Official FlightLine RC 1600mm F7F-3 Tigercat Thread

[jetfool]

They all look great. I bet they fly better after you rebuilt them too. Rex

[Grossman56]

Had the Grumman fleet out for pics this morning before loading the Bearcats up to take to the field.




Bearcat, Tigercat, Bearcat and Kittycat!!



Bearcat III



Bearcat I

Hard to believe that two of them spent some time in the junk box.

It can be done!!

Grossman56

[morganjw1]

Let me know how you make out

Grossman56

Absolutely. Hoping for.next weekend

[Grossman56]

Let me know how you make out

Grossman56

[morganjw1]

Good to hear! As a word of caution, watch your flap/elevator settings. At Half flaps I found I needed no mix. When going for the first landing, I applied full flaps and used elevator trim to determine how much elevator down I needed, landed and put a mark on the tail that lined up with the elevator, then zeroed the trim and went into the mix folder and applied enough down elevator to match what I had marked. She's a really great airplane, just watch those prop screws!! Once you have everything done behind the props that you want, put some FoamTac on the screw and do not over tighten them!! Snug is the way to go. That was one of the possible causes for my incident.

Good luck!!

Grossman56

More great info. Thanks again. I really appreciate it. I'm only about a year in with most of my planes being warbirds and have really wanted this plane for a while.

[Grossman56]

Good to hear! As a word of caution, watch your flap/elevator settings. At Half flaps I found I needed no mix. When going for the first landing, I applied full flaps and used elevator trim to determine how much elevator down I needed, landed and put a mark on the tail that lined up with the elevator, then zeroed the trim and went into the mix folder and applied enough down elevator to match what I had marked. She's a really great airplane, just watch those prop screws!! Once you have everything done behind the props that you want, put some FoamTac on the screw and do not over tighten them!! Snug is the way to go. That was one of the possible causes for my incident.

Good luck!!

Grossman56

[morganjw1]

Grossman56, thank you for the info. The issue is the gear swiveling causing an issue with tow in/out. The picture you posted is exactly what I was hoping to see. I really appreciate the help. Cant wait to get her in the air.

[Grossman56]

Retract movement or pivoting toe in and toe out?
There is a small set screw in the side of the silver arm of the

retract. See it just below the hole for the gear to fit in. If I recall there should be one on both sides, there are set screws in them, try tightening them.
(Line the gear up in the right direction first!) If its slop like it's half retracted, then check to see if the 'claw' is wrapped around the silver bar, there's a 'window' that runs the length of the retract head, the screw on the left in the picture is pointed right at it. If it's jumped that bar, disassemble the retract and put the claw back on the bar.

Hope this helps.

Grossman56

[morganjw1]

Greetings all. I have just purchased an F7F from a club member and there is a minor issue (we knew about it before sale). The left main has a ton of slop, as in about 45 degrees of movement. Understand that I have very little mechanical abilities so thus the question. I have briefly looked over the gear and cannot find an adjustment screw or grub screw on the gear. Is there one that is hidden around where the actual retract mechanism is and I just can't see it? Thanks for any help provided!

[davegee]

It's actually an easy flying airplane. With stock power, it's not bad, but I just enjoy watching her buzz around the pattern. She rolls fine and will do a loop when coaxed into it. With the power system I had in it it was a lot stronger of a performer, but having something go wrong centered around the prop/ motor area, I'm wondering if the prop let loose. It was pretty hard to tell as she failed at about fifty feet in the air and then hit the ground. Charlie Brown ran LX B 25 props on his if I recall correctly and that may be the way to go. In the meantime, I'll run stock and apply some Foam-Tac to the screws that hold the props on once I'm ready to 'permanently' mount the props.
Besides, when I want to go full on aerobatics, I have a number of other airplanes that do it better so what the heck!
Just nice to have her in the hangar again. Grumman is well represented with two Bearcats and the Tigercat.

Grossman56

Looking Great, Dan!!

