fgpierce

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Hey Guys

Well, work is progressing. This ARF is not really for a inexperienced builder. Then again , in my opinion, no twin of this config should be attempted by low time pilots or builders without considerable help from someone who is!
That being said, I had the chance to attend the "Planes of Fame 2007 air show" in Chino, California last Saturday. The F7F Tigercat "Bossman" was there! I walked around it in reverence! What a beautiful, pristine aircraft. I waited patiently for it to fly with all the other Grumman iron. As it accelerated down the runway about halfway down she didn't rotate and I knew the takeoff was aborted. I was bummed!!![&o]. My brother was there today, Sunday, and said it did indeed fly and it was fantastic! The show was fantastic as they had 3 P-38's,one being "Glacier Girl"[X(]! I saw all three fly in formation. WoW! There was also a B-17 and 4 B-25's airborne as well as a gaggle of others. You can read all about it here : http://www.planesoffame.org/airshows/2007/schedule.php . Absolutely worth the read.
Back to my F7F. I'm having one devil of a time trying to figure out that nosewheel door. And besides it's so much larger,longer than the full scale I'm afraid it will not clear the tarmac.
The SPE 26cc fit well but I had to use the stock mufflers from the Zenoah 20EI. I had to cut back one corner of the muffler to clear the cowl. I'm also using the spark/glow plug adapter from the glow fuel G26. I just have to drill and tap to 10mm plug. By doing this the plug won't protrude too much using an NGK 6CM plug. I guess I'm one of those anal builders you hear so much about
I'll continue later on

Paul Morrison

Mr. Pierce,

Glad to hear you're having fun putting together the Tigercat. I appreciate you mentioning it isn't for inexperienced builders. One of the things we have done in recent advertising, as well as our new catalog, is have little icons to show the level of skill required to fly and build the ARF's. This one is definitely for the advanced crowd, and if an inexperienced person calls us, I will not sell them one unless they are a member of a club and have someone to help them build and fly it. I don't want a customer going to all the effort of building a plane only to crash it 10 seconds into their first flight. I'll recommend something more their speed.

Also, if you or any other Tigercat owners need help, feel free to call me, that's why I'm here. 1-888-968-7251 (9-5 Eastern, monday-friday).

fgpierce

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Hey Guys

Has anyone tackled the nosegear door yet? After much head scratching I finaly realized there was no way of mounting that door as it is . I studied online photos and then looked at the Chino photos I took at the airshow Low and behold the door is SPLIT over the wheel (retracted)and attaches to the nose strut. The problem is finding hinges that allow the strut to clear! I've tried sonics hinge , nylon Klett pin hinges and even considered CA hinges.
So if anyone has an idea.........[:-]

fgpierce

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WoW, I just noticed that the rear split door is not on the same opening line. It in fact is much higher and that would relieve the hinging problem.Now I'll have to epoxy the shell halves to the fuse and re-cut them to the proper opening.
I'll have some pics as I do it

fgpierce

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Hi Paul

Is it possible to find out what paint is used on the Tigercat. If you can give me a color code and paint manufacturer I'll be able to cross check and come up with a formula. I was an Autobody collision man and painter for 35 yrs.
My wing tip and fuse have minor shipping damage and now the front gear doors will need repainting .

Thanks for your help!

fgpierce

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Ok guys

Here's what i did. sonic hinges will work.You need to cut the door. split it in half . Then cut down the fuse approx 1/4" AND GLUE the piece cut from the fuse to the split doors. The new larger door will now be hinged. This will allow a more scale opening and Room for hinges and steer knuckle

There is a carbon fiber and 1/64 ply strip reinforcing the altered opening. The hinges glue to this reinforcement. The spliced doors are reinforced with carbon fiber mat and epoxy.

The shortened nose door operates with the front strut and the aft doors will operate from tire

I'll try to answer any questions as they arise

BigRetracts-RCU

I hate to break this to you, but the scissors point to the rear of the plane.

fgpierce

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BigRetracts-RCU

Why do you hate to break this to me? You are correct and I thank you for pointing it out! That was to way the strut was assembled but, upon a closer look I can reverse the scissors. I would seem that the trunnion is facing the correct way. Right?

I've been wrapped up in trying to make it work and now it seems I'm going to have some thinking to do on the main doors.

Hey, that's what this hobby's about...... thinking!

fgpierce

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After getting the nose wheel done I turned to the mains.

