I began my adventure a couple of years ago, scouring
through www.airliners.net looking for a photo of a pretty Tiger
Moth to model. It didn’t take me long to fi nd XL-716, a Royal
Navy Tiger Moth stationed at the Compton Abbas Airfi eld in
Dorset, England. It was a lovely silver airplane with bold yellow
stripes and big, beautiful roundels on its wings and fuselage. It
was love at fi rst sight.
So I searched until I found a set of 1/5-scale Tiger Moth plans
($30) on the Bob Holman Plans website. I called Bob to fi nd
out how true to scale the plans were. “Spot on,” Bob said.
“I’ll take ’em,” I said.
When the large rolled plans arrived, I began examining
them and learned that they had been rendered by a gentleman
named Dennis Bryant back in the 1970s and were designed for
a glow engine. No surprise here.
A note on the plans indicated that laser-cut wood parts,
vacuum-formed fairings, and a fi berglass nose were available
from Traplet Publications (for $110). I ordered a set—a smart
move on my part.
A Seven-Month Build
Another note on the plans said, “Notice: this model requires
very accurate workmanship. It should not be attempted by
inexperienced modelers.” Whoever wrote it wasn’t kidding—
this was a long and arduous build.
The tail, wing assemblies, and fuselage were assembled on
the plans using the pin method—gluing with CA or aliphatic
adhesive as appropriate. I won’t spend much time discussing
this procedure because it was relatively straightforward. I
would rather explain how I achieved some of the scale effects
on this model.
The cabane structures and the landing gear were some of the
most diffi cult parts to build. Both required precise bending of
7-gauge (0.177 in.) wire. Wire sizes were shown on the plans
in British units, which I had to convert to standard wire gauges.
Thank goodness for the Internet.
Before bending the wire, I cut it into sections of appropriate
length using a Dremel cut-off wheel. To achieve the precise
bend angles indicated on the plans, I held each wire segment in
a vice, heated it with a torch until red, then bent it with heavy
pliers.
In some cases, I got the incorrect angles and had to re-bend
them or start over with another piece of metal.
The landing gear and the cabane struts were faired with
balsa strips. These fairings were epoxied to the metal rods after
they were cleaned with sandpaper. They were then sheeted
with cardstock, which was hardened with thin CA.
To accurately replicate the cockpits, seats, instruments, and
other details, I referred to the Internet and various photos of
other Tiger Moths. I also picked up a set of documentation
photos from Airborne Media; it was a different Tiger Moth but
close enough.
When the fuselage was framed in, I began building and
painting the cockpit components. When they were fi nished I
fastened them in place. I painted the cockpits Royal Air Force
interior green then weathered the fl oors, seats, and other parts
using Doc O’Brien’s Weathering Powders from Micro-Mark.
The hardwood compass and aluminum spinner were turned
on a lathe by my friend, Rick Linstad. The gauges were copied
from the plans. Seat belts were fabricated from painted craft
store laces. Other gadgets, such as levers, were made from thin
plywood and covered with Mylar tape to give them a metallic
look.
The power system was challenging. The plans showed
an inverted glow engine installation with a fuel tank
compartment, but I wanted to power the airplane with an
electric motor and battery. Fortunately, my Hacker A5-10S
motor fi t neatly inside the upper portion of the cowling,
leaving adequate space below for a LiPo battery and a four-cell
receiver battery pack. The ESC fi t snugly along the starboard
side of the motor compartment.
With a 15 x 6 Xoar propeller and 5S LiPo pack, this system
generates approximately 800 watts of power.
I also strived to accurately duplicate the scale controls. The
rudder is actuated by a pair of double cables that are attached
to a bellcrank, which protrudes roughly 5 mm out of each
side of the fuselage, beneath the front cockpit. The bellcrank
is activated via a pushrod that extends forward to the rudder
servo below the cabanes.
The elevator cables are also external, exiting the fuselage
beneath the anti-spin strakes (those broad fi ns along the top of
the aft fuselage). They originate behind the aft cockpit where
I mounted a box containing a mechanism with twin, vertical
bellcranks. These are activated by a servo mounted beside the
rudder servo. The elevator and rudder cables attach to scale
control horns on the moveable tail surfaces.
Ailerons on the Tiger Moth are controlled by a veritable
Rube Goldberg of eight separate linkages beginning at the
servo and ending at the aileron control horn. The servo pushrod
engages a bellcrank attached to an axel that protrudes from the
belly of the airplane. It turns a bellcrank to which two pushrods
are attached—one going out through each wing.
Each pushrod is attached to a disk at the wing surface.
This rotates, forcing another pushrod to pull the control horn
fore and aft. Slight slop at each link, when added together,
resulted in a large amount of total slop in aileron movement.
I had to rebuild these control linkages twice to get them to
work tightly.
All the control wires and wing wires are Beadalon braided
beading from Shipwreck Beads. Turnbuckles were supplied
by Proctor Enterprises. The wires were fastened with crimped
Mason Tackle Company’s size 1B
Connector Sleeves.
Building the cowling was another
challenge. The full-scale cowling is
aluminum and hinged on each side of
the fuselage with piano hinges. It pulls
down to cover the engine compartment.
On the port side, the cowling fl ares
out to partially cover the external oil
reservoir. Then it bolts to each side of
the bottom of the fuselage, both fore
and aft.
I constructed it from three pieces of
1/64-inch aircraft plywood, which I cut
to shape with heavy scissors. I doped
the outer sides and covered them with
silkspan, then added several more coats of
clear nitrate dope, sanding between coats.
