Looking for a bipe to hang my Magnum XLS 52A on, does anyone have experience with a Thunder Tiger Bipe 40? I am not looking for an all out sport bipe, in fact, the gentler the flying characteristics the better. Other suggestions are welcome..

Adam

Hey Boss, this just might be the plane for you. Very easy flying plane with no bad habits at all. I built one as my second plane. Tore up a few others learning how to fly but I still have the Tiger Bipe. Not real aerobastic but very nice flying and easy to land. I fly mine with an OS 40 and am always wishing for a little bit more so the .52 would probably be nice on there. Check out my gallery for a pic.

Wanna turn up the wick some more and you could put that engine in the DP .40 size Ultimate from Cermark. Keep the rates under control and it is a sweet flying plane too.

Thanks for the info. I am swayed to get an ARF this time and I may well give this one a go.

How do you like the small Waco? I would like to get the 60 size one one day, very nice looking plane.

I'll look in to the Ultimate also, how do you think the two compare for handling (ease of!)?

The little Waco is a real handful. I powered it with a OS Rotary engine and it is like a little Buzz bom in the air. Squirrelly as &$^# on the ground though. The bigger Waco flies much nicer though, a couple of guys have had them at our field. The Ultimate in the pic is a Goldberg and it flies beautifully, very aerobatic , but easy to land. I have it powered with a Webra 1.20 and it seems like the perfect engine for it. My Dave Patrick was an ARC and is covered in Black with Pearle yellow accents. I powered it with a Saito .72 and it is very tame on low rates, turn 'em up and it is a blast! I have 9 Biplanes all together and one Tri-plane, the DR1 Fokker. I love 'em but the bigger ones are a pain to transport in a normal vehicle. I'm lucky, have a trailer.

Just returned from the flying field and four flights on my Tiger Bipe. Only had two previous trim flights on it. We are only 100 above sea level here, and my T-bipe flys very scale with an OS 25LA. Take off is about 85 feet from out grass field, with minor rudder correction for engine torque. With a little power on, landing on the mains is smooth, and touch & go is simply a matter of smooth power up. Balanced and trimmed according to the instructions she is mild and predictable, smooth moderate loops and nice slow rolls. Most of the flight is at near half throttle. With a mild 40, I believe the vertical would be greatly improved, and definitely the loops could be enlarged.

As a comparsion, I almost enjoyed the T-Bipe as I did in the several flights with my FuntanaS (Magnum 60 4cycle).

Tony, how do think it would fly with this Magnum? It is a .52 2 stroke byt the way. By the sounds of it it will be overpowered, but hopefully not ridiculously so.

adam -

I really don't have an estimate. However, you could always throttle back. I believe that the larger prop and torque with the Magnum 52 would give great performance, but I don't know if it would make the Tiger Bipe a bit finicky...... the weight of the engine would probably require some lead in the rear to counter balance. The plane is pretty light, so I don't think the additional weight would be a problem, but it would mean slightly faster speeds required for takeoff and landing. As an option, you could replace the stock ailerons (bottom wing only) with 1 1/4 inch or even 1 1/2 inch, for slight increased wing area.

cstevec stated that his 40-powered Tiger was a smooth flyer, and he sometimes wished for a bit more power. I've considered puting a 40 on mine, but I have two Magnum 28's which need to be broken in before going into my OV-1 Bronco, so they have to cycle through first.[&:] But, hey.... the arf is relatively cheap, so it might be worth the try.

The Ultimate has great dimensions and airfoils. IF there is a medium size, that would be good. Perhaps cstevec or another RCU member could offer a hint here?????

I have flown 40 sized Waco, Pitts S2C and Christen Eagle. All three had short-coupled fuselage. All suffered squirelly ground handling and were more sensitive on elevator than I cared for.

My final, humble opinion is..... an old Midwest 'Bipe Stik' (two 'Sweet Stik' wings with the fuselage inverted, upper wing on struts), might be ideal for your purposes (except it's a kit). This would easily handle the weight and power of the Magnum 52, and it would fly like every other Stik..... smooth and predictable! I haven't seen one in a couple of decades, but know two flyers who kitbashed an their ARF Stiks adding a 'replacement' wing.