1/4 scale Tiger Moth conversion to electric

[Michael]

This will be my main winter project.

I bought this 1/4 scale Tiger Moth, with a gas engine up front. It has an 88" wingspan and appears to weight about 20 pounds.

This is a Bud Barkley Models kit.

I haven't opened the fuselage yet and haven't figured out what to do yet, but my plan is to get an E-Flight 160 motor under the cowl and use 10 or 12 lipos.

Installing the wings took less than 10 minutes, so I imagine field set up will not be a big problem.

I'll post any substantial progress.

[Gregor77]

Oh my... I looks amazing!

You done the conversion yet?  I will send John Mackenzie your way.. We did my 1/4 Pup in one night...

[Michael]

Gas engine, tank, tubing, etc., removed.

Now planning motor installation/mounting and battery location.

My preference is to be able to load/remove batteries from the top. It appears this might be doable from the front cockpit.

I'm using an E-flite 160 motor, CC high-voltage 110 amp ESC and 10S or 12S 5000mAh lipo batteries.

[xavierm]

I would think that you need to locate the batteries as far forward as possible on that plane. So access from the cowl maybe a possibility. My 1/4 Tiger has an old G23 with magneto which is heavy and the CG is about right.

[Michael]

Outer firewall cut to fit motor mount, and inner plywood bulkhead cut open to make room for batteries up front.

There's lots of room, and I may put a long tray in right up to the inner front of the cowl area.
The cowl has already been cut open on the bottom to make room for the huge gas engine that was there before, so I may simply install batteries from the bottom cowl area.

[Gregor77]

That was a similar to my 1/5th scale. It had a big opening under the landing gear.  Enough room for a big battery. I had to make a ledge right to the nose to hold the battery.

[Gregor77]

Michael, make sure that there is enough support where the engine goes... Mine had some nice thick hardwood supports that ran down the fuse near the cabine mounts.   The area I had that I opened up was only think Balsa.  I had to make some supports to hold the battery and the extra weight.

[piker]

And don't forget about the very important float attachments!!!

[Michael]

E-Flite 160-size brushless motor and motor mount installed.

See how that big motor seems dwarfed by the massive model.

[bfeist]

What a mammoth motor. You should deliberately unbalance the stator to get the radial engine sound effects.

[Ededge2002]

or hockey cards in the prop!

[Michael]

Electric installation complete.

E-Flite 160 brushless, metal motor-mount (some custom work needed), Castle Creations 110amp High Voltage speed control, and 10S 5000 mAh batteries.

Batteries mounted with Velcro onto a the bottom of a plywood tray; speed control on top. Lots of air cooling.

APC 20/8 propeller.

[Ededge2002]

Witnessed the maiden today. Despite high winds Michael did a terrific job flying the plane.  I understand he ran out of down trim as the first two thirds of the flight was some great barnstorming!  But as Michael said once he got it on the ground "the last 15seconds of the flight was the best". LOL.   He actualy had it tamed prior to that but those TWO loops out over the field the second bottoming out at about 10' had me scared sh1#<, less!

Great job Michael.
Separating the men from the boys flying today!

[Michael]

Maiden Flight! Sunday morning, Oct. 21, 2012, TEMAC.
Flight duration approx. 2 minutes.

Bottom line: Landed safely! 

Ed and Frank (and visitor Dave G) were on hand, but Frank spotted for me and kept me calm.
Although not as big as a wingspan as my 1/4 scale Cub, this plane seems massive, and at about 20 pounds, is my heaviest model airplane.

The plane taxied perfectly, and I lined it up into the wind. The wind was a strong 15km cross wind from behind me (west), but I actually didn't feel a problem from the wind once in the air. Maybe the weight helped.

Anyway, I advanced throttle and the plane moved forward and took off reasonably slowly and easily. Once in the air however it became clear that extreme trim changes were needed. Fighting unwanted stalls and loops, Frank dialed in maximum down trim and a fair amount of right trim. There were a few moments when it looked like the plane was going to crash, but with Frank's help, I stayed calm and finally got it under control. I lined it up for landing (north-west directly into the wind) and made a nice and slow touch down with maybe a 40 foot roll-out. No damage.

As I said at the field, it doesn't matter how bad it looked, as long as the last 15 seconds of the flight are perfect! 

The plane is in one piece, in good condition, and the electronics stayed cool. Now I'll adjust the trim and balance as needed, and I'll finish some of the cosmetics.

It'll be ready for next spring.

[sihinch]

That's simply awesome!  Congrats Michael.

I've spent the last 2 evenings building a 1/10th scale Tiger Moth, and I've fallen in love with the way it looks; it's so antique and classic.  I can't wait to see Michaels. Do we really need to wait until next spring?

Niec job M!