Keitha
Feb 25, 2004, 01:00 AM
!Introduction
| spec2
| @905769
| Specifications
|> <b>Wingspan:</b> |< 60 inches
|> <b>Wing area:</b> |< 298 sq. in.
|> <b>Airfoil:</b> |< RG15 mod (7%)
|> <b>Length:</b> |< 35 inches
|> <b>Weight:</b> |< 34 ounces
|> <b>Ballast:</b> |< up to 12 ounces
|> <b>Radio:</b> |< 2 HS-125MG servos for the wing, HS-81mg or similar for the V-tail, 5 cell 720mAh NiMH battery. Berg 5 DSP or similar.
|> <b>Construction:</b> |< 2 piece Carbon reinforced fiberglass wing and Carbon reinforced fiberglass fuselage with molded ballast tube
|> <b>Available from:</b> |< <a href="http://www.soaringusa.com">SoaringUSA</a>
|> <b>Review Thanks:</b> |< <a href="http://www.hitecrcd.com">Hitec RCD</a>
The 60” Mini Blade from <a href="http://www.soaringusa.com">SoaringUSA</a> is my first non-foamy slope plane. After building and flying the Mini Blade my only regret is that I waited so long to add a composite slope plane to my quiver. The Mini Blade would have to be voted “best bang for the buck” in high-performance gliders. The level of quality and completeness is great for any plane, but for a composite sloper well under $300 it is remarkable.
The price point and ease of assembly of the Mini Blade make it easy to enter the high performance world of “moldy” slope planes. You could easily have the Mini Blade from the package to maiden flight with one evening of work. All the control surfaces come out of the packaging pre-hinged and the fuselage on my version has a molded “shotgun” style ballast tube. The only true building of the Mini Blade is fitting the push-rods, installing the radio gear, and balancing the plane. The Mini Blade is also great for travel/portability as the wings are two piece and the V-tail is easily removable.
!Kit Contents
@905770:Part Inventory
Assembly of the Mini Blade is simple and straight forward. The parts were securely bubble-wrapped to protect them from the rigors of shipping and were flawless when I pulled them out. All push-rods, ball-joints, and clevises are included and the accessory bag contains just about everything that you will need to complete the build except your tools and glue of choice. SoaringUSA also stocks all the electronic accessories that you will need to get the Mini Blade in the air.
!Construction
!!Wings
The Mini Blade features a two piece wing that is joined with a strong metal wing-rod and a small metal locator pin on each wing root. The wing rod fits snugly through a metal sleeve in the fuselage wing center section. The only work required on the wing is installing and wiring the servos and hooking up the push-rods. Hitec HS-125mg thin wing servos are perfect for this application. They fit right into the thin wing and have ample torque to power the ailerons at high speeds. You can simply glue the servos right into the wing with epoxy, but I chose to fit a couple of wood blocks into the wing and screw the servos in. I cut two pieces of square wood rod and notched out a bit so that the servo mounting tabs sit flush. I then needed to cut small notches out of the wing skin so that I could access the screw holes. Rough up the wood blocks and the inner wing skin and then epoxy the blocks in place.
@905771:Note wood blocks for mounting servos
The servo wires need to be run through the wing root and into the fuselage. If you hold the wing up to a bright light you can see the carbon spars inside. Look for the fat, short carbon tube that goes from the root right to the servo location. Your servo wire will run through that tube, but first you must remove a plastic bag from it. It is easiest to drill a hole in the wing root at the end of the carbon tube, then push the plastic bag out from through the servo opening. Your servo wire will exit through the hole you drill in the root.
@905772:Carbon tube with plastic bag inside
@905773:Remove plastic bag
The servo wires will need to be made long enough to reach through the root to the nose of the plane. I cut the servo wires and spliced in a 10 inch piece from the wire that was included with the kit. You can then snake the wire through the carbon tube and out the wing root. After centering the servo and attaching the proper control arm you mount them in the wing using the small wood screws that come with the servos.
