Mighty Mini Bf-109 Swappable - Build Thread

[localfiend]

I finally finished mine!! Everything was working and with nice calm weather, I maidened it, or at least tried. The first flight my brother's finger caught the elevator as he threw it and the plane was tail heavy. both those ended in a 3 second flight. Next flight, the prop broke when the plane was nose heavy and crashed, but I also noticed it kind of skidding to one side, like the V stab was too small, leading to almost no directional stability. The third and final "flight" ended when upon launch, the plane skidded into a sort of flat turn. My inputs had no effect on the turn-skid and it dove into the ground.

What could be causing it? I immediately thought of the V stab not being big enough, but other people have flown the same plane with no problems, so I don't know.

Sorry to hear it didn't work for you. Sounds like all your issues stem from CG and that first crash. I think I need to write up an article on MM sized planes and triple checking your CG. Would be handy to link in the first post for all my MM sized planes and would save a lot of grief.

When you're flying at this size you need to be really accurate when setting your CG, just winging it doesn't really cut it on small planes as being off by just a little bit is like being off by a lot on a big one. It's really best to measure cg with something other than your fingers at this size.

A pencil stand, or just holding a couple pencils is a really good way to check things. Found this picture on google.



As they say, a nose heavy plane flies poorly and a tail heavy plane flies once.

My guess is you probably messed up your motor angle on the first crash and after each one it got moved a little further. If the motor gets tweaked out of line it's not always obvious at a glance unless you check it specifically. A motor at a couple degrees too much angle in any direction can easily make your plane skid through the air and not fly.

This is one of the most stable MM sized planes I've flown so far, largely in part due to the long moment arm.

I have found the best battery for all of the mini swappables on A-pack to be a 450 mAh 3S. When I move up to F pack, I usually go to a slightly larger 3S, maybe an 800 mAh. I think a 1300 will be too heavy for such a small plane.

Yup I agree. 800-850 3s is pretty much all I use. A 450-500 3s would also be a good size, I need to order a few of those.

While this plane will carry a 1300 3s, I don't recommend it unless you're at the point where you enjoy pushing limits and are sure of your skills.

 

[DarkFire]

Where is the CG for this plane? I know it was on the plans but i marked it and assembled the wing then realized the mark was inside the wing

Thanks,
Dark

 

[localfiend]

Where is the CG for this plane? I know it was on the plans but i marked it and assembled the wing then realized the mark was inside the wing

Thanks,
Dark

Yeah, the CG marks are on the upper wing so that it ends up in the right place after folding. I like to take a BBQ skewer and poke holes through the foam on the CG marks of all my planes. Makes it really easy to find them.

Try 1 inch back from the leading edge in the place where the CG marks are on the plans. Very slight nose down at that mark is a good place to start.

 

[Fluburtur]

I really need to build myself one, I got my friend a 52cm P51 (wingspan) and he will soon get a micro fpv cam and maybe re-engine it with a proper motor.

I want to do races with him, it won't be very scale but it will be fun for sure!

(I just calculated, I will need to rescale your plans to 74% for them to be scale. What motor/battery could I fit in that? I have a spare 1650kv motor but it already has some punch on a 1m F-16)

 

[localfiend]

I really need to build myself one, I got my friend a 52cm P51 (wingspan) and he will soon get a micro fpv cam and maybe re-engine it with a proper motor.

I want to do races with him, it won't be very scale but it will be fun for sure!

(I just calculated, I will need to rescale your plans to 74% for them to be scale. What motor/battery could I fit in that? I have a spare 1650kv motor but it already has some punch on a 1m F-16)

Maybe something like this with a 500mah 2-3 cell. I've used a couple of them on small planes with good results.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-multistar-1704-2300kv-12-pole-multi-rotor-outrunner-v2.html

Some 3.7g servos might be a good idea too. I've had good luck with these even in mm sized planes.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigytm-tgy-1370a-servo-0-4kg-0-10sec-3-7g.html

 

[Fluburtur]

Well I was thinking that a 3000kv mini outrunner and a 2s could make my friend's plane move quite good (at least better than the brushed motor)

Too bad 5g servos and smaller are more expensive than regular 9g ones, at least I have a few somewhere.

I just printed the plans and they are so tiny, oh my crap this will be fun to build!

