Official FlightLine RC 1600mm F7F-3 Tigercat Thread

[davegee]

I've got some from them as well, they're right around the corner from me and one of my neighbors works there. I might have to give them a try next time I need paint. Actually, Spar Urethane has been hard to find lately, I wonder if they have their own version Hmmm

Grossman56

The manager, his name escapes me at the moment, is totally into doing an absolutely perfect job in matching. The Ace people are great and try very hard, but the SW folks take about two or three extra steps to nail the exact sheen and shade of the color I need. My first time was doing some touchup work on my B-2 Spirit. I really could not tell where I had painted, using an airbrush!

I'd check them out if you live pretty close by. They might be able to help you with your requests.

davegee

[Grossman56]

I ended up going with a longer strap in the bottom bay as well. Anyone who has had the pleasure of installing a battery in a Tigercat would appreciate the advantage of a longer strap that sits vertically in the hatch, so much easier

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

I've got some from them as well, they're right around the corner from me and one of my neighbors works there. I might have to give them a try next time I need paint. Actually, Spar Urethane has been hard to find lately, I wonder if they have their own version Hmmm

Grossman56

[davegee]

Thanks Dave, got the base paint on this morning (over the primer). It's amazing how far you can go with that $5 sample can! I did the original paint job, then a spare nacelle, then the wings again and now the third nacelle and the forward fuse and still have over 3/4 of the can left. I really like that Clark and Kensington paint from Ace!

The pictures clearly show the difference in the color that the Pearl and the clear coat make.


And once again, FlightLine has put a battery strap in that is WAY too short for a 3600 4S. I had the same problem with the last Bearcat.

Fortunately, I found one of the original Tigercat straps and installed it

What's with that??

Anyway, spent some time routing wires and she's pretty good now. The hatch and the gear doors are on their way, I made the mistake of thinking the were included. WRONG!
So once they're here and installed, I can finish the painting and get to the Pearl coats and clear coats.
Boy after all this she'd better fly like her old self!


Grossman56

Yes, I have used some of that Clark and Kensington paint from Ace and it works really well. Lately, I've been going to Sherwin Williams and having them mix my paints for me to match factory applied colors. Damn, are they good!!

Cheers

davegee

[Grossman56]

Thanks Dave, got the base paint on this morning (over the primer). It's amazing how far you can go with that $5 sample can! I did the original paint job, then a spare nacelle, then the wings again and now the third nacelle and the forward fuse and still have over 3/4 of the can left. I really like that Clark and Kensington paint from Ace!

The pictures clearly show the difference in the color that the Pearl and the clear coat make.


And once again, FlightLine has put a battery strap in that is WAY too short for a 3600 4S. I had the same problem with the last Bearcat.

Fortunately, I found one of the original Tigercat straps and installed it

What's with that??

Anyway, spent some time routing wires and she's pretty good now. The hatch and the gear doors are on their way, I made the mistake of thinking the were included. WRONG!
So once they're here and installed, I can finish the painting and get to the Pearl coats and clear coats.
Boy after all this she'd better fly like her old self!


Grossman56

[davegee]

I'm impressed with your rebuild, Dan! Looking forward to seeing it fly and photographing it in flight this spring!

Keep up the good work.

Davegee

[Grossman56]

Oh BTW, I just found a picture of the wreck, here's where I started...

The forward fuse and the one nacelle got me where I am so far, the wing was actually in two foam pieces but the spare was good, so with a little glue they were good to go, or as my buddy Harry used to say, "They've been through the shop!"
Grossman56

[jetfool]

Great rebuild going on here Grossman. Going to be watching you bring her back to life. Rex

[Grossman56]

And so it begins...
Parts came today, I did an initial lay out..


Then got down to work


Fuse and nacelle were coated with Krylon Foam Primer. I used the old battery hatch cover as a paint block and stuffed the hatch with paper. As you can see, there are no L/G doors on either the fuse or the nacelle, so I'll have to do another order. Also, the hatch cover is too distorted to use so a new one of those as well.


