GWS Tiger Moth 3D

[nrichardz]

Hey guys I just got finished upgrading my tiger moth 3d I put a himaxx outrunner 3 cell lipo and phoenix 10 charged it up and I think now it is going to be great mine flew good with the stock setup but I cant wait to fly it now with the new stuff if any of you guys have any advice for setups please let me know

thanks

nrichardz

[Fred420]

This plane is a hoot to fly. I have maxed the throws wide open!! The alerions are almost 45 degrees to the wing on full, high rates.

Make sure to use good epoxy and not the GWS glue. Do not be shy on the wings ......... they will flex and seperate :eek: But no problem...just chop the throttle and SLOWLY fly her home.

I also used a ply former instead of the foam one to hold the wheels in. I am going to add another CF rod to the top wing and add some type of very thin CF rods to add wing support.


Fred

[Gbee]

Nrichardz,

Which Himax did you use and what prop?

I don't have a 3D Moth, but I'm interested in hot/light set-up for indoor 3D Moth flying.

Thanks,
Gbee

[nrichardz]

sorry it has taken me a couple of days to get back to you with the info you want working a lot of hours at this point but it is now the weekend I am going flyiny tomorrow so it is a good weekend. anyway my setup on the tiger moth 3D is as follows Himaxx HC 2808-0980 outrunner with a 10 7 prop and a kokam 1500 mah 3 cell lipoly and a phoenix 10 speed control also nhave more planes and will list setups for people who might need help. GWS P51 mustang with himaxx 2015-4166 with 6:6 to 1 ratio with 10 7 prop 3 cell 1320 mah lipoly and phoenix 10 GWS slow stick with park 370 brushless 2 cell 900 mah lipoly stock gearbox and prop and phoenix 10 speed control and just finished today a Great Planes Turmoil with park 370 outrunner 3 cell 1320 mah lipoly stock prop and a Jeti 12 amp speed control wanted another phoenix 10 speed control but hobby shop was out of them so went with something new after flying tomorrow I will let you know how it does

happy flying and hope this helps let me know

nrichardz

[Fred420]

I am using a E-Flite Park 370 with a gearbox, 20 amp ESC, and a TP 3S/1320 and a GWS 12-8 prop.

Great setup.

Fred

[canuckcorsa]

Hi,

My first post...

I just got a Tiger Moth 3D. I have a well worn ,much upgraded two year old original Moth. For power I have just ordered an AXI 2212/26 with a 3s 1500MAH lipo pack. Prop will be 11 X 4.7 - same as originnal. Motocalc says it should give 20 oz or so thurst . Think that will be enough? :-)

Also my first try at 3D!

Bob

[nrichardz]

That setup will be plenty I had no problems with mine in the power department and now have since sold it to a buddy because I purchased a mini funtana but before I sold my moth I did a lot of playing with it and even ran up to a 12x6 prop on it and I could fly it for 25 to 30 minutes and the battery barley got warm so do not be scared about experimenting with it a little bit but a little advice beef up the wing a littlle I used 1 16ths ply for the formers between the wings instead of the foam ones in the kit and it helped keep the wing from flexing and I put a cf rod in the top wing like in the bottom it did not add enough weight to even notice a difference only that it flew better. indoors and out. hope these little tips help and let me know how it does

[nrichardz]

1767

1768

1769

[canuckcorsa]

Thanks for the tip about the ply. I'm on the road right now but hope to start construction next week

[canuckcorsa]

What did you guys do for batteries and where did you put them? I've bench tsted the power setup with both a 3s1P 1050 MAh Lipo pack and a slightly larger 3s1p 1550 MAh Lipo pack. The smaller one wil fit in the nose but I'm concerned about the CG as the manual shows the stock NIMH pack in the front cockpit area which looks tacky at best.

[Big Air]

Jus installed a HiMax 2025/4200 w 3c 2000 Mah and a 9X7 prop. I put the battery pack in the cockpit area. The problem I have is the plane rolls up n' over to the right on take-off so I deceided to remove the landing gear and hand launch and belly land. Dummied down the throws to 50% until I get a handle on flying 3D. Not having as much fun yet with this plane as with my TM400.

[canuckcorsa]

Are you guys out there running expo on your controls or just reduced throws. In either case, I'd appreciate some insights as I'm hoping to finish the plane this weekend so I expect to be setting up the throws by the end of the day.

[canuckcorsa]

yee ha!
Tonight I went flying for the first time in months. I started with a quick flight with my original, now fairly ratty GWS Moth to get the old brain working. About a 3 minute flight.

