I have recently bought the Phoenix Models Tiger Moth 57" span. It seems well made but the instructions are rather unclear or lacking in respect of the location of the metal straps for the struts between the wings, both in respect of distance apart, from the fuselage and distance form the lading / trailing edges. There is a sheet of paper that shows the main N type strut position against the fuselage but that is all. Does anyone know if there should there be another sheet with the position of the other struts please?
If not can someone please tell me what measurements to use. I can't see any predrilled holes under the covering either.

yup. ive got one too, and that is the exact reason that it has been put in the spare room with all the other ( unfinished ) planes

G'day from Down Under.

You have done better than me. You have a piece of paper that shows where the centre wings struts mount. I did not even get that. By finding 3 views and carefully studying the photos in the manual, I eventually managed to get the model together. For the wing struts, I found the small pieces of reinforced wood in the wings and drilled pilot holes at the centre of them. Even this is not going to be righ but it is close to correct. The lower wing rear mounts are too far forward. The outer struts should be parallel to each other but using the mountings provided, This will not be so but it is close.

By the time I had finished, the wings had the same incidence, were lined up against each other and there were no warps. I was hopeful.

My main concern was the CG. I am told by those more expert than I that the CG for a biplane is approximately 1/3 the way back from the "total cord" of the two wings taken together. If this is the case, it needs to be at least an inch further forward of where they suggest. I tried to fly mine with the CG as recommended and the result was a disaster. It just wanted to violently pitch up and I could not get it to fly level. The result was a crash which wrecked the lower wing. Most of the rest survived intact with only the vertical stab being damaged and it is easy to fix.

I have built about 50 models in my career and this is the first one that simply did not fly as advertised. I am rather disappointed. I recently built a DH 60 Moth (the father of the DH 82 Tiger Moth) from a plan. It was about the same size and with a rather under powered OS FS40, it flew magnificently. It did not last long as I made a mistake with a radio setup but its short life showed that a Moth of this size can fly well. The Phoneix Moth has great potential but until they either mark the mounting points or give better instructions, it is better avoided. I built this model hoping to use it as a trainer to learn about bi-planes as I have a Hanger 9 Sopwith Camel ready to go. It is rather larger and I wanted to try something smaller first. Oh well .....

I eventually set the cabane with an incidence meter as best I could making the wings level and simply attached the outer strut brackets to the edges of the strengthening strips top and bottom. The struts arn't parrallel exactly and there is a little tensin to get the bolts through .

Never having flown a tail dragger or biplane I was a bit nervous but it flew fine (OS52 4 stroke) with the only adjustment needed being some down elevator trim that a colleague put in while I kept my eyes on the plane. It has now had three flights and does tend to clumb with power but I don't intend to make any major adjustment to the wing. Landings seem ok - in fact the first flight was deadstick - so much for keeping a bit of power on when biplane landing!

If the CG is an inch further forward it will be only half an inch form the leading edge of the bottom wing which would seem to be wrong

I purchased a 52” 40 size Tiger Moth from Dymond Modelsport with similar lacking instructions. However, the owner cleared up some of my questions. For starters, the wing struts are assembled with the longer one to the back with the short one forward. For this model, the bottom of the trailing edge of the upper wing needs to be ¼ inch above the bottom of the leading edge of the upper wing. This will set the correct incidence. The CG for this model was 120-130MM from the leading edge of the upper wing.

Use this info to help you but know that this is for the Dymond Tiger Moth. I have also used the manual on the Tower Hobbies site for the discontinued Great Planes 60 Tiger Moth. Some of the info for wire rigging was useful.

Tom

Hello again from Down Under where it is really heating up.

Well since I wrote the post above, I have managed to get a copy of the sketch which shows where the cabane struts should be mounted. There is still a problem though. I have removed the covering from one side of the damaged fuse and the reinforced ply section that i used as the mount is too short if the diagram is followed. If you drill the rearward hole for the mount in a direct line with the front of the cutout for the wing, you will be drilling right on the end of the ply plate as its end lines up with the wing cutout too.

I wrote to the local supplier of Phoenix kits to see if a spare lower wing was available and they are but they have offered me with a kit which is missing some parts for a good price so I will have another go and see how we to this time. Thanks for the info about the Great Planes kit manual. I will have a look at that if it is still available. And this time, I will run an incidence meter over it and make sure I have some expert flyers with me for the tests. My problem here in Dubbo, NSW is that I fly Mode 1 (most people in Australia do) but the Dubbo club is mainly Mode 2 so there are not any people here who can test fly my models for me and my skills are still developing.

Thanks again Mike

Hello,

Thopught I would post again as I have just completed my Dymond Tiger Moth. It fly's great and maybe my build thread can help you with this model. Here is the link to the build thread.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6467734/tm.htm

Tom