I added standard Du-Bro nylon
control surface hinges. Between these
I installed 1/16-inch diameter brass
tubing that I scribed with a razor blade
to resemble piano hinges. These were
epoxied to the inside of the covers. The
entire assembly was then fastened to the
upper fuselage with wood screws.
The Tiger Moth was covered with
Solartex from Balsa USA. I’ve used
this covering on other airplanes and it’s
outstanding material, both for the ease
of application and for its beautiful fi nish.
I simulated the wing and tail rib
stitching by pushing Titebond aliphatic
glue through a 3mm hypodermic needle to form tiny strings
approximately 3mm long by 1mm thick. There were more
than 1,660 stitches, which took several days to apply.
The airplane was then spray painted with three coats of
primer, followed by two or three coats of Krylon bright silver
spray paint. Because of the rib stitches, I was unable to use
decals so I painted the roundels, wing stripes, lettering, and
other markings.
Someone once said that you never fi nish building a Scale
model—sooner or later you just quit working on it. So that’s
where I am now. I’ve quit working on it and it’s time to fl y.
Competing with the Tiger Moth
Things don’t always work out as planned. I wanted to enter
my Tiger Moth in our local Scale Masters Qualifi ers in June
2011. I rushed to get it done on time, completing it a few days
before the contest. Unfortunately, previous eye surgery had
not turned out as hoped, leaving me with blurred vision in my
left eye. So, there was no fl ying for me.
Not to be skunked, I took my Tiger Moth to Scale Masters
anyway and entered it in the Static contest. I scored 4.75
points—the second-highest score in the Expert Class that day.
I was pleased to get the good score, but regretted that I was
unable to fl y. There’s always next year.
Tips for Flying
Here are a few tips I can share about fl ying a 1/5-scale Tiger
Moth. First, feed in some right rudder on takeoff. If you don’t,
the airplane may sharply veer to the left.
Full-scale Tiger Moths have notoriously sloppy ailerons. So
does my model. I fi nd that turns are smoother when initiated
with the rudder. Whatever you do, don’t enter a steep banking
turn under low power. This is begging for a dangerous tip stall.
The Tiger Moth is surprisingly agile for a vintage biplane.
It is capable of fl ying loops, hammerheads, spins, lazy-eights,
wingovers, fl at turns, Immelmanns, side slips, and other
nifty maneuvers. However, it does not roll well or like to fl y
inverted. With a little coaxing, the Moth can be a smooth,
tight, and facile fl ying machine.
When landing, try to hold a touch of power through the
entire process—including rollout. I found that if I cut the
motor before the airplane fi nishes rolling out I create the
opportunity for an embarrassing nose-over. Search YouTube
for “XL-716, Royal Navy DeHavilland DH82A Tiger Moth” to
enjoy a video of the full-scale Tiger Moth XL-716 landing at
Compton Abbas Airfi eld.
Sad News
I didn’t want to end this article on a sad note, but I feel
compelled. In May 2011, shortly after I had completed my
Tiger Moth, I received an email from my British friend,
Howard Curtis, who had provided me with the photos of
XL-716 that he had taken for www.Airliners.net. Howard had
terrible news. Earlier that week, XL-716 crashed in Dorset and
was destroyed. This proud and lovely aircraft will fl y no more.
It lives on only in our memories.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/09
Page Numbers: 39,40,41,42,43
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/09
Page Numbers: 39,40,41,42,43
I began my adventure a couple of years ago, scouring
through www.airliners.net looking for a photo of a pretty Tiger
Moth to model. It didn’t take me long to fi nd XL-716, a Royal
Navy Tiger Moth stationed at the Compton Abbas Airfi eld in
Dorset, England. It was a lovely silver airplane with bold yellow
stripes and big, beautiful roundels on its wings and fuselage. It
was love at fi rst sight.
So I searched until I found a set of 1/5-scale Tiger Moth plans
($30) on the Bob Holman Plans website. I called Bob to fi nd
out how true to scale the plans were. “Spot on,” Bob said.
“I’ll take ’em,” I said.
When the large rolled plans arrived, I began examining
them and learned that they had been rendered by a gentleman
named Dennis Bryant back in the 1970s and were designed for
a glow engine. No surprise here.
A note on the plans indicated that laser-cut wood parts,
vacuum-formed fairings, and a fi berglass nose were available
from Traplet Publications (for $110). I ordered a set—a smart
move on my part.
A Seven-Month Build
Another note on the plans said, “Notice: this model requires
very accurate workmanship. It should not be attempted by
inexperienced modelers.” Whoever wrote it wasn’t kidding—
this was a long and arduous build.
The tail, wing assemblies, and fuselage were assembled on
the plans using the pin method—gluing with CA or aliphatic
adhesive as appropriate. I won’t spend much time discussing
this procedure because it was relatively straightforward. I
would rather explain how I achieved some of the scale effects
on this model.
The cabane structures and the landing gear were some of the
most diffi cult parts to build. Both required precise bending of
7-gauge (0.177 in.) wire. Wire sizes were shown on the plans
in British units, which I had to convert to standard wire gauges.
Thank goodness for the Internet.
Before bending the wire, I cut it into sections of appropriate
length using a Dremel cut-off wheel. To achieve the precise
bend angles indicated on the plans, I held each wire segment in
a vice, heated it with a torch until red, then bent it with heavy
pliers.
In some cases, I got the incorrect angles and had to re-bend
them or start over with another piece of metal.
The landing gear and the cabane struts were faired with
balsa strips. These fairings were epoxied to the metal rods after
they were cleaned with sandpaper. They were then sheeted
with cardstock, which was hardened with thin CA.
To accurately replicate the cockpits, seats, instruments, and
other details, I referred to the Internet and various photos of
other Tiger Moths. I also picked up a set of documentation
photos from Airborne Media; it was a different Tiger Moth but
close enough.
When the fuselage was framed in, I began building and
painting the cockpit components. When they were fi nished I
fastened them in place. I painted the cockpits Royal Air Force
interior green then weathered the fl oors, seats, and other parts
using Doc O’Brien’s Weathering Powders from Micro-Mark.
The hardwood compass and aluminum spinner were turned
on a lathe by my friend, Rick Linstad. The gauges were copied
from the plans. Seat belts were fabricated from painted craft
store laces. Other gadgets, such as levers, were made from thin
plywood and covered with Mylar tape to give them a metallic
look.
The power system was challenging. The plans showed
an inverted glow engine installation with a fuel tank
compartment, but I wanted to power the airplane with an
electric motor and battery. Fortunately, my Hacker A5-10S
motor fi t neatly inside the upper portion of the cowling,
leaving adequate space below for a LiPo battery and a four-cell
receiver battery pack. The ESC fi t snugly along the starboard
side of the motor compartment.
With a 15 x 6 Xoar propeller and 5S LiPo pack, this system
generates approximately 800 watts of power.
I also strived to accurately duplicate the scale controls. The
rudder is actuated by a pair of double cables that are attached
to a bellcrank, which protrudes roughly 5 mm out of each
side of the fuselage, beneath the front cockpit. The bellcrank
is activated via a pushrod that extends forward to the rudder
servo below the cabanes.
The elevator cables are also external, exiting the fuselage
beneath the anti-spin strakes (those broad fi ns along the top of
the aft fuselage). They originate behind the aft cockpit where
I mounted a box containing a mechanism with twin, vertical
bellcranks. These are activated by a servo mounted beside the
rudder servo. The elevator and rudder cables attach to scale
control horns on the moveable tail surfaces.
Ailerons on the Tiger Moth are controlled by a veritable
Rube Goldberg of eight separate linkages beginning at the
servo and ending at the aileron control horn. The servo pushrod
engages a bellcrank attached to an axel that protrudes from the
belly of the airplane. It turns a bellcrank to which two pushrods
are attached—one going out through each wing.
Each pushrod is attached to a disk at the wing surface.
This rotates, forcing another pushrod to pull the control horn
fore and aft. Slight slop at each link, when added together,
resulted in a large amount of total slop in aileron movement.
I had to rebuild these control linkages twice to get them to
work tightly.
All the control wires and wing wires are Beadalon braided
beading from Shipwreck Beads. Turnbuckles were supplied
by Proctor Enterprises. The wires were fastened with crimped
Mason Tackle Company’s size 1B
Connector Sleeves.
Building the cowling was another
challenge. The full-scale cowling is
aluminum and hinged on each side of
the fuselage with piano hinges. It pulls
down to cover the engine compartment.
On the port side, the cowling fl ares
out to partially cover the external oil
reservoir. Then it bolts to each side of
the bottom of the fuselage, both fore
and aft.
I constructed it from three pieces of
1/64-inch aircraft plywood, which I cut
to shape with heavy scissors. I doped
the outer sides and covered them with
silkspan, then added several more coats of
clear nitrate dope, sanding between coats.
I added standard Du-Bro nylon
control surface hinges. Between these
I installed 1/16-inch diameter brass
tubing that I scribed with a razor blade
to resemble piano hinges. These were
epoxied to the inside of the covers. The
entire assembly was then fastened to the
upper fuselage with wood screws.
The Tiger Moth was covered with
Solartex from Balsa USA. I’ve used
this covering on other airplanes and it’s
outstanding material, both for the ease
of application and for its beautiful fi nish.
I simulated the wing and tail rib
stitching by pushing Titebond aliphatic
glue through a 3mm hypodermic needle to form tiny strings
approximately 3mm long by 1mm thick. There were more
than 1,660 stitches, which took several days to apply.
The airplane was then spray painted with three coats of
primer, followed by two or three coats of Krylon bright silver
spray paint. Because of the rib stitches, I was unable to use
decals so I painted the roundels, wing stripes, lettering, and
other markings.
Someone once said that you never fi nish building a Scale
model—sooner or later you just quit working on it. So that’s
where I am now. I’ve quit working on it and it’s time to fl y.
Competing with the Tiger Moth
Things don’t always work out as planned. I wanted to enter
my Tiger Moth in our local Scale Masters Qualifi ers in June
2011. I rushed to get it done on time, completing it a few days
before the contest. Unfortunately, previous eye surgery had
not turned out as hoped, leaving me with blurred vision in my
left eye. So, there was no fl ying for me.
Not to be skunked, I took my Tiger Moth to Scale Masters
anyway and entered it in the Static contest. I scored 4.75
points—the second-highest score in the Expert Class that day.
I was pleased to get the good score, but regretted that I was
unable to fl y. There’s always next year.
Tips for Flying
Here are a few tips I can share about fl ying a 1/5-scale Tiger
Moth. First, feed in some right rudder on takeoff. If you don’t,
the airplane may sharply veer to the left.
Full-scale Tiger Moths have notoriously sloppy ailerons. So
does my model. I fi nd that turns are smoother when initiated
with the rudder. Whatever you do, don’t enter a steep banking
turn under low power. This is begging for a dangerous tip stall.
The Tiger Moth is surprisingly agile for a vintage biplane.
