RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Thanks for the tip. I'm starting to uncover a lot of subtle references to that suggestion. I'll most likely do something along those lines when I get closer to final assembly of the tail group. And I might also add some hard-points to the stabs just in the event that it becomes necessary to add flying wires to the tail. But for as cool as they look and as functional as they are, they also greatly add to the difficulty to store and transport the fuselage.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Dear Krossk,...

Congratulations on your decision to build a Tiger 60!! I have been flying a Tiger 2 for probably over five years now. I actually competed in pattern competion with the Tiger 2. Now I just fly it for sport flying. Very nice airplane!!

I thought about building the larger Tiger 60 as well. One of the modifications I wanted to make on the Tiger 60 was to build an airfoiled stab!! I believe this would solve your problem with the weak tail structure. I actually designed and drew up plans for an airfoiled stab for the Tiger 60.

Check out the pictures below,... these photos are for the airfoiled stab that I designed and build for an Ultra Sport 1000, (same technique and contruction). Let me know what you think.

Signed,
Steve T.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Steve,

Did you adjust the dihedral at all or leave it as per the plans? Did you have any roll coupling issues in KE?


Thanks,
Mark

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Mark,...

The Tiger 2 that I've been flying was construted from an ARF kit. I changed a few things on it, but if I recall correctly I left the dihedral alone. I don't believe that I changed the dihedral, of course that was over five years ago when I built it so my memory might be incorrect, ha!!

As far as,... knife edge capability my Tiger 2 doesn't have either the rudder authority or power to sustain knife edge for prolong periods of time,even with the"sail" type rudder!! However there is enough authority to do nice slow rolls and four point rolls without much coupling interference. Any sustained knife edge flight will notice some coupling, (can't remember exactly which way).

Hope that answers your questions.

Sincerely,
Steve T.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Thanks for the info, Steve.


Mark

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Got some more time in the shop today and started framing up the right wing panel. With the closer rib spacing, it was necessary to cut out 6 more ribs to accomodate. The first picture shows the main spar and the rear build spacer that replaces the break-away tabs on the ribs. Again, this is as described in the article. I had to do a little creative pinning as the main spars both have a prety nice bow in them. Fortunately it is only in one dimension and when placed oposite each other, should still produce a straight wing. The second picture shows the main lower spar, the trailing edge and all ribs glued in place. The upper spar is not yet glued because I wanted the ribs to dry completely before proceeding. The upper spar is merely helping with alignment at this point.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Tiger 60's are infamous for their tail group. I wish had extended the rudder on mine, knife edge is poor. I also had the same problem with bowed spars, leading and trailing edge stock. But I managed to build both halves true. The the sheeting and shear webbing helped keep it straight, before I removed it from the table.
I built mine back in 1997, for night flying. Full lighting system and 7 cell battery all crammed in tight. Had to mount the batteries as far foward as possible. Receiver battery is under the fuel tank. I drilled holes in the sheeting top and bottom, as well as the ribs and replaced the webbing with polycarbonate. Its been crashed once and rebuilt, still flies great. Its wing loading makes it a pain to land sometimes, just keeps floating. Have to bring it in hot at times.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Wow! There's no missing that one at night. That's certainly a 1-of-a-kind Tiger.

Hopefully the shortened wing will help with the floating problem. I found that my T2 took its time coming in as well, but was still a very nice plane to fly. I was just starting to really get comfortable with it when I lost it. I'm very much looing forward to having another Tiger in the hangar.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Hi
Installing engine to mounts and fire wall .

When reading the plans , it says to use metal screws which is supplied and to leave 1/16 on each side of the engine mounts . I didn t trust this at all . The reason for the 1/16 is to give a 2 degree right thrust angle . Instead I installed the mounts right up against the crankcase and used 6/32 allen bolts with nylon nuts . I will add the thrust at the left mount by adding shims . It can be changed quickly at the field to get the proper thrust degrees .

Also installing the engine mounts to the supplied 1/4 inch fire wall . I found that the supplied tee nuts are the same length as the thickness of the firewall , so in time , by tightening the tee nuts , they will go right up againest the engine mounts . Extra weight is needed in this build at the front , so what I did was to add 1/4 inch ply behind the fire wall . It help the tee nut problem and adds strength to the front end were weight is always needed


Michel ( Mike );)[8D]

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Does the fuselage need any tri-stock reinforcement on the aft half? Seems to me 1/8" ply edge glued with CA on a .60 sized plane would end up cracking from vibrations, but I don't want to add weight if it's not really necessary.

Also, I want to use 1/4" nylon bolts for wing mounting and threading the blocks instead of t-nuts. Do the wing mount blocks look sturdy enough to take a 1/4" bolt? Smaller planes I've built in the past have larger hardwood blocks instead of the thin 1/4" ply that is included in the kit.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Hi Beef

I have looked at the the rear fusaloge myself and questioned it . I will be building mine with epoxy 45 min . As for the the wing attachment I believe that the 6/32 bolts is plenty . What I think that has to be questioned is the wing centre section at the rear . The plan is asking us to use that rear section ( made of balsa ) to hold the whole wing down , to do acrobatics Although the plan does call for the appication of fibre to reinforce it . As for me I haven t decided what to do yet . I will most likely add a small ply to the bottom to add more reinforcement . As for the ply holding down the wing inside were the tee nuts are , add triangular stock underneath it ( that would be on the top if turned right side up ) that would hold it to the side of the fusealoge . The 6/32 bolts are plenty they can take a lot of weight , they will beat any nylon bolt , try it , you will see for youre self . Make sure that you use the washers that come with the kit , very important . These are my thoughts not everyone will agree .

