The Miniac Ju-87 Stuka

Matagami Designs

Master member
Just got finished building the @MiniacRC Ju-87 Stuka. I really think it turned out great. The plans he has provided are done very well and the model looks very accurate in scale with plenty of the details captured.

See the article here: https://www.flitetest.com/articles/ft-style-mighty-mini-ju-87-stuka-free-plans

I also made a few tweaks, tapering the wheel pants at the trailing edge, adding poster-board covering to fill out the cannons and cutting a shaped tail strut from a jumbo sized Popsicle stick.

The only issue i had was making a modified firewall so that the wires coming off of the "f" pack motor could be properly routed to the fuse. But this was all done easily enough. I actually think this rotated bolt pattern works very well.

If you are looking for a fun "mighty mini" sized build and have already made a few planes i would definitely recommend building one of these.

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MiniacRC

Well-known member
Holy ... Friggin ....$!++ !!!!
That thing is gorgeous! I can't believe the mini Stuka looks THAT good. Beautiful build brother. I think in retrospect I made the plane a little too small and so the motor wires always were a pain to route :(
I loved how mine flew and hope yours flies the same. Watch out for the p factor on take off but if the fuse isnt crooked it should take right off !
 

Mozella

Member
Beautiful airplane. I'm a big fan of combining the DTFB construction with a few 3D printed plastic parts to produce a composite airplane which enjoys the benefits of both materials. This Stuka just begs for a 3D printed cowling, 3D printed canopy, and 3D printed wheel pants. It would both increase the scale appeal and reduce the building time.

I used a 3D printed nose quite successfully on my DTFB Viggen EDF.
 

Matagami Designs

Master member
Thanks everyone, I'll see if i can get some video @buzzbomb of the maiden although with my piloting skills it wont stay pretty for very long. :LOL:

Got to say again the detail @MiniacRC put into these plans is top notch. I love the look of the cannon bird. Should be even better with the spinner up front.

I mooched my friends Prusa too much in my F-14 build to ask for much more from him but definitely agree. I would love to glue on some exhaust and a grill to the scoop @Mozella .
 

Matagami Designs

Master member
Well i lawn-darted the Stuka over the weekend. :rolleyes: I had a bit of trouble pulling out of a dive. When i gave the controls some pitch up it rolled instead? I'm guessing this has to do with the torsion link that connects the two sides of the elevator on this design. It seems fine in static conditions but I'm betting the force of air over this surfaces keeps the torsion bar from working effectively. If i can get it glued back together i will have to experiment with gluing them together using a BBQ skewer via a slot in the rudder. Maybe i will try the 'A' pack motor as well since this thing feels like a rocket to me. :LOL:

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BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Well i lawn-darted the Stuka over the weekend. :rolleyes: I had a bit of trouble pulling out of a dive. When i gave the controls some pitch up it rolled instead? I'm guessing this has to do with the torsion link that connects the two sides of the elevator on this design. It seems fine in static conditions but I'm betting the force of air over this surfaces keeps the torsion bar from working effectively. If i can get it glued back together i will have to experiment with gluing them together using a BBQ skewer via a slot in the rudder. Maybe i will try the 'A' pack motor as well since this thing feels like a rocket to me. :LOL:

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Quick question... What Rx are you using and how long have you been using it?... I guess that's 2 questions lol

Actually I just zoomed in on it and barely got a read on the model. I use the same Rx or used. Placement of that Rx is subject to radio transparency or the lack of for that matter due to it's internal antenna. It may be messed with as far as being to close to other electronics, servos or metal like control rods. I don't know how much experience you have with it but those were some issues I faced. LOS was a big one for me
 
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Matagami Designs

Master member
They are spektrum AR620 receivers. I have only had them for a short while. never really thought it could be LOS. I guess I will look into that as well. Thanks for the tip.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
They are spektrum AR620 receivers. I have only had them for a short while. never really thought it could be LOS. I guess I will look into that as well. Thanks for the tip.
@Hai-Lee schooled me on communication from Tx to RX. made some changes to how I mount the AR620 and my flight experiences did a 180 from the dark side. I am going to change to Lemon Rx for now though. I have lost to many Spektrum ones this summer to be spending $50(CA) a pop.

What I had to do was design a open compartment to house the Rx under the bottom of the plane separate from any other electronics away from any metal with the back of the Rx facing down. If you open up the AR620 and pull out the board you will see the built in antenna right at the back. It needs all the unobstructed exposure it can get to work consistently, and it takes away from the clean lines of the plane having a hole in the bottom plate. My suggestion... use something with external antennas. That's my 2 cents
 

Matagami Designs

Master member
Well this plane has been on the shelf for a while. As with my mini mustang. After flying my simple scout so much this year I decided to go back to try these mighty minis again. The mini mustang didn't disappoint. It took me a few trys to get it in the air but I had a blast with it on Friday. Did you know that the cheap 6030 /6040? props you get on amazon dont stand a chance on an F pack? Lol 😂 about a minute in and there was some bad sounds and had to do a dead stick on the mustang. That all being said I have some renewed faith in my ability to pilot one of these minis so I decide to fix the stuka and cooked up a mean 3d printed motor mount. Not sure the forecast is looking too great for this week but if I get a chance some day after work I will have to try and put this back in the air.
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Matagami Designs

Master member
Well it was a beautiful evening and got a few flights in on the simple scout. I wish I could say that things went great for the stuka but ended in a failure revisited. Not sure if it was from the left wing being slightly warped from storage or the squishy elevator or maybe just a few poor handlauches by me. Anyway the stuka is dead now and I think that's ok. On to another old project I had. I'm thinking of putting this motor in the tomcat and run it as a twin pusher and see if it flys or not. 🤔😂
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