It is capable of fl ying loops, hammerheads, spins, lazy-eights,
wingovers, fl at turns, Immelmanns, side slips, and other
nifty maneuvers. However, it does not roll well or like to fl y
inverted. With a little coaxing, the Moth can be a smooth,
tight, and facile fl ying machine.
When landing, try to hold a touch of power through the
entire process—including rollout. I found that if I cut the
motor before the airplane fi nishes rolling out I create the
opportunity for an embarrassing nose-over. Search YouTube
for “XL-716, Royal Navy DeHavilland DH82A Tiger Moth” to
enjoy a video of the full-scale Tiger Moth XL-716 landing at
Compton Abbas Airfi eld.
Sad News
I didn’t want to end this article on a sad note, but I feel
compelled. In May 2011, shortly after I had completed my
Tiger Moth, I received an email from my British friend,
Howard Curtis, who had provided me with the photos of
XL-716 that he had taken for www.Airliners.net. Howard had
terrible news. Earlier that week, XL-716 crashed in Dorset and
was destroyed. This proud and lovely aircraft will fl y no more.
It lives on only in our memories.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/09
Page Numbers: 39,40,41,42,43
I began my adventure a couple of years ago, scouring
through www.airliners.net looking for a photo of a pretty Tiger
Moth to model. It didn’t take me long to fi nd XL-716, a Royal
Navy Tiger Moth stationed at the Compton Abbas Airfi eld in
Dorset, England. It was a lovely silver airplane with bold yellow
stripes and big, beautiful roundels on its wings and fuselage. It
was love at fi rst sight.
So I searched until I found a set of 1/5-scale Tiger Moth plans
($30) on the Bob Holman Plans website. I called Bob to fi nd
out how true to scale the plans were. “Spot on,” Bob said.
“I’ll take ’em,” I said.
When the large rolled plans arrived, I began examining
them and learned that they had been rendered by a gentleman
named Dennis Bryant back in the 1970s and were designed for
a glow engine. No surprise here.
A note on the plans indicated that laser-cut wood parts,
vacuum-formed fairings, and a fi berglass nose were available
from Traplet Publications (for $110). I ordered a set—a smart
move on my part.
A Seven-Month Build
Another note on the plans said, “Notice: this model requires
very accurate workmanship. It should not be attempted by
inexperienced modelers.” Whoever wrote it wasn’t kidding—
this was a long and arduous build.
The tail, wing assemblies, and fuselage were assembled on
the plans using the pin method—gluing with CA or aliphatic
adhesive as appropriate. I won’t spend much time discussing
this procedure because it was relatively straightforward. I
would rather explain how I achieved some of the scale effects
on this model.
The cabane structures and the landing gear were some of the
most diffi cult parts to build. Both required precise bending of
7-gauge (0.177 in.) wire. Wire sizes were shown on the plans
in British units, which I had to convert to standard wire gauges.
Thank goodness for the Internet.
Before bending the wire, I cut it into sections of appropriate
length using a Dremel cut-off wheel. To achieve the precise
bend angles indicated on the plans, I held each wire segment in
a vice, heated it with a torch until red, then bent it with heavy
pliers.
In some cases, I got the incorrect angles and had to re-bend
them or start over with another piece of metal.
The landing gear and the cabane struts were faired with
balsa strips. These fairings were epoxied to the metal rods after
they were cleaned with sandpaper. They were then sheeted
with cardstock, which was hardened with thin CA.
To accurately replicate the cockpits, seats, instruments, and
other details, I referred to the Internet and various photos of
other Tiger Moths. I also picked up a set of documentation
photos from Airborne Media; it was a different Tiger Moth but
close enough.
When the fuselage was framed in, I began building and
painting the cockpit components. When they were fi nished I
fastened them in place. I painted the cockpits Royal Air Force
interior green then weathered the fl oors, seats, and other parts
using Doc O’Brien’s Weathering Powders from Micro-Mark.
The hardwood compass and aluminum spinner were turned
on a lathe by my friend, Rick Linstad. The gauges were copied
from the plans. Seat belts were fabricated from painted craft
store laces. Other gadgets, such as levers, were made from thin
plywood and covered with Mylar tape to give them a metallic
look.
The power system was challenging. The plans showed
an inverted glow engine installation with a fuel tank
compartment, but I wanted to power the airplane with an
electric motor and battery. Fortunately, my Hacker A5-10S
motor fi t neatly inside the upper portion of the cowling,
leaving adequate space below for a LiPo battery and a four-cell
receiver battery pack. The ESC fi t snugly along the starboard
side of the motor compartment.
With a 15 x 6 Xoar propeller and 5S LiPo pack, this system
generates approximately 800 watts of power.
I also strived to accurately duplicate the scale controls. The
rudder is actuated by a pair of double cables that are attached
to a bellcrank, which protrudes roughly 5 mm out of each
side of the fuselage, beneath the front cockpit. The bellcrank
is activated via a pushrod that extends forward to the rudder
servo below the cabanes.
The elevator cables are also external, exiting the fuselage
beneath the anti-spin strakes (those broad fi ns along the top of
the aft fuselage). They originate behind the aft cockpit where
I mounted a box containing a mechanism with twin, vertical
bellcranks. These are activated by a servo mounted beside the
rudder servo. The elevator and rudder cables attach to scale
control horns on the moveable tail surfaces.
Ailerons on the Tiger Moth are controlled by a veritable
Rube Goldberg of eight separate linkages beginning at the
servo and ending at the aileron control horn. The servo pushrod
engages a bellcrank attached to an axel that protrudes from the
belly of the airplane. It turns a bellcrank to which two pushrods
are attached—one going out through each wing.
