Official Nexa 1400mm DH.82 Tiger Moth Biplane - British Camo (Balsa ARF) Discussion Thread

[guapoman2000]

Still pictures of Stan's NEXA 1400mm Tiger Moth!

[Ron1950]

i really like the yellow over my silver plane.. but mine flys the same as the yellow so guess ill keep it lol

[long-love-rc]

Can I get some help on what engine is good for the tiger moth?

The motionrc's website recommends NGH 17cc. However, I read a customer's feedback saying that engine is hard to fit in the space inside the cowl. Will a NGH 9cc do? or what is the best choice of mine?

Thanks a lot for any advice!

[miatateer]

Finally got my yellow Moth into the air for the first time. What a lovely, well behaved airplane! Flies scale real well. Looks super on the low passes. I love it! I'm using electric. Not as cool sounding, but a lot less mess. 😉

[Pogo]

A little video from last weekend- please excuse the quality as my phone got a little funky for a bit. The wind was shifting from quartering to a full cross and gusting to maybe 25 kph. That landing at the end was supposed to be a touch and go I think but the airplane weathervaned suddenly so a landing it was!
Tom

[Pogo]

Finally got my yellow Moth into the air for the first time. What a lovely, well behaved airplane! Flies scale real well. Looks super on the low passes. I love it! I'm using electric. Not as cool sounding, but a lot less mess. 😉

Congrats on the maiden! It is an easy model to love, isn't it?
Tom

[cepellod]

I bought a Spitfire last December, it looks so cool, but I haven't flown RC for twenty years, so I decided a trainer biplane was needed to brighten up on my rusty flying skills. Why a biplane, well my the last plane I had made and flew was a scratch built 1/5 scale WACO-YMF3 golden age biplane with fabric skin, so I knew a few things about biplanes. The Tiger Moth was a really nice kit but not without it's weaknesses, such as the the landing gear spread and the tendencies of the hinges to pull out, I read about these potential issues and applied some old school remedies from my balsa building years. First thing was to use toothpicks to pin the hinges in place, second was to use thin piano wire to cross brace the landing gear. The piano wire was wrapped a few turns a the top of the gear and soldered in place then brought through down between the opposite main gear and brace, with a loop and a twist and a dob of solder. The tail control surfaces are huge on this airplane, it would be very easy to put too much throw in the elevator especially, I set three levels of control rates, high to keep the tail down for ground handling, mid for a responsive flying experience and low for easy flying. I did reinforced the tail wheel connection to the rudder, but now regret I just did not cut off the wire lever and put in a retaining collar and have a free wheeling tail wheel it would work just as well if not better.
My maiden flight did not go as well as I had hoped with an imeadiate and sickening stall. My after crash investigation reveled that I had been too cavalier with my installation of the flight sabalizer. My first use of this type of device and I had not take the time to really understand how to install and test it's function. I had installed it backwards and caused a positive feedhback loop and just picking up the airplane and shaking it around is not a complete and suitable test, lessons learned. Despite the stall and nose dive the airplane held up remarkably well. The tail feathers needing the most work and new engine bulkheads made from 5mm ply. The cowling needed repair, using epoxy and light fiberglass this was accomplished. My 6S battery also needed to be replaced. I used a 6S to facilitate proper center of gravity and balances with a productive load, instead of dead balancing wieghts.. I estimated the 6S battery would simulate acutual wing loading conditions, the air plane balances right and provides 25 to 30 minutes of flight time. I first flew the Gypsy out of a soccer field with surounding trees and found out right away this not a suitable field for this airplane. I was under the impression this airplane was a school yard flier, not so! The airplane is much faster than I thought it would be. My WACO would fly slow and majestically with grace and beauty, while the Gypsy eats up the sky at a prodigious rate, a very surprising wake up call. I found a suitable flying field at the local Veterans park with lots of room and fescue grass so no problems getting up and down and the Gypsy, she is a great flier.

