AP Mini Argus (FT Power Pack A | swappable)

[flyingavocado]

Sadly, my maiden didn't go so well.

I had an issue where it would yaw hard left and then tip stall on takeoff promptly bringing it to the ground. It acted like it was tail heavy on one launch, and I attempted to move the battery forward but the yaw issue remained. Unfortunately, the engine compartment broke on impact. I will try to glue and tape it back together and see if I can manage to work out the issues I am having at takeoff -- but if anyone has any ideas on what I might be doing wrong or could be wrong on my build, it would be appreciated.

 

[flyingavocado]

I patched it back together today and glued some popsicle sticks to the side of the nose to try an reinforce it a bit, and pushed my RX back more and moved my 650mAh battery all the way to the front this time. Turns out the CG is much more forward than I had thought and it flew a LOT better. I will double check the plans, but I think the plan CG marker needs to move up a lot. I will try to mark the CG before I take it out again. It was fun to fly and has a lot of zip being so light -- I actually ended up in my first tailspin which was interesting and also exciting as it opens some doors for some things I want to try out.

One thing I think I will do when I get my Rascal CNC up and running is see if it possible to design/build a swappable nose similar to the Tiny Trainer design. The hatch on the top causes it to crush pretty badly when it takes a hit, but it also seems like that hatch it needed to get all the electronics in. My thinking is if I can take the whole front end off then the hatch won't be needed and the front end can be easily swapped if (more like when for me) it gets mangled. The nice thing about the replaceable nose on the TinyTrainer is that it is super easy to build a new one and as result the airframe lasts a really long time since the nose is usually the only thing that ends up getting and major damage. This might bring it over the 250G intended weight limit, but given how light my all-up weight is, it might still work out!

 

[FishHawk]

I patched it back together today and glued some popsicle sticks to the side of the nose to try an reinforce it a bit, and pushed my RX back more and moved my 650mAh battery all the way to the front this time. Turns out the CG is much more forward than I had thought and it flew a LOT better. I will double check the plans, but I think the plan CG marker needs to move up a lot. I will try to mark the CG before I take it out again. It was fun to fly and has a lot of zip being so light -- I actually ended up in my first tailspin which was interesting and also exciting as it opens some doors for some things I want to try out.

One thing I think I will do when I get my Rascal CNC up and running is see if it possible to design/build a swappable nose similar to the Tiny Trainer design. The hatch on the top causes it to crush pretty badly when it takes a hit, but it also seems like that hatch it needed to get all the electronics in. My thinking is if I can take the whole front end off then the hatch won't be needed and the front end can be easily swapped if (more like when for me) it gets mangled. The nice thing about the replaceable nose on the TinyTrainer is that it is super easy to build a new one and as result the airframe lasts a really long time since the nose is usually the only thing that ends up getting and major damage. This might bring it over the 250G intended weight limit, but given how light my all-up weight is, it might still work out!

I think a removable nose is a great idea for the Mini Argus. I am interested in where your CG ends up. I finished building a Mini Argus in February, but haven't maidened it yet. The park where I fly is closed for time being, and I don't want to maiden the Mini Argus over the lake.