Each pushrod is attached to a disk at the wing surface.
This rotates, forcing another pushrod to pull the control horn
fore and aft. Slight slop at each link, when added together,
resulted in a large amount of total slop in aileron movement.
I had to rebuild these control linkages twice to get them to
work tightly.
All the control wires and wing wires are Beadalon braided
beading from Shipwreck Beads. Turnbuckles were supplied
by Proctor Enterprises. The wires were fastened with crimped
Mason Tackle Company’s size 1B
Connector Sleeves.
Building the cowling was another
challenge. The full-scale cowling is
aluminum and hinged on each side of
the fuselage with piano hinges. It pulls
down to cover the engine compartment.
On the port side, the cowling fl ares
out to partially cover the external oil
reservoir. Then it bolts to each side of
the bottom of the fuselage, both fore
and aft.
I constructed it from three pieces of
1/64-inch aircraft plywood, which I cut
to shape with heavy scissors. I doped
the outer sides and covered them with
silkspan, then added several more coats of
clear nitrate dope, sanding between coats.
I added standard Du-Bro nylon
control surface hinges. Between these
I installed 1/16-inch diameter brass
tubing that I scribed with a razor blade
to resemble piano hinges. These were
epoxied to the inside of the covers. The
entire assembly was then fastened to the
upper fuselage with wood screws.
The Tiger Moth was covered with
Solartex from Balsa USA. I’ve used
this covering on other airplanes and it’s
outstanding material, both for the ease
of application and for its beautiful fi nish.
I simulated the wing and tail rib
stitching by pushing Titebond aliphatic
glue through a 3mm hypodermic needle to form tiny strings
approximately 3mm long by 1mm thick. There were more
than 1,660 stitches, which took several days to apply.
The airplane was then spray painted with three coats of
primer, followed by two or three coats of Krylon bright silver
spray paint. Because of the rib stitches, I was unable to use
decals so I painted the roundels, wing stripes, lettering, and
other markings.
Someone once said that you never fi nish building a Scale
model—sooner or later you just quit working on it. So that’s
where I am now. I’ve quit working on it and it’s time to fl y.
Competing with the Tiger Moth
Things don’t always work out as planned. I wanted to enter
my Tiger Moth in our local Scale Masters Qualifi ers in June
2011. I rushed to get it done on time, completing it a few days
before the contest. Unfortunately, previous eye surgery had
not turned out as hoped, leaving me with blurred vision in my
left eye. So, there was no fl ying for me.
Not to be skunked, I took my Tiger Moth to Scale Masters
anyway and entered it in the Static contest. I scored 4.75
points—the second-highest score in the Expert Class that day.
I was pleased to get the good score, but regretted that I was
unable to fl y. There’s always next year.
Tips for Flying
Here are a few tips I can share about fl ying a 1/5-scale Tiger
Moth. First, feed in some right rudder on takeoff. If you don’t,
the airplane may sharply veer to the left.
Full-scale Tiger Moths have notoriously sloppy ailerons. So
does my model. I fi nd that turns are smoother when initiated
with the rudder. Whatever you do, don’t enter a steep banking
turn under low power. This is begging for a dangerous tip stall.
The Tiger Moth is surprisingly agile for a vintage biplane.
It is capable of fl ying loops, hammerheads, spins, lazy-eights,
wingovers, fl at turns, Immelmanns, side slips, and other
nifty maneuvers. However, it does not roll well or like to fl y
inverted. With a little coaxing, the Moth can be a smooth,
tight, and facile fl ying machine.
When landing, try to hold a touch of power through the
entire process—including rollout. I found that if I cut the
motor before the airplane fi nishes rolling out I create the
opportunity for an embarrassing nose-over. Search YouTube
for “XL-716, Royal Navy DeHavilland DH82A Tiger Moth” to
enjoy a video of the full-scale Tiger Moth XL-716 landing at
Compton Abbas Airfi eld.
Sad News
I didn’t want to end this article on a sad note, but I feel
compelled. In May 2011, shortly after I had completed my
Tiger Moth, I received an email from my British friend,
Howard Curtis, who had provided me with the photos of
XL-716 that he had taken for www.Airliners.net. Howard had
terrible news. Earlier that week, XL-716 crashed in Dorset and
was destroyed. This proud and lovely aircraft will fl y no more.
It lives on only in our memories.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/09
Page Numbers: 39,40,41,42,43
I began my adventure a couple of years ago, scouring
through www.airliners.net looking for a photo of a pretty Tiger
Moth to model. It didn’t take me long to fi nd XL-716, a Royal
Navy Tiger Moth stationed at the Compton Abbas Airfi eld in
Dorset, England. It was a lovely silver airplane with bold yellow
stripes and big, beautiful roundels on its wings and fuselage. It
was love at fi rst sight.
So I searched until I found a set of 1/5-scale Tiger Moth plans
($30) on the Bob Holman Plans website. I called Bob to fi nd
out how true to scale the plans were. “Spot on,” Bob said.
“I’ll take ’em,” I said.
When the large rolled plans arrived, I began examining
them and learned that they had been rendered by a gentleman
named Dennis Bryant back in the 1970s and were designed for
a glow engine. No surprise here.
A note on the plans indicated that laser-cut wood parts,
vacuum-formed fairings, and a fi berglass nose were available
from Traplet Publications (for $110). I ordered a set—a smart
move on my part.
