mark etherington Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Hi Tom i am going to blow you trumpet on this one but our good friend thwright2 ( tom wright ) did the design and build of this aircraft and then went on to sell over 200 kits ( well thats how many are on the caa register at the moment ) so well done tom cheers mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r6dan Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I NEED one of those !!! I don`t suppose there is a spare kit floating around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Fisher Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Real "seat of the pants" flying. Can we have more details and/or pictures? Now, how can I persuade my spouse to let me buy a kit? Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Hi Mark....R6.....and Malcolm. Sorry i missed this post, just come across it while looking for another thread. The photo Mark posted is indeed my original 1980 design called the Micro Bipe .At that time i had a PPL A and found it a bit expensive to hire the usual club aeroplanes, so i drew up some rough plans did some basic calculations and set to chopping up HS30 aluminium and cutting foam cores . The power unit was a single cylinder 250cc two stroke ,not much bigger than the ones used on LMA models today. The design was completed prior the the CAA introducing the new regulations BCAR section S, so the empty weight needed to be under 150 lbs ,sand bag proof loading indicated the wing strength was more than adequate for all the flying maneuvers i would want to do ,and in fact i have a photo some where of four people sitting on the top wing, but would need to dig deep into my loft archives to find more stuff to post ,if any one is interested post some questions and i will have a look. TW2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Mark When you create a new thread its a good idea to post under an appropriate topic ,just left click on the select a topic box to reveal the list , in this case i would have selected FULL SIZE FLYING . Cheers Tom. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Found this photo on the BMAA forum BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Thanks Bas that's me ,but i cannot remember were the photo was taken , most likely it was Gamston airfield ,after that we did a country wide tour and most of the demo flying was done by a brilliant pilot Allan Wade . You can clearly see the home spun airfoil section used ,and surprisingly the pitching moment was not a problem, the tail and rudder are both foam cores . with HS30 spars ,the cores were capped with balsa and covered in solarfilm.Both surfaces were all moving,and the control loads were so light we had to put spring loading on the joy stick.The warren rear fus was side load braced with cables which also took care of the torsional loads. I tested the tail and rudder by fixing up a rig on top of a fast car and drove at 90mph up and down the runway for hours. TW2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Mark was not quite correct when he said ...the first Tiger Cub microlight.....The Micro Bipe experience resulted in a new design to comply with the latest regs of the time ,the new biplane design was completely different .and was called the Tiger Cub. TW2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 This is the Tiger Cub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 This is the Tiger Cub with my better half using it as sun bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Fisher Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Hi Tom, Thanks for the extra pictures. Also to BB for the in flight picture. Please can we have more details of the Micro Bipe - wing span, chord, overall length, size of tail compnents? Did you have to have dual ignition for the engine? What size propeller? A dimensioned three view drawing would be much appreciated so I can have a go at a model version if not the full size I would really want to build. I know this sounds a bit cheeky - I would be happy to draw my own plan if I had more details Years ago I had an attempt with a friend to build a pedal powered plane for an attempt at the Kremer prize, and I reckon the wing span at 26 feet was considerably more than that of the Micro Bipe. Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Hi Malcolm. Are you referring to the Micro Bipe or the Tiger Cub ? If it is the Micro Bipe no plan or engineering drawings were made , it was just a selection rough sketches and calcs made as things progressed. My loft space is 40ft 24 ft and its full of flying related stuff,i might have some of the paper work ,it would take quite a while to check,but i will have a look and post what i can find ,there is certainly quite a few photos hiding up there. The original wing span was 18ft the chord i think was 30in,i could probably furnish paper work and photos as formal authentication as required for comp scale entry. Do you have any photos of your Kramer prize entry ,i followed the construction of several entries with great interest . TW2.Edited By tom wright 2 on 05/03/2011 21:46:11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Posted by r6dan on 03/03/2011 21:19:05:I NEED one of those !!! I don`t suppose there is a spare kit floating around? Hi r6 the Micro Bipe was a one off, The Tiger Cub was produced in kit form. TW2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Air to air shot of Allan Wade flying the Tiger Cub .Cowl removed to show engine ,which was a geared down 440cc Robin twin in line two stroke. Edited By tom wright 2 on 05/03/2011 22:43:56Edited By tom wright 2 on 05/03/2011 22:46:43 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Malcolm I have some photos showing Tiger Cub construction detail let me know if they are of interest. TW2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 There is an interesting restoration link here on a Tiger Cub in the Saxon Microlight website. Saxon Microlight Tiger Cub restoration project BB Edited By Basildon Biggles on 06/03/2011 03:20:58Edited By Basildon Biggles on 06/03/2011 03:21:50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Good work Bas, Reading through the G-MJSU restoration took me back 30 odd years as if it was yesterday,i knew the original owner Bob Adams very well as he was one of our agents he worked with a aero engineer who went by the name of Gilly ,they were based at a airfield in Norfolk the name is on the tip of my tongue ........It was all so good to hear some of the original BMAA guys were still around, they do a good job. There is also a link for the Sherwood Ranger ,this is a lovely two seat biplane that was born as the next stage on from the Tiger Cub. Russ Light my now late friend and college finished the prototype shortly before he died ,we flew from his private field near Doncaster to Newark ,and that was the last time i saw him. His wife Pam eventually sold the design and its still in production to this day. I have been completely out of touch with full size aviation since Russ died so reading the the links you kindly provided Bas has brought back many memories. Thanks again . Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 My pleasure Tom BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Photo below Joanne demonstrates an informal load test on a Tiger Cub rear fus and tail.Edited By tom wright 2 on 07/03/2011 01:09:18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Fisher Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Hi Tom, Thanks again for the additional pictures of the Tiger Cub. I was taken by the first picture of the Micro Bipe - would love one of those. Given the time and space I would like to have a go at the "Two Seat Tiger" as well. Any information on planes such as these is very welcome, but at my time of life, I'm afraid that building something I can actually fly in will have to remain a pipe dream. Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 HI Malcom.I am still sorting out some Micro Bipe photos, in the mean time this is a blue Tiger Cub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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