Official FlightLine RC 1600mm F7F-3 Tigercat Thread

[Grossman56]

I did CB, as soon as you told me The occasion I'm referring to was before we had 'a chat' :)
Bottom line, awesome plane, great performance, rock solid and the nose will stay down without any help from yours truly.

Grossman56

[themudduck]

Flew my kitty yesterday and had a great time, as everyone here knows this is a terrific model. But I ran into an interesting problem with the batteries that I wanted to bounce off you guys.

I am using Admiral 4S 3600's. Yesterday I had a 6.5 minute flight and afterwards I measured 3.8volts per cell... so that's great.
Then I went to install my second set of batteries, and was surprised to find that they didn't fit!

The second set is also Admiral 4S 3600's from MRC. But the original packs are "rectangular" (end shape) and these are "square" and not quite as long. Since they're square, they are about 1/4" taller and so the one installed in the front compartment is too tall to allow the hatch to fit.

I won't bother raising a big stink, because I can make this work - I'll just use the taller square one in the bottom compartment, and the original rectangular one in the front compartment - since both packs have the same rating and weigh the same. So I will end up with two mixed sets.

But I was surprised because apparently MRC is offering this pack in two different configurations! Or maybe they switched to the new square one and the packs that I originally ordered with the plane were an earlier discontinued version? Anyone else notice this? If any of you received the square 3600's then I imagine you're having trouble getting them to fit...

[OV10]

Flew my kitty yesterday and had a great time, as everyone here knows this is a terrific model. But I ran into an interesting problem with the batteries that I wanted to bounce off you guys.

I am using Admiral 4S 3600's. Yesterday I had a 6.5 minute flight and afterwards I measured 3.8volts per cell... so that's great.
Then I went to install my second set of batteries, and was surprised to find that they didn't fit!

The second set is also Admiral 4S 3600's from MRC. But the original packs are "rectangular" and these are "square" and not quite as long. Since they're square, they are about 1/4" taller and so the one installed in the front compartment is too tall to allow the hatch to fit.

I won't bother raising a big stink, I'll just mix this set and use the taller square one in the bottom compartment, and the original rectangular one in the front compartment - both packs have the same rating and weigh the same.

But I was surprised because apparently MRC is offering this pack in two different configurations! Or maybe they switched to the new square one and the packs that I originally ordered with the plane were an earlier discontinued version? Anyone else notice this? If any of you received the square 3600's then I imagine you're having trouble getting them to fit...

The identifying mark of the "newer" Admiral batteries is the 5 " :Stars:"s below the word Admiral on the label.
My older 4000's where square when looking at the end of the battery whereas the newer ones are rectangular.
I have found that the newer rectangular shape is much more conducive to fitment in all my birds than the older squares.

[Grossman56]

Had BBD up with the new 3600 4s battery in her. Flew my usual way through my usual time of 5 minutes and landed. 73% Left!!!
Friggin' awesome !!!!!!!!!!p51p51
I give them 5 BBD's

Grossman56

[themudduck]

The identifying mark of the "newer" Admiral batteries is the 5 " :Stars:"s below the word Admiral on the label.
My older 4000's were square when looking at the end of the battery whereas the newer ones are rectangular.
I have found that the newer rectangular shape is much more conducive to fitment in all my birds than the older squares.

Hey Charlie, I checked my new 3600 5-star packs... they're square looking at the end of the pack. MRC shows the measurement as 38 x 38 mm.
As I said before, these square packs are too big to fit in the front compartment without interfering with the hatch tongue.
The older 3600 packs (no stars) that I received with my Tigercat (I received it early because I preordered) are rectangular (not as tall) and they fit perfectly.

Like you said, the new 4S 4000 packs are shown as rectangular 42x30mm. So that means your 4000 packs are wider (42) but not as tall (30mm) as my new square 3600's (38mm). D'oh!

Maybe next time I send my paycheck to MRC I should order two 4000's. LOL (I'm happy with the flight times I'm getting with the 3600s)

[Pheonix]

Tom, did you do the props as well?