A Seven-Month Build
Another note on the plans said, “Notice: this model requires
very accurate workmanship. It should not be attempted by
inexperienced modelers.” Whoever wrote it wasn’t kidding—
this was a long and arduous build.
The tail, wing assemblies, and fuselage were assembled on
the plans using the pin method—gluing with CA or aliphatic
adhesive as appropriate. I won’t spend much time discussing
this procedure because it was relatively straightforward. I
would rather explain how I achieved some of the scale effects
on this model.
The cabane structures and the landing gear were some of the
most diffi cult parts to build. Both required precise bending of
7-gauge (0.177 in.) wire. Wire sizes were shown on the plans
in British units, which I had to convert to standard wire gauges.
Thank goodness for the Internet.
Before bending the wire, I cut it into sections of appropriate
length using a Dremel cut-off wheel. To achieve the precise
bend angles indicated on the plans, I held each wire segment in
a vice, heated it with a torch until red, then bent it with heavy
pliers.
In some cases, I got the incorrect angles and had to re-bend
them or start over with another piece of metal.
The landing gear and the cabane struts were faired with
balsa strips. These fairings were epoxied to the metal rods after
they were cleaned with sandpaper. They were then sheeted
with cardstock, which was hardened with thin CA.
To accurately replicate the cockpits, seats, instruments, and
other details, I referred to the Internet and various photos of
other Tiger Moths. I also picked up a set of documentation
photos from Airborne Media; it was a different Tiger Moth but
close enough.
When the fuselage was framed in, I began building and
painting the cockpit components. When they were fi nished I
fastened them in place. I painted the cockpits Royal Air Force
interior green then weathered the fl oors, seats, and other parts
using Doc O’Brien’s Weathering Powders from Micro-Mark.
The hardwood compass and aluminum spinner were turned
on a lathe by my friend, Rick Linstad. The gauges were copied
from the plans. Seat belts were fabricated from painted craft
store laces. Other gadgets, such as levers, were made from thin
plywood and covered with Mylar tape to give them a metallic
look.
The power system was challenging. The plans showed
an inverted glow engine installation with a fuel tank
compartment, but I wanted to power the airplane with an
electric motor and battery. Fortunately, my Hacker A5-10S
motor fi t neatly inside the upper portion of the cowling,
leaving adequate space below for a LiPo battery and a four-cell
receiver battery pack. The ESC fi t snugly along the starboard
side of the motor compartment.
With a 15 x 6 Xoar propeller and 5S LiPo pack, this system
generates approximately 800 watts of power.
I also strived to accurately duplicate the scale controls. The
rudder is actuated by a pair of double cables that are attached
to a bellcrank, which protrudes roughly 5 mm out of each
side of the fuselage, beneath the front cockpit. The bellcrank
is activated via a pushrod that extends forward to the rudder
servo below the cabanes.
The elevator cables are also external, exiting the fuselage
beneath the anti-spin strakes (those broad fi ns along the top of
the aft fuselage). They originate behind the aft cockpit where
I mounted a box containing a mechanism with twin, vertical
bellcranks. These are activated by a servo mounted beside the
rudder servo. The elevator and rudder cables attach to scale
control horns on the moveable tail surfaces.
Ailerons on the Tiger Moth are controlled by a veritable
Rube Goldberg of eight separate linkages beginning at the
servo and ending at the aileron control horn. The servo pushrod
engages a bellcrank attached to an axel that protrudes from the
belly of the airplane. It turns a bellcrank to which two pushrods
are attached—one going out through each wing.
Each pushrod is attached to a disk at the wing surface.
This rotates, forcing another pushrod to pull the control horn
fore and aft. Slight slop at each link, when added together,
resulted in a large amount of total slop in aileron movement.
I had to rebuild these control linkages twice to get them to
work tightly.
All the control wires and wing wires are Beadalon braided
beading from Shipwreck Beads. Turnbuckles were supplied
by Proctor Enterprises. The wires were fastened with crimped
Mason Tackle Company’s size 1B
Connector Sleeves.
Building the cowling was another
challenge. The full-scale cowling is
aluminum and hinged on each side of
the fuselage with piano hinges. It pulls
down to cover the engine compartment.
On the port side, the cowling fl ares
out to partially cover the external oil
reservoir. Then it bolts to each side of
the bottom of the fuselage, both fore
and aft.
I constructed it from three pieces of
1/64-inch aircraft plywood, which I cut
to shape with heavy scissors. I doped
the outer sides and covered them with
silkspan, then added several more coats of
clear nitrate dope, sanding between coats.
I added standard Du-Bro nylon
control surface hinges. Between these
I installed 1/16-inch diameter brass
tubing that I scribed with a razor blade
to resemble piano hinges. These were
epoxied to the inside of the covers. The
entire assembly was then fastened to the
upper fuselage with wood screws.
The Tiger Moth was covered with
Solartex from Balsa USA. I’ve used
this covering on other airplanes and it’s
outstanding material, both for the ease
of application and for its beautiful fi nish.
I simulated the wing and tail rib
stitching by pushing Titebond aliphatic
glue through a 3mm hypodermic needle to form tiny strings
approximately 3mm long by 1mm thick. There were more
than 1,660 stitches, which took several days to apply.
The airplane was then spray painted with three coats of
primer, followed by two or three coats of Krylon bright silver
spray paint. Because of the rib stitches, I was unable to use
decals so I painted the roundels, wing stripes, lettering, and
other markings.
Someone once said that you never fi nish building a Scale
model—sooner or later you just quit working on it. So that’s
where I am now. I’ve quit working on it and it’s time to fl y.
