Official FlightLine RC 1600mm F7F-3 Tigercat Thread

[Larry D]

Maiden complete, what a great flying warbird! Was a little windy but it handled it great. Some adjustments to be made and I think I will swap the props and change the motor rotation. It just seems weird to have the props turn tip out.

Congratulations on your maiden! When dialed in - a sweeeeet flying plane.

[themudduck]

Maiden complete, what a great flying warbird! Was a little windy but it handled it great. Some adjustments to be made and I think I will swap the props and change the motor rotation. It just seems weird to have the props turn tip out.

I haven't tried changing it, I've been flying it tips-out from the get-go, but I remember much earlier in this thread someone from Motion said that this model was designed this way on purpose. They said that they found that the model seemed to fly better with the backwards rotation but I don't remember what the reasoning was. Again, I don't know because I've never tried flying this model with the "tips-in" rotation! So please let us know, give us a report on whether it feels any different.

[Bob Vincent]

Here's the video of mine at our club event several weeks ago. Love this plane and the wheelie landings

https://youtu.be/TFbiXJ-swmQ

[Puregreen7]

Maiden complete, what a great flying warbird! Was a little windy but it handled it great. Some adjustments to be made and I think I will swap the props and change the motor rotation. It just seems weird to have the props turn tip out.

[OV10]

I'm confused? Mine is all stock and it has contra rotating props. Watch the video I posted a page back and you can see them.

No need for confusion. The FL Tiger comes from the factory with contra rotation. As modelers you can then decide whether ya want top in or out rotation by simply reversing 2 of the 3 leads from the ESC to the motors.
To answer Puregreen7 question, this bird flies equally well on any of the 3 prop rotation direction cases of CCW/CW, CW/CCW, CW/CW. :ok_hand:

Most electric twins are set up as inward turning contras for Pfactor stability incase of a motor loss. Yeah contras on the Tiger do not reflect the full size beast whereas both the motors were norm CW rotation and this was to keep maintenance parts the same for both engines unlike the P-38 Lightning which had separate reverse gear box parts for the port engine. Again on the P-38 model, prop rotation is not a aerodynamic factor like it is on the full size.

Regards,

[Bob Vincent]

I'm confused? Mine is all stock and it has contra rotating props. Watch the video I posted a page back and you can see them.

[Puregreen7]

Ready for first flight, always get the nervous feelings before the first flight even though all the reports are of a great flying plane. Waiting for perfect weather.

Has anyone reversed the directions of the motors for the correct top in rotation of the propellers on their Tigercat? The P-38 is correct with outward rotation due to buffeting of the horizontal stabilizer with inward rotation, but you remove the critical engine problem with top inward.

I know the full size Tigercat doesn't have counter rotating props but this change would add a small safety if we lose a motor or prop.

[starcop]

What a stellar airplane! Sleek, beautiful, and one of a kind. I'm excited to have ordered this one tonight.

[Evan D]

The Assan steering gyros are great. They are designed specifically for steering and work much better than a singular aircraft or helo gyro or three dimensional gyros or receiver gyros.

Use caution with the the Admiral gyro receiver, many have reported issues with their reception.

[Larry D]

Just curious if the Admiral 6ch receiver with stabilization would not have done that also with the rudder gain turned up.. I'm interested in seeing a picture and a brief installation summary.

Dennis, I don't use Admiral receivers or AS3X type stabilization on the Tigercat, so no, it was/is not the receiver or stabilization gain. Still don't know what the issue is, but the Assan AG61 has taken care of the steering for me. Wish I could take a picture to show you but this little device is installed on the floor of the fuselage below the Fuselage Control Module (FCM). Sorry - not taking it all apart again for a picture. Briefly, I removed the connectors on the FCM for Gear and Nose Steering (see page 6 of the F7F manual) plugged those into the AG61 and plugged the connections (they are labeled) from the AG61 into the respective slot on the FCM. The challenge was where to mount this little device. I thought I could just add some connector extensions - oh NO - apparently it does not like extensions. Tried it with extensions and it would not work, took the extensions off and it works perfectly. I finally installed it on the floor of the fuselage pretty much directly beneath the FCM. Running the wiring was a little challenging. I removed the lower battery tray to get to the location easier, got everything secured eventually with double sided tape and re-installed the lower battery tray (it's just four screws), powered everything up, bench tested, then taxi tested, then flight tested and it works great. Still don't know what causes the steering problem without this little gyro correcting it, maybe someday...but for now, I am happy using gyro assisted steering for take offs and landings :)

[Denniswpb]

Copy, tested BEC and is the stock one and shows 5.1v. What ever happened was sudden and all at once. Just bums me out that I have to spend $90 for a ghost I can't identify unless it was a servo or retract failure that caused all of it.

I have a Flightline Corsair that had a similar issue, but worse. I came in for a landing then went to take off again. It made a weird noise on takeoff roll so I shut her down and as I turned to taxi back to the pits, smoke billowed out. I ran over to it and yanked off the battery hatch and saw orange flames under the battery shooting up!! Thankfully a fellow club member ran out with a fire extinguisher and put it out. What happen was the ESC crapped out and caught fire. Well that would have been fine, but it shot 22v to ALL the electronic components and fried them. Yep, every servo, the receiver, blue box controller, wing connector boards, everything except the motor. $200+ later, it's back in the air but still smells like smoke. My point in all that was that the ESC is probably the culprit and don't trust it! I've heard from a few people that the ESC's that Flightline installs have had issues like mine did. Sure hate to see you put new electronics in and have the ESC burn them out again.

