Thunder Tiger Cloud Dancer 40 ARF Comments

I built one from Fred Reese's MAN plans, and it's a great flying plane. The only disadvantages I've heard on the ARF is that the plastic parts are a little flimsy and that it tends to be a bit tail heavy with a .40 glow engine. Mine balanced perfectly with a Saito 50. Also, I'm not that happy with the all-white bottom so you might want to decorate the underside with a dark color. If the ARF is anything like mine, it flies like it's on rails, and snap rolls are a blast!
Morris Lee

Had .40 with TT .46 pro. Flew on rails with a reasonably wide speed range, the light loading allows for large lazy loops and slow aerobatics. Member of another club did mention he experiences a little aileron flutter with his model when exiting the bottom of loops or split S using a .46 at full throttle. No such light wing loading, high aspect ratio model is intended to be used as a throttle to the wall from go to whoa through every stage of aerobatics. A thin layer of fibre glass or carbon cloth inside cowl is recommended. Designed for either 4 str or 2 str, use of a two stroke will require a little lead or extra battery to compensate for the weight difference. Recently upgraded to the .60 size, now almost complete with retracts and a TT .91FS, the much larger sized .60 as owned by another club member is impressive. regards Alan T. Alan's Hobby, Model & RC Links

Me too on the built from MAN plans, and Saito .50 power. It's a fun model. one of my favorites for a long time now.
Not sure about the ARF, but if possible, keep as lite as you can. That is difficult with an ARF, but really try to not add any balancing weight. move stuff (battery pack, servos, etc) around for balance.
Mike

Thanks for the replies. I plan on using a Magnum 52 4-stroke. Sounds like it will be just what I am looking for. I will post back about the quality of the ARF when I get it.
John VB

If anybody is looking for the plans, that's actually an RC Modeler plan.

John,
That should be a good match. I've seen a couple Magnum .52s around our club and they run fine. Albeit with no apparent compression.
Please post back on your flying experiences with the ARF, as I get plenty of questions about the 'Dancer and maybe the ARF is a viable alternative to scratch building.
Happy Flying Mike

You might be correct on the plans coming from R/C M. Been a mighty long time since I've built the Cloud Dancer.
If you're not aware, I believe Ace R/C used to kit the 40 and 60 size Cloud Dancers. They were the original design with no plastic parts.
Mike

That's right. The original design has light ply sides in front with doublers, balsa on top and bottom, and sticks in the aft fuselage section. I have the plans for the 40, 120 and the original 60 size from RCM, but I've built only the 60 size. It's one of the best flying planes ever, and the reason why is because of light wing loading. I would be amazed if an ARF were made available that did not weigh more than it should. I know several people around here who have had Cloud Dancers built from Ace kits. They were good, but not as good as a plans-built airplane. Mine flew like a low wing Telemaster. I would not get very excited about a Cloud Dancer ARF, simply because Cloud Dancer = light weight, and ARF = heavy.
However, the ARF manufacturers could prove me wrong some day. ARFs have been getting better and better over the years. Most of them are no longer covered with ARF-o-kote any more. I saw a guy at the flying field with an Ulta Stick Lite the other day. he said that they shaved three pounds from it. I can't imagine why the original was made three pounds too heavy in the first place, but I'm glad that the Lite version is lighter anyway.
I would expect a Cloud Dancer ARF to be better than the average ARF. But maybe some of you non-builders can try building a plane some day. You end up with a great airplane, and it's FUN.

From what I have read, the Cloud Dancer ARF is built well and light. The big knock on it is the plastic cowl and wheel pants. If that is the only problem, I will be happy with it. As soon as I get it, I will post back a weight and my opinion of the quality. Regarding the Mag 52 4-strokes, several in our club use them and are happy with them.
John VB

The Cloud Dancer ARF is covered with Ultracoat. I have heard some good things about other Thunder Tiger arfs. I will post a weight and opinion of quality when I get mine. I love to build, but don't have time right now. With three young kids and everything else, there is not enough time in a 24-hour day. I am looking forward to the time (if it ever happens) that we can do away with sleep. I hate going to bed at night.
John VB

And the Magnum 61 4-strokes are exactly the same size AND weigh 1/2 oz less !!! I'm flying 2 of them now, and they are great AFTER about 2 hours running. I put at least 90 minutes on them before attempting to fly them.
David

Great flier. Had one for a couple of years. The LHS thought I was crazy when I put a OS 61SF with Mac's slimline on the 40 size. Flew nice and the engine worked out fine,even tho it was heavier with the 61 it was a joy to fly. In fact I'm shopping around rite now and wondering whether to go that route again. You'll love it. PS.Another club member has the 40 size and has a Saito 72 on it...Nice...

The cowl is certainly flimsy. I used mine up and ordered the heavy duty cowl from From Stans Fiberglass.It was a ton better than the original.