Competing with the Tiger Moth
Things don’t always work out as planned. I wanted to enter
my Tiger Moth in our local Scale Masters Qualifi ers in June
2011. I rushed to get it done on time, completing it a few days
before the contest. Unfortunately, previous eye surgery had
not turned out as hoped, leaving me with blurred vision in my
left eye. So, there was no fl ying for me.
Not to be skunked, I took my Tiger Moth to Scale Masters
anyway and entered it in the Static contest. I scored 4.75
points—the second-highest score in the Expert Class that day.
I was pleased to get the good score, but regretted that I was
unable to fl y. There’s always next year.
Tips for Flying
Here are a few tips I can share about fl ying a 1/5-scale Tiger
Moth. First, feed in some right rudder on takeoff. If you don’t,
the airplane may sharply veer to the left.
Full-scale Tiger Moths have notoriously sloppy ailerons. So
does my model. I fi nd that turns are smoother when initiated
with the rudder. Whatever you do, don’t enter a steep banking
turn under low power. This is begging for a dangerous tip stall.
The Tiger Moth is surprisingly agile for a vintage biplane.
It is capable of fl ying loops, hammerheads, spins, lazy-eights,
wingovers, fl at turns, Immelmanns, side slips, and other
nifty maneuvers. However, it does not roll well or like to fl y
inverted. With a little coaxing, the Moth can be a smooth,
tight, and facile fl ying machine.
When landing, try to hold a touch of power through the
entire process—including rollout. I found that if I cut the
motor before the airplane fi nishes rolling out I create the
opportunity for an embarrassing nose-over. Search YouTube
for “XL-716, Royal Navy DeHavilland DH82A Tiger Moth” to
enjoy a video of the full-scale Tiger Moth XL-716 landing at
Compton Abbas Airfi eld.
Sad News
I didn’t want to end this article on a sad note, but I feel
compelled. In May 2011, shortly after I had completed my
Tiger Moth, I received an email from my British friend,
Howard Curtis, who had provided me with the photos of
XL-716 that he had taken for www.Airliners.net. Howard had
terrible news. Earlier that week, XL-716 crashed in Dorset and
was destroyed. This proud and lovely aircraft will fl y no more.
It lives on only in our memories.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/09
Page Numbers: 39,40,41,42,43
I began my adventure a couple of years ago, scouring
through www.airliners.net looking for a photo of a pretty Tiger
Moth to model. It didn’t take me long to fi nd XL-716, a Royal
Navy Tiger Moth stationed at the Compton Abbas Airfi eld in
Dorset, England. It was a lovely silver airplane with bold yellow
stripes and big, beautiful roundels on its wings and fuselage. It
was love at fi rst sight.
So I searched until I found a set of 1/5-scale Tiger Moth plans
($30) on the Bob Holman Plans website. I called Bob to fi nd
out how true to scale the plans were. “Spot on,” Bob said.
“I’ll take ’em,” I said.
When the large rolled plans arrived, I began examining
them and learned that they had been rendered by a gentleman
named Dennis Bryant back in the 1970s and were designed for
a glow engine. No surprise here.
A note on the plans indicated that laser-cut wood parts,
vacuum-formed fairings, and a fi berglass nose were available
from Traplet Publications (for $110). I ordered a set—a smart
move on my part.
A Seven-Month Build
Another note on the plans said, “Notice: this model requires
very accurate workmanship. It should not be attempted by
inexperienced modelers.” Whoever wrote it wasn’t kidding—
this was a long and arduous build.
The tail, wing assemblies, and fuselage were assembled on
the plans using the pin method—gluing with CA or aliphatic
adhesive as appropriate. I won’t spend much time discussing
this procedure because it was relatively straightforward. I
would rather explain how I achieved some of the scale effects
on this model.
The cabane structures and the landing gear were some of the
most diffi cult parts to build. Both required precise bending of
7-gauge (0.177 in.) wire. Wire sizes were shown on the plans
in British units, which I had to convert to standard wire gauges.
Thank goodness for the Internet.
Before bending the wire, I cut it into sections of appropriate
length using a Dremel cut-off wheel. To achieve the precise
bend angles indicated on the plans, I held each wire segment in
a vice, heated it with a torch until red, then bent it with heavy
pliers.
In some cases, I got the incorrect angles and had to re-bend
them or start over with another piece of metal.
The landing gear and the cabane struts were faired with
balsa strips. These fairings were epoxied to the metal rods after
they were cleaned with sandpaper. They were then sheeted
with cardstock, which was hardened with thin CA.
To accurately replicate the cockpits, seats, instruments, and
other details, I referred to the Internet and various photos of
other Tiger Moths. I also picked up a set of documentation
photos from Airborne Media; it was a different Tiger Moth but
close enough.
When the fuselage was framed in, I began building and
painting the cockpit components. When they were fi nished I
fastened them in place. I painted the cockpits Royal Air Force
interior green then weathered the fl oors, seats, and other parts
using Doc O’Brien’s Weathering Powders from Micro-Mark.
The hardwood compass and aluminum spinner were turned
on a lathe by my friend, Rick Linstad. The gauges were copied
from the plans. Seat belts were fabricated from painted craft
store laces. Other gadgets, such as levers, were made from thin
plywood and covered with Mylar tape to give them a metallic
look.
The power system was challenging. The plans showed
an inverted glow engine installation with a fuel tank
compartment, but I wanted to power the airplane with an
electric motor and battery. Fortunately, my Hacker A5-10S
motor fi t neatly inside the upper portion of the cowling,
leaving adequate space below for a LiPo battery and a four-cell
receiver battery pack. The ESC fi t snugly along the starboard
side of the motor compartment.
