Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Would anyone happen to have a copy of the original Tiger Tail construction article? I believe it was in the April 1972 issue of Model Airplane News. I've done a lot of searching here and haven't had any luck.

Thanks,

RG

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

<a href="http://www.trentonrcflyers.com/pattern/articles/tigertail.pdf">http://www.trentonrcflyers.com/patte.../tigertail.pdf

Hope this will help you

Tim

<br type="_moz" /></a>

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Good stuff Tim!

When in doubt, first check Trenton...

Speaking of which I haven't seen CAsniffer on the forum for quite a while. What a great reference site he set up for all of us.

David

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

That's perfect! Thanks Tim! :D

RG

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

[/quote]
That's perfect! Thanks Tim! :D
RG
[/quote]

Glad you got it RG, I had it just in case. The TT is an all-time favorite of mine. It was my first .60 sized pattern plane. I just re-maidenedone Tuesday night that was given to me by my original RC instructor. It was scratch built by him sometime in the early 80s (I repainted it with Rustorattle cans so she looks good from 10'!) I replaced the ST Bluehead with a Kraft .61 and replaced the Southern RC retracts with fixed gear. I know, I know; but I wanted to replicate my first Tiger Tail. A bit of right aileron and nose down trim and she rocked out so nice. It was a real hoot seeing it in the air again. The guys at the field couldn't believe how smoothit flew. If you're building one, good luck with the build and post some pics for us!

Mark

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Hey Mark,

That's great about your Tiger Tail! I wouldn't mind seeing a photo! Hint, hint! ;)

I've had an interest in the Tiger Tail for a long time. I was 11 years old when the issue of M.A.N. came out with the Tiger Tail on the cover, and thought it was a very cool airplane! I also developed an instant crush on the very cute young lady holding the model! Man, how time flies! :eek:

I'm looking forward to building this one, but it's going to be a while yet. There are a few other planned projects ahead of it! Here's my "short" build list:

UFO .60
UFO .25
Kwik Fli Mk III
Tiger Tail
MK Beetle

While reading through the M.A.N. article there were a few things that made me chuckle! At one point Ron refers to the Tiger Tail as being ugly and that's why it flies well. "Ugly" is one word I would never have used to describe this model. I really like it's simple lines.

He also talks about adding differential to the ailerons by bending the torque rods as needed. Not these days with our highfalutin radios and multiple aileron servos!

He also mentioned how "vintage designs" would benefit from "modern equipment" such as engines radios & retracts. Modern equipment back then is vintage today. So vintage back then would be what today? :)

Yup, looking forward to building this one! :D

RG [8D]

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

I admit to being smitten by a number of the models on the M.A.N. covers, andthe balsa ones too! Funny you mentioned the "modern" radio stuff that Ron mentioned in the article. I have a few Pro-Line Rx's and several servos, I placed them on the bench to mimick the install and compared it to the Futaba 3004s that are in it now. The fuse compartment would literally be packed with the old stuff in it; with an XPS nano Rx, 2000NiMh battery, and the 3004 servos, there's plenty of room. Mine has a single aileron servo in the wing so the torque rods are bent for the differential, though I haven't measured just how much is there. Vintage back then? Well, that would be ancient today!

I'll snap a few pics this week and post some for you. On another note, my Tiger Tail III, while sanding the primer on the horizontal stab something looked odd. As it turns out, I believe the skin has seperated from the foam (I used P.U.). Looks like an area about 1.5" wide by about 4" long. I have a few ideas on what to do, but I greatly appreciate any and all ideas/suggestions/recommendations from all. I don't want to jump in your thread Ralph so let me know if asking hereis okay. I can start a new thread but it's nice to see another Tiger Tail thread.