The beast assembled and the wiring harness all reinstalled as well as the receiver. I opted to go with the original motors and forgot about the ESC adaptors. Guess I had removed all but two and after a time of trying to figure out why one connection would work but not the others, duh, the brain kicked in.
Gear down and motors turning in the correct direction. The port side prop was wobbling so I pulled it and realized I'd forgotten about the screws that stick out from the back of the hub. Out with the Dremel tool and knocked those down, works like a charm.
So far, everything checks out, all control surfaces are working, I only had a slight adjustment on one flap.


So once again there's a Tiger in the basement. I have a spare La Patrona decal and Callie is making me a new set of fuse Stars and Bars.
Tomorrow, I'll giver her a coat of 'silver' paint I had made up for her originally I believe it was called silver birch, but don't quote me. Then several coats of Pearl then the Spar Varathane if I can find any. Then she'll be back to her old self!!


YAY!!!!!!!!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Great Thanks for the advise, best way to. wire the batteries in parallel is to just bridge them together?

See post 1310 I bought two plugs, one joins the batteries in parallel and the other splits the single output plug in two for the two ESC's. I've been using that method for years.

Grossman56

[Denniswpb]

I've never wired them together on any of my twins but can understand that doing so give you a safe feeling.

As the song from the band Boston goes... "It more than a feeling"

[Denniswpb]

Great Thanks for the advise, best way to. wire the batteries in parallel is to just bridge them together?

You will have to make a Parallel harness that connects between the battery connectors and the ESC connectors, where you bridge black to black and red to red. By connecting them in parallel, both batteries act as one big battery feeding both motors at the same time equally without changing the voltage.

[Evan D]

I've never wired them together on any of my twins but can understand that doing so give you a safe feeling.

[Yellowred]

Great Thanks for the advise, best way to. wire the batteries in parallel is to just bridge them together?

[Denniswpb]

Hi all, ive been looking at lots of your comments about this Tigercat as im ready to maiden mine! just a couple of quick questions, I fly off grass does she need half flap for take off and are you guys using the book setting for c of g and movements? I see she needs flap elevator mix, again are the book setting good?

No flaps needed for takeoff. Go easy advancing the throttle and don't be in a hurry to get it off the ground. Which transmitter do you have?
Flap Setting:
Pos 0 -100% 0%
Pos 1 -14% 9%
Pos 2 18% 12%
I use CG in the book and works well. I would connect the batteries in parallel though.

[Yellowred]

Hi all, ive been looking at lots of your comments about this Tigercat as im ready to maiden mine! just a couple of quick questions, I fly off grass does she need half flap for take off and are you guys using the book setting for c of g and movements? I see she needs flap elevator mix, again are the book setting good?

[Grossman56]

Great to hear Dennis, gives me hope!

Grossman56

[Denniswpb]

I just "re-maidened" my Tigercat today after the major crash due to motor failure a few weeks back. New fuselage and left motor.. all else was repairable. Flew flawlessly!

[Grossman56]

Thanks Dennis, now that I have this info, I'm going to get into this weekend and get her fixed before the parts get here. I'm just hoping that the paint matches the old parts as she's seen many a year at the fields from here to Indiana. But at least she'll be airworthy again. When she piled in it was an absolute mess, I thought she was a total write off, but I managed to fix the wings and surprisingly, the carbon fiber rods were intact, it was just a matter of gluing them back together. I had a spare nacelle and the tail section came off the wrecked fuselage fairly easily, I just kept cutting away foam until I could see the glued joint then trimmed. I think either a motor mount let go or a prop, she chewed the fuse to junk and both nacelles were destroyed. It wasn't pretty, but for just under $120, she'll be back to airworthiness. I'll track the rebuild on the forum.

Grossman56

[Denniswpb]

Your Tigercat looks great! I had to put mine back together again, but haven't flown it since the rebuild. I had a left motor go out and had no choice but to turn into it and it didn't end too well. Amazing how fast it started to descend once the motor quit. Try that with the front strut and it will take care of your issue. Inside the strut there is a ridge on top of the pin and on the bottom of the pin. That screw has to travel in between those two ridges, but if you tighten too much the screw is up against the pin and won't allow it to travel. Hope that helps!