Well, David had his first three flights today, and he did pretty well all things considered!

The 5 mph breeze they had forecasted was actually more like a very strong 10 mph with gusts of 15, some closer to 20, so the flying wasn't under the best conditions. The wind was almost 90 degrees (crosswind) to the runway (and the pattern), so it had a tendency to get under your wing and take you places you didn't want to go. [:@]

In spite of David's concerns about the way his Tiger II went together, and his threads about CA spills and stuff, it is actually a nice looking plane. I only saw one little piece of newspaper stuck to the top of a wing that he hadn't been able to get off.

I was quite impressed with the job he and his Dad had done getting it set up. When I took it up for it's trim flight (and this is the honest truth, not a review ) I only had to give it 3 clicks of right aileron and 3 clicks of down elevator to have it flying hands off.

The plane was still a bit tail heavy, so I added 3 or 4 ounces of lead to the cowl cheek opposite the muffler, which took care of it. David had already placed about 2 or 3 ounces under the mount, so I'm guessing a total of about 6 to balance it with the Magnum 46 two stroke.

The hinge gaps on the rudder and elevator were a bit wide for my taste, so I suggested that he add covering to close the gaps. To be honest though, you couldn't tell by the flight characteristics. It tracked nicely through turns, rolls and loops, and handled the wind very well. I wrang it out a bit after the sessions, just before David and his Dad had to leave, and was impressed with the way the plane flew.

It was my first time flying the Tiger II, and I can safely say that it flys every bit as good as a Sportster, and handles wind MUCH better than a 4*. I would not generally recommend it as a trainer because it is definitely a "go where you point it" plane; but I feel that David can learn on it, it will just take a bit more time.

The only other thing that had to be done was to add a bit of fuel tubing to the clevis, but that only took a few minutes for them to take care of.

The engine is not yet fully broken in, and had quite a bit of hesitation from low throttle to full. In fact, I had to set it down dead stick twice, when my intent was to go around for another pass. (I was a bit higher than I wanted to be on each of these passes, but when attempting to throttle up, the engine sagged and died.) This was only really an issue after long low throttle or idle conditions, as in the approach. General flight transition seemed okay.

On each of these the plane ran off into the high grass at the end of the runway, but suffered no damaged. Leaning the low end didn't fully take care of the problem, but it had yet to have even 3 tanks through it, so....

Here's a couple of pics. One of David and another of he and his Dad. They were getting packed up to head out at this point.

I'm looking forward to our next outing, and hope the wind cooperates a bit more.
Dennis-

That's awesome!
Congratulations, and may the weather cooperate on future flights.
I see he even has a pilot in the cockpit. I would rather see something flying in the cockpit instead of the Unmanned Air Vehicle's (drones) that I've seen.
Good luck, and soon you'll have him doing aerobatic routines.
One thing I learned about dealing with finicky engines during break in, is before backing the throttle down for prolonged idling, such as on base and final approach, I gun the throttle for a second or two to clear out any raw fuel in the cylinder that builds up from running the engine on the rich side. This seems to help keep the fires lit, and I haven't had any dead sticks during break in on my engines. After breaking in, and leaning out the top end, the dead sticks go away, but I still "throttle up" for a second before idling down.

Jesse

The pilot took hours.

I spent one hour just on the eyes!

I painted him with acrylic.

Well it looks like he done a great job with all the trouble he was haveing. Looks like a real sharp boy and I bet he had a lot more ??????? at the field. Won't take him long to learn and probably be teaching some one else to fly. Good luck David and have a ball!

I'm glad to hear it went well. David it looks like you were underestimating your modeling skills. After reading your threads about spilled glue and everything, I was expecting to see a plane in the shape of a boomerang. Your plane looks really good. Good luck to you David. It was a long haul and you still remained enthusiastic despite months of not getting to fly.

Edited: Dennis, you deserve a lot of praise too. That was a very nice thing to do.

Thanks Zetor, but it's just my way of re-paying all the help I've been given.

I was at least as excited as David was.
Dennis-

Congrats David! Looks like you were in good hands out there...

That plane looks better than some I have put together- It looks like the vert. stab and horiz stab (elev.) are perpendicular? What does that do and how does one achieve it? [X(]

Keep us posted David! And make sure Dennis dials in that low-end for ya---

Though I do need to get some glasses. I have some orientation problems.

Congratulations David!

The Tiger looks beautiful! We're all very proud of your achievment.

Dennis, glad to hear you like the Tiger, it's one of my favorites. And I also want to give you a big ATTABOY for demonstrating the true spirit of this great sport. It reminds me of an old expression:

"A Man Never Stands So Tall, As When He Stoops To Help A Boy"

[sm=thumbup.gif]

That is a great looking color scheme on the covering. It looks like you have a put a lot of hard work into it. Great job, with all the lessons learned when building this one, I can't wait to see the next one.

Congrats Yub Yub!!

And hats off to you DB Cherry

Thanks!

David,
Sweet job on the plane Good looking pilot too I hope the weather cooperates more your next time out. Good Luck!
Joe

Looks real great David,

I also kinda expected the plane to like like a boomerang!

BUT IT LOOKS GREAT! WELL DONE!!

And in regards to your orientation problems just get someone to like observe for you, tell you where your going if your focused on the plane. It worked for me.

Now I just hope my IFO turns out good

Happy landings[8D]

Get those glasses ASAP. At your age I would try contacts though. Follow all the instructions to the T! I didn't now I can't wear them. Nice looking plane! You'll love flying. Young people do so well at this sport. Good job!

Dennis & David

Great looking plane. I hope that when I finally get mine in the air out here that the person working with me will be as good.

Larry

Things like this are great to read! Thanks!

WTG David on the construction and flight of your Tiger.

Dennis, you rock!!

This past Saturday was the 1st day of trout fishing in PA. They were not biting well and the youngster with us (about 8) was getting frustrated. The guy (A complete stranger) next to him hooks a 12 inch brown trout and gives the pole to our young fisherman and lets him catch it. We were all talking about how nice of a gester this was the guy hooks a bigger fish and again hands the pole to the little one and lets him land it! This time it was an 18 inch brown trout! When you see and hear about things like this happening, it gives you a positive feeling there is some hope for the human race.

Now that's the kind of stuff I would like to see in the evening news, instead of murder, fires, dishonest CEO's etc.
Both great stories!

Unfortunately, David was serious about needing glasses. He tried hard, and did fine when he could see the aircraft, but if it was more than about 400 feet out, and 75 to 100 feet high, he had real problems with seeing it well enough to keep it level. []

I don't think the yellow and white against white clouds helped too much, but vision was definitely an issue. I'm betting that David won't believe the difference once he gets glasses.
Dennis-

yur a beast!!!! dude that plane is awsome!!! the best first plane i've seen!! you'll be ready for nats it a few weeks!

DEFINITELY need glasses. Sometimes I borrow my friends' glasses and the world is much sharper.

Congrats Yub! You FINALLY got to fly!! It's awesome, isn't it?

Dennis, I can't believe you've never flown a Tiger 2! You've been missing out! Great flying planes, aren't they?!

just needed some weight.

glow,
Nope, never have. I've flown at least 40 planes of all makes and sizes, but never the Tiger 2. And yes, it's a very nice flying plane.
Dennis-