and wing
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bottom wing mounts with just a single screw in the trailing edge
and is locked in the leading edge with the double post. The wing
to fuselage seam was a perfect fit on both top and bottom sides.
It felt solidly locked into place. |
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A
metal joiner connects the elevator halves together
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The
elevator is then connected to the horizonal stabilizer
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The
supplied GWS glue worked great on the hinges
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Tail
Assembly:
The elevator halves are cut from the horizontal
stabilizer and then attached together with a metal joiner. Again,
paint the exposed white foam, if desired.
Four hinges are used to hold the elevator to the stabilizer. I used
epoxy for the metal joiner, and, after it dried, attached the hinges
using the GWS glue. |
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The
rudder is first cut and then re-assembled onto the stabilizer
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A
steerable tailwheel is attached to the rudder before mounting
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The
finished tail sections are then glued to the fuselage
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rudder is first cut and then re-assembled onto the vertical stabilizer
in a similar manner. I added the steerable tailwheel assembly onto
the rudder before attaching it to the fuselage per the instructions.
I saw no issues with the stabilizer assembly and I am now ready
to glue the tail together. |
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The
tailwheel support bracket is glued onto the fuselage bottom.
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Be
sure to check the alignment of both stabilizers to the
fuselage
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The
tail assembly was quick and easy
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horizontal stabilizer is glued in place first and then the vertical
stabilizer. The rudder and tailwheel assembly is glued next and
the final step is to glue the tailwheel support bracket onto the
fuselage bottom. |
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A
large compartment has airflow from the front cowl opening
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The
GWS EPS-400C gear motor simply pressed into place
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Motor,
Wing Strut, and Cowl Mounting:
Before installing the geared Speed 400 motor, I wired my ESC for
a Dean's Ultra battery connector instead of the stock red JST
connector.
The
motor simply pressed onto the pre-cut stick and was held securely
with a screw through the plastic into the wood. I then epoxied
the stick into the fuse slot. Everything fit together very well.
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Each
strut is secured to the foam in a pre-formed pocket
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Strut
and cowl supports are first sanded and then glued in place
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Tiny
screws then secure the struts and cowl
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started gluing my strut supports in place on the wing and fuselage.
It is always best to rough up the plastic with sandpaper on the
side to be glued. This provides a better hold.
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Missing
cowl supports were made from scrap plastic and later found
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I
simply cut 3 square pieces and glued them into place on
the fuselage nose.
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The
upper wing, cowl, and gear mains were installed
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manual seemed to miss a step before mounting the cowl and the kit
did not contain the parts needed. It went right into screwing the
cowl in place on the fuselage. This was easily remedied by making
my own square cowl supports from the leftover plastic strut support
material. I simply cut 3 square pieces and glued them into place
on the fuselage nose.
After
my building was completed, I think I found the plastic pieces
meant for the cowl mounting in a separate plastic bag. There were
these 4 white plastic pieces about the correct size in my leftover
parts pile.
After
trimming the cowl and cutting out a hole for the prop shaft and
another hole for airflow, I was ready to mount it to the fuselage
with three tiny screws.
I
could now see that there was a plan for proper airflow into the
front of the cowl through large openings in the fuselage to cool
both the motor and ESC. This was a good design step by GWS for
the TM 400.
At
this point, I decided to deviate from the manual step sequencing
because the next step was to mount the lower wing which would
block the inside compartment meant for installing the servos and
receiver. Since I didn't want to unscrew the wing again, I decided
to leave this step for last. When I did install the struts, you
first glue the supports into both top and bottom wings. The struts
are then attached with the tiny screws supplied in the kit.
I
installed the stock landing gear without issue. My Tiger Moth
could now stand on all three wheels and I was ready to install
the three servos and linkage.
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The
components are placed in positions shown in the manual
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The
linkages installed easily with "Z" bends on
only one end
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Aileron
control rods used "V" bends for fine tuning
adjustment
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Servos
and Linkage:
I put the components exactly where the manual showed them. I used
Hitec HS-55 servos which fit perfectly in the provided pockets.
My GWS R4-P receiver has the full length antenna running through
the inside of the fuselage.
In the linkage photos above, everything installed easily and I only
deviated slightly in some areas like not using "Z" bends
on both ends of the aileron rods. |
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My
GWS Tiger Moth 400 was Ready-To-Fly at 14.1oz without
battery
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The
plane balanced perfectly without using any of the supplied
clay
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A
3-cell Kokam 1500mAh Lithium pack provides a perfect fit
and balance
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I
measured the 10.5amp current draw to be within motor specifications
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closer look at the 3-cell Kokam 1500 pack in my TM 400 reveals that
not only a great fit after some slight carving under the dash, but
the plane balanced perfectly with the stock GWS Speed 400 power
system without adding any of the supplied clay. Alternatively, the
Thunder Power 3-cell, 1300mAh Lithium pack is a bit lighter and
will also work well with the GWS Speed 400 power system. Both Kokam
and Thunder Power packs are available at Hobby Lobby.
The
recommended 7-cell, 730mAh NiMH pack has only limited power for
the TM400. You'll see a huge power increase with a 3-cell Kokam
1500 pack. The Kokam 1500 cell can deliver up to 12amps continuous
and the 730mAh NiMH cell only about 8amps. Additionally, the 3-cell
Lithium pack provides the voltage of a 10-cell NiMH pack and therefore
provides more power to the prop. I measured the 10.5amp current
to be within motor specifications at full throttle for short periods
using the 3-cell Lithium pack and stock prop.
I
also felt that a 7-cell NiMH pack provided too low of a voltage
for this power system but an 8-cell, 720mAh, NiMH folded pack
would work fine with the GWS Speed 400 power system. An 8-cell
folded pack of 720mAh, NiMH cells also weighs about 4oz and can
be purchased at Hobby Lobby.
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The
Tiger Moth 400 can take-off from grass, pavement, or simply hand-tossed
into the air. Novice R/C enthusiasts should solicit the help of
an experienced pilot on the maiden voyage so it can be properly
balanced, trimmed out and flight tested.
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The
steep angle climb-out after take-off reveals plenty of power in
the Tiger Moth 400
We
flew the Tiger Moth 400 twice today at lunchtime. Although the
wind was changing directions and speed from 5-15mph, the plane
flew great! I had plenty of power to handle the wind when needed
and could throttle way down when it subsided. It flew inverted
just as well with only a slight drop in lift from the semi-symmetrical
airfoil.
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Slow
rolls and giant loops are easily performed
The
roll rate was very scale and much slower than I have been used
to with all my 3D plane flying lately. When rolling with rudder
correction, it looked very scale in the air. Check out the video
for some nice rolls!
We took off from pavement and landed in grass several times
without any sign of rollover. The structural design of the plane
is solid and I didn't notice any problems under these rather
rough conditions. GWS has elevated their original popular slowflyer
design to an aerobatic parkflyer status!
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Flying
low and slow across the field was made easy by the Tiger Moth
400
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