Harigo

Just finished my TF FW190. The plane came in at 4.5KG (10lbs) which was just within the top range of the manufacturer's spec. The heavier weight was because I had to put 400 grams of weight in the nose to balance the plane. Will have its first flight this weekend. Wish me luck. Included are some pics.

Harigo

Sorry having trouble downloading the pics

Harigo

Another pic

bignasdy-RCU

Thats cool man! How did it fly?

d

Harigo

Good looking plane. Very scale colour scheme. What is the weight? How did it balance?

bignasdy-RCU

thanx! flys like a brick, ballanced with no addition weight. Supertiger 90 , flaps, no retracts, I have nowhere to fly retracts.
Did you fly yers?
d

Dakooz

My Feedback: (4)

Curious if you used the original ABS cowl and gun hood. I just received my kit and will probably replace them with fiberglass.

bignasdy-RCU

I did at first but purchased these items in glass from wolfman. I hear his site is closed, but cant confirm. These parts if ya look close, are scale. He does good work. I have a fiberglass cowl, NIB , just like the one that came in the kit, if ya dont care about scale, you can have for 20 bucs shipped. I payed 35 plus shipping. fiberglass masters

d

Dakooz

My Feedback: (4)

I was hoping to get a cowl that was scale-like. I contacted Wolfman and he apparently doesn't do these anymore. Do you know if anyone else does these similar to the Wolfman cowl?

bignasdy-RCU

I sure dont buddy, sorry!
Im glad I scarfed one up.
I should have got his scale exhaust to. I liked his website, but after pc crash dont have it anymore, if it is still up.
d

Harigo

Why do you say yours "flys like a brick"? I have an OS 90 FS and flaps and retracts. Hope mine does not fly like a brick. First flight is this weekend. Wish the plane was a pound lighter. Any tips when flying the Dora.

bignasdy-RCU

Yea..... long ground roll, dont yank it off the ground, get it high before trimming it out, dont use the flaps if its windy, it slows down quick. Make sure the geardoors cant come down on the legs, or it will be like throwing on the brakes. I built mine from some ply I had around, and mounted them so they cant slip at all.
Its very responsive. I have the recomended throws , on high rate at this point, and much less for flying, without stunts, and takeoff and landing. If its ballanced lateraly, youl be fine. Mine only required 1 click right trim, and 2 down for the pitch. Very nice. have fun , and let me know how it goes? Take pics there!
d

Harigo

Had my first flight today. I think the plane is under powered with the OS 91. Lucky I took a long takeoff run. It did not jump into the air but needed a shallow climb. But once the air speed buildup in was scale fast at full throttle.

The plane has a clean slick look in the air and was stable at high speed. Just had one flight so I can't comment much. But needed a little bit more up elevator on turns to keep the nose up compared to sports-scale designs. Not surprising. This again I think is due to the added weight in the nose that I mentioned in my earlier message.

I think if I can take out the added 400 grams in the nose (equivalent to 10% more total weight) that I use to balance the plane, the OS 91 will be adequate. But that would make it tail heavy.

I'm using a 13x6 prop for the engine. Should I try a 14x6? Would that slow down the plane but give it more torque?

Harigo

I've just cracked my plastic cowl which comes with the kit, when the plane nosed over on landing. Do you know where I can get some scale fiberglass cowl.
I have changed from an OS 91 to an OS 120 engine. Better takeoffs and since I had 400 grams of weight in the nose to balance with the OS 91, I just took the weight off with the OS120.
Hope some body can help with the cowl, otherwise I am grounded.

Doug D.

Check with Stan's Fiber Tech for your fiberglass needs. He carries a lot of replacement cowls and the like for the TF kits. Quality work as well. www.stansfibertech.com If he doesn't have you can send him the original, if it's not destroyed and he can make you a replacement.
There's Fiberglass Specialties www.fiberglassspecialtiesinc.com
These should help. !!! [&:]

Harigo

I am checking with both manufacturers. Which one sells the scale version? The original was not quite scale. Thanks for the help

Doug D.

You'll have to ask around for a more scale one. RCM Magazine had a construction article a couple of years back where someone scaled ou the kit with a lot of mods.
Does any one remember the month and year? Look there for some details as to what cowl he used for the scale look. [&:]

Wizard61

My Feedback: (7)

I believe the person's name is Steve Curry. He has a website and sells the fiberglass scale components for the TF 190 kit under Wulfman Manufacturing. I did a search and came up empty. He must have moved the site. I will check my home computer because I saved the address in my favorites file and post it tonight. I bought the whole group of accessories from him they look great.

James Andrews

Wizard61

My Feedback: (7)

Here is the Address for Steve's website. Hope this helps. Check out the images of his TF 190 that I think he won 10th place in the Team catagory at the 2002 Masters. It is outstanding.

[link]http://members.cox.net/wulfman/Home/[/link]

Doug D.

That Would be the one !!!

Harigo

I have installed my replacement fiberglass cowl and back to flying. The new OS 120 FS sure makes a difference to the way the play flys compared to the OS 91 FS. Takeoff is about 80 feet and solid. In the air the plane now flys with authority. Really looks like a fighter now.

Anybody building a TF D9 coming in at 10 pounds should use a 120 engine. Forget about dragging the plane into the air with a 91 engine. I don't think the real plane tookoff that way. Anyway the heavier engine balances the plane better than using dead weights.

aquaskiman

My Feedback: (46)

Hi
I just finished one it weigh's 11.25 lbs. flys great. I fly at 5200 ft. and it is very easy to takeoff and land, no bad habits at all. If you don't have any warbird experience you might find a good pilot to first fly it for you. I balanced mine a per plans and I didn't have to change it. Mine has a ys.91 in it for power CJ retracts flaps and a homemade fiberglass cowl. You will love the looks in the air. Have fun George

Harigo

Mine came in at 10 pounds and I had been flying it with an OS 91. After 8-10 flights, I felt that the plane was a bit underpowered. Takeoff was long and top speed was just not exciting. Since I had 400 grams of weight in the nose to balance the plane when using an OS 91, I changed the engine to an OS 120 and reduced the dead weight. Now the plane is still 10 pounds but with a stronger engine. I have about 20 flights with this new set up and the plane feels like a totally new plane. The low pass at full throttle gets attention. I have also left out the muffler (my muffler thread was loose) which gave an awesome bark.

George send us a picture, your plane sounds great with the CJ retracts and homemade cowl. It's hard to get a scale cowl for the plane.

donalddresser

My Feedback: (3)

I also have a Top Flit Fw 190. I put a Super tiger 90 in it, and it flys great. I had to put a glow driver on the engine to keep it from dying at low speed idle. One mistake I made on about my tenth flite is trying to muscle it off the ground. I was taking off and it starte to vear to the left and I did'nt correct it fast enough and I let the tail come up to quick. So idiot me decided to jerk it of the runway figuring I had enough air speed. Well it came of the runway and started roll slightly so I put in righ airelon and which only slowed the plane down more and caused the left turn to bcome critical. Fortunatley for me I got out of the incident with minor damage, I wont bore you with the particulars.

After this happened I went back to RCWARBIRDS.COm and read and excellent article on flying Warbirds, the article described my mistake exactly.