There are many popular Basic Trainers available today that closely resemble full-size fighter aircraft. These remarkable airplanes look fast and deadly, but are actually very gentle, slow and easy to fly trainers. The availability and numbers of such fighter-trainers have been rapidly growing of late.

But, these “new” style trainers did not spring straight from the balsa tree. The fighter-trainer concept was actually developed back in the mid-1990’s. At that time, Jeff Troy (now Editor of AMA’s Park Pilot magazine) designed, and a company called Altech distributed, the very first RC fighter-trainer. It was called the TAMEcat 40.

The Altech TAMEcat 40 was far ahead of its time, but it was a wood kit that required several months to complete. Its construction, while elegant in that it used single parts to perform multiple functions, was somewhat elaborate and sometimes problematical for new RC fliers to build.

The World Models (TWM) has changed all that and eliminated the building problems by redesigning the TAMEcat 40’s construction into a very simple to build ARF airplane. Thanks to modern light plywood construction and computer design, the TAMEcat 40 ARF is much lighter than the old wood kit but has the identical airframe.

Photo 1

There is so much prefabrication here that this is one of the easiest to assemble ARF Trainers Sport Aviator has ever reviewed. The airplane is extremely light, features interlocking construction for proper tail alignment plus extra strength, has factory installed wing attachment and flies like pushing a baby carriage. But push some extra fuel into a strong .46 engine and the baby carriage becomes an exciting performer; safely exciting but exciting nonetheless.

To top it off, this airplane looks really good on the ground or in the air. The Toughlon covering is complete with panel lines, hatch outlines and subdued markings. The color scheme is in “Ferris Grey” but TWM includes a full set of color decals if the pilot wants to brighten the airframe a bit. TWM even includes two pilot figures and a detachable bomb! This airplane looks like anything other than the Basic Trainer it actually is.

Photo 1A

Here is an example of TWM’s construction quality. Weight reducing cutouts are everywhere in this airplane. The plywood is of higher quality than is usually found in ARF aircraft. Quality materials and attention to details means that the TAMEcat 40 is both light, less than 5.5 pounds, and very rigid.

The factory installed wing mount system is also shown here. The bolts fasten to factory installed blind nuts. The clear plastic strip protects the wing’s trailing edge during bolt tightening.

Building

Photo 2         Photo 3

Not only is the TAMEcat 40 ARF built well, it is very easy to build. It is also about the easiest-to-build-straight Trainer ARF now available. TWM’s enormous prefabrication work transforms this ARF almost into an RTF airplane. The covering over the stabilizer’s large mounting area has been factory removed as it has on the vertical fins. The horizontal stabilizer’s covering has also been removed in the area that mounts onto the fuselage. There is no chance of accidentally cutting into the stabilizer during covering removal, a very common problem, since the covering has already been removed.

Photo 4

The vertical fins lock into the stabilizer to insure alignment and add strength while the very large gluing area insures that the stabilizer is parallel to the wing for best flight performance. All control rods are factory formed and fit perfectly. Every control surface has holes pre-drilled for the control horns and all are in the correct position.

Photo 5      Photo 6

Installing and hooking up the tail feathers takes about 1 hour using 12-minute epoxy. Since the engine mounting holes are already built into the firewall and the mount is adjustable, that installation is also quick and easy. The builder still must drill the engine mounting holes in the mount. A great tool for this is the Great Planes “Dead Center” Engine Mount Hole Locator (GPMR8130). This is one of the best engine mounting tools I have yet used.

Note the small fuselage cutout in photo 6. This cutout is designed to allow the muffler to clear the fuselage. The section inside this cutout is made from fiberglass. Make sure the engine’s muffler chosen to power the TAMEcat 40 will fit inside this area. Modifying the fuselage nose area to clear the muffler is a difficult task not really suitable for beginners. The only alternative is to manufacture a muffler extension and that also is not a task for the new RC pilot.

Photo 7

Some engines such as the O.S. Max .40 - .55 series, have factory extensions available but many, like the Tower Hobbies .46 pictured, do not. But then again, the O.S. Max engines clear the fuselage without an extension (photo 7). Unfortunately, I didn’t find out that the Tower Hobbies engine was not suitable for the TAMEcat 40 until after the cowling photos were taken. Fortunately, the O.S. Max .46 AX fit into the same mounting beam holes as the Tower Hobbies engine. Sometimes, I would rather be lucky, as in this case, than good.

Photo 8         Photo 9

Fitting a cowling around all those engine projections is a daunting task for most new, and maybe for all, RC pilots. There are several methods, such as the card stock templates shown in photos 53 to 58 in the Sport aviator P-6E Hawk Review, to accomplish this task.

However, TWM makes this task much easier. The TAMEcat includes an extra, clear cowling that makes cutting and fitting the factory painted fiberglass cowling error proof. The cowling was originally cut to fit the Tower Hobbies engine (photo 8). The O.S. Max engine required only small modifications around the carburetor inlet as shown in photo 9. Simply fit the clear cowling over the engine, gradually cut out as required until the cowling fits onto the fuselage and the spinner back plate lines up with a 1/8 in. spacing. Then mark the needle valve, idle adjustment, muffler bolt holes and other fittings and cut them out.

Once cut to fit, the clear cowling slides over the factory painted cowling and the clearance holes are transferred. No mistakes. No ruined cowlings. This is truly a simple ARF to build.

My TAMEcat uses the OS Max .46 AX engine. This powerful and easily managed engine is a mainstay of our sport. But other engines, such as the Evolution or Super Tigre 40 series will work as long as their mufflers are not big, fixed-in-place, round cylinders such as the Tower Hobbies .46, which, as previously discussed, does not fit. Although having a round muffler, the Super Tigre engines allow the muffler to rotate and extend for fuselage clearance. Take your pick because the TAMEcat 40 flies well on most any ball-bearing equipped engine.

The TAMEcat 40 is a light, but large airplane. It will fly well on most any 40-size powerplant. But using a bushed 40 sport engine limits the TAMEcat’s aerobatic capability. This is too good an airplane to put “on the wall” once the pilot advances past the solo point. Once soloed, the now more experienced pilot will want that aerobatic performance, so install a strong sport engine in the first place.

The Wing

Photo 10        Photo 11

The wooden wing spar is factory preassembled and fit well into the wing halves. One wing half has a small positioning dowel near the trailing edge to insure proper wing alignment. It just isn’t possible to induce wing warping during assembly. Both aileron servo mounts are factory installed. TWM even marks the four underside wing openings with a red dot so the builder knows where to cut the covering. Of course, both servo mount areas include the string necessary to pull the servo leads out the middle of the wing.

If the ailerons are to be “Y” corded, then servo extension leads are not necessary. The “Y” cord does that job. However, two six-inch extensions are required if flaperons are to be used. The TAMEcat 40 does not need flaperons to be a good trainer but they are highly recommended as they expand the TAMEcat’s performance envelope while also making the already very slow landings even easier to manage. While offering improved performance, remember that having flaperons does require a 5-channel “buddy box”.

The wing is mounted further back from the nose than it is on most standard Basic Trainers. The airplane has a gigantic flat-bottom wing with monumental amounts of lift that allow very slow airspeeds. The ailerons are also large. Combining all these factors means that the TAMEcat 40 has noticeable amounts of adverse yaw at very slow airspeeds as will be discussed later on. I mention it here as I strongly recommend using the flaperon system available in most computer transmitters so the pilot can adjust the aileron differential to eliminate any adverse yaw tendencies.

Photo 12              Photo 13

Whether using a single “Y” cord or computer flaperons, the aileron servos are mounted in the wing. All control surfaces are pre-hinged but still require final installation using thin CAA. For details about installing these hinges, read the Sport Aviator article, Installing Mylar Hinges in the Flight Tech Section.