[OV10]

Hey Charlie, I checked my new 3600 5-star packs... they're square looking at the end of the pack. MRC shows the measurement as 38 x 38 mm.
As I said before, these square packs are too big to fit in the front compartment without interfering with the hatch tongue.
The older 3600 packs (no stars) that I received with my Tigercat (I received it early because I preordered) are rectangular (not as tall) and they fit perfectly.

Like you said, the new 4S 4000 packs are shown as rectangular 42x30mm. So that means your 4000 packs are wider (42) but not as tall (30mm) as my new square 3600's (38mm). D'oh!

Maybe next time I send my paycheck to MRC I should order two 4000's. LOL (I'm happy with the flight times I'm getting with the 3600s)

Very interesting........Bad of me to assume that the new 3600's were rectangular like the new 4000 and the 4500 6S
Might be a wise investment into the 4000's for this twin since you can always use a little more in the tank. ;)

[Grossman56]

I've stuck to 3600's so far simply because of a lack of batteries and the Bearcat and P-40 fly great with the 4000. Just got a new 3600 Pro and a 4000 to even up the count, so I'll be trying the 4000's in her as well. As for battery fit, I just put the new 3600 in the bottom position and use the older ones for the upper front position, I'll do the same with the 4000's, already trimmed the tongue a bit to fit them in, so I'm good!!

Grossman56

[TomPatton]

Got a question guys. I am putting together another F-7 and the 4 batteries I got with the first kit were the square Admiral 3600 40C. I had to cut up the canopy and make a pin for the front of canopy out of a piece of Sullivan pushrod and housing. Worked really good but would rather not on this one.
My question is, would there be a problem running one of the Admiral Pro 3600 50C batteries with the 3600 40C. That way I could use the Pro series on top and not have to modify canopy.
Thanks...
Tom

[Grossman56]

Hey Tom, I'm running the old style 3600 Pro series and have no problem, I did however, trim about 3/8" off the bottom to the tab in case I wanted to try the 4000s in her. Recently, I bought a new style 3600 Pro which I plan on using in the bottom postion because it's closer to the CG so any slight difference in the weight will be negligible. I haven't tried putting it in the upper position so that's something to think about, but really, with all the older style ones I have, I really don't need to, at least not yet!
I don't think I'd really want to mix the two batteries together, but I'm not 100% sure, call it a gut feeling, maybe some of the other will chime in on this.
Come on out to Nefi, we'll sort you out and you'll have a great time as well !

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Six x 3600's charged and 2 x 4000's charged and off to the field with the Tigercat and the Flying Tiger. The day of the Tigers!
Was flying a mixed throttle on the Tigercat and was coming down with plenty of battery life at 5 minutes, so I'm going to increase the flight time by half a minute, see how that works, will probably end up with a full minute extra, but call it insurance for right now.
I 'm flying on mid rates, which is in the center of the stated high and low rates on the manual and find it great for me. Plenty of authority at slow speeds.
One thing I chuckle about with this bird, and chalk it up to her personality, is when deploying gear and flaps. You hit the down gear switch and there is a lengthy delay, maybe slightly longer that with the FMS P-51's as they drop the clamshell doors first, watch Ryan's flight video when he's demonstrating the gear. My thought is that it might have something to do with the timing if you want to add servo driven gear doors, don't know for sure.
Anyway, on the other side of the spectrum, the flaps are lightning fast!! BOOM! They're deployed!! So she's cruising on the base leg and I drop gear and flaps. It's like the airplane says." What the Heck!!" and settles her nose back to level. Or in Horse Talk, as we Wyomingites understand. I yank the reins back and the horses nose goes up !!
And then about the time she settles into flap mode the dang gear comes out and momentarily upsets her again! It's no big deal but it makes me chuckle each time. Anyway, I'm going to increase the flap deployment time a bit to ease the transition, see if that helps.
Now, when landing, and this is just what I observe, as she's peeling off speed, that down elevator mix loses some of it's authority due to slower/less air going over the control surface, so the nose, conveniently raises a little to settle her on her mains. Or as I explained it to Diane, "She raises her pretty little nose for landing" Tell me any trainer that does that for you??
Now, if anyone remembers, I fly with an A3L in all my planes, but since the fuse is so tight, I elected to leave it out of this one. Know what, she doesn't need it anyway. We're watching her plow into the headwind and her wings twitch a bit as if she DID have a gyro, she just balances herself out, thank you very much!
So, that's ten flights on her now and everyone, since I got the flap/elevator mix correct, has been excellent. I learned that she can be landed with flaps or no flaps or half flaps, whatever you choose, she's good.