Mark</p>

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Mark,

Looking forward to your pics! :D

No problem asking about your stab. It's all Tiger Tail! ;)

One possibility to repair the loose sheeting would be to use a syringe with a nice sharp needle and inject some slow cure epoxy into the cavity. Once the epoxy is in then add some weight to hold down the sheeting until it cures. You could use a pin to poke a few tiny holes through the sheeting along the length of the cavity to gauge the flow of the epoxy plus the holes would let any trapped air escape as the epoxy goes in. I think this might be the least invasive way to go.

RG

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

I had sheeted the stabs on my Super Curare with PU glue, and they did the samething after a year or so. They also banana warped lengthwise. I peeled the sheeting off with almost zero damage to the foam. The is the last time I will use that stuff. I will be back to using epoxy for sheeting. I have never had that stuff fail.

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Thanks Ralph.
That is what I was thinking would work, just have to find a syringe that will push epoxy through it. I don't want to thin it too much so I was thinking I could heat it a bit (I'll use 90 min epoxy) in order for it to flow better. I'd likely clamp the area then as it is mounted to the fuse. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Jeff, This was my first try using P.U. glue. I admit to the process being somewhat easier to do versus the epoxy (for me). Other than this slight flaw, the rest of the wing surfaces appear to be just fine. I'm not sure what method I'll do next though. Thanks.

Mark

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Mark,

A glue syringe like this would probably work well. It would require a slightly larger hole than a needle though. The West System epoxy that I've been using lately is very thin. It probably wouldn't need to be thinned any further. Z-Poxy finishing resin is also fairly thin.

RG

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Riddle me this, Batman!

I dropped an order in the mail today for a set of Tiger Tail plans. The original article and plans were published in M.A.N., but the plans are nowhere to be found on the [link=http://www.airagestore.com/plans/rc-planes.html/]Air Age[/link] web site. Instead they are coming from the [link=http://www.modelaircraft.org/plans/plans.aspx]AMA Plans Service[/link]. Not that it matters, but I'm a little curious how the AMA ended up with M.A.N. plans? Anyone know why?

RG

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Ralph,

AMA has been archiving plans for many years as I believe they had the forsight to preserve modeling history. I'm surprised that they have been selling other publications works, maybe they have some type of understanding with MAN. Or perhaps the copyrights have expired? Either way, it's good that the plans are available.

FB

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

I fixed a delaminated stab on a Mach 1 by injecting thinned epoxy into about a hundred holes in the sheeting. I then clamped it with deep throat clamps and load spreading blocks. It seemed to work fine. The wing delaminated all over too, but it is just too much to save. Time get some new cores and start over. If you still have the shucks, that would be the ideal situation. Inject epoxy, put back in shucks, and weight them down like crazy.

I had a Phoenix five get a couple of bubbles in the 1/64" ply wing sheeting. I used foam safe CA squirted through a tiny hole. That worked pretty good too. When the battery took a dump, the patched areas were still attached.

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Jeff,
No shucks, the stab is mounted, but clamps should do the trick. It's a small area and I have considered the foam safe CA too, not sure if it needs accelerator too or how much dry time it would take. It really is a small area, I have considered removing it, bonding in a new rectangular piece,then glass and finish it. Still pondering how to attack it.

Ralph, I do have syringe like that (no idea why except maybe from the kid's wisdom teeth being removed). As I said to Jeff, still thinking about how to do this. I wanted the TT III ready in a few weeks but that will not happen now. Thanks for the ideas/suggestions so far.
Mark

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

They are from the John Pond plans collection which AMA received from the Pond family.

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Thanks Michael. I poked around a bit and found a little more info on the [link=http://www.clstunt.com/htdocs/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=35679]John Pond Plans Collection[/link].