@905774:Drill hole in root for servo wires
@905775:Drill hole for control arm
The next step is to install the aileron control arm. Use a strait edge to find the location on the aileron for the control arm. It is important to make sure that the brass button top of the control arm is aft of the hinge line (see picture) when you mark the location and drill the hole in the aileron. I added a small amount of goop adhesive around the brass button head to secure it in the aileron. Next you cut to length and install the aileron push-rods. This is one place where I purchased a couple nylon clips to secure the push-rod to the servo arm, but “z-bends” would work as well. The wings are now finished!
@905776:Servo installed
@905777:Fuselage with wing rod
!!V-Tail Servos
The elevator/rudder servos are a snug fit in the nose of the Mini Blade. Hitec HS-81(mg)s are perfect for use in the fuselage and have sufficient torque for the job. If you plan on only using one servo then I would recommend an HS-85(mg) as it will fit by itself. The fiberglass is a bit on the thin side for the servos to solidly mount to. To give the servo a solid mount, cut a small piece of thin ply wood and fit it in under the fiberglass on each side of the servos as shown. Test fit the servos first as you may need to slightly enlarge the opening for the servos to fit in.
@905778:HS-81mg installed
!!V-Tail and Push-rods
The V-Tails fit into the fuselage with two small pre-installed metal rods that fit into corresponding tubes in the fuselage. The only thing that you need to do to the V-tail halves is to install the ball joint to the pre-threaded elevator surface. Screw the small bolt into the threaded hole and use a dremell or similar tool to cut the head off (I used a small drop of thread lock here). Then just screw the ball onto the exposed threads and your done. Now we area ready for the most challenging part of the build, fitting the elevator push-rods.
@905779:note area to enlarge opening
The first step here is to cut, roughen up, and glue the threaded metal pushrod-ends into the carbon tubes. I leave about 2” of smooth metal past the threads when I cut the rods and then use the cutting dykes to gouge up the metal so that the Epoxy has something to bite to.
@905780:V-Tail end of pushrods
Once the metal rods are secure in the carbon tubes, you can thread the ball joint ends on and bend them so that they line up with the ball joints. I have my push-rods exiting through each of the sides of the “X” bracing at the rear of the fuselage. I found it necessary to cut a small amount of fiberglass from the tail of the fuselage to allow more clearance for the V-tail ball links. Then I simply put about a 30 degree downward bend in the rods so that they line up with the ball joint. You should continue to test the elevator motion as you bend the rods so that you are assured that there is no binding. Once you feel that you have it right, it is time to work on the other (servo) end. At the servo end, you mark and cut the carbon tube and again, roughen up and glue in the threaded metal rod. On this end you thread on the included clevis and set them so that you have neutral elevator throw with the servos centered.
@905781:V-tail linkage through sides of X-brace
!!Battery and Receiver
SoaringUSA offers a custom 5 cell 720mAh NiMH battery that fits nicely in the tight nose of the Mini Blade, but you could also use a small 4 cell pack. A little grinding and persuading was required to fit the 5 cell pack in and a bit of adhesive or some double sided tape will hold it in place.
The type and size of your receiver will determine where you can fit it in the Mini Blade. It is recommended to use a small receiver with end plugs. However, I am using a Berg 5 with top plugs and had to mount it upside down with the plugs between the battery and nose weights. The Berg 5 receiver is great for this application due to the channel configuration. It is a 5 channel receiver but uses channels 1, 2, 3, 4, & 6. This is important because many of the transmitters use channel 6 for flaps or flaperon configurations. Whichever receiver you use, make sure that it does not interfere with your servo or push-rod movement.
