Field Report: Land-Water-Snow-Electric-Motte

Found: At www.top-model.ch, the Tiger Moth DH-82 model with a 1.4-meter wingspan. Designed for internal combustion engines ranging from 6.5 to 7.5 cm^³. For once, it’s not made in China, but “made in the Czech Republic.” Price: 498 francs. Too expensive for a Chinese product—actually okay for something “made in Europe,” but certainly not a bargain.

Also selected from www.top-model.ch: Topmax 4020 brushless motor, Dualsky 5S LiPo with 3,700 mAh, Dualsky 6018 60-amp ESC, 14×7 APC electric propeller, and Swallow ACID EQ Charger AC/DC.

Received by mail after 2 days: ARF model with a conventional wooden airframe. CNC-machined parts like the wings, fuselage, tail surfaces, etc., are good, but the accessories are absolutely disappointing! The spotless powerplant, however, raised very high expectations.

To build or buy: A decent landing gear with larger wheels for relatively rough grass runways; quick-to-install wing struts with no load-bearing function, using snap-button fasteners from the sewing kit; modification of the supplied ugly, clunky canopy; windshields, pilot figures,

scarf trim (thanks to my wife Maja!), optional anti-spin device, achieve the original V-shape of the lower wings by carefully bending the aluminum tubes, spray-paint the engine cowling and wing tips in metallic silver, buying silver masking tape, and applying various paint details with a waterproof marker. And then—whoops, Schorsch—: determining the center of gravity (which isn’t specified correctly in the manual) through flight testing! To do this, go to psychotherapy beforehand to steel your nerves. Or even better: right from the start, add enough lead to the nose—or install a sufficiently heavy propeller—so that the center of gravity ends up about 12–13 cm behind the leading edge of the dummy fuel tank.

Measured wingspan: 1.4 m. Wing area: 52 dm². Weight with electric motor and wheels—

During his 1933 session, Flight Lieutenant C. Turner Hughes flew 2,190 rolls, 2,328 loops, 567 outside loops, 522 upward rolls, and 170 hours of inverted flight in a D.H.82.

(Source: Super Profile Tiger Moth)

Landing gear: 3.125 kg. Wing loading: a modest 60 g/dm². Weight with relatively heavy but very stable Graupner ABS floats (L=85 cm): 3.8 kg. Resulting static thrust with a 14×7 propeller is 3 kg at 38 amps, which the LiPo, ESC, and motor can easily handle. About 15 minutes of action-packed flight time is possible—with a little reserve left in the LiPo at the end.

It's huge on land, water, and snow! Thanks to its ingenious wing-slot system and snap-button fasteners for the wing struts, it's ready to fly in just a few minutes. Lightning-fast battery—

Even out in the countryside, it's a charming little classic that lets you fly a loop or a roll every now and then without having to hear comments like, "That's hardly the real thing" ...

A flight over a freezing, snow-covered landscape: Why use skis when you can just use floats? Be sure to protect the pilots from colds with scarves!

An atmospheric and true-to-life seaplane experience. Even today, a Motte with floats is still flying in England. Takeoffs and landings on the cool water are a real joy. It’s a lot of fun!

Take off on snow and ice using Graupner’s relatively heavy but very stable ABS floats. Note: Not all floats are stable enough to take off and land on hard, slightly icy snow-covered slopes. Hacker’s floats, in particular, are lightweight but not very stable, and later on the lake, they absorb a lot of water in surprisingly little time through very fine, almost invisible hairline cracks.

Classic Aircraft Meet on the Water: Tiger Moth Meets Piper Cub.

Power beats lead: Thanks to Topmax's powerful 4020 brushless motor, weighing 244 grams, and the 5s LiPo battery with a capacity of 3700 mAh, there's no need to add any lead to the short nose.

Easy to switch thanks to the removable cockpit. The powerful motor lends itself to a somewhat too fast flying style, which doesn’t quite suit an “old-timer.” During takeoffs and landings—whether on land, water, or snow—there are no issues whatsoever. Generally not difficult to fly—but not a beginner’s model either. Scale-accurate aerobatics such as horizontal rolls, upward rolls, loops, turns, inverted flight, etc., are achievable with the wheeled landing gear and a bit of skill. However, flawless outside loops require the touch of a master. With floats, somewhat more constrained, simpler aerobatics are possible, but not true to the original.

In moderate to strong crosswinds, you’re better off drinking coffee than picking up debris. When taking off from relatively rough grass runways, gently pull the elevator in small, controlled increments until the aircraft gains enough speed to lift off; otherwise, the plane will tip forward. If using a Futaba T6EX remote control, be sure to set the ESC’s “Startup Mode” to “Soft,” otherwise you’ll experience issues when opening the throttle. Don’t tighten the propeller nut like a bull, since it has an aluminum thread!

Omitted to make room for pictures. As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words... hjb

www.top-model.ch's top-of-the-line powerplant: 3 kg of static thrust for a 3.125 kg model. As my colleague Hans put it, that makes for a "speed moth." So please, avoid full throttle as much as possible! For leisurely, prototypical cruising, 1/4 throttle is sufficient, and this accordingly increases the possible flight time.