FliteLine F7F Tigercat Nose Gear Upgrade Alternative

[OV10]

Since I run off a grass strip it was a must have for me to do the optional (Oleo) Shock Absorbing Upgrade Landing Gear Set. The mains are rock solid from all reports that I have been able to confirm but not so much with the nose gear.
The major problem with the nose gear upgrade was it not being able to go all the way into the bay before having the nose gear doors close on the nose wheel. This was brought to our attention by Brandon Moon on post #446 over on the Official Announcement thread of the Tigercat.

https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc-airplanes/propeller-airplanes/51987-official-announcement-flightlinerc-1600mm-f7f-3-tigercat?p=55632#post55632

So the mad modder in me gets into research mode and what do you know, I find a strut that is almost the same profile configuration of the original non sprung strut and without the stirrup style wheel mount that is on the upgrade which isn't scale looking and it is also the exact length. What's even more crazy is it's a Freewing part. It is the right main gear strut from the 90mm T-45 Goshawk.

https://www.motionrc.com/products/freewing-90mm-t-45-main-landing-gear-strut-and-wheel-right

I also had to use this main gear axle from the 90mm Eurofighter to fit the wide stock nose wheel. (Note: used a alum roof nail for demo till I get the axle)
https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...main-gear-axle.
The only alterations was to drill the end pin hole in the strut to the same diameter as the retract pin and make it 3/16" deeper and to shorten the nose door spring 3/16".
The strut door spring hooked into the top front compression arm and the T-45 door was removed from strut.
Pictures say a 1000 words. I have no way of posting a video of the actual closure process but the pics show a sequenced event for you.
Now if Motion can get this strut incorporated as a replacement to the existing problem nose strut in the Upgrade Landing Gear Set they'll have a winner.



Hope you pilots of this great bird find this helpful !!!
Best regards,

[rifleman_btx]

Very nice! I will definitely have to do that when I get mine! :)

[Pheonix]

This is really a good idea. I am still working on my cat. I tried Minwax for the finish and am having all kinds of issues getting the wings to accept the finish. There are areas in the foam that will take the wax and other areas that will not. This is an issue that I have never encountered before. Of course, I will not give up until I get it right. Not sure why I wrote this in this space. Getting old I guess.

[StormyDog1962]

Freewing is aware of the issue and we do have parts coming soon to remedy this. Just let anyone know if they have this issue to please contact us and we will get them taken care of.

[Brandon Moon]

Good work Charlie ;)

[dkalwishky]

Nicely done Charlie.

[Brandon Moon]

Had mine out last weekend with the mod I did to mine and it worked flawlessly. Made the landings much smoother and softer, both on hard tarmac and on the bumpy grass field.

[OV10]

Brandon & DK..........many thanx, just the mad modder in me!! :rolleyes:

[Brandon Moon]

What really needs to happen, is that MotionRC (FlightLineRC) needs to have a new nose strut piston made that is 3.5 to 4mm shorter at the connection end to the trailing link and send those out to customers that have already bought them and replace the pistons in their existing unsold stock of them....Problem cured ;) and simple fix. Then they will qualify as "Drop in" upgrade replacements.

[70sflyer]

What really needs to happen, is that MotionRC (FlightLineRC) needs to have a new nose strut piston made that is 3.5 to 4mm shorter at the connection end to the trailing link and send those out to customers that have already bought them and replace the pistons in their existing unsold stock of them....Problem cured ;) and simple fix. Then they will qualify as "Drop in" upgrade replacements.

Brandon,that's what I did with mine and it works Great.Your right, MotionRC (Flightline) needs to get on top of this.Dean

[OV10]

Or my alternative is a damn near drop in replacement (just drill strut/retract pin opening to fit) and looks more scale and Freewing must have them in inventory;)

[Grossman56]

This is really a good idea. I am still working on my cat. I tried Minwax for the finish and am having all kinds of issues getting the wings to accept the finish. There are areas in the foam that will take the wax and other areas that will not. This is an issue that I have never encountered before. Of course, I will not give up until I get it right. Not sure why I wrote this in this space. Getting old I guess.

Hey Phoenix, I'm thinking that your are running into some spots on your plane that may have some mold release or something else oil based on your plane, possibly from the plastic bags the parts come in. Try putting Minwax on the spots, then wiping it up with a micro fiber rag at let it dry, it takes a matter of minutes in room temp. What happens is the water based Minwax 'balls' up the oil based mold release or whatever it is , the you just wipe the stuff off within the Minwax. Hopefully that will help. Then go get yourself some out door Spar Urethane, water based with a UV protectant. A dark bird like this one is going to need all the protection it can get!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Great mod Charlie, pushing the button on this one very soon, I'll order these parts as well.
By the way, can you get me the name and model of the receiver you're using, I want to make sure I actually order the correct one this time, thanks

Grossman56

[Pheonix]

Thanks for the tip Grossman56. I will try this today.

[Grossman56]

Hopefully it will work. Usually the prepainted airplanes are good to go, it's the white ones I discovered this little trick on. Hopefully it'll work for you.

Good news, the 'La Patrona' decals arrived today.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

The plane is mine once they hit the USA!!
Late April, so I'll slam into high gear to get her up and in the air and ready for Nefi!
As a matter of interest, who's coming with their Tigercats??
I want to get a pic of all the Tigers lined up on the flight Line, it'd be great to have at least 6 there. Mine, Charlie's, Ryan's, anyone else??

Grossman56

[OV10]

Great mod Charlie, pushing the button on this one very soon, I'll order these parts as well.
By the way, can you get me the name and model of the receiver you're using, I want to make sure I actually order the correct one this time, thanks

Grossman56

Sorry I took so long to answer, was gonna reply back that evening you posted and some how my chemo-brain got side tracked. :Silly:
That's my story and I'm good with that so here's a link: :Whew:

http://www.buddyrc.com/lemon-rx-dsmx-compatible-7-channel-with-stabilizer-dsm2-backward-compatible.html

[Grossman56]

Thanks Charlie I've bookmarked that one for future reference. Did some research and found a 10 channel DSMX Lemon receiver for $30!! How can you possibly go wrong with Lemons!!
I thought for once it'd be grat to have more channels than I need, in case I want to do some future mods, and with the Spitty coming out that you can add a 1/10th scale pilot as Alpha was showing, you cna even have a swiveling head on him (The pilot, not Alpha....well maybe!)
But the 7 channel is usually the route I go, so this will help out a lot, thanks bud!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

I'm also waiting for the retract to come back in stock for the nose gear mod, great tip there as well, thanks Charlie.

Grossman56

[OV10]

Thanks Charlie I've bookmarked that one for future reference. Did some research and found a 10 channel DSMX Lemon receiver for $30!! How can you possibly go wrong with Lemons!!
I thought for once it'd be grat to have more channels than I need, in case I want to do some future mods, and with the Spitty coming out that you can add a 1/10th scale pilot as Alpha was showing, you cna even have a swiveling head on him (The pilot, not Alpha....well maybe!)
But the 7 channel is usually the route I go, so this will help out a lot, thanks bud!

Grossman56

Yeah, I get the 10 chan with Sat antenna at the same place for $26 :Don't-tell-Anyone: :Silly:

http://www.buddyrc.com/lemon-rx-dsmx-compatible-10-channel-lemon-rx-dsmx-compatible-satellite-dsm2-backward-compatible.html