Official FlightLine RC 1600mm F7F-3 Tigercat Thread

[Mad Baron]

I got my Tcat balanced today it was nose heavy with 3300 batts. Moving them all the way back where the top batt is hanging off of the tray it balanced out but I don't like having the batt hanging about halfway off the tray. I tried my 4000 and it fit but the canopy wouldn't fit. Tail weight here I come!:Straight-Face:

[OV10]

I got my Tcat balanced today it was nose heavy with 3300 batts. Moving them all the way back where the top batt is hanging off of the tray it balanced out but I don't like having the batt hanging about halfway off the tray. I tried my 4000 and it fit but the canopy wouldn't fit. Tail weight here I come!:Straight-Face:

Shoot us a pic of what batts and where they are. There is no reason to have to add weight to the tail.;)

[Mad Baron]

I'll take some pictures this evening after work of the batteries

[rifleman_btx]

My 4000mah pack hangs off the ledge to about an inch forward of the magnets, that makes it fly beautifully

[Grossman56]

I usually fly with 2x3600s, the bottom one is forward just to the point where I can get the plug up and the top one is forward to the edge of the hatch, flys great!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Are you balancing it upside down??
It's basically a high wing airplane so get the cg with it upright.

Grossman56

[Mad Baron]

I am balancing it upright. When I lower the gear the nose drops like a stone I always balance with the gear up. I'm getting frustrated!!!

[Mad Baron]

I have two 3300 4s that seem to fit well. I got it to balance but when the gear is extended the nose drops

[Grossman56]

I balanced mine with the gear down. In flight, when you drop the flaps, the nose will come up so you have to mix in a bit of down elevator. I run two Admiral 3600 PRO's in mine with the leading edge of the top battery in line with the leading edge of the battery pack with great results. Those particular batteries may weigh more. By the looks of the picture, the top battery is further forward than where I put mine.

Grossman56

[Mad Baron]

I balanced it with the gear down and retracted it is tail heavy a tail heavy plane is no fun to fly.

[OV10]

I balanced it with the gear down and retracted it is tail heavy a tail heavy plane is no fun to fly.

Let me help here MB:Cool:

1) ALL aircraft that have aft retracting gear get balanced with gear up.
There are those that will want to contradict this but............:P l'll test their warbird flying skill strengths all day long ;)LOL

2) The long established CG SWEET ZONE for the Tiger is 70mm

Here's a pic of what I did with my 4000's(took this from a post Brandon did back on 11/25/16 on post #107

The tail end of the top batt and front end of bottom batt are 1 inch forward of that canopy magnetic
ps........I had a foam block support spacer under the front batt overhang.
Also serves to keep bottom batt from shifting forward.
These 4000 give close to 10 min of mixed throttle operations

For your 3300 use the below setup plan which is no different than for the 3600 or 4000.;)

Position placement of batteries so that Gear Up and CG at 70mm with tail about 1/2 inch down from level is achieved.
When gear is lowered the nose will drop 1-2 inches but this is fine because when full flaps is engaged it will want to balloon which is what Gman was referring to with down E mix which won't be as much.
This bird can/will fly very well in nose heavy position while you work out the inflight trim levels.
This bird really is a sweetheart to fly. It's like a twin engine trainer in warbird clothing so go have yourself some FUN:)

Best regards,
Warbird Charlie

[Grossman56]

Right On!:Cool::Cool:

[Mad Baron]

Gear up----Level
Gear down---nose dive more than 2 inches
Is this normal for this plane?
CG set at 70mm

[OV10]

Gear up----Level
Gear down---nose dive more than 2 inches
Is this normal for this plane?
CG set at 70mm

It's normal for ALL aft swinging retract birds to get nose heavy when gear is lowered.
From your comment of "Gear up----level, I see you didn't follow the instruction :Straight-Face:
Position placement of batteries so that Gear Up and CG at 70mm with tail about 1/2 inch down from level is achieved.

[Mad Baron]

I set up the balance at 1/2 inch down from level CG at 70mm and when the gear extends the nose drops almost to the table like the pic in my earlier post. I am at a loss at what to do next.

[OV10]

I set up the balance at 1/2 inch down from level CG at 70mm and when the gear extends the nose drops almost to the table like the pic in my earlier post. I am at a loss at what to do next.

Since I no longer have my Tiger, maybe we can get Gman to show a pic of his LaPatrona @ 70mm CG mark with gear retracted and extended using his 3600's in his preferred location for the many flights it's had.
This should give you a visible bearing on what to expect.

[themudduck]

I balance my planes with my fingers.... old school.

My opinion guys, those pin-point stand balancers are super-sensitive and although they work, they can be somewhat misleading. Case in point, as Maddie showed in the previous post, the nose "drops to the table" when the gear is extended. yeah, well so what, is that meaningful? Probably not!! The plane isn't flying on a pin-point.

When I'm flying my Tigercat and I extend the flaps and gear for landing, I can't say that I notice much difference at all. The CG shift helps counter the ballooning, and so I just feel it all cancels out. Anyway a little more nose-heavy during landing (with the flaps out) isn't a bad thing - I mean having the extra stability is useful. Its not like the plane dives for the ground when you put the gear down - it flies great and there is certainly no problem.

I'm using the stock gear.
The only caveat is that I have never landed without flaps!

Like Maddie said on post #1504 - being tail heavy is no fun at all. So DON'T add tail weight, no way!!

[Woodcock]

I balance my planes with my fingers.... old school.

My opinion guys, those pin-point stand balancers are super-sensitive and although they work, they can be somewhat misleading. Case in point, as Maddie showed in the previous post, the nose "drops to the table" when the gear is extended. yeah, well so what, is that meaningful? Probably not!! The plane isn't flying on a pin-point.

When I'm flying my Tigercat and I extend the flaps and gear for landing, I can't say that I notice much difference at all. The CG shift helps counter the ballooning, and so I just feel it all cancels out. Anyway a little more nose-heavy during landing (with the flaps out) isn't a bad thing - I mean having the extra stability is useful. Its not like the plane dives for the ground when you put the gear down - it flies great and there is certainly no problem.

I'm using the stock gear.
The only caveat is that I have never landed without flaps!

Like Maddie said on post #1504 - being tail heavy is no fun at all. So DON'T add tail weight, no way!!

Couldn't have said it much better myself. But basically, especially in planes with retracts! Check it out in all configurations. You should never have an Aft CG in any configuration, landing or otherwise. So you need to check it with the gear up, I usually start here. BUT! if you lower the gear, and end up with an aft CG, changes need to be made. I discovered this early on with my A-4 models. When you lower the gear on an A-4 and planes with landing gear like an A-4, you can magically end up with an aft CG on landing, very bad situation. Aft CG's are bad enough, but when landing is almost the worst possible time. So in short, if your plane is like this, yer just going to have to fly it a bit nose heavy. Get use to the idea, it's a must have situation.

Best Regards
Woody

[Mad Baron]

If I get the courage up I might fly it on my next day off that CG shift with the gear bothers me. I need to be sure it flys good before I sink in the cash for more batteries for this bird.

[Hardway]

If I get the courage up I might fly it on my next day off that CG shift with the gear bothers me. I need to be sure it flys good before I sink in the cash for more batteries for this bird.

Mine does that... Nose drops when gear is down. It flies great!!! Just take your time and be careful when you retract the gear the first time. :Cool: