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Stripped to essentials the
Tiger 50 MK II is an antigravity machine. Best
of all, the 90-class power-to-weight ratio comes
with a 30-class price and has the great features which ensure it'll
grow with you without needing a ton of expensive upgrades!
The Tiger 50 Mk II is a hotrod in the classic sense!
It's the result of combining a lightweight airframe with a high
horsepower engine. This means you get a helicopter which can
pull off every maneuver in the book . . . tick-tocks, piro-flips,
snakes, hurricanes, funnels - you name it - without spending
big bucks!
- Adjustable Bell-Hiller Ratios
- Most Highly Tunable 50 in the Class
- 6 mm Spindle Shaft and Thrust Bearings
- Triple Bearing 1-piece Tail Rotor Grips
- 90-class Size Clutch
- Bearings 40% Wider Than Raptor 50
- 440cc High Capacity Rubber Mounted Fuel Tank
- Aft Mounted Tail Rotor Servo
- 100% Stainless Steel Balls Plus Links (no cheap Z-bends)
- Aluminum Head Block
If you're tired of helicopters
where everything is an expensive option (to make it fly the way you
want) you'll love the Tiger 50 Mk II. It's easily
the most adjustable 50-class helicopter on the market!
For example, the Tiger 50 Mk II has adjustable
Bell-Hiller ratios. The standard 1:1 Bell-Hiller
ratio (where 5° of flybar tilt = 5 ° of main blade grip
change) can be tuned to a 3D friendly 0.7:1 ratio (where
5° flybar = 3.5° at the grip). You do it just by
repositioning the seeaw arms to the inner hole of the seesaw!
Popular, but old fashioned, helicopters like the Raptor 50
don't offer adjustable Bell-Hiller ratios (in fact, only the Raptor
90 permits it). It's how you tune the feel of
a helicopter to suit your needs versus forcing you to adapt to
what they give you!
There's more too because the
Tiger 50 MK II isn't just about high performance
but also about being great for learning too. You
see, while 73% of owners get them as an alternative to their
high dollar 90-class birds (as a beater with which to practice new
maneuvers), many are used for learning to hover. Knowing
this, we made sure you could change its disposition - from mild to
wild - with just a few tweaks and adjustments! For example,
out of the box the Tiger 50 Mk II is tame as a
pussycat and thus, absolutely perfect for for learning to
hover. But stiffen the damping in the head, reposition the
seesaw arms (inward on the seesaw for a lower flybar mixing
ratio), increase the Bell input to the head (via the included F3C
swashball kit - unique on the market), position the ball link
(outward) on the mixing arms for greater throw, remove the
included lead weights from the paddles - or just swap out the
standard flybar and Hiller paddles for the 3D flybar and
paddles combo (free upon registering), plus make simple
adjustments in the radio set up (more negative for better inverted
climb outs), and in a matter of minutes the Tiger 50 Mk
II becomes a wild 3D machine! And we not only show
you how . . . but it's so easy you can even do it at the flying
field!
If you bought an
inexpensive Century Hawk with a 5 mm spindle shaft and no
thrust bearings you've probably learned high quality helicopters
use thrust bearings for a very good reason . . . and
forget about flying consistently without them, much less 3D
maneuvers! The Tiger 50 Mk II is equipped
with thrust bearings, plus we use a 6 mm spindle shaft . . . in
fact, the grips, bearings,and spindle were borrowed from the
Pantera 50. Of course, where the larger spindle
really counts is if you're performing a death spiral and
momentarily lose orientation and use a ton of collective to keep
the model from impacting Mother Earth! Because of the
thrust bearings plus the extra strength of the 6 mm spindle, you
can toss the Tiger 50 Mk II with abandon . . .
in complete confidence that it can take it (eyeball the videos and
see for yourself).
While we were at it (borrowing bits
off the Pantera 50) and because they were just
laying there in plain sight in the parts bin, we also decided
to included our stout triple bearing 1-piece tail rotor
grips on the Tiger 50 Mk II. That's because we know
the stresses imposed by aggressive 3D maneuvers, or by adding
a longer set of tail blades (they're spinning at 9-10,000K RPM
after all), means you may overload radial bearings. Thus,
while Caliber 5, Century Hawk, and Raptor 50 rely on radial
bearings, and high quality but more expensive machines like
the Sceadu EVO 50 make do with a single radial bearing plus a
thrust bearing, the Tiger 50 Mk II has dual radial
bearings plus a thrust bearing just like the Pantera
50! And instead of using a 2-piece tail
rotor grip design (like the Sceadu 50 EVO), the super
strong spread bearing 1-piece Pantera design is what you
get instead! Spreading the radial bearings further apart
than those in competing models, like the Raven 50, means the
grips are both more rigid and precise . . . and 2-piece grips
aren't even in the running! By the way, a 1-piece grip
is a feature usually found on top of the range 90-class
helicopters like a Stratus or Predator . . . but
interestingly, the Raptor 90 doesn't have thrust bearings in
the tail rotor grips - go figure!