Take Care

Happy Holidays

Michel ( Mike ) ;)[8D]

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Beef is not worried about the 6-32 bolts being enough, quite the opposite. If you cartwheel a landing or dig a wingtip in, the 1/4" nylon bolts will often shear off without destroying the mounting blocks or fuse. The same mishap with the steel bolts will almost always result in mangled blocks or fuse parts because the steel bolts will not fail cleanly the same as the nylons one will.

Beef, the 1/4" ply should be enough for the Tiger2, I would add a piece of 1/8" on top of the 1/4" if it is the Tiger60. As for tristock, I would suggest using an aliphatic resin of some sort for the fuse and that should eliminate the worries. If you must use CA, try adding some 1/8" square stock to the corners for a bit more gluing area with minimal weight penalty.


Mark

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Yeah, I like using nylon bolts for that reason and also because they won't turn themselves out of threaded wood blocks. That's a good idea about laminating another ply to the included kit blocks, thanks.

As for the fuse, I had been using aliphatic and epoxy, but I didn't think I could get the aft interlocking parts together quick enough and keep the alignment. I ended up using CA (yuck) after getting everything tightened up. I once built a Goldberg Freedom20 back in 1989 I think with the same type of ply fuse construction. I do remember getting some loose CA joints in the back and thought I would have been nice to have had some additional gluing area.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

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RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Build time has been in short supply with the holidays approaching, but I've managed to get a few minutes here and there - enough to get the L/E and shear webs installed. You can see that decreasing the rib spacing allows the shear webs to span tightly between the ribs. The result is a much stronger structure. The extra rib near the center section will provide plenty of surface for the center sheeting to adhere to, again adding to the strength. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the top sheeting on this panel this weekend.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Got a little further on the wing panel today. I added the leading and trailing edge sheeting. You may have noticed that I'm dviating a bit from the assembly sequeence in the manual. This is primarily due to not being able to set the upper spar length with the supplied gauge since this one will have slightly less dihedral. Once I get the rest of the fillets on the underside of the wing, I'll square up the ends to length and continue sheeting the rest of the top of the wing.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Most of the right wing panel is as far as it needs to be for joining the wing halves. The upper sheeting has been applied. I had to make a new center filler as the original was too narrow to adequately fill the remaining space. After the center sheeting dried, the pins were removed, the root edge trimmed and the upper surface rough sanded to smooth out all of the seams along the center sheeting and leading edge sheeting. I'll wait to square up the trailing edge until after the lower sheeting is applied so it can be finished evenly. The servo mount and cap strips are still needed to finish the panel, but that won't be done until after the wings are joined.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Making some more progress - The left wing panel is now framed up with ribs, both spars, leading and trailing edges. Next will be the shear webs and sheeting. I have also asembled the dihedral jigs. The end jigs are assembled as per kit instructions. The ply was a bit warped, so I added a piece of scrap balsa stock to straighten and stiffen the jigs. The center jig was modified to reduce the dihedral to 1/2" at each wing tip. This necessitated removing 1/2" from the center brace. The third picture shows the piece cut from the bottom of the center brace, which was then re-notched to accomodate the "feet" as per the original jig.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Progress continues on the left wing panel. The shear webs and sheeting are now attached. The sheeting near the root would have suffered from the same situation that the right side did with the middle wedge being too small for the remaining space, so before attaching the center sheeting, a thin strip of scrap sheeting was added to the front of the trailing edge sheeting to fill the gap. Now the original wedge piece can be used. After filleting the sheeting from the bottom, the wing should be ready for rough sanding and the servo tray. Then I'll address the wing joiners and whatever modifications are needed due to the reduced dihedral. Then it will be time to join the panels.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

Still managing to make some slow progress over the holiday break (which has been extended by an extra day in observance of the National Day of Mourning for Pres. Ford). I got the wing panels joined this morning before the family gathering this afternoon. It took a bit of patient sanding to get the dihedral angle on both panels to match well enough to get a solid bond, but it finally got there. The panels are clamped while the 30 min. epoxy dries The provided dihedral jigs are difficult to use without having the panels shift and drop off the ends. It turns out that the additional bracing I added to the end ones also helped keep the tips in place. Once the clamps were applied, nothing was moving anywhere! The final position produced 5/8" of dihedral under each tip. Once the epoxy sets, I'll start working on the wing mount dowels in the leading edge. Instead of using one in the center as the original design calls for, I am going to use 2 dowels spaced 1" on each side of center with additional reinforcing of the leading edge.

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

great tiger thread!! i also am building a tiger60. my rudder is HUGE!! never have enough rudder. i also have converted mine into a tail dragger and put retracts on the mains. i have run into a problem though, with the wheel wells. (i will post some pics soon!!) the wheel wells are housed in a "chin" like a at-6 has. i am trying to blend the "chin"into the wing with out a step. the spar that the kit came with went in the dumpster. i have a problem with snapping wings so i put a tree trunk in where the spar goes and made it twice as long. i will get some pics shortly...

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

o.k. here is a pic of my rudder... never have enough rudder just need a bigger servo...LOL

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

here is some pics of my gear install. they really kick forward because i fly off of grass. i don't want any nose overs. the third pic is a pic of the tiger in take off/landing stance tail would be flying in this stance...

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

here is some close ups of the "chin". i want to blend this in with out a step, any ideas?? it is preaty good size step at this point. any thoughts would be welcome. i have not sheeted the top or bottom yet because i just got the retracts installed...

RE: Tiger 60 Build Thread
 

as for the wing bolts, the only thing i use are 1/4-20 nylon's. here is a couple of pics of my wing blocks. if a 1/4 in x5 ply won't hold the wing on i have bigger problems to deal with...