Dynam Tiger Moth

[DennisMSr]

If anyone owns this bi-plane, I could use some advice. The manual states throws of Ai 15-20, El 12-15mm, and Rud 12-15mm. What settings if different from the manual do you fly?

[jiggz]

Hopefully this will help .. put about 20% in on expo for ail and elev and about 15% expo for rud

Made this video a while back to try and help another tiggy pilot get set up

[fhhuber]

Pull the cowl and get some E6000 clear craft glue. Smear that stuff all over inside the cowl. This will make it far more resistant to shattering if you nose-over. The Dynam Tiger Moth cowl is VERY fragile, like a potato chip.

I left the travel for the controls as set by the factory. They are just fine.
It flies like a Tiger Moth. Its not a highly aerobatic airplane. Its a primary to advanced trainer.

In WWII, British pilots got as little as 50 hours flight time in Tiger Moths and moved directly to Spitfires in combat.

The Tiger will show you ALL of your errors "without killing you" It will react, but slowly enough for you to see your error and fix it (often just by letting go of the sticks) All of the decent Tiger Moth models will behave pretty much the same. The Dynam is well done.

Aggressive aerobatics will eventually pull the stiffeners out of the wings. Shove them back in with some slow setting medium CA then spray with accelerator. They'll come out again eventually... just repeat gluing them back in.

Flies well on 2S 2000 mah. Can carry the biggest 4-cell you can get in it. I like flying it with 4S 3000 mah best. Added weight helps with the prevailing wind conditions around here.
No change of ESC or prop needed when changing battery. A tight loop with 4S 4000 will snap the decorative flying wires. (or pull the mounts for them out)

[jjskier]

Dynam Tiger Moth... just bought it... want to paint cowling/ struts / etc before assembling it... any thoughts on color of wing struts? Are real TM wing struts real wood or metal? -- black or brown?? Ideas on cockpit coaming? Have ordered pilot and Mildred -- was told you can't fly one of these without a pilot eh... and Mildred is a student pilot along for the ride!!

[fhhuber]

Get some E6000. Smear it on the inside of the cowl (about 1/64 inch thick) let that dry and do it again. The cowl is EXTREMELY fragile. The E6000 will help prevent it from shattering on a minor nose-over.

There are so many paint schemes for Tiger Moths that you can choose just about anything you want.

The original struts are real wood on the full scale but some people paint them. Some have been replaced by aluminum.

My Dynam Tiger is going to need new struts. (about 600 flights carrying as large as 4S 4000 mah and aggressive aerobatics) I popped a screw hole out of 2 of them and the others show signs of stress cracks at the screws. (Wattmeter tests showed the 4S is fine with OEM prop, motor and ESC)

Aggressive aerobatics and higher than OEM recommended battery weight will eventually pop the wing reinforcements out of the foam. They glue back in easily. If you see the wings bending abnormally, land before you snap the wings.

I have a Mickey and Minie Mouse as pilots from a set of kid's shampoo that came with 5 finger puppets. I used to have Mickey and Garfield Pez heads in it.

[jjskier]

OK will use E6000 glue on cowling... thanks for the suggestions on color... will paint wing struts in wood/brown color.... just opened the gear bag and found that the gear was broken -- axle part that slides with/inside center part is broken / snapped off... is there a way of fixing the inside sliding part -- I can see the broken off part inside the axle part when I hold it up to the light, but can't get it out.

[doctormike]

Email MRC. I'm sure they will send a new one. Doc

[jjskier]

Question on assembly of wings on Tiger Moth.... do the wing struts go OUTSIDE or INSIDE of the attachment points on the wings? Do the bolts and nuts to attach the wing struts go from the outside or the inside of the wing struts? Same question with the cabane struts to the fuselage... the lower attachment points are obvious, but what about the upper (wing) attachment ... do the cabane struts go INSIDE or OUTSIDE the upper wing attachment points? And do you use screws as per the directions or do you use bolts and nuts? And what is a PA 2.5 8mm screw? Does this mean it is two and a half inches long - which I know is not correct, but what is the meaning of PA 2.5??? And what is the difference of a PA 2.3 screw that you use to attach the stabilizer? The directions are not very clear. I've watched a number of utube videos to try and figure this all out, but end up as confused as ever. I have to laugh when it says this airplane can be assembled in a few hours... I've been working on it now for three days and still don't have it even close. I guess you can see that I'm a novice (at age 73) trying to figure it out. Any help is appreciated.

[fhhuber]

I wasn't sure which way the struts went either... but it really doesn't matter as long as you do it the same on both sides (I went with struts toward the wingtip side of the mounts.)

I used nuts and bolts (with nylon insert self locking nuts) since driving in "wood screws" weakens the plastic and creates a "stress riser" which promotes cracking.

the screw designations are thread type + length and diameter. The 2.5 is a small amount longer than the 2.3 I forgot which thread is PA.

[jjskier]

Were those bolts with self locking nuts (for the Tiger Moth wing struts)
something you bought separately or did they come in your TM kit? I can't find any in the package with my kit.... or am I missing something?

[fhhuber]

I have loads of nuts and screws so I change out to better all the time

I've been flying this thing for about 3 years.

