Guys,

I bought and built a GWS Tiger Moth one month ago.
This is my frist RC plane and I'm very happy with it.
It's so easy to fly and I asked myself why I couldn't
build a plane from scratch? There should be more fun
when you fly your own designed stuff, isn't it?

I saw some people on this forum talked about using
meat tray to build planes, so I decided to do the same
thing. After a week or so, it's done. I have alrady flown
it for more than 5 times. It can fly as slow as the TM.
I love it so much!

I also noticed there are 2 things different from TM,
1. It needs more throttle than TM to keep it at the
same attitude;
2. It could't finish a loop yet.

I'm guess the reasons may be,
1. Its wing area is only half of TM;
2. I didn't do any thing to the meat tray to create a
good airfoil.

As a result, the lift is not as much as TM can generate.

Here is the specifications of my MT1 (you know why
I named it MT1, right?):

Length: 31 in (787 mm)
Wing Span: 26 in (660 mm)
Wing Area: 154 sq. in (992 cm2)
Flying Weight: 8 oz
Wing Loading: 7.5 oz/sq. ft (3.8 for TM)

If you have any idea and suggestion, please do let me know.
I really appreciate it.

All the best,

Tom

More pics...

More pics...

Bottom view

Details

More pics...

Another one.

Looks good Tom

I take it, seeing ur using the Tigermoth tail feathers, that your original TM is now resting in pieces? . Keep up the good work.

Cass

Cass,

Thanks for the reply.

Aatually I used another meat tray (I was out of white trays,
so I used a yellow one) to build the tail. As you can see from
the picture, it's much thicker. As you noticed, I did copy the
TM's design cause I really love that shape.

My TM is indeed resting now because I took the radio gear
out of it.

All the best,

Tom

If your feeling you want to make more of your own planes, try heading over to the foamies board and check out some to the stuff you can build with FanFold Foam (F3 for short).

Cass

Originally posted by tomx
I also noticed there are 2 things different from TM,
1. It needs more throttle than TM to keep it at the
same attitude;
2. It could't finish a loop yet.

I'm guess the reasons may be,
1. Its wing area is only half of TM;

Less area means a higher angle of attack to produce enough lift, which adds drag and limits your speed. Bigger wing should be easy to do, go for it!

Karl

Less area means a higher angle of attack

or more speed. Which means more drag which requires more thrust or drag reduction on fuse and wing.

Karl & Grejen,

Thanks for the suggestion.

I used 2 meat trays for the wing, and that's the largest
meat tray I can find at Safeway.

I can add another 2 meat trays at the bottom (Chicken
wings are on sale again this week at Safeway), but this
will make it another bi-plane.

Anyway, I think I'll try it that way. I really want to see it
loop, you konw. That will make this plane more fun.

All the best,

Tom

Tom

U can always lop the ends off the wing tips and another tray of the same size and probond them together giving you a bigger span on your current wing. You could use bamboo skewers or carbon fiber rod for strength. You could then have a span of 30" or more. You will need support for the extension for sure though.

Just a thought

Cass

Cass,

I think it's a better idea than the bi-plane.
I just need to figure out how to extend the wing
and make it strong enough at the same time.

Guys,

How important is a good airfoil? As I said, I just
cut the meat tray to look like a wing, didn't do
anything for airfoil. And it can fly. Not bad at all.
What do you guys think?

All the best,

Tom