Then as the sun set I had my first flight with my 3D Moth. What a great machine! Take off at 2/3 throttle in less than 10 feet . Cruise at about 1/3 throttle, scream along at 2/3 throttle and a rocket ship at full throttle.

Best of all it flies abaout as slow as the original Moth getting me back and stable after a wrong thumb move and second best, iat the other end, it has enough power to allow me to power out of difficulties when needed.

6 minutes of flight, about 360 MAH out of a 1050 MAH battery used. A mix of "sprited" and sedate flying but no 3D stuff. I'm just not there yet.

Too much fun!

[nrichardz]

canuckcorsa you nare doing great when I had my moth 3D I did pretty close to the same thing all I did was fly it around like a pattern plane till I got used to it and the all of the sudden the plane kind of started to talk to me and it was the first one I started doing 3D manovers with now I have since then sold the plane to a buddy who can do 3D with it great I have moved to a eflite tribute and mini funtana but if you are clicking with the moth stick with it as I said above I started with the moth and have moved you outht to see the mini funtana I have only been flying electrics for 2 years now and have sold all my gass stuff but I can hover my funtana about 2 feet off the ground in my back yard one of the things you might try if the radio you are using is expo on my funtana and all of my other planes I fly about 25% expo so I do not have to use dual rates and it makes the plane more stable when you just want to fly I am glad you like the moth 3D I kind of regret selling mine and might just build another one please keep me updated on your progress feel free to email me direct at (nrichardz@msn .com ) if you need more help

[canuckcorsa]

Hi and thanks for the reply,

The first flight and probably the next few wil be on low rate (about 50% throws). Then I'll move on to using the expo I set up on high rates - 20%. Do you think that's about right? Any recommendations in this regard?

Looking ahead quite a few flights what do you think would be a good beginner 3D "thing" to do?

I have been into electrics about 4 years now and about 2 years ago I sold my last gas planes. I'd NEVER go back. I now fly solely electric planes and helis. Over the last two years I have slowly moved everything I have to non-geared outrunner brushless and Lipo power and couldn't be happier with the performance.

Bob

[nrichardz]

Bob the expo sounds fine the one thing I have realized about it it is different for different people so after you try it you may want to add more or ledd for your flying style 25% seems to be perfect for my flying style as far as a first 3d move I started with getting the plane to hover I personally think that once you learn to hover the plane a lot of other things will fall into place it may sound weird but take this advice for what it is worh but when I was first learning to hover I would practice way up in the air and one day I was flying with a buddy who has been flying for years and he told me to try hovering the plane closer too the ground because it is easier to see and he was right even put the plane in a couple of times but with no damage because of being closer to the ground but do yourself a favor stick with foam until you are confident the balsa planes like my funtana are awesome but if you put one in there is a lot more repair work let me know how you are doing and if this helps

Rick

[canuckcorsa]

Well, I've now had a half a dozen or so flights and I'm still very happy with the plane . For me it was the right plane at the right time. Did my first roll, my first split S, my first climbing roll. They were all pretty sloppy but at least I had the confidence to do them - and under more or less full control.
Had an interesting "oops" when I switched to the 1500 MAH battery and didn't cinch it down well enough to do the aerobatics. The battery came unhitched from its rubber bands and was hanging and swinging wildly supported by the power leads 6 inches below the plane! Not good! After the initial "oh sh&^&%t" I calmed down and flew it down to a picture perfect landng. Then I went home!
I'm now using dual rates on the aileron and I'll stay with single on the rudder and elevator for a while.
Lots of fun!

[flew2high]

Had an interesting "oops" when I switched to the 1500 MAH battery and didn't cinch it down well enough to do the aerobatics. The battery came unhitched from its rubber bands and was hanging and swinging wildly supported by the power leads 6 inches below the plane! Not good! After the initial "oh sh&^&%t" I calmed down and flew it down to a picture perfect landng. Then I went home!
I'm now using dual rates on the aileron and I'll stay with single on the rudder and elevator for a while.
Lots of fun!

Speaking of batteries, what is the deal with mounting the battery in the front cockpit, right out in the open and hanging off each side? It looks ridiculous. My TM3d is still in the box and I was thinking of different battery placement options before starting the build. The recommended 9.6v nimh flat pack (of which I happen to have one) doesn't look like it'd fit anywhere else, but there are plenty of lipos that should fit inside central part of the fuse. A little hatch on the underside would provide access.

<Edit> LOL, missed canuckcorsa's battery placement comment above until now....great minds think alike I guess :) </Edit>