[rcnuts2]

I just signed up to this forum.
I got the camo version last summer. Slightly challenging build but enjoyable just the same. I find this plane to be very trainer like. Ready to fly and great fun to show off slow roll skills. A good buy imo

[SloMoe]

Morning all,
Just ordered the silver kit, I've built several different brands of ARF's, hoping this will be a good build, thinking of using a Rimfire 32, the spinner may be different but I'll come up with something.
For the tail feathers I'm going to use Hitec HS 645 MG's, hoping Hitec HS 82 MG's will fit the wings for the ailerons.
Battery will be 4000 4s because I have a few other planes I use them in.

Anybody have any input or recommendations on the equipment I'm planning on using,
I haven't read the thread yet but plan on it, that might fill in the info I'm looking for, but until the kit shows up I won't know for sure.

I settled on the Tiger Moth as that there aren't any JN-4's of this size on the market place.
I do have a Jenny, but it's the 28in wing Maxford, flies great but a bit tiny,,,,,,

[SloMoe]

Morning once again, well this thread seems all but dead,
What I've gathered from the 6 pages of replies, it's a for sure electric kit, IC vibration kills the tail, speaking of which is a weak spot of the kit build.
Moving the tail wheel control from the rudder base to the control rod will help, so no extra load on the rudder frame other than flying control surface is needed.
Modify the front bulkhead to accommodate the battery being moved farther forward as balancing for CG to reduce the amount of dead weight needed.
ESC as far forward as possible along with moving the tail feather servos as far forward as possible, and last but not least, modify the undercarriage to help absorb landing impact.
there is more than one mention of covering issues,

Now having second thoughts of my purchase,,,,,,
before it even arrives,,,,,

Going to the RCG thread to see what they have to say about it before I call motion to cancel.

[SloMoe]

After watching and reading the reviews on this kit I've decided to cancel my order for the kit,
Issues being the quality of the covering, the landing gear sub standard for the weight of the finished plane, the general over attention to detail in the instructions.

[Mike1975]

My ARF came last week and I’m just starting the build. I noticed that I cannot get to 130mm mark when installing the Admiral GP5-770kV motor. What have others done to get a few more millimeters in length? Thanks.

[Edward vandermeulen]

I am very interested in ordering a Nexa Tigermoth.
Altough i see 2 different prices and i can´t the difference.
Does anyone knows the difference in the 2 pachages?
thank you.

[Ron1950]

mike1975 did u ever get the 130mm lenth ? i bought 10/24 bolts that were basicaly about 85 mmand it worked out easy way.. my problem was the electric motor mount was not letting the cowling to slide onto the bottom of the fuse so i had to cut the rounded top a bit

[msav8tor]

Good Day! Any updates on the Tiger MOTH for 2025? What electric combo are you flying yours with? I've been shopping for a WW1 bipe, would you recommend the NEXA? Thanks!

[msav8tor]

Now that the Tiger Moth has been around for a while, what have you found to be the perfect electric combo?

[fredz99]

I have to remove the wings to transport my TM to the flying field. To reduce assembly/disassembly time, I made the following modifications. (I don't use the wire rigging.) The wing pins are made from 0.25" dia aluminum rod, 1.5" long and threaded (used a threading die) on one end. The pins are common box nails cut to length, soldered to the L brackets. Standard wheel collars. The clamp blocks are hardwood, tapped using 1/4-20. After cutting, flood the threads with CA. After it sets up, chase the threads again. Epoxy to fuse sides. Uses nylon 1/4-20 screws. Have been using for 2 months. Works well.