[Grossman56]

It's actually an easy flying airplane. With stock power, it's not bad, but I just enjoy watching her buzz around the pattern. She rolls fine and will do a loop when coaxed into it. With the power system I had in it it was a lot stronger of a performer, but having something go wrong centered around the prop/ motor area, I'm wondering if the prop let loose. It was pretty hard to tell as she failed at about fifty feet in the air and then hit the ground. Charlie Brown ran LX B 25 props on his if I recall correctly and that may be the way to go. In the meantime, I'll run stock and apply some Foam-Tac to the screws that hold the props on once I'm ready to 'permanently' mount the props.
Besides, when I want to go full on aerobatics, I have a number of other airplanes that do it better so what the heck!
Just nice to have her in the hangar again. Grumman is well represented with two Bearcats and the Tigercat.

Grossman56

[jetfool]

Outstanding rebuild.! Gonna fly awesome Grossman. This is one at the top of my list. Rex

[boomer108]

You do nice work Gman!

[Grossman56]

Well guys, she got rolled out to the back deck for her official unveiling after going 'through the shop'.

She turned out great and is almost ready to fly again, ground tests and inspections to come soon.



Sorry, no kitties in these ones, no one volunteered to come out!

Grossman56

[jetfool]

Some airplanes just like to hang around and frustrate us until we rebuild them. They seem to fly better too. I'm still flying planes that are 20+ years old That I bring all the pieces home from the field in a bag, then years later rebuild them. A[n't this hobby great!
Rex

PS My garage will tell you I never throw them away. LOL

[Grossman56]

Another coat of Minwax on the bottom, La Patrona decal placed and Minwaxed over.
I was looking at the pics of the original build way back in April of 2017 and realized just how long I've been in this hobby, coming up 9 years!
She was flown a few times at the home field before we headed for Nefi in 2017 our second trip from Wyoming to Indiana. Also taken was my original Bearcat which I lost while there, we had a bout of rain and she got wet, I believe it got into the receiver or the gyro because she was an amazing flyer up until then. Anyway, she sat in the junk box until I finally dragged it out and decided to make a project of her. Bearcat 2 was lost in the sun and was actually a new fuse and Bearcat 1 parts, so I now have Bearcat 1 back together and La Patrona well on her way. I came across this picture of the two of them when La Patrona was at about the same point as she is now and thought I'd duplicate it.

Bearcat 1 and La Patrona in April of 2017...


And the two of them six years later...



Some guys just get lucky! That Dang Bearcat has all the original parts except the stock motor and ESC (which I have in a drawer) including the prop.

Grossman56

[jetfool]

Nice rebuild.
Rex

[Elbee]

Grossman56, OUCH!!! :confounded: She's lookin' good now, Brother. :trophy: Best, LB

[Grossman56]

Got the gear doors on and painted today. It was interesting in that the nose gear door set didn't come with the tiny screws that hold the gear pivot point and spring or the gear doors in place. I had to old ones which was good. The Main door that I replaced needs a little filing to close flush with the old gear door, no big deal, I remember doing that with the original ones as well. I pushed the mast glue point and all, out through the bottom of the original hatch and took the Dremel tool to it. Got the mast cut out and now installed in the new hatch. So it's like a ghost, I haven't seen her in two and a half years, pretty cool though.



I'll let everything dry up then start in on the Pearl coats. There's a myriad of things to be gone over and checked and rechecked as this isn't a kit build but a rebuild from a major crash that I don't plan in repeating if at all possible Let's not forget where this project started from....



Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Got my spare parts yesterday and I see that the mast isn't included with the hatch cover. Hard to believe, but when I went back to check the MRC website, I find it comes with a separate plastic parts package (includes the gun barrels and the fuse gun tubes, both useless to me as the tubes are already in the new fuse and I'm not using the barrels) priced at over $7! Plus the $15 shipping fee puts it at over $22 for a sliver of plastic. Used to be that parts like that came with the main part, guns with wings like the Bearcat did for instance. MRC really needs to look at what they're doing here. One of the things that really turned me off in the past was when I needed a new gear door for my Freewing P-51, I had to buy a complete gear door set, I have more clam shell doors and tailwheel doors than three of us could use in a life time. Would seem that they're using the same mindset for FlightLine now.

Grossman56