Grossman56

[Brandon Moon]

Flight of the modified Folding Wing FlightLineRC F7F Tigercat.... Without the secondary wing spar tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW40UChuGvs

[Fast Eddie]

Flight of the modified Folding Wing FlightLineRC F7F Tigercat.... Without the secondary wing spar tube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW40UChuGvs

Nice video and camera location. Nice perspective. Wing flex looked like a solid wing with no flex at the fold joint.
Where's the "Moon Roof"?

[MANFRED]

Maiden flight was flawless. Had down dialed into the flaps and she landed like a feather. Has MrRC sound card and it is impressive on startup, not so loud in the air though. Love this ship, working on the P-38 now.

[MANFRED]

Couple more

[MesRcPilot]

Hello Brandon , it is your ''standard flight'' ;) ...predominantly inclined , with tail cam position ... very nice !!
Ciao

[WW2rcpilot]

Six x 3600's charged and 2 x 4000's charged and off to the field with the Tigercat and the Flying Tiger. The day of the Tigers!
Was flying a mixed throttle on the Tigercat and was coming down with plenty of battery life at 5 minutes, so I'm going to increase the flight time by half a minute, see how that works, will probably end up with a full minute extra, but call it insurance for right now.
I 'm flying on mid rates, which is in the center of the stated high and low rates on the manual and find it great for me. Plenty of authority at slow speeds.
One thing I chuckle about with this bird, and chalk it up to her personality, is when deploying gear and flaps. You hit the down gear switch and there is a lengthy delay, maybe slightly longer that with the FMS P-51's as they drop the clamshell doors first, watch Ryan's flight video when he's demonstrating the gear. My thought is that it might have something to do with the timing if you want to add servo driven gear doors, don't know for sure.
Anyway, on the other side of the spectrum, the flaps are lightning fast!! BOOM! They're deployed!! So she's cruising on the base leg and I drop gear and flaps. It's like the airplane says." What the Heck!!" and settles her nose back to level. Or in Horse Talk, as we Wyomingites understand. I yank the reins back and the horses nose goes up !!
And then about the time she settles into flap mode the dang gear comes out and momentarily upsets her again! It's no big deal but it makes me chuckle each time. Anyway, I'm going to increase the flap deployment time a bit to ease the transition, see if that helps.
Now, when landing, and this is just what I observe, as she's peeling off speed, that down elevator mix loses some of it's authority due to slower/less air going over the control surface, so the nose, conveniently raises a little to settle her on her mains. Or as I explained it to Diane, "She raises her pretty little nose for landing" Tell me any trainer that does that for you??
Now, if anyone remembers, I fly with an A3L in all my planes, but since the fuse is so tight, I elected to leave it out of this one. Know what, she doesn't need it anyway. We're watching her plow into the headwind and her wings twitch a bit as if she DID have a gyro, she just balances herself out, thank you very much!
So, that's ten flights on her now and everyone, since I got the flap/elevator mix correct, has been excellent. I learned that she can be landed with flaps or no flaps or half flaps, whatever you choose, she's good.

Grossman56

Do you have servo delay on your radio? I use that on my flaps and they drop nice and slow so very little change in the attitude. I drop the gear first and do a gear pass then 25% flaps and then full flaps on base to final.

[Grossman56]

Yes, I slowed the servo speed down and I'll see how that works. It look like its the same on the Avanti as well, so I'll do a bit of programming on that one too.

[OV10]

Dan, ALL my birds are set to 5 sec for flap actuation.;)

[Grossman56]

That's about what I run with mine as well, without checking the radio. I'm just waiting for some decent weather to get some final flights on her before heading East.
Of course its the long weekend and the weather is doing what it always seems to do on a long weekend, rain!!!
Got my airplane stand design completed and now its time to start building it, will be hauling five birds in the box of the truck and the Tigercat gets to ride in luxury on the bead in the trailer, such a Princess!!

Grossman56