ASM F-7F Tigercat
10-20-2014, 08:54 AM
#651
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Brad,
That was a long trip to the air strip. I like taking off and landing mine on a paved surface too.
That engine-out thing is a confidence killer for me and makes me apprehensive about retracting the landing gear. I had an engine quit on the very second flight of my F7F and have been gun-shy ever since. I had read that the OS 1.20AX engine was finicky to adjust and that it ran hot and quit in the midrange. My engine quit after throttling back to the midrange and then trying to advance to full throttle again. Ground testing showed that the engine would accelerate quickly from idle to full throttle but would quit when accelerated from mid range to full throttle. The trouble was that I had set the high-speed needle too rich in my effort to be gentle with those brand mew engines. The OS 1.20AX doesn't like rich.
I was at a fly-in two days ago where I saw a big Yellow Aircraft P-38 suffer an engine out but was landed successfully. Flying skills can serve you well in such an event but luck plays a large part.
Staggerflyer,
It was good to hear that you've enjoyed your cat for many flights but sorry to hear that it is down for a while. I believe that both of us made structural improvements to the longerons around the same time and now I'm surprised to see that the failure occurred in the same area of the fuselage from a two-foot drop. It is good to hear that you will repair it and continue flying what is now a rare bird.
That was a long trip to the air strip. I like taking off and landing mine on a paved surface too.
That engine-out thing is a confidence killer for me and makes me apprehensive about retracting the landing gear. I had an engine quit on the very second flight of my F7F and have been gun-shy ever since. I had read that the OS 1.20AX engine was finicky to adjust and that it ran hot and quit in the midrange. My engine quit after throttling back to the midrange and then trying to advance to full throttle again. Ground testing showed that the engine would accelerate quickly from idle to full throttle but would quit when accelerated from mid range to full throttle. The trouble was that I had set the high-speed needle too rich in my effort to be gentle with those brand mew engines. The OS 1.20AX doesn't like rich.
I was at a fly-in two days ago where I saw a big Yellow Aircraft P-38 suffer an engine out but was landed successfully. Flying skills can serve you well in such an event but luck plays a large part.
Staggerflyer,
It was good to hear that you've enjoyed your cat for many flights but sorry to hear that it is down for a while. I believe that both of us made structural improvements to the longerons around the same time and now I'm surprised to see that the failure occurred in the same area of the fuselage from a two-foot drop. It is good to hear that you will repair it and continue flying what is now a rare bird.
10-20-2014, 06:07 PM
#652
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Thanks Rocketman. Yes, the break occurred right in the strengthened area. The impact was such that the doubled longeron actually broke, so you know there was some real stress there. A nearly two foot drop for a 21 pound ship moving about thirty plus mph has a lot of energy. You should have heard the oloes when they bottomed out. Loud! I knew something had happened, but couldn't see it on the role out, until I went to walk it out of the grass along the runway. I was really surprised the gear and the mounts in the nacelles were not damaged! Nor the nose gear! The appearance of crooked nacelles in the picks is because the back of the wing is loose from the fuselage mounts. Yes, the wing bolt mounts did tear loose.
Yes, it will fly again. May be a while, but it will fly. Will post some pics of the insides when I get in the mood to look closer. Maybe later in the winter.
Yes, it will fly again. May be a while, but it will fly. Will post some pics of the insides when I get in the mood to look closer. Maybe later in the winter.
10-21-2014, 12:13 AM
#653
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Hey Drob,
Three Tigercats? That's a lot. I'll admit that I would have bought another one had I destroyed mine but that’s sadly out of the question now that they are no longer in production. I see that you are into scale detail with your attention to the flaps. Isn't that kind of like Fowler flaps? I'm not an avid scale builder but I do admire the work of others and always like to watch scale models fly successfully.
Your 20cc engines won't leave you short on power and you will enjoy that. What engines did you use previously?
Three Tigercats? That's a lot. I'll admit that I would have bought another one had I destroyed mine but that’s sadly out of the question now that they are no longer in production. I see that you are into scale detail with your attention to the flaps. Isn't that kind of like Fowler flaps? I'm not an avid scale builder but I do admire the work of others and always like to watch scale models fly successfully.
Your 20cc engines won't leave you short on power and you will enjoy that. What engines did you use previously?
I'm sure you will agree that the Tiger Cat has a commanding presence in the air and on the ground both full size and as a model. While not trying too hard on the scale side I thought doing the flaps, Fowler style, would be a good idea at the time. The wing is now complete save final installation of the DLE 20 engines. These have been run-in using a STIK 60 model which gave it a somewhat 'exciting' performance. Was using LASER 150's on the previous model but now prefer to use petrol (gas) engines in all my models.
11-01-2014, 10:42 AM
#654
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I can't get "dead engine" out of my head when I'm flying the F7F. In post #648 Brad3301 says he made five flights and one ended with a dead engine. Just recently I saw a large P38 model experience a dead engine. Many years ago I built and flew a Pica Duelist 2/40 on which the same engine died three times. Two days ago a full-scale twin turboprop Beechcraft King Air crashed with a dead left engine. In post #651 I wrote about an engine going dead on the second flight of my Tigercat.
Here is the YouTube link to the video of that flight made back in May of 2011. http://youtu.be/cv29YCfZ2n8 .
In spite of it all I love flying the Cat. In post #653, drob said "I'm sure you will agree that the Tiger Cat has a commanding presence in the air and on the ground both full size and as a model." I totally agree.
Here is the YouTube link to the video of that flight made back in May of 2011. http://youtu.be/cv29YCfZ2n8 .
In spite of it all I love flying the Cat. In post #653, drob said "I'm sure you will agree that the Tiger Cat has a commanding presence in the air and on the ground both full size and as a model." I totally agree.
11-03-2014, 11:12 AM
#656
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Thanks Brad. By the time the airport manager andmy wife yelled "an engine quit" I was acutely aware of what hadhappened. I know that the recoverywasn't particularly graceful because I let it roll over and then pushed fulldown elevator to head off a spin and to trade altitude for airspeed. You can see the down line go past vertical(time=1:35) before I eased in some up elevator. The ailerons were functionalall the way to touchdown.
What the ...! Why are spaces missing between words in at least six locations in this post. I didn't upload it that way.
What the ...! Why are spaces missing between words in at least six locations in this post. I didn't upload it that way.
Last edited by Rocketman_; 11-04-2014 at 08:25 AM.
11-03-2014, 08:29 PM
#657
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Thanks Brad. By the time the airport manager andmy wife yelled "an engine quit" I was acutely aware of what hadhappened. I know that the recoverywasn't particularly graceful because I let it roll over and then pushed fulldown elevator to head off a spin and to trade altitude for airspeed. You can see the down line go past vertical(time=1:35) before I eased in some up elevator. The ailerons were functionalall the way to touchdown.