[fredz99]

Your question about perfect electric combo. The problem is the kit as documented on MRC web isn't accurate. It's advertised as 6.5lbs RTF. If you build the kit as documented in the Nexa manual, its badly tail heavy, unflyable . I had to add 14.5 ounces of lead to the firewall. With 4S 4000mAh LiPo the RTF weight is 8 lbs. The extra weight impacts: motor selection and prop, battery capacity and the landing gear. I upgraded the motor to badass 3520-880KV and 13X5.5E APC prop. With the 4S, 4000mAh battery it generates 6.9 lbs of static thrust (measured). The prop table on this motor says 9.0lb, 67A. Thanks to Lucein at Innov8tive Design. With this motor, performance is OK. Reasonable takeoff roll. It is a docile, slow flyer. Everyone enjoys seeing it in the air. The main gear is overloaded and flight times are 4 minutes or so. There is little speed difference between 1/2 and full throttle because of the weight and high drag. I've recently updated the battery to 4S 6000mAh and get 7-8 minutes flying slow. If you read through this blog, you'll see similar comments about trim. Some people cut the fire wall and push the motor battery forward. The electric version is not an ARF. MRC has known about the need to add 14-16 oz of lead to the firewall for years, but has chosen to not update their web site. If you don't read the blog, you're ambushed. I wouldn't recommend this kit.

[fredz99]

Two versions both used 4S 4000mAh Lipo, ztw 85A ESC, 1000mAh NiMh AAA rec battery mounted to fire wall. ESC is mounted to the back of the firewall.

Version 1, Emax 2826/05-kv860,175g, 992W, Imax=54A. Static measurement: 12x8E APC, 750W, 51A (14.7V), 5.86 lbs thrust. Required 16 oz of lead on firewall. (Motor is larger than 2826.)
Version 2, bad ass 3520KV880, 220g. Static measurement 12X6E APC, 735W, 48.7A, 6.9lbs thrust. Requies 14.8 oz of lead on firewall. Prop chart for bad ass 3520KV880 is 9lbs thrust at 67A.

Version 1 had enough thrust to get airborne after long take off roll. Required full throttle to maintain altitude of 50 feet.
Version 2 performs OK, described in earlier post.. Reduced the amount of balance lead on firewall because increased motor weight.

Both the 14.8 and 16 oz lead balance weights shown in the photos were cast using lost foam method, drilled tapped and bolted to firewall.

Other issues.
- The plastic faring mounted on the landing gear wires are two-piece. Instructions say CA to the wire, which doesn't work. I drilled and tapped two hex standoffs, 2 holes each, 2 SO per side. 440 set holds the SO in place. 440 pan head screw mounts the faring to the SO. Clear tape as closure.
- Both starboard wings have higher AOA by 1.1 to 2.0 degrees, measured along the span. This results in roll to the left. Down port aileron required for level flight (more drag). Modified the root pin positions to correct.
- The film covering has a sticky adhesive back, so collects any debris that is pulled into the fuse. Also, alcohol will remove the outside yellow color. Film stays in place and they provide a sheet in the kit for repairs.
- Installed pin hinges on the rudder so I could remove to service tailwheel bracket.
- Added magnet to hatch and fuse to simplify removing the hatch. Nexa provide 1/4X20 plastic screws to secure the hatch.

After discovering the trim problem (16 oz of lead) I tried to sell, unflown, ready to fly $400, local swap meet and on RC Groups. Take the loss on servos and motor. The funniest reply on RC groups: "is that the one that needs 16 oz of lead in the front?"

An inexpensive, poorly thought-out kit. The electric config is not an ARF.

[tomsza]

Looking for a little insight. I bought the Nexa DH.82 Tiger Moth British Camo 1400mm (55") Wingspan - ARF and fitted it with a RimFire 32, 60A ESC, 4S-4000 lipo. The plane is so tail heavy that even with the firewall cut to allow the 4S-4000 all the way to the front of the cowl, replacing the small standoffs with 1/4-20 screws, a 4 ounce brass prop hub, I still need about 6 to 8 ounces of lead behind the engine before it balances at the recommended CG. This ends up making the 6.5 pound plane closer to 8+ pounds. At that weight, how will this thing fly?

If you don't read the blog, you're ambushed. I wouldn't recommend this kit.

I just did, and yeah, I feel like I was ambushed. This plane needs extensive rework. I'll probably strip the covering off and try lightening the tail section. They must have started using not so light, light ply in their construction and failed to care about redesigning for this flaw.