 

[p0ke117]

I'll be watching this thread with eager anticipation, I'm close to finishing the mini P-51 and it would be great to have somthing for it to dog fight with

If only we had a G model 109 or an A model P-51. Having a P-51D dogfight with a 109 Emile variant would tick some history nuts off XD

Anyways, this 109 build makes me want to make my own mighty mini 190!

 

[localfiend]

If only we had a G model 109 or an A model P-51. Having a P-51D dogfight with a 109 Emile variant would tick some history nuts off XD

Anyways, this 109 build makes me want to make my own mighty mini 190!

Go for it! Designing and then building your own designs is a lot of fun. You could also just modify this one to get some G model characteristics. That's the great thing about foamboard it's quick for prototyping or small changes.

 

[Jayrod0821@gmail]

mighty mini bf109

ive got around to building the 109, still need to install electric. props to the designer.

 

[liamnave]

We need to start a war thunder squad

 

[Blacktriplane30]

First of all thank you soooo much for these awesome plans! But is there anyway you help me with knowing what parts go where for the poster board pieces?

 

[Lufthouse]

Very cool! I love the German warbirds! And love the minis!

 

[Blacktriplane30]

What are you using for control rods on this build? What gauge wire?

 

[Michael9865]

localfiend, what is the possibility of getting your pictures showing again? Thank you!

 

[Strider38]

After building a couple of Spitfire's i saw this and the 39" and have to build these both, today got the templates all done so will start building soon. Great looking plane and great plans and optional decals are awesome

 

[Strider38]

Trying to build both the mini and the bigger plane going ok but I think I must be doing something wrong maybe making card templates or when cutting out the foam as part of the fuselage looks wonky I think it's the small section near the back. Either that or my building skills are to blame. I'll try and finish both and see how they come out

 

[N0cNoc]

just printed out the plans today, Hopefully I'll figure out how it all goes together

 

[Sly Fox]

Is there a build video or steps to follow? Noticed that you remove paper on the nose portion, guessing to do some forming but not sure.

 

[Jimbo7636]

Oops. I was looking at pictures a few hours ago to see how hard this might be to do. Didn't plan on drawing anything yet, but it just kinda happened.


24.25" Wingspan, and should work well with both the F and the A power packs. I anticipate that weight will be similar to all the other mighty mini warbirds, and I'm hoping it will also be able to be built under 250 grams.



Here's the PDF of what I'll be building from for those who might want to look more closely. I imagine that a lot will change, like usual. I also won't have the formers, canopy, or decking stuff done until I fit stuff together by hand first.

Mighty Mini Bf-109 Beta v.1 Plans Tiled

I know most people don't put up plans until later in development, but I think it can be helpful to watch the process through from the beginning. If you're thinking about designing your own stuff, seeing other's early mistakes might help you out.

Should have been working on other projects, (have the new fuselage design for the Hughes Devastator printed out and awaiting building) but my work table is covered in fish tank stuff at the moment.

After this last work week being so busy I needed something to relieve some stress. I did some looking around the forums, and found some full size BF-109's and some 800mm versions that were based off the spitfire. Some of them looked pretty darn good, but they had a bit too much spitfire in them for me to want to shrink them down. Looks like TOWNC might be building a mini version, but it's way down towards the bottom of his list.


So, I decided to draw from a 3-view like I normally do:



Should be able to keep a lot more of the scale details this way. The Bf-109 is weird, the horizontal stabilizer is above the pilots head! This will be getting the full clear canopy treatment, and depending on how the hatch design turns out, I may just fit a scale cockpit into it from the beginning. The Bf-109 nose is way longer than the zero, so I should have plenty of room for added detail without worrying too much about balancing.

**********************************************

Most Recent Version is Beta v.2

Mighty Mini Bf 109 Beta v.2 Full
Mighty Mini Bf 109 Beta v.2 Tiled

This looks really good, I just cant get the links to work for the mighty mini bf 109. can you give me a newer link that is working? Thanks Jim

 

[FishbonesAir]

So, I'll be organizing pictures of the build, and cleaning up plans for a build-able . I think they're pretty much ready to go. Nothing really I want to change off the top of my head except for a bit of cosmetic work on the nose.

Old thread, but where do we find the buildable release? 🤔