FT Mini Guinea Build

[BridgeInspector]

ha.. finally managed do the flat spin with the MG..


not much easy with the tiny 1306 motors in 5030 props but it did it (you need to pull full elevator up and bit of luck).. people in the field found it hilarious

tougfht we have in the site really tall grass (like 70cm or so) i didnt dared to land it spinning despite encoraging from mates

With 1806s and 6030s it really must spin like crazy

Great! Spins are a blast and most of my attempts are successful. The ones that are not have still been repairable.


I have the 1306s too, but they are on a 75% version of the MG. I accidentally put a 3s battery in it while flying at a recent club event. It had some crazy good power today I thought. It got in a spin fast and out of control just as fast. Smashed open the nose, broke props and rubber bands all repairable.

 

[LooseBruce]

Mini Guinea on Life Support (Long Story)

My Mini Guinea is in poor health. Thursday night I was flying it in a constricted area and got it stuck in a tree. Way.....up in a tree. It was close to dark so I ran home got the pick up, generator, lights, poles,tape....anything that I thought would help. Nothing would reach so I took a 1" socket and tied it on some jetline (nylon string) and tried to throw it like a baseball up to where the plane was. I could throw it about 1/2 the way up.

BTW, the plane was easy to see as there are a lot of LEDs on it. Finally I used another socket (first one was stuck after many many throws. This socket I used like little David of David and Goliath fame, like a sling.. It actually worked pretty good and I shook the plane out of the tree in several steps. To my amazement it was intact, even the nose.

I was on a tractor path that had been cleared for trucks. Unfortunately all of the brush was pushed up against this wooded area. It was at least another hour to get to the plane and it was probably less than 20 feet away.

This was the good part. There was very little damage and I fixed it the next day,After that is when the real trouble started...
The next day I had another adventure (musical) that left me dehydrated at the end of the day.I tried to drink enough water but with equal amounts of bourbon it doesn't always work in the hot sun. After some rest though I thought I would try to fly the plane again, I returned to my normal field. I hadn't wanted to use it because the hay is very high now (up to elbows) and I was tired of walking through it. The thought of the tree was more scary though and I returned to my normal field.

I was having control problems and had 2 crashes on a plane that usually flies great. After some final adjustments I launched it and lost control crashing into the i hay. I saw it go down in the field but could not find it. After a couple of hours I gave up and went home.

In the morning I resumed my search
That night there was a thunderstorm and I knew that was bad. However, I found the plane in about 1/2 hour though it was soaked and crashed.Here it is now in the drying out situation. The battery is puffed and has been discarded.



I am trying to dry it out in a way that it will not warp. Right now it is all kind of mushy. Time will tell. I have packing tape which is waterproof but I think the paper has delaminated under the tape.
I have decided NOT to fly there again until the hay is cut. Also I have Distance-RC RF beacon due to arrive any day. I can't wait to see how that works. I have good hay fields close to me BUT they are surrounded by wooded areas.

Well.... that's it. I hope you had funny reading abiout my misery and can learn from my mistakes.
LooseBruce

 

[defhermit]

aw that's a shame! will you rebuild or have you had it long enough?

 

[LooseBruce]

aw that's a shame! will you rebuild or have you had it long enough?

I think I will attempt a repair job. Actually I had already replaced everything except the fuse and nacelle pods once before. I really like this plane and am looking forward to being able to do spins at some RC meets. I also think I can mount my Hubsan Quad on top of it and take some pics. We shall see.
Thanks for asking,
LooseBruce

:black_eyed:

 

[LooseBruce]

I think I will attempt a repair job. Actually I had already replaced everything except the fuse and nacelle pods once before. I really like this plane and am looking forward to being able to do spins at some RC meets. I also think I can mount my Hubsan Quad on top of it and take some pics. We shall see.
Thanks for asking,
LooseBruce

:black_eyed:

Well the verdict is in. This plane is tooooo mushy now. There are many creases in it and I believe it will be more trouble to fix than rebuild. Also, Both motors and one speed controller are bad. It has been reduced to a pile of salvaged parts now. I want to fly another one but am not up to rebuilding it yet.
LooseBruce

 

[nevenelestate]

Well the verdict is in. This plane is tooooo mushy now. There are many creases in it and I believe it will be more trouble to fix than rebuild. Also, Both motors and one speed controller are bad. It has been reduced to a pile of salvaged parts now. I want to fly another one but am not up to rebuilding it yet.
LooseBruce

I recently pulled my MG apart too, It is a blast to fly, but I decided to try to use a motor from the MG to make a Pun jet. That didn't go too well, I need a better battery for that platform as it turns out a 3S 1300mAh is a little too heavy.

I did find that using a yard stick (36inch wooden ruler) from home depot to make the wing spar helps out greatly. I extended the wood spar out to the ends of the under wing and man does it make for a better performing airframe...that is if you fly it like Peter. I also added BBQ skewers vertically into the fuselage at the trailing edge of the wing to try to stop the wing from shifting during extreme flat spins. Sorry I don't have pictures since I just "cleaned out the hangar" ie smashed all my non operating DTFB aircraft.