@905782:5 cell battery pack note lead shot and ¼ ounce pieces
!!Balance and Programming
The Mini Blade should be balanced at a Center of Gravity approximately 2-7/8 inches (73mm) from the wings leading edge. This will most likely require you to fill the nose cavity with lead. #8 lead shot will work great here. Standing the fuselage on the nose, fill the nose cavity with the lead shot and drizzle thin CA (superglue) over the shot. Experiment with the amount until you get the Mini Blade to balance at the CG. I had to fill the nose cavity and also add 3/4 ounces of stick on lead as seen in the picture. Once you are satisfied with the amount of lead in the nose, put a thin layer of epoxy or goop over the shot so that none of the small pieces break free.
Programming your transmitter will vary depending on what brand you have and how you set it up. I set my Mini Blade up to benefit from the 2 aileron servos through flaperon mixing. On my Futaba 9CAP I activated the “air-brake” function; as I lower my throttle stick both ailerons raise (spoilerons) and the elevator lowers to keep the plane level. This really kills the lift from the wings and helps slow the plane for landings. If you are using two elevator servos you will also need to activate “V-Tail” (ruddervator) mixing on your transmitter.
@905783:Mini Blade with air-brakes on
!Flight Experience
My expectations of the flight performance of the Mini Blade were set high and still managed to be exceeded. The flight performance is a multi sensory experience in that it is both visually and audibly fast. The Mini Blade makes a pleasing whistle as it screams by on the slope.
@905784:banking a turn
My first flight began with a slight nervous shaking but ended with an adrenaline induced tremor. I double checked my radio programming and made sure that all the control surfaces moved correctly and freely then launched it off the slope into moderate lift. The Mini Blade, only requiring a couple of ticks of down trim, rose out of my hand and quickly gained speed. I made a few “figure 8” turns to get a feel for how the plane flies and was quickly grinning in response to the speed and sound of the plane. Turns were very precise and tight and the Mini Blade tracked straight and felt solid in the air. After a few minutes of flying I decided to test out the spoileron response. I quickly realized that down elevator is required with the spoilerons up. Once I was comfortable with the spoilerons on, I made a few practice landing approaches to gauge the speed. Being slippery in the air, the Mini Blade comes in fast, but slows down nicely and soon touched down without any incident.
On the next few flights, I progressively pushed the Mini Blade through more aerobatics, dives, and hard fast turns. The Mini Blade pulled through big loops while retaining energy all the way around. Rolls were quick, axial, and produced a high-pitched whistle as the ailerons were fully deflected. This plane is a very stable flyer and quickly builds your confidence in its strength and flyability. It is easy to see how the Mini Blade would be a competitive F3F or Man-on-Man racer as it snaps through turns and changes directions with precise response from your inputs. The combination of high energy retention and low drag results in a plane that can link multiple aerobatics in a seamless, graceful series.
!Conclusion
I like my EPP planes and will always enjoy flying them, but a plane like the Mini Blade brings a whole new dimension to slope flying. If you have been on the fence about getting a composite plane, then I recommend that you take a hard look at this one. A model with this level of design and quality takes the guess-work out of building. The wings and V-tail go together one way with no alignment to screw up. The simplicity of construction and outstanding performance of the Mini Blade opens up a whole new chapter of slope flying for me. With just a couple of hours of construction you can have a robust molded slope plane with outstanding performance that has the durability to last through the years if you take care of it.
| spec2
| @905769
| Specifications
|> <b>Wingspan:</b> |< 60 inches
|> <b>Wing area:</b> |< 298 sq. in.
|> <b>Airfoil:</b> |< RG15 mod (7%)
|> <b>Length:</b> |< 35 inches
|> <b>Weight:</b> |< 34 ounces
|> <b>Ballast:</b> |< up to 12 ounces
|> <b>Radio:</b> |< 2 HS-125MG servos for the wing, HS-81mg or similar for the V-tail, 5 cell 720mAh NiMH battery. Berg 5 DSP or similar.
|> <b>Construction:</b> |< 2 piece Carbon reinforced fiberglass wing and Carbon reinforced fiberglass fuselage with molded ballast tube
|> <b>Available from:</b> |< <a href="http://www.soaringusa.com">SoaringUSA</a>
|> <b>Review Thanks:</b> |< <a href="http://www.hitecrcd.com">Hitec RCD</a>
The 60” Mini Blade from <a href="http://www.soaringusa.com">SoaringUSA</a> is my first non-foamy slope plane. After building and flying the Mini Blade my only regret is that I waited so long to add a composite slope plane to my quiver. The Mini Blade would have to be voted “best bang for the buck” in high-performance gliders. The level of quality and completeness is great for any plane, but for a composite sloper well under $300 it is remarkable.