[jjskier]

Tiger Moth project... OK, so I figured out those dismal directions on the wing wires and how they go on... I think I got it right, or at least figured it out -- I'll let you k now after I actually get it done.- right now they are laying across my work bench but I think I have it figured out. Have to go get some of those nuts with the nylon self locking system before I try to actually get it on. I will try to put the struts on the OUTSIDE of t he wing attachments - the X crossed wires will go on the outside of the struts and the cross wires to the fuselage will attach on the inner wing attachment points and the bolt will be pushed in from the fuselage side and the nut on the outside toward the wing tip.... do you think I have it right?

[jjskier]

Wish someone would write a super clear idiot proof detailed set of directions for the Dynam Tiger Moth -- anyone out there from MotionRC listening?? Could be called "Idiots Guide to Putting Together the Dynam Tiger Moth" with larger easy to understand diagrams showing STEP-BY-STEP detailed how to put it together for all us older (and newer) rc enthusiasts.... I am 74 years old and just got interested in RC and first bought a Sport Cub (and crashed it a few times) then got a Radian motorglider (and crashed it twice) and totally rebuilt it... and now have the neatest Tiger Moth that I am looking forward to flying for a long time..... thanks Motion RC!!!

[fhhuber]

The flying wires will pop if you do aggressive aerobatics. Either they break or they pull the mounts out of the fuselage (the mounts are just glued on shallow depressions)

The wires are purely decorative. Look at some pictures of full scale for some guidance as to how the wires go on. They do follow scale pretty well.

Maybe I'll order a new one and write it up. My old one is not looking as good as it used to.

Its had a rough life being used as an intro-trainer, operated on decidedly overweight batteries and pushed to its aerobatic limits.
Cowl has been shattered and glued back together.
Struts are breaking.
All the hinges have failed and been redone with CA hinges. (that will happen eventually to any EPO model that uses the foam as the hinge)

Still flies well though.

[jjskier]

Oh forgot to say.... also bought a Real Flight simulator and flew it for many months on my computer before I bought the Piper Cub..... I crashed so many times on that ol' puter and tried all of the different types of planes, and actually got the hang of it -- especially difficult was learning how to control a plane when it was coming toward me... haha... that was sure fun... eventually got the hang of it... kind of funny, it eventually just happened that my fingers figured it out and eventually just seemed to do the right thing to control both going away and coming back -- and eventually being able to get the planes out of trouble before crashing.... whooiieee.... My first model, my Sport Cub actually crashed on landing and hit a curb... ugh... but I rebuilt the cowling and went through 3 props hitting the curb - I was flying on an unused 3 lane hiway.... and I lost my Radian in the sun and learned the hard way not to fly it into the sun... haha... I figure my Tiger Moth is my forever plane... my wife says that's the final one anyway.... haha... thanks to all of you for your suggestions and those on utube with their TM's ....

[fhhuber]

There is no "final plane" until you give up the hobby or die.
You just get a bigger hanger.

Your wife almost certainly buys a lot of shoes. Tell her you'll quit buying planes when she quits buying shoes.
Men don't understand women needing 200 pair of shoes most of which have been worn once (some that they've never worn, just stored in the closet for 18 years) We don;t have to understand beyond "They want to"
Reciprocal is guys with tools and "toys". Women don't have to understand beyond "We want to"

If the plane is lost in the sun, neutral controls (unless it was diving at you when last seen) and let the plane fly out to where you can see it again.
There was a guy about 10 or so years ago who tried to randomly operate controls to get the plane to appear and all he managed to do was dive it into his chest.... He died.

[doctormike]

As for the hinges, especially Dynam planes, don't even think about flying it 'till you've used E-6000 (or something similar) on the hinges. Just a dab will do ya. jjskier...Instructions, sounds like a job for the Gman. fhhuber...I have 60, some odd planes and just ordered a Westland Lylander from T.H. Doc

[wvrailfan]

I like my Tiger Moth. It is a good "just want to relax and fly" plane. I wrapped mine to represent the Portuguese Air Force Tiger Meet scheme.

What everyone else has said about the cowl is correct. Mine shattered on a less than perfect landing. I got a new one and lined it with 5 minute epoxy before painting and installing it.

I used elastic string from the craft section of my LHS for the rigging. I used photos from the web for reference, but didn't worry about being super accurate, close was good enough for me. It is holding up well after two years.

[fhhuber]

A good cover job would stiffen the plane up considerably and avoid some of the issues that come from the wings flexing and tail-planes warping so easily with heat.

[jjskier]

Tiger Moth -- FINALLY FINISHED putting it together....Whooiieee! Was concerned about the wing wires, but they worked out just fine -- a bit of a struggle, but the effort was worth it. Worst thing were the printed directions,,, sometimes I wondered if I was building a childs playground set up... haha... I'm sure the directions were just fine for an experienced modeler, but for me - as a novice at 74 yrs young - they were dismal and took me a lot longer to figure things out - and thanks to many TM utube posts and the guys here, I lucked out and sure ended up with my project looking like a beautiful Tiger Moth for sure.... I used many utube suggestions when building my TM.

Started with a Real Flight simulator... after many months of crashing and crashing, finally got the hang of it.... bought my first actual model - a Sport Cub (I liked the larger tires) and learned my simulator experiences were worth it as flying the Cub was a real delight right from the start - got some comments from more experienced flyers that my flying was sure smooth - only problem was landing on a paved road with concrete curbs that I ran into - broke a few props and the cowling - easily fixed. Then I bought a Radian motorglider and really liked that a lot - slow flight and gliding and finding thermals with long extended flight times... and now just completed my Tiger Moth - and I'm excited to fly it.... still fly the Cub and the Radian and I know I'm going to love my new Tiger Moth....