 

[Agamoruso]

Hey guys just wanted to share my fpv mini guinea! Took it out today for its first fpv flight.(Did the maiden LOS and the stabilizer came loose and caused it to pitch into the ground...easy fix with a new nose) I'm running emax pm1806 and hobbykings 10a escs. Thing flies great on a 800mah 3s. I think I'm gonna throw my 6x3 props on since it could use a little more power. Other than that go out about half a mile and was performing fine. I'm so glad I built this thing it's so small but then very capable of longer flights. Much easier to get in the car than the skymule. Hoping to get it all painted up next.

 

[LooseBruce]

Hey guys just wanted to share my fpv mini guinea! Took it out today for its first fpv flight.(Did the maiden LOS and the stabilizer came loose and caused it to pitch into the ground...easy fix with a new nose) I'm running emax pm1806 and hobbykings 10a escs. Thing flies great on a 800mah 3s. I think I'm gonna throw my 6x3 props on since it could use a little more power. Other than that go out about half a mile and was performing fine. I'm so glad I built this thing it's so small but then very capable of longer flights. Much easier to get in the car than the skymule. Hoping to get it all painted up next. View attachment 49523

WOW, that looks great. It makes me want to rebuild mine when I get to FPV.
Very nice job,
LooseBruce

 

[JLT_GTI]

Nice... really well integrated

 

[JLT_GTI]

Im beginning to quite love this bird.. its slowly becaming my all-terrain fun plane.. it can fly in many places thanks to its small size.. if i could remove/refit easily the front gear it would be even more adaptable... but she fits in my car without removing the wing perfectly fine and actually havent removed the wings in nearly a month now.. very easy to just pick , throw in car and fly without delays once you get to the field

I flew it in slope the other day.. it wasnt much great.. it certainly used the extra lift as after 12m flight it had only used about half battery..

but i could barelly keep her in the air without motors.. curiously while she flies great and nice under power .. as soon as i cut the power the nose drops a lot like if it weighted a lot and have to use a lot of elevator to arrest the dive.. even in slope ... but as said she flies perfectly fine under power... of course this is a powered plane..not a glider .. but its weird.. i have other powered planes and they dont do that (even my other twin a 1400mm CL-415)




With the 1306 motors it flies perfectly fine .. it wont have tons of power but it can climb easily still and even do flat spins.. still i ordered a couple of 1806s and will upgrade the motor pods .. more power should be more fun .

good thing i left the stock kit motor pods intact and did scratch ones for the 1306 in case i decided to swap them

 

[AeroMaestro]

I started my first Mini Guinea build last night. It's going very slowly, since I'm doing a 100% tape cover, and this is my first time using tape. I'm learning a lot of lessons in the process, but so far I'm happy with how much stronger the tape is, especially on things like aileron hinges. My original plan was to remove all the paper and replace it with tape, but I lost my nerve. I'm going to do a bead of hot glue around all the outer edges, though, to help prevent future de-lamination.

I've got the wing finished and will start into the fuse tonight. My plan is to make two noses -- one for LOS, and one with FPV built-in, very similar to what Agamoruso posted above. I'm really hoping this turns out to be a fun FPV plane -- like a mini SkyMule. I don't expect it to fly dozens of miles or anything, but this might be a more convenient plane to chuck up in the sky than a big ol' wing or a Bixler. I saw lots of people flying Mini Guineas at the NEFF event, and they're so quiet! Should be fun for FPV, and I'm looking forward to dropping parachute guys -- trying to bomb kids in rowboats in the lake this August.

 

[AeroMaestro]

Thing flies great on a 800mah 3s. I think I'm gonna throw my 6x3 props on since it could use a little more power. View attachment 49523

Beautiful! I'm working on a similar project. I see a GPS antenna; what flight controller are you using?
I've got an old APM 2.6 that I might try, but it'll make a big mess of wires inside.

I've got lots of 450-500mAh 3S batteries sitting around. You're doing OK with 800, I see. Think this plane could drag one of my 2200s into the air?

 

[AeroMaestro]

I finished my build and flew it this morning. It took me three evenings, since I was so slow using tape the first time. I find the plane balances and flies pretty well with my 2200 and 2350mAh 3S batteries. I puffed two small 450mAh batteries before I switched for the bigger ones. I'm thinking I might try to mount a pan/tilt FPV cam on the nose.

 

[JLT_GTI]

cool tape job.. how did she flies with that? wonder if its a bit faster due to smoother surfaces


My 1806s arrived.. so beginning to do the swap building new power pods .. then realiced the FT guys used 1804 motors..so first i got 1306 (too small) and now got 1806s .. power shouildn be an issue now .. not that it was before.. it could launch inmediatly and climb fine with low power consumption.. actually i hope the 1806 wont be much more hungry than the 1306 at low cruise power levels

 

[JLT_GTI]

Well.. DYS 1806 swaped in

will try to fly them tomorrow... but today at home i can do number tests

So before it was 123W (10.65A) doing 450g thrust with the DYS1306-2300kv and GF5030s...

now with the DYS1806-2300 with same GF5030 props i tried 2 batteries:

-1000mAh 3S zippy 35C: 675g thrust - 163.5W(14.3A)
-850mAh 3S nanotech 25/50C: 710g thrust - 179W (15.15A)

So we have a nearly 70% increase in thrust .. and a 50% increase in max power (watts and drain) and thats with the same 5030 props... it should be even much higher using 5045, 6030s or 6045s (the 1806 can take all those props while the 1306 limit was 5030/6020)

On the negative side.. she now is 425-435g (depending on battery) due to heavier motors and probably some repairs here and there.. will see if that affects the flight

 

[highnitro]

Question to those with counter rotating motor setups. Do you modify the power pods to change the thrust angle? From what i can tell the pod has a bit of an offset to counter torque roll. I imagine that you mount your motors straight?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[BridgeInspector]

Question to those with counter rotating motor setups. Do you modify the power pods to change the thrust angle? From what i can tell the pod has a bit of an offset to counter torque roll. I imagine that you mount your motors straight?

Thanks,

Matt

Both of my MG's pods have no angles. Peter Sripol has commented that a firewall angle and counter rotating props is not needed on the Guineas.
My full size MG has 1 CCW and 1 CW prop
My 75% MG has both CCW

Neither has had any issue with thrust or torque roll.

 

[JLT_GTI]

In the FT kit both motor pods come with no angle.. just straight .. i setup mine as counter-rotating props so i dont have torque issues ..but other people who mounted both motors spinning the same way have reported no issues as well...


I just tested my new 1806-2300Kv setup.. power is indeed much superior... take-offs are hilariously short if you just gun it and flat-spins are way easier and funnier.. also vertical climbs and now she can fly arround fairly at 30% throttle... tought you cant ask for climbs

As for power drain curiously it doesnt look higher than before.. at least much..

a 1000mAh 3S flew for 12m and took 780mAh back..and a 850 flew for 11m and took 790mAh (more acrobatic flight)..

So 12m flight times are still there

One thing that im learning with this plane is to keep a bit of throotle while landing.. with a small bit of power she lands really slow and easy.. but if you chop the throttle the nose falls and she heads for ground and its a bit like too nose heavy for flare.. this is something i was wondering about for a long time on some planes... i began flying pure slope soarers.. then moved to power-gliders, sporty foamies and FPV-adapted power gliders.. have very few scale planes and with gliders you chop the throttle to land and even have to use the brakes.. i wondered back then if that would be causing me trouble when flying scale planes like im going to land, i cut the throotle and she goes down like a brick.. in the MG certainly she is definitily much better to land with some power than without.. she flares nice , very slow and controlable landings

 

[highnitro]

In the FT kit both motor pods come with no angle.. just straight .. i setup mine as counter-rotating props so i dont have torque issues ..but other people who mounted both motors spinning the same way have reported no issues as well...


I just tested my new 1806-2300Kv setup.. power is indeed much superior... take-offs are hilariously short if you just gun it and flat-spins are way easier and funnier.. also vertical climbs and now she can fly arround fairly at 30% throttle... tought you cant ask for climbs

As for power drain curiously it doesnt look higher than before.. at least much..

a 1000mAh 3S flew for 12m and took 780mAh back..and a 850 flew for 11m and took 790mAh (more acrobatic flight)..

So 12m flight times are still there

One thing that im learning with this plane is to keep a bit of throotle while landing.. with a small bit of power she lands really slow and easy.. but if you chop the throttle the nose falls and she heads for ground and its a bit like too nose heavy for flare.. this is something i was wondering about for a long time on some planes... i began flying pure slope soarers.. then moved to power-gliders, sporty foamies and FPV-adapted power gliders.. have very few scale planes and with gliders you chop the throttle to land and even have to use the brakes.. i wondered back then if that would be causing me trouble when flying scale planes like im going to land, i cut the throotle and she goes down like a brick.. in the MG certainly she is definitily much better to land with some power than without.. she flares nice , very slow and controlable landings

Thanks for the responses guys. I guess i didnt notice that these Power pods dont have the angle like the scout and other minis have. Also thanks for some landing tips, I'd like to not crash it first time out.

 

[AeroMaestro]

a 1000mAh 3S flew for 12m and took 780mAh back..and a 850 flew for 11m and took 790mAh (more acrobatic flight)..

So 12m flight times are still there

Wow. You're getting much better results than I am with the stock FT powerpack. I've been flying a 2200 and 2350mAh 3S batteries, and I get only 10 minutes. (That pulls my batteries down to about 3.5v per cell.) I have some 6-inch 3-bladed props laying about that I might try, though.

Also, I think my mini guinea might be a lot heavier, since it's completely covered in packing tape. I have to keep a lot of power on all the time (50%+) to prevent stalls. Maybe my battery weight is past the sweet-spot--so it's taking more energy to carry the mass of the battery than the extra capacity is supplying.