With a 15 x 6 Xoar propeller and 5S LiPo pack, this system
generates approximately 800 watts of power.
I also strived to accurately duplicate the scale controls. The
rudder is actuated by a pair of double cables that are attached
to a bellcrank, which protrudes roughly 5 mm out of each
side of the fuselage, beneath the front cockpit. The bellcrank
is activated via a pushrod that extends forward to the rudder
servo below the cabanes.
The elevator cables are also external, exiting the fuselage
beneath the anti-spin strakes (those broad fi ns along the top of
the aft fuselage). They originate behind the aft cockpit where
I mounted a box containing a mechanism with twin, vertical
bellcranks. These are activated by a servo mounted beside the
rudder servo. The elevator and rudder cables attach to scale
control horns on the moveable tail surfaces.
Ailerons on the Tiger Moth are controlled by a veritable
Rube Goldberg of eight separate linkages beginning at the
servo and ending at the aileron control horn. The servo pushrod
engages a bellcrank attached to an axel that protrudes from the
belly of the airplane. It turns a bellcrank to which two pushrods
are attached—one going out through each wing.
Each pushrod is attached to a disk at the wing surface.
This rotates, forcing another pushrod to pull the control horn
fore and aft. Slight slop at each link, when added together,
resulted in a large amount of total slop in aileron movement.
I had to rebuild these control linkages twice to get them to
work tightly.
All the control wires and wing wires are Beadalon braided
beading from Shipwreck Beads. Turnbuckles were supplied
by Proctor Enterprises. The wires were fastened with crimped
Mason Tackle Company’s size 1B
Connector Sleeves.
Building the cowling was another
challenge. The full-scale cowling is
aluminum and hinged on each side of
the fuselage with piano hinges. It pulls
down to cover the engine compartment.
On the port side, the cowling fl ares
out to partially cover the external oil
reservoir. Then it bolts to each side of
the bottom of the fuselage, both fore
and aft.
I constructed it from three pieces of
1/64-inch aircraft plywood, which I cut
to shape with heavy scissors. I doped
the outer sides and covered them with
silkspan, then added several more coats of
clear nitrate dope, sanding between coats.
I added standard Du-Bro nylon
control surface hinges. Between these
I installed 1/16-inch diameter brass
tubing that I scribed with a razor blade
to resemble piano hinges. These were
epoxied to the inside of the covers. The
entire assembly was then fastened to the
upper fuselage with wood screws.
The Tiger Moth was covered with
Solartex from Balsa USA. I’ve used
this covering on other airplanes and it’s
outstanding material, both for the ease
of application and for its beautiful fi nish.
I simulated the wing and tail rib
stitching by pushing Titebond aliphatic
glue through a 3mm hypodermic needle to form tiny strings
approximately 3mm long by 1mm thick. There were more
than 1,660 stitches, which took several days to apply.
The airplane was then spray painted with three coats of
primer, followed by two or three coats of Krylon bright silver
spray paint. Because of the rib stitches, I was unable to use
decals so I painted the roundels, wing stripes, lettering, and
other markings.
Someone once said that you never fi nish building a Scale
model—sooner or later you just quit working on it. So that’s
where I am now. I’ve quit working on it and it’s time to fl y.
Competing with the Tiger Moth
Things don’t always work out as planned. I wanted to enter
my Tiger Moth in our local Scale Masters Qualifi ers in June
2011. I rushed to get it done on time, completing it a few days
before the contest. Unfortunately, previous eye surgery had
not turned out as hoped, leaving me with blurred vision in my
left eye. So, there was no fl ying for me.
Not to be skunked, I took my Tiger Moth to Scale Masters
anyway and entered it in the Static contest. I scored 4.75
points—the second-highest score in the Expert Class that day.
I was pleased to get the good score, but regretted that I was
unable to fl y. There’s always next year.
Tips for Flying
Here are a few tips I can share about fl ying a 1/5-scale Tiger
Moth. First, feed in some right rudder on takeoff. If you don’t,
the airplane may sharply veer to the left.
Full-scale Tiger Moths have notoriously sloppy ailerons. So
does my model. I fi nd that turns are smoother when initiated
with the rudder. Whatever you do, don’t enter a steep banking
turn under low power. This is begging for a dangerous tip stall.
The Tiger Moth is surprisingly agile for a vintage biplane.
It is capable of fl ying loops, hammerheads, spins, lazy-eights,
wingovers, fl at turns, Immelmanns, side slips, and other
nifty maneuvers. However, it does not roll well or like to fl y
inverted. With a little coaxing, the Moth can be a smooth,
tight, and facile fl ying machine.
When landing, try to hold a touch of power through the
entire process—including rollout. I found that if I cut the
motor before the airplane fi nishes rolling out I create the
opportunity for an embarrassing nose-over. Search YouTube
for “XL-716, Royal Navy DeHavilland DH82A Tiger Moth” to
enjoy a video of the full-scale Tiger Moth XL-716 landing at
Compton Abbas Airfi eld.
Sad News
I didn’t want to end this article on a sad note, but I feel
compelled. In May 2011, shortly after I had completed my
Tiger Moth, I received an email from my British friend,
Howard Curtis, who had provided me with the photos of
XL-716 that he had taken for www.Airliners.net. Howard had
terrible news. Earlier that week, XL-716 crashed in Dorset and
was destroyed. This proud and lovely aircraft will fl y no more.
It lives on only in our memories.