Official FlightLine RC 1600mm F7F-3 Tigercat Thread

[Jhnybgd]

Hey guys,could 1 of you upstanding fliers with the upgraded nose gear give me a length measurment and a pin diameter of this unit.
I am trying to find a good robust strut for the nose gear on my FMS 1400mm T28
thanks

[OV10]

Hey guys,could 1 of you upstanding fliers with the upgraded nose gear give me a length measurment and a pin diameter of this unit.
I am trying to find a good robust strut for the nose gear on my FMS 1400mm T28
thanks

Pin is too large and strut too long for the FMS Trojan

[Grossman56]

Grossman, do you take off and land on grass?

No, we're lucky to have a paved runway, although it has some cracks on it, the Tigercat handles it well

These pics were from last year before we resurfaced it as well, so the cracks aren't near as bad, you can sort of see the improvement in this pic that I took this weekend.


Grossman56

[Mad Baron]

May we ask as to why you are having second thoughts on the Tigercat? :Thinking:

Too many projects right now. If I order it, it would sit for a couple of months before I could assemble it.

[Dual Prop Dave]

Too many projects right now. If I order it, it would sit for a couple of months before I could assemble it.

I completely understand. I've had mine since late November and just finally got the maiden in yesterday. However it did give me time to do the upgrades to the landing gear and some airbrush work. You definitely will not be disappointed with this plane, what a sweet aircraft! Assembly is easy and she handles excellent on the ground and even better in the air! I like it more than my P-38. My flying field is a bit rough, so I went with the recommendations from OV10 for the nose gear and Tirediron for the mains. They hit it spot on! It's a real head turner at the field and everyone watched it when it flew.

[chipset35]

I completely understand. I've had mine since late November and just finally got the maiden in yesterday. However it did give me time to do the upgrades to the landing gear and some airbrush work. You definitely will not be disappointed with this plane, what a sweet aircraft! Assembly is easy and she handles excellent on the ground and even better in the air! I like it more than my P-38. My flying field is a bit rough, so I went with the recommendations from OV10 for the nose gear and Tirediron for the mains. They hit it spot on! It's a real head turner at the field and everyone watched it when it flew.

Are the landing gear upgrades mandatory? I am already near my budget if I purchase this plane.

[TiredIronGRB]

Are the landing gear upgrades mandatory? I am already near my budget if I purchase this plane.

Not at all the stock gears are very good, this is one great flying plane!

[chipset35]

Not at all the stock gears are very good, this is one great flying plane!

I will be taking off and landing on grass though.:Sweating:

[themudduck]

Not at all the stock gears are very good, this is one great flying plane!

fist-bump from me!
Chipset - grass is not a problem with this model using the stock LG, no problem at all, as long as its a runway (rolled and cut).
If its rough and bumpy and full of clods, umm... fix it! :Cool:

I purchased the upgraded (sprung) LG set and then went back to stock after a time because the stock gear looks better (my opinion) and works so well. The sprung gear didn't seem to make much difference for me. I fly from Geotex fabric (faux paved) and relatively well-kept grass runways. The stock gear is very good. Over the years I've had to replace one retract unit because the plastic case cracked after a very hard landing which was my fault. I wouldn't suggest the upgrade unless your strip is poor.

[rifleman_btx]

Mine is still on the stock gear, no problem at all

[Dual Prop Dave]

Are the landing gear upgrades mandatory? I am already near my budget if I purchase this plane.

I upgraded my landing gear for 3 reasons. 1st and foremost, because our field isn't the best. 2nd, I wanted to relieve the air frame of added stress on my not so perfect landings, and 3rd because I had the time to save the money and install them before maiden and they really look cool! Everything I've read states it's not necessary and they are holding up very well. If it's not possible to do the upgrade right away, fly it with the stock and make a decision. I think you will be extremely satisfied with the Tigercat. Hope this helps.

Dave

[Mad Baron]

Well I pulled the trigger on the Tigercat and ordered some foam tac since I ran out repairing the B-26LOL.

[rifleman_btx]

I knew you couldn't resist! You will love it!

[Mad Baron]

after hearing everyone here talk of how well the plane flys. I

figured why not just order one and find out for myself! Looking forward to getting this plane.

[rifleman_btx]

Cant argue with that!:Cool:

[themudduck]

Hey Maddie, I think I'll mention this even though it was talked about already, more than 1000 posts back. (I didn't check exactly where).
The Tigercat needs a little down elevator trim with the flaps deployed. AND when you retract the gear, the balance point moves back a bit.

So, this is something to watch out for, especially on your first flight. When you take off using flaps and retract the gear the model can have a tendency to pitch up quite markedly which can be disconcerting if you're not expecting it.

Once you have the elevator trim set, this won't be an issue, and what I do is wait until I've stabilized the plane to raise the landing gear, instead of raising the gear instantly.

Set up per the manual with two 4S 3600mah batteries, the model is nose heavy. Most of us have been setting both batteries back some (instead of having them all the way forward) because it helps make it easier to flare and land gently. Its certainly easy to fly even in the nose-heavy position. Because, as we've all told you, this is a great-flying plane.

Let us know how your flights go. We're all anxiously awaiting your reports!

[Grossman56]

Hell no!
I have the nose upgrade in mine, but went back to the stock mains after the upgrades proved to be a pita. I flew mine for two seasons with the stock gear with no problems. In the pics up above, she was flying with the stock gear.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Ducks right Maddie, but watch how much you put in. I sit my forward 3600 parallel with the forward end of the hatch and it seems to work well. I have no trim on half flaps and just a bit on full.

The flaps are 15 degrees and 30 degrees down, works great.

Grossman56

[themudduck]

Hey Grossman, I had to look at my xmitter because I couldn't remember! LOL
So I checked... like you, I have no mix set with flaps at the takeoff setting, and 25% mix set for the elevator with full flaps. (That's more than what you're using but I think I probably have my full flaps set further down)

Anyway I think that having no elevator trim with takeoff flaps works fine, because we use takeoff flaps is to get off the ground quicker when needed. If there was elevator mix in, that would make it harder to take off! So in other words, we only really need that elevator trim to keep the model from ballooning during landing.

I use the flaps for takeoff when I'm on the grass strip.

Maddie I hope I didn't confuse the issue. The Tigercat is not going to give you a problem in any case. This is really fine tuning.

[Grossman56]

I rolled mine right off after the first flight because I had waaaaay too much mix.
Tried half flaps and it was fine, no pitch while flying the circuit, full definitely needed some, so I landed and mix in 5% to start and tried again, the result was better, finally settled on 10% and it seemed just right. Now that I know what to look for, some of my other planes needed a slight mix as well. Our eye for what's right and what's wrong becomes sharper as we gain experience I guess. You're right though, you fine tune it to your personal preference, sometimes a single percentage will make a difference, worth trying to dial it in perfectly.

Grossman56