FT Mini Scout Build (Mighty Minis)

[dews]

I have just put aileron on my Scout and it transformed the plane, it's greater!

I used one 9g servo in the middle on top of the wing, aileron size 2cm x 20cm on the inner part of the wing.

Sweet. I will do some cutting tonight. If I can't go fly I have to at least cut some foam.

 

[T-Richard]

Been working on the mini scout from plans and building a combat wing as well, not a bad weekend. Hope to try both this week

 

[nerdnic]

I would love to hear what motors everyone is using on their minis. If you've built one and have successfully maddened please post your electrinic specs for the benefit of others who don't have access to the exact motors suggested by FT.

 

[saf99]

My setup

Turnigy Park250 Brushless Outrunner 2050kv

HobbyKing 6A ESC 0.5A UBEC

2x Turnigy TS541A Analog Nano Servo 0.12 0.7kg 4.3g

1x 9g servo for aileron

ZIPPY Compact 850mAh

7x4 prop

 

[Nathan_116]

What do you all think of this motor

www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__5353__FC_28_05_Brushless_Outrunner_2840Kv.html

It weighs only 2g more than the rtf wuads one but has 400+ more kv. Also this motor I have been looking at for a mini quad/tri

www.myrcmart.com/rcx-1804-2400kv-micro-outrunner-brushless-motor-clockwise-p-6281.html

also, the motor that flitetest listed from nanggood is available cheaper here:

www.myrcmart.com/rcx-h18066-2400kv-...0300-frame-accepting-preorder-now-p-7990.html

 

[Okie]

ok my setup is dys 1806 2300kv hobbyking 10 amp esc ad a emp 6x3 prop 9g servos and a 1000mah zippy 25c 3s and it is blast I haven't tried 2s yet the wind picked up a bit and now its blowing about 20 -30 mph

 

[ruud]

I would love to hear what motors everyone is using on their minis. If you've built one and have successfully maddened please post your electrinic specs for the benefit of others who don't have access to the exact motors suggested by FT.

Maidened my Mini Scout this morning. Using the following parts:

• Power Up 250 Sport motor (17 g, 2300 Kv)
• GWS 6x3 DD propeller
• 10A ESC
• 730 mAh 2S battery
• 2 x TowerPro 5 g servos

Power-wise it was fine but it felt tail-heavy in the air and very wind-sensitive. Going to try with a few coins in the power-pod next time.

Hope this helps.

 

[T-Richard]

My mini scout maiden

Flew well, I was in a small area so less than ideal. I wasn't so optomistic at first but it flew

My gear
multistar 1706 1900kv 5x3 3blade prop
10amp esc (random from a donkey combo)
HK 5g, not sure which, theyre old white but work
610 3s rhino
tiny orange 4ch receiver

I increased throws on the rudder and i'll move the battery back a bit, it was nose heavy but I wanted to play it safe

 

[Teirdome]

I wasn't so optomistic at first but it flew

...

My gear
multistar 1706 1900kv 5x3 3blade prop
610 3s rhino

Great flight! Landings always terrify me whenever I don't have a large field.

That seemed like your Scout had a ton of power. Why weren't you very optimistic about it?

 

[herk1]

My very lightweight FT Mini Scout build for indoor flight

I was skeptical as to whether the Scout with the recommended equipment and normal build as in the build video would be light enough to fly in my club's winter indoor arena. So I took extra measures to make a very lightweight build. (Note: I did NOT reduce the scale of the plans)

The result: my FT Mini Scout's AUW is four and one-half ounces (127 grams). That's including landing gear, and a 2S 350 mAh LiPo. If I take off the landing gear (which I made removable) and go to a 180 mAh LiPo (which the plane will still balance with), the AUW is under four ounces!...to be specific, 3.8 oz (109 grams)

My power system is a Hextronik 10-gram motor, paired with a Turnigy Plush 6-amp ESC, on 2S LiPo. I have used this power system with several other planes in this weight category, so I knew if I could keep the weight down on the Scout, that would be all the power it would need.

I did several things to save weight:

1) I removed lots (but not all) of the paper from the Dollartree foam. Some parts I removed the paper from one side (wing, main fuse and lower fuse); some parts I removed it from BOTH sides of the foam board (horizontal and vertical stab),

2) I used white Gorilla Glue almost exclusively for the build instead of hot-glue (which is heavier),

3) I moved the servos (HXT500's) forward, and extended the nose 1/2". This allowed me to use a smaller motor and battery up front and still achieve CG without dead weight. I actually went a little too far on this, because even the smaller of the two size batteries I use is not full forward to achieve recommended CG. And the larger battery has to be placed back almost to the servos. So if I did the build over, I would fine-tune this part some.

4) I used .055 music wire for the landing gear instead of .063 (since the model is lighter, the skinnier size is OK).

I maidened the plane today (outdoors), and flew it with the two different size LiPos. The power was a little weak with the 180 mAh, but with the 350 mAh, it was good and strong, as with other planes I have used this power system with. It climbs strongly, has decent speed, and will loop from level flight. Basically it's more power than needed for indoor flight. I look forward to giving it a try indoors later this month, when my club's indoor flying season starts.

 

[T-Richard]

I was apprehensive more because I figured i'd end up in a tree. I planned on flying in the baseball field but they are always locked and hopping the fence with a plane and radio isn't worth trying. I increased the throws on rudder 125% on my radio and it flew better in my tight space

Gonna try tomorrow in a bigger area where I can really put it to the test... maybe try proper take off and landings

 

[Okie]

how was the down thrust on your plane ? om mine with increased throttle in put my plane noses down a lot

 

[T-Richard]

how was the down thrust on your plane ? om mine with increased throttle in put my plane noses down a lot

had no issues. There is a very visible down-trust on mine, seems they got the angle right. Perhaps you didn't press the rear of the power pod all the way against the upper fuselage giving it the right downwards angle? if that's not it you can shim the motor for down trust at the power pod itself. I've used spacer on motor mounts to adjust these issues in the past with good success

 

[area77]

Aileron set up?

I have just put aileron on my Scout and it transformed the plane, it's greater!

I used one 9g servo in the middle on top of the wing, aileron size 2cm x 20cm on the inner part of the wing.

Please post some pics of your aileron set up so we all can tweek to perfection!

Thanks!

 

[dews]

20141112 104715 mp4: http://youtu.be/us_JCTQAVNo
right after my maiden I did a little one handed flying to get some video.

I have not added ailerons yet. Wanted to see if it flew at all first. Now that I know it is a good flyer I will definitely add them.

//Dews

 

[ruud]

Power-wise it was fine but it felt tail-heavy in the air and very wind-sensitive. Going to try with a few coins in the power-pod next time.

It was completely calm this morning, and with 5 nickels in the front of the powerpod my Mini Scout flew a lot better.

 

[LooseBruce]

Great job on keeping your Scout light. It was very smart to extend the nose. I will do that if I built another one. Also, I didn't pay attention and mounted my 9 gram servos too far back. My plane slow but slower would be better indoors.
Thanks for your input,
LooseBruce

 

[herk1]

I think that just removing the paper from both sides of the stabs is a big help in making the plane less tail-heavy, so you can use smaller batteries (and/or smaller motors) without the CG being too far aft. Then, since you don't have the paper as a hinge, I hinged with Blenderm tape (or you could just do a hot-glue hinge). It only saved 5 grams, but that's 5 grams at the farthest point from the CG. So it's the equivalent of saving 15 grams (half an ounce!) from the nose (since the nose is a third of the distance from the CG as the center of the tail parts).

 

[dews]

Ailerons made it a hole different airplain. It can still be a calm experience but it has the potential to do a lot of the standard acrobatics, and it handles winwind very well.



/dews

 

[toomuchcookies]

I started building my first mini scout. I built it using black foam board, because i have a laser cutter, but it features a tiny 2W laser diode which was not able to cut through white foam board nicely. But it also gives the plane a nice look imho. (although my gluing does not look very pretty..)



I still have a question: How far back does the power pod go with the emax motor? Should it lie only on the front folded foam board (the one connected to the front former) and on point on the back side or does it go behind the front folded foam board?

Thanks.