I've always gotten good service from the AMA Plans Service, but I think this is some sort of record. I mailed in the order for the Tiger Tail plans on Monday and they arrived today, Saturday! Less than a week! I'll have to give the AMA an A+ on this one! :)

After staring at the UFO plans over the past two years, the thing that caught my eye right away on the Tiger Tail plans is how short coupled it is. From the wing leading edge to the stab leading edge it's about 6.5" shorter than the UFO. It's interesting to see how pattern airplanes evolved in just the 4-5 year span between these two models. This will be fun model to build. ;)

About two months ago I ordered a set of Southern Pro (aka Pro Line) retracts from [link=https://www.dbproducts.com/index2.htm]Dave Brown Products[/link]. At the time I had no specific model in mind for them, I just wanted a set before they became unavailable like so many other "classic" era products. Well, since they were designed by Ron Chidgey guess where they'll end up? :D

RG

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Ha,
Ralph your putting the Southern RC (DBrowns) retracts in your TT and I pulled the Southern RC (original andcirca 1977) out of mine. Amazing to me how little they seem to weigh and how smoothly they operate.
Mark

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Yeah Mark, I was impressed at how smoothly they operate. They seem to be very well made! Maybe you should re-install yours! ;)

RG

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Another piece of the puzzle! ;)

I was lucky enough to score a N.I.B. Webra .61 Black Head for this future build! :D The same engine that powered Ron Chidgey's Tiger Tail. Unfortunately it didn't come with a muffler! Anyone have a new or near new muffler for this engine that they would like to part with?

The muffler attached to the engine on the M.A.N. cover doesn't look like a factory muffler. Maybe a flow through Semco?

RG

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Hi Ralph,

Nice engine. Same engine by the way that Bruno Giezendanner had in his winning Marabu 1969 and 1971 WC versions.
I have also a Webra Black Head 61 with original Webra muffler (muffler not for sale), see picture below.
About the muffler that Ron Chidgey used on his orange 1972 Tiger Tail and also on the blue 1973 Tiger Tail - I made a high resolution scans of the pictures from MAN May 1972 (orange T T) and MAN Feb 1973 (blue T T) below. It seems it is not the original Webra muffler. Maybe it was a flow-through type muffler where air was entering the front of muffler to help cool and boost performance some (it was believed). I had an engine in 1970th with a flow-through muffler, it was a Veco 61, and it was very loud (not sure if it was any performance enhancement because of that muffler). It looked cool though.

Maybe it was a Mini-Vox muffler on Ron's Webra 61? Mini-Vox mufflers (and later pipes) was rather popular, at least here in Europe, in 1970th.
In my opinion it is very similar to a Mini-Vox muffler (maybe sold under another name in US?)- compare picture below where such muffler is mounted on a Veco 61.
If it is a Mini-Vox muffler it will not be easy to find one today for a Webra Black Head 61, maybe in Germany (on ebay and such places).

/Bo

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Hi,

At 1972 Masters Ron Chidgey used a muffler "Silence-Aire" according to this list:

http://www.algonet.se/~boem/Pattern/Classic/Utopia/1972_Masters.pdf

So Silence-Aire is probably what is shown in the pictures in previous post.

/Bo

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Hey Bo,

Thanks for all the info! :D

Looks likes the Silence-Aire muffler was the one. I imagine finding one of those would be a bit difficult these days. At one time Macs Products made a muffler that looked similar to the Silence-Aire and Mini-Vox. Probably also hard to come by. I'd be very happy with a factory Webra muffler if I can find one. If not, someone told me that the HB mufflers will fit a Webra and MECOA still sells those.

RG

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Mark,

Go with the syringe approach. It works like a charm. Even if it messes up the sheeting a bit you can always smooth that out. Preferable to the patch I think.

David

RE: Tiger Tail M.A.N. Construction Article
 

Ralph-

Just so you know, the HB muffler takes an obscure bolt. The bolt is a long head with 5-44 threads. I just had to order some spares for mine.

The K&B muffler matched the same bolt pattern and uses a more typical bolt.... Off the top of my head I don't remember exactly, but the bolts are easier to come by.

The muffler is not baffled and is WONDERFULLY loud! I enjoy mine. [8D]

Brian