If you're tired of how easily a
clutch burns out following a hot start with older designs you'll
love to learn the Tiger 50 Mk II clutch is not only
57% bigger than that of a Raptor 50, but actually 1.4% bigger
than that of the Raptor 90 as well. It'll not only take the
abuse a beginner throws at it but unlike smaller clutch designs,
following aggressive 3D maneuvers (like tick-tocks)
because there's no clutch slippage, the clutch bell is cool to
the touch and thus, the clutch will last longer!
Another superb feature of the
Tiger 50 Mk II are main shaft bearings that are 40% wider
than those of a Raptor 50. They're not only rated to a higher
load, but you benefit because the wider bearings result in
less frame wear than the Raptor. That's because the
Tiger 50 Mk II has a much larger area in the bearing
saddle than a Raptor 50 (to spread out the forces supporting the
huge loads on the main shaft during aggressive 3D maneuvers like a
piro flip or a tick-tock). Thus, even if you don't break them
in a crash, the frames of narrow bearing models have to be replaced
more frequently than the frames of the Tiger 50 Mk II -
pretty nice, eh?
The Tiger 50 Mk
II fuel tank is 33% larger than the Raptor
50. At 440cc vs. 330cc this translates into 11-1/2 to 12
minutes of flight vs. 8 minutes. But best of all, unlike the
leakage prone Raptor 50 tank (which is rigidly mounted in the
side frames), the Tiger 50 Mk II fuel tank is supported on
four soft rubber dampers. Thus, it's better isolated
from engine induced vibrations, which reduces fuel foaming and
ensures a more consistent engine run.
A nifty feature of the Tiger 50
Mk II is the aft mounted tail rotor servo. You
benefit because the shorter and more direct pushrod run is
less prone to flexing, doesn't rub on the frame guide, doesn't have
a weak spot (a joint) in the middle, plus it's easier to adjust
because you don't have to remove the canopy! Add to this the
fact it's a straight shot from the servo to the tail pitch fork and
you have a lower drag, more protected, and less trouble prone hook
up!
We hate Z-bends! They're
cheap, you can't adjust them, and they wear out the servo arm
(resulting in slop). In our opinion Z-bends have no place on
a high model helicopter. But if you are contemplating an
inexpensive 50-class helicopter like a Caliber 5 you'll soon
discover the tail rotor pushrod has a Z-bend! The
Tiger 50 Mk II uses 100% stainless steel balls plus high
quality links so controls remain tight, are easy to adjust, and are
trouble free! Best off all, unlike helicopters like the
Venture 30/50 where you have to custom size (fit) each
individual link to the ball (what a pain in the rear that is
when you break one and have to replace it at the field), the fit of
the Tiger 50 Mk II links are consistently outstanding on
each and every one!
If you've observed plastic head
block equipped models like a Raptor 50 or Hawk/Falcon
shuddering during some maneuvers (or developing mysterious
vibrations and wah-wahs in flight) you'll really appreciate how the
Tiger 50 Mk II has been equipped with an aluminum head
block (like the one on the Pantera 50). Our precision
aluminum head block has been CNC-machined from a solid billet
of aluminum and runs perfectly true at all RPMs. So while
other brands clip you for an expensive aluminum head upgrade
when you want to begin to learn 3D maneuvers, the Tiger 50
MkII is ready to rock and roll right out of the box!.
Like all cool things, the
Tiger 50 is an attitude . . . plainspoken, direct,
and maybe even vaguely aggressive. But under your control,
you're a part of her - your every input translated into a bold and
brash action. It's an audacious experience and frankly, there's
nothing very subtle about it. And once you experience
the big-block power of the Tiger 50, catch a whiff of
nitro, plus a look that brooks no nonsense . . . you'll
quickly discover it makes for a rush of adrenaline so wonderful
some find it addicting!
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