Thoughts on a change of direction for the mighty minis.

[Capt_Beavis]

I love Flitetest and the creativity. I started out flying Horizon Hobby planes because of FT then I moved on to speed builds and I am now scratch building. The FT Storch and FT Bloody Baron are amazing planes to fly. I haven't been so enamored of the Minis. It would be nice to have planes that are a little smaller but I am also tired of the UMX sized planes with their inability to handle wind, difficulty in keeping orientation and any kind of a distance The FT Mini Cruiser and Mini Baron share these tendencies, and based on some other comments I have read so do some of the other minis. The A power pack has a ton of power with a 3s. The Tiny Trainer can climb like crazy and is a great compact size (kind of like the Delta Ray). This great power pack over powers some of the small minis when used with a 3s.


Maybe, instead of trying to make the minis as small as possible they were optimized for the power pack? An FT mini cruiser with a little more wing? A baby baron that could glide in like its daddy? I don't want the smallest plane possible, I want a plane that handles well and fits the power pack. If FT wants to go super small, maybe step down the power pack so the plane carries a little less weight? Thoughts?

 

[Torf]

Now that you are into scratch building, here's a thought: try modding the FT planes for more desirable characteristics! It's easy to get started.

There are countless mods you can do to any of these planes. My brother built a mini speedster, but we were not real happy with it's gliding ability, so he make a wing that was 10" longer, removed the wing offset, and placed a spar underneath. It was a whole new plane! The wings were cartoonishly long, but it glided much better and cruised around slower with less throttle, which is what he was after.

I was inspired by both the Radian pro and Winglet's article on a Tiny Trainer soaring wing, so I built a 58.25" long polyhedral wing based on a mashup of the 3ch and 4ch wings. I used quad servos for flap, spoiler, camber, crow, reflex, etc... Works very well!

As you pointed out, the power pack A has plenty of power to spare, so put it to work by making a 150% cruiser? Maybe increase the chord or span of the wing? Emax also makes a MT1804 motor which is smaller, lighter and less powerful than the MT1806 used in the Power Pack A. I have found that this motor makes a really excellent alternative to the MT1806 if you are dedicating it to smaller planes. It's not really big enough for the Tiny Trainer.

 

[Julez]

The other thing I'd like to point out is that the minis really were intended for indoor use, where there really is no wind and you're flying in a relatively small area. While I agree the wind handling and orientation outside is an issue, outside use wasn't the main goal of the mini series.

 

[Capt_Beavis]

Thanks, Torf, I am working up just that. I think my first step will be adding an inch or two the mini baron wing. I want to build my skill before tackling a cruiser. I was thinking a mini spitfire off that wing would be cool.

Julez, that is a good point. I may try a 180 sized motor in my speedster eventually to make it a little lighter.

 

[Tench745]

I love my little scout, but I've found it to be too heavy for indoor flight. If we had a sports complex like the few shows the FT folks have done it'd be plenty slow/manueverable. However, as built with all it's paper on and 5g servos, the scout isn't made to fly in the elementary school cafeteria we use locally. That said, I have had little problem getting it to behave in even significant amounts of wind. I am not using the FT power pack however. I have (I believe) a 6x5 bullnose with an unknown motor (presumably an eflite park 300) running on a 2s 150mah battery.

 

[wlouisharris2000]

I'm loving the Tiny trainer. Right now, I'd like to find a plane that could emulate my UMX T-28. I love the T-28 but the micro size makes it very unstable in winds. I tried the scout but had problems getting it to fly. I'm considering a 60% Spitfire.

 

[dgrigor02]

I'm considering a 60% Spitfire.

It's really fun and nice to fly. 500mah 3s on 1804 5X4 prop is my favorite setup. Not lighting fast but plenty fast for a small park near unlimited vertical. Can handle 10-15mph wind just fine for me.

I've built 3 of them now all with no rudder. I no longer try to slide the wing through the slot becuase its realy thin underneath and the thickness of the foam board makes it harder to fit. Just cut the bottom of the fuse and glue it under. Skip the trail edge spar piece since the foam is thicker in proportion to the wing anyways. To balance easier since the front is pretty cramped and can't move the batter much, you will need to reposition the elevator servo near the wing. It does need quite a bit of down thrust in addition to the standard right thrust on the minipods. Also does better a bit more more nose heavy than you normally would with larger versions.

I have the 100%, 80%, and 60%. All fly great as is with little to no mods other than cut the A/B folds ( or if you good enough to change the plans ).

 

[Buzzmonster]

I really like the current direction of the mighty mini series and am looking forward to some more being released this winter. They are a perfect size to fly in my back yard, the standard size are just too big.

 

[Capt_Beavis]

I started on a new wing for the baby baron. +1" over camber on each side.

 

[Capt_Beavis]

I did the maiden today. It seemed more stable. I did get into one stall spin but the plane recovered on its own just above the ground and landed right side up.

 

[97tj-neil]

It's really fun and nice to fly. 500mah 3s on 1804 5X4 prop is my favorite setup. Not lighting fast but plenty fast for a small park near unlimited vertical. Can handle 10-15mph wind just fine for me.

I've built 3 of them now all with no rudder. I no longer try to slide the wing through the slot becuase its realy thin underneath and the thickness of the foam board makes it harder to fit. Just cut the bottom of the fuse and glue it under. Skip the trail edge spar piece since the foam is thicker in proportion to the wing anyways. To balance easier since the front is pretty cramped and can't move the batter much, you will need to reposition the elevator servo near the wing. It does need quite a bit of down thrust in addition to the standard right thrust on the minipods. Also does better a bit more more nose heavy than you normally would with larger versions.

I have the 100%, 80%, and 60%. All fly great as is with little to no mods other than cut the A/B folds ( or if you good enough to change the plans ).

Based on this post, I built a 60% Spitfire this weekend. Mine has a Park 250 motor, 6x4 prop and a 450 mAh 3S. With this combo it flies really well.

 

[kacknor]

I have the same problems outdoors with the Mini's, but my indoor location in Winter is large enough for them.

I built an 80% Old Speedster that works well for an intermediate size. Small enough for my indoors because it's very slow, large enough to see outside. It's wind ability is only fair though. 8 to 10 mph is tops.

I also added flaps and ailerons. With full flaps is just crawls along and floats on by.

Here it is hanging between a Mini Sportster and a two Tiny Trainers for size comparison...



Didn't decorate it much, just duct & gaffer tape.

JD

 

[97tj-neil]

The boy and I both got a lot of flying time in today with the awesome weather we had. I ran 3 batteries through my 60% FT Spitfire, and I get more impressed with this plane every time I fly it. I highly recommend this build.