SEPTEMBER 2019 49BOTTOM LINEThe VQ Warbirds Tiger Moth is one cool offering. It is extremely well made
and very good-looking, goes together without any faults, and features well-
thought-out construction techniques and materials. It is the type of model
that you will probably not get tired of because of its simplicity and ease
of getting ready for a day’s flying. We made no alterations to it, other than
sanding the word “Cub” off the wheel hubcaps and applying some paint to the
exposed plywood pieces so that they weren’t so obvious. J
Classic Flight
Instructor
The DH.82 Tiger Moth is a
1930s biplane designed by
Geoffrey de Havilland and built
by the de Havilland Aircraft
Company. It was used by the
Royal Air Force (RAF) and
others as a primary trainer. In
addition to its principal use
for training, World War II saw
Tiger Moths in other roles,
including maritime surveillance
and defensive anti-invasion
preparations; some aircraft
were outfitted as armed light
bombers.
The Tiger Moth stayed
with the RAF until it was
replaced by the de Havilland
Chipmunk in the early 1950s.
Many of the surplus aircraft
subsequently entered into civil
operation. Many nations used
the Tiger Moth in military and
civilian applications, and it
remains in widespread use as a
recreational aircraft in several
countries. Many Tiger Moths
are now employed by various
companies offering tail-dragger
experiences. The de Havilland
Moth Club, founded in 1975, has
grown to become quite popular.accelerated more quickly than I expected
but ran down the runway fairly straight; with
a little breath of up-elevator, it lifted off as
smooth as can be.
GENERAL FLIGHT PERFORMANCE
Stability: Th e plane is very stable around
neutral and doesn’t do anything abruptly
unless you deliberately ask it to.
Tracking: It took very little trimming to get it
to fl y perfectly in a hands-off condition, so I
shot a few landings, then took it back up to
do a few maneuvers.
Aerobatics: Th e plane performs easy loops,
and it tracks well. Stall turns are also easy,
and the plane rotates over well. It performs
rolls, but they are a bit sloppy. Other
maneuvers are a mixed bag: knife-edge—
nope; four-point rolls—really?; slip—yes;
inverted fl ight—hardly, it wants to fall out;
wingovers—perfect!; and spin—yes, yes, yes.
Stall and glide performance: You can slow it
way down for landing, probably slower than
you’d think, and if you get it too slow it stalls
gently, not abruptly. But you’ve got be a
really bad pilot to get this thing too slow. It
fl ies slowly enough to begin with; to want it
to get any slower is asking for it.
You can see how simply the electric airplane mover is
mounted. Notice the clean diver-weight installation
for ballast.
While it’s not the largest equipment bay on the
planet, it is ample enough to house the Moth’s
electronics.PILOT DEBRIEFING
You bought an airplane intended to teach
pilots to fl y, and that’s exactly how this
bird fl ies. It looks cool in the air, especially
on slow fl y-bys and touch-and-gos.
It’s fun to fl y close to yourself; in a word,
it’s “relaxing.” Having fl own it with both
types of powerplants, I’d say the electric
was more enjoyable because there is less
of a factor setting the rpm for maximum
performance with a hot temperature
or humidity change. Normally, I’d say
that the Tiger Moth is not my “type” of
airplane, but I have grown to love its slow,
easy maneuvers and how pretty it looks.
And it’s such a bonus to be able to leave
it all in one piece, and just grab it and go
when I have the urge to fl y. It is hard to
improve most of today’s ARF airplanes
because they are so perfectly built and
aligned. Th is one is no exception. In fact, I
cannot think of even one way to make it
any better, and I highly recommend it to
the beginner for learning mild aerobatics
or to the pro for some relaxing fl ying. (By
the way, this is not a radio review, but this
was the fi rst time I had a chance to fl y my
new JR Propo XG 8 radio, and it is really
nice. I was so impressed that I now have a
28-channel on the way.)PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKICOMMONS