FT Mini Scout Newbie Challenge

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Thank you. Unfortunately, the build is dead in the water. I can't get the second Turnigy rx to bind with my Turnigy 9X, so I can't center the servos and complete the build. I'm done for the night. The Mini Scout will not be ready for Saturday.

I've watched three separate videos on binding the darn thing. They plug stuff up, hold the button on the back of the tx and the receiver binds. I can't get mine to bind. It's 0330. I'll have to tackle it another day.

You've already convinced me to add the lost plane detector to my next HobbyKing order. I think I'll be adding a servo centering device as well. Had I one, I could have at least completed the build and after flying the Tiny Trainer Saturday, I would have been able to just swap the receiver from one plane to another.
 

FastCrash45

Elite member
Well I just finished my 3rd official unofficial flight. 6min 31secs. Full flight time on my old 800mah battery. My plane was built with WAY too much glue and a motor thats twice as heavy than what's recommended. It's a perfect day for flying so I'm prepping all my batteries now to continue on. My batteries are 9-13yrs old so probably not up to current specs. New batteries will be herr tomorrow so ill ser if i can get a longer pull. Even with l the xtra weight that little plane floats along nicely. I'm back in the skies again!!!😁
 

mayan

Legendary member
Well I just finished my 3rd official unofficial flight. 6min 31secs. Full flight time on my old 800mah battery. My plane was built with WAY too much glue and a motor thats twice as heavy than what's recommended. It's a perfect day for flying so I'm prepping all my batteries now to continue on. My batteries are 9-13yrs old so probably not up to current specs. New batteries will be herr tomorrow so ill ser if i can get a longer pull. Even with l the xtra weight that little plane floats along nicely. I'm back in the skies again!!!😁
Nice!
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Well I just finished my 3rd official unofficial flight. 6min 31secs. Full flight time on my old 800mah battery. My plane was built with WAY too much glue and a motor thats twice as heavy than what's recommended. It's a perfect day for flying so I'm prepping all my batteries now to continue on. My batteries are 9-13yrs old so probably not up to current specs. New batteries will be herr tomorrow so ill ser if i can get a longer pull. Even with l the xtra weight that little plane floats along nicely. I'm back in the skies again!!!😁

Yes, yes, YES! Booyah! I get excited every single time somebody flies the Challenge. Why not? It's fun!! :D OK. Too much glue (I 'might' be familiar with that, or no, I know this guy who...) OK. Yes. Yes I am familiar with that. :p A motor that's twice as heavy as recommended and we'll call them 11-year old batteries. Whew! I can't believe that thing flew at all! ;) Plus, you flew it for Six Minutes and Thirty-One Seconds!

Ladies and Gentleman! I present you with.... The Updated LeaderBoard!!
MiniScoutChallengeLB-13.jpg

Two minutes, then twelve seconds, then six and a half minutes? What the heck??!! Maybe more glue, overweight components and worn-out, under-spec batteries are the way to go! :eek::unsure: That's an incredible improvement! Thank you @FastCrash45!
 

Piotrsko

Master member
Been doing this forever, but a nagging question comes to mind: what is the big important nonsense about having the servo centered with electronics? Turn the stupid arm to 90 degrees to the case and soldier on with the surfaces centered. You do have servo reverse and trim, expo and rate, there 12 ways to install the servo arm. And you whippersnappers have WAY more skills than us old fogeys ever dreamt about.
 
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Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
Been doing this forever, but a nagging question comes to mind: what is the big important nonsense about having the servo centered with electronics? Turn the stupid arm to 90 degrees to the case and soldier on with the surfaces centered. You do have servo reverse and trim, expo and rate, there 12 ways to install the servo arm. And you whippersnappers have WAY more skills than us old fogeys ever dreamt about.
Centering the servo and fitting the servo output arm in the correct position for best operation, (at right angles to the control horn-nominally), is a good habit even if not actually required for most builds.

Where it is compulsory is where you effectively build the plane around the servo and access to the servo is not either easy or possible when the plane is completed. I learned its value as a build step when I started building in FB even though my start in building RC was in the 1970s.

Have fun!
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
For those following the challenge or even competing in it, officially or not, I have not been able to supply videos of my claimed flights until the last couple of days. Whilst I did not record a real video of my first claimed flight - 6 min 48 - I did record a video of the last flight claimed at this time - 9 min 29.

To view the video just click on the link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WJRgWH0W11XKHr9Ai767Vx0Qg3uyFCfh/view?usp=sharing

As an interesting feature there is a 'Near miss" just after launch:eek:

Have fun!
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
For those following the challenge or even competing in it, officially or not, I have not been able to supply videos of my claimed flights until the last couple of days. Whilst I did not record a real video of my first claimed flight - 6 min 48 - I did record a video of the last flight claimed at this time - 9 min 29.

To view the video just click on the link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WJRgWH0W11XKHr9Ai767Vx0Qg3uyFCfh/view?usp=sharing

As an interesting feature there is a 'Near miss" just after launch:eek:

Have fun!
Oh my. I got to watch Hai-Lee's flight! It was glorious! You've shown me just how well that little bird can fly. It was glorious. (I'm re-reading and I wrote that twice. Well there you go!) Thank you for that.
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
I realized I could partially strip the TT (Gotta love that modular nose!) Just unplug the TT servos and plug the servos in that I wanted to center. So I did that. Today was a work day. I know I'm brain dead. I didn't care. I was so close to having that plane, if not complete, at least flyable. I did this!
IMG_0257.JPG


It is decidedly unfinished. I even missed ironing in some places. Darn it, that's a Mini Scout, and I'm going to complete the Challenge so I can just throw it in air and then fly the darn thing afterwards!

There is so much that is less than optimal, that I won't even list them. It's darn five O-Clock in the morning, and I finished it after a Friday night at work. Guaranteed I screwed something up. I do not care. She is going in the air once. To complete my part of the Official Challenge. With luck she'll go up many more times, unofficially. Weather permitting. We fly later today!
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
Only got in a single flight this morning using a 1300 2S battery that is almost 2 years old and rarely used, (mostly stored at full charge). Sadly it turned out to be the last flight of my mini scout as it has now been stripped and gifted to a person who was visiting the field and showed a genuine interest in becoming a fixed wing flier!

As this is going to be my last challenge entry, (unofficial), i thought it should be better than before and so I claim 12 minutes 35 seconds. Video to follow as it is taking forever to process it down from many Gigs to a reasonable file size! Now sure of the seconds as I can access the edited file now that the saving and converting process is completed!

Link to video: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Jt1FIxLg2FG8MEa3bL4U4rTDmwqOl26n

I enjoyed the challenge and learned a lot!

Have fun!
 
Last edited:

mayan

Legendary member
Only got in a single flight this morning using a 1300 2S battery that is almost 2 years old and rarely used, (mostly stored at full charge). Sadly it turned out to be the last flight of my mini scout as it has now been stripped and gifted to a person who was visiting the field and showed a genuine interest in becoming a fixed wing flier!

As this is going to be my last challenge entry, (unofficial), i thought it should be better than before and so I claim 12 minutes 35 seconds. Video to follow as it is taking forever to process it down from many Gigs to a reasonable file size! Not exactly sure of the seconds though as I cannot access the edited file until the saving and converting process is completed!

Link to video: TBA

I enjoyed the challenge and learned a lot!

Have fun!
Man I need to see a video of 12+-. You really are an inspiration and I am really happy that me and @buzzbomb opened this up to everybody I’ve learned a lot from it too :).
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
Man I need to see a video of 12+-. You really are an inspiration and I am really happy that me and @buzzbomb opened this up to everybody I’ve learned a lot from it too :).
Edited my previous post with link!

My laptop undertakes background tasks at the weirdest times. Now is one of them!

Have fun!
 

FastCrash45

Elite member
Well I'm pretty bummed out. I was close to 9 minutes (thanks to new batteries) and my motor destroyed itself. I put the throttle up to get some height for glide time and the bell pulled off the rotor!! The whole front end with the prop and everything sailed off to the wild blue yonder!! Plane flipped and flopped to the ground and somewhere in 1800 acres is the bell and prop!!! I guess I need to add a step in preflight, tug on the prop and make sure the bell is attached. The shaft is still in the housing. I was on the way to busting records and I only busted my plane. WAHHH😭😢😭😢😭😢
 

FastCrash45

Elite member
@FastCrash45 I am so bumed out that's not on video. I'd love to see what happened. Your story makes me wonder what it would look like :).
Without the motor bell the cg made it tail heavy and it floated like a heavy piece of paper with the front occasionally catching up to the rear. It flipped length ways a couple times. It wasn't very dramatic except for the blue issuing from my lips. Didn't do much to the plane except grease the right wing tip and loosened the motor pod a bit. I would like to find the prop and bell though. As for video, that would have had a LOT of VERY loud music to cover the blue streaming. Luckily got a new 2205 to put on it😁😁