[Denniswpb]

Just curious if the Admiral 6ch receiver with stabilization would not have done that also with the rudder gain turned up.. I'm interested in seeing a picture and a brief installation summary.

[Larry D]

The Assan AG61 nose gear steering gyro finally arrived and I got it installed and setup on the Cat. I learned some more lessons on that, but if anyone is interested, I am happy to report that it works perfectly. Take offs and landings are perfectly straight (and safe). Of course this assumes that you have the nose pointed straight down the runway. Even ground steering has improved dramatically. Very happy with this little addition. It was a bit of a chore to figure out where and how to mount it because the leads on the AG61 are so short. Now I can say I am so happy to have this beautiful bird back in the air safely and when landing - piece of cake!!! Super straight rollout every time. So far :)

[AllThumbs]

Congrats, Larry! I had a couple of other thoughts on the subject as well: Remember that there must be sufficient weight on the nosewheel for effective steering. I've come across models before that had that problem, even with the C.G. in the recommended position. You might push your battery a little further forward (within the recommended CG range) and see if that makes the steering more solid. That would make for a more stable flight, and would cause you to need a little more up elevator to rotate at takeoff, depending on how much you move the CG forward. If the airplane tracks stable at low speed taxi, but is still a little squirrely on the steering on takeoff roll, that might be something to check. Sounds like you've got a manageable situation now, though, but I thought I might throw this is to complete my thoughts on the subject... Happy flying!

Post-script: If you find that the steering gyro doesn't help, that could be an indication of not enough weight on the nose gear. The wheel can't steer if it's not planted solidly on the ground!

[Larry D]

Reporting back on nose gear steering issue. I was able to get to our field today and test the Cat nose gear steering issue. Thanks to Thumbs and everyone for your kind and most helpful suggestions. I replaced the FCM and re-aligned everything (again) this time paying close attention to "toe-in" on the mains. I toe'd in both mains slightly (give or take 2 degrees) and I am happy to report take off rolls were MUCH better. Not perfect, but it at least allowed me to safely get her in the air for three flights today. I love how this plane flies when she is trimmed. Guys - I can't thank you enough for all your constructive comments, recommendations and suggestions. I learned some valuable lessons. I will keep working on it to make it even better. I have an Assan AG61 nose gear steering gyro on order to perhaps help even more and when it arrives and is installed, I will do some tests with that too. It's SUPPOSED to help keep the nose on the centerline without stick input. We'll see.

[Larry D]

Great suggestion Thumbs. I worked a bit on the Cat yesterday and rechecked all of the nose gear setup. On static the nose gear has been and continues to be free and correct. I have not checked the main gear alignment. I will double check that. I do have the "shocks" installed. Something may have slipped and come to think about it, those are probably the only grub screws that don't have Loctite (blue), On my tail draggers the mains are all slightly toed in and find that they do seem to track much better. Really good suggestion! I'll do that and report back. Thanks.

[AllThumbs]

I have not adjusted the end points at all...Mmmm, good idea! Thanks. I did check based on your suggestion and my end points for the rudder are 100%/100%. and since the rudder servo and the nose gear steering servo are apparently tied together through the fuselage controller module, wouldn't setting end points (in my case channel 4) also set the end points for the rudder? If replacing the FCM (it is on order) doesn't solve the issue, I will try adjusting the end points and see what happens. Thanks again!

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One more thing you might check...

I'm assuming when the airplane is static with the rudder stick centered, the nosewheel is properly aiming forward, and moves freely the correct direction when you steer. That being the case, and noting the other things you checked, I would next look at the alignment of the main gear. They should at least be aligned parallel with the centerline, or better yet, toe'd inboard slightly. I had a friend with a A-10 that would skid left and right like it was on ice when taking off. I made the same suggestion to him, and sure enough, the main gear were slightly toe'd outward. This makes steering unstable, while inward toe makes steering more stable. It's the same case whether the airplane is a tail-dragger or nose-steered. Having a nose-steering airplane can sometimes hide the misalignment of the mains, and make it less noticeable.

I noted in an earlier post that the two screws that slide in the shock absorbing gear can come loose and allow the wheel to wiggle. If you have the shock absorbers, that might be something to check. You might also check that the main gear servo mount is still solid in the foam.

[AllThumbs]

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[Larry D]

Have you checked your end point adjustment on you transmitter? That is one idea I came up with since you have full throw with a servo tester.

I have not adjusted the end points at all...Mmmm, good idea! Thanks. I did check based on your suggestion and my end points for the rudder are 100%/100%. and since the rudder servo and the nose gear steering servo are apparently tied together through the fuselage controller module, wouldn't setting end points (in my case channel 4) also set the end points for the rudder? If replacing the FCM (it is on order) doesn't solve the issue, I will try adjusting the end points and see what happens. Thanks again!

[Mad Baron]

Have you checked your end point adjustment on you transmitter? That is one idea I came up with since you have full throw with a servo tester.