Now I find the Sonic hinges just aren't strong enough, in my opinion, for the doors to be stable. I found Robart #305 aluminum hinges fit the bill. It took a few trys to find the configuration because the hinge line of the door would bind against the nacelle trapping the door closed. Cutting into the nacelle allowed the hinge to work properly. The doors now open and close smoothly .... no binding.
Now I find the main wheel will not fit down into the nacelle enough to allow the doors to fully close. The reason? The retract mount is too high !! I tried to cut down through the three layers one at a time. It was when I cut all the way though making a 1/4" light ply plate , it was able to fit! the plate is attached with 30min epoxy . The screws will be replaced with wood dowels epoxied in place for shear and tear strength.
The main doors will now close without any force applied but the fit is tight between the wheel and doors.
I will upload any pics I take of the actuaing mechanisms I come up with when I tackle them.

I hope this helps anyone who runs into the situations I had issues with but, all in all, I still feel this is one of higher quality Arfs I've had the pleasure to work on.

fgpierce

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OOPS![&:]

I forgot to upload the pic of the closed doors! Here it is.

scale dail

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Thank you for posting pics and explaning whats going on. looks like this is going to be one of the best. Big Bossman at Chino was great! maybe someday I will get one too. please keep showing your scale modifications.

fgpierce

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Thanks for posting the pic of Bossman! I was at the show on Saturday and he had to abort for some reason. My brother saw him, as you did, fly the next day. He said it was absolutley awesome[sm=lol.gif]

dasintex

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fgpierce;

What do you mean in a previous post when you said 'The screws will be replaced with wood dowels epoxied in place for shear and tear strength'; the photos don't show these dowels? not sure I understand how you use the dowels? I did an extensive Retract Upgrade on a H9 60 Size P-47, with working inner gear doors, etc; see the thread 'H9 P-47 Build & Flying Thread' in the ARF/RTF Forum; had to do some extensive rework; but now it looks great and works great; some of my work would work well with your Plane; I plan on getting this Tigercat and will more than likely rework the gear like you are doing and similar to my Jug.

VKerster

Hi gang, for lots more build related issues on the Tigercat, see the other build thread on the multi engine forum. For all you T-cat builders, before you break out the glue, this is a must see, lots of engineering and assy screw-ups from the factory. Some of the threads aren't pretty..........

WhoDaMan

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I just need to get in and listen up on ideas

fgpierce

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DASINTEX

The screws are the 4 silver socket srews that will be replaced by dowels....not the 4 screws mounting the actual retract flanges.

skywalkermh

this is how I did for the nose gear door. It operates by a GWS gear servo and turn out nicely.

fw190a5

hi,

my name is Andreas and im living in Germany.

i`d like to order this amazing plane and have some questions:

can anybody give me the diameter of the cowls please?
is it possible to put an mvvs26 into them or is the zenoah 20 the largest engine wich will fit correct?

thnaks for your answers.


regards andreas

GeeBee-RCU

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125mm dia. at the rear,it tapers to about 140mm dia. opening. it is175mm long.
engine spacing is 135mm from firewall to prop hub.
hope this helps
steve

fw190a5

yes thank you for the datas.
what do you think..

is the zenoah 20 to small for this plane? i try to mount the mvvs 26. more hp is not the worst i believe.
i hope he will fit.

regards andreas

mobyal

Good thread.

chasrb

I went thru the same decsioning on the engine choice. The Zenoah 20 will fly the plane, the 26 better. I opted out for the Saito 170 Radials. I will have to do some mods due to the cowl dia, but I think I have that all figured out.

The really cool thing about the g20 26 is that you can put a FEMA starter on the back of it and have an on-board starter!

fgpierce

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chasrb

Yeah! I've put a pair of SPE 26cc gassers on mine and I'm having a hard time not ordering a pair of Fema starters but..... $400 [:-] !! Then again just cranking them up would be a trip I've found that a 950mah 11.4V lipo offers a lot of crank time for little weight and that's cranking a G-45! The 26cc would be child's play

I can't stand this [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]indecision!!!

chasrb

FGpierce go for the FEMA... you know you want to... I wouold have but, the lure of twin Saito 170 radials running in sync won me over.

I had an Ultimate Pitts with a Saito 180 and the FEMA starter on it, it really was cool.

I mentioned in an early post..

fw190a5

hi,

c anyone please tell me the lenght of the nose and of course the main struts.
yesterday i received my tigercat and i want to use anyother type of retracts.

so it would be very kind if someone can messure the retracts.


regards andreas