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Some guy dropped a busted pile 'o' nitro plane at my door

earthsciteach

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
So, this guy that we on this forum know who shall remain nameless, except for his flitetest ID of Pilot-294, donated a Tiger Trainer 40, TX and elcetronics to my RC club at school. Apparently, he had difficulty flying it as evidenced by the busted nose of the airplane. I've looked it over and I have some concerns...

1) P-294 is a ridiculously good flier for the time he has in RC - why the difficulty?
2) Nitro is more involved than simply plugging in a battery.
3) Um, I REALLY want to make this plane fly!

I checked the wings and they appear to be solid and straight. Aside from that, I can only guess that the issue may have been CG placement. Any advice, thoughts, telepathic thoughts of successful flight will be greatly appreciated!
 
FlyingMonkey

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
Electrify it!

CG should be simple enough, on a trainer like that, it's often just at the 1/3rd of the chord.

Where are the pictures?
 
earthsciteach

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
I thought about electifying it, but he also donated the motor, prop and a gallon of nitro! I really want to hear it growl!
 
Pilot-294

Pilot-294

Senior Member
It is terribly fun to hear it growl. I'm honestly not too sure where my issues lie with that plane... I wish it was as simple as this is off this is bad and this needs this, but I might have to blame simple inexperiance and lack of confidence... Not sure, but I pray she works better for you guys than I

ALSO: I really hope I remembered to tell you that the tail will need glued back together again! Didn't wanna see you get it up and not have told you that! The vertical and horizontal stabs come loose when crashed... So beef them up with epoxy and you SHOULD be good to go!

All the luck in the world with that plane I know you will fare better than I!
 
pgerts

pgerts

Old age member
Mentor
A 40-trainer is not at all the same as a foamie.
Just try on the sim and you will see that the 40-trianer actually could be quite diffficult to fly (land).
You need some speed when you land if you are not experienced to land with harrier. Speed on a 40-trainer is a good size field length. Check the stall character up in the air at some height ("2 mistakes high").
Starting a 2-stroke 40 is easy if 2 conditions are right : fuel and glow current.

I normally choke by holding a finger on the exhaust when flipping until the fuel spits up the carburetor (open just slightly).
Then i add the glow current and wait a few seconds until the plug is warm. If i then pull the prop, holding it in my hand i shall feel the fuel ignite. I recommend to use a short piece of rubber garden pipe 1/2" if you are afraid.

Not a typical 40-trainer flying?
 
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Ak Flyer

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
I cast my vote for keeping it nitro. Anyone can make electrics work but there's a satisfaction flying a nitro that you don't get from flying electric. It's really no harder to pilot than it would be with an electric motor on it but there's more setup, more tuning, field equipment and more to check before flying, but like I said when it all goes well it's really satisfying. I'm a lot more nervous when I pull out the nitro's but they are sooooo much fun.

I don't know about the tiger trainer but I've flown a few trainers and they are usually pretty mild mannered. My brothers Sig Kadet trainer is as easy to fly as any of my foam planes. I can kill the engine do two laps around the field and grease the landing.

I would caution you to be careful of noise at your flying area and make sure you have enough flying room to make a nice easy approach. Get it tuned up nicely and flying well, then hook it up to a trainer box and let your students try it out with you there to keep it safe. I think it would help round out their R/C experience.
 
Pilot-294

Pilot-294

Senior Member
If you do end up electrifying it I could use the motor and nitro for my geebee profile I have going on at home here, but I was sorta hoping it would stay nitro for the kids. Plus it would be cool to see you learn a thing or two on it!
 
earthsciteach

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
I am planning on keeping it nitro. So, it looks to me that the only things I need to acquire are two servos - one for the ailerons and one for the throttle. I did notice the tail needs to be glued. The necessary repairs look really simple. Are you planning on flying after school tomorrow?
 
Pilot-294

Pilot-294

Senior Member
earthsciteach said:
I am planning on keeping it nitro. So, it looks to me that the only things I need to acquire are two servos - one for the ailerons and one for the throttle. I did notice the tail needs to be glued. The necessary repairs look really simple. Are you planning on flying after school tomorrow?
Click to expand...

Can't tomorrow, but next week is good all week. And you should have both the servos you need in that box. I'm pretty sure I remembered to include them. Check there before you buy new! If not I do have 1 sitting at the house (I think) so you can have that one.
 
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