Micro DH.88 Comet "Black Magic"
I've always been an aviation nerd and I like interesting stories. The DH.88 Comet, built specifically for the 1934 MacRobertson air race, definitely has an interesting story. This particular comet, G-ACSP "Black Magic" is one of two surviving original planes. Though not as famous as "Grosvenor House," (the red one) Black Magic holds several records of her own: England-Karachi during the 1934 MacRoberston air race, and later as "Salazar" after being sold, set and then broke her own record for London-Lisbon in 5hrs 27min in 1937.
This build was made up as I went, no plan other than a picture of the plane. I wanted to use old toy quad motors so I knew roughly the size and weight I'd be limited to. I used the rolled foam (master series) technique mostly which is fairly tricky on something this small. (The fuse is only 1" wide) The electronics are quite small and delicate. It required a lot of soldering on components like the ESC's which are about the size of my pinky fingernail. Because of the size, I'd rate this build:
Build: 4.5
I did the maiden before paint because if any shifting of the CG was required I would have to do surgery. Luckily it came out about right. It flew surprisingly well for such a small and light plane and also proved to be reasonably durable. With a little trimming I think I could get her some better low speed manners and if I had it to do again I would go with an As3x receiver. Due to the small size and its affinity to quickly enter a tip stall at low speeds, particularly when trying to land I'd rate the flying experience:
Flight Characteristics: 4
All in all I'm pleased with how she turned out. Its a nice piece to add to my fleet, an homage to an early pioneering airplane. I do plan to do this build again a bit larger with some brushless motors, a bit more like a Mini Master series build and shoot for sub 250 to make a fun FPV platform. Since this was a scratch build with no real plans, I don't have a lot to offer in tips and tricks other than any time you build something this small, even the simple stuff gets exponentially harder!