The price point and ease of assembly of the Mini Blade make it easy to enter the high performance world of “moldy” slope planes. You could easily have the Mini Blade from the package to maiden flight with one evening of work. All the control surfaces come out of the packaging pre-hinged and the fuselage on my version has a molded “shotgun” style ballast tube. The only true building of the Mini Blade is fitting the push-rods, installing the radio gear, and balancing the plane. The Mini Blade is also great for travel/portability as the wings are two piece and the V-tail is easily removable.
!Kit Contents
@905770:Part Inventory
Assembly of the Mini Blade is simple and straight forward. The parts were securely bubble-wrapped to protect them from the rigors of shipping and were flawless when I pulled them out. All push-rods, ball-joints, and clevises are included and the accessory bag contains just about everything that you will need to complete the build except your tools and glue of choice. SoaringUSA also stocks all the electronic accessories that you will need to get the Mini Blade in the air.
!Construction
!!Wings
The Mini Blade features a two piece wing that is joined with a strong metal wing-rod and a small metal locator pin on each wing root. The wing rod fits snugly through a metal sleeve in the fuselage wing center section. The only work required on the wing is installing and wiring the servos and hooking up the push-rods. Hitec HS-125mg thin wing servos are perfect for this application. They fit right into the thin wing and have ample torque to power the ailerons at high speeds. You can simply glue the servos right into the wing with epoxy, but I chose to fit a couple of wood blocks into the wing and screw the servos in. I cut two pieces of square wood rod and notched out a bit so that the servo mounting tabs sit flush. I then needed to cut small notches out of the wing skin so that I could access the screw holes. Rough up the wood blocks and the inner wing skin and then epoxy the blocks in place.
@905771:Note wood blocks for mounting servos
The servo wires need to be run through the wing root and into the fuselage. If you hold the wing up to a bright light you can see the carbon spars inside. Look for the fat, short carbon tube that goes from the root right to the servo location. Your servo wire will run through that tube, but first you must remove a plastic bag from it. It is easiest to drill a hole in the wing root at the end of the carbon tube, then push the plastic bag out from through the servo opening. Your servo wire will exit through the hole you drill in the root.
@905772:Carbon tube with plastic bag inside
@905773:Remove plastic bag
The servo wires will need to be made long enough to reach through the root to the nose of the plane. I cut the servo wires and spliced in a 10 inch piece from the wire that was included with the kit. You can then snake the wire through the carbon tube and out the wing root. After centering the servo and attaching the proper control arm you mount them in the wing using the small wood screws that come with the servos.
@905774:Drill hole in root for servo wires
@905775:Drill hole for control arm
The next step is to install the aileron control arm. Use a strait edge to find the location on the aileron for the control arm. It is important to make sure that the brass button top of the control arm is aft of the hinge line (see picture) when you mark the location and drill the hole in the aileron. I added a small amount of goop adhesive around the brass button head to secure it in the aileron. Next you cut to length and install the aileron push-rods. This is one place where I purchased a couple nylon clips to secure the push-rod to the servo arm, but “z-bends” would work as well. The wings are now finished!
@905776:Servo installed
@905777:Fuselage with wing rod
!!V-Tail Servos
The elevator/rudder servos are a snug fit in the nose of the Mini Blade. Hitec HS-81(mg)s are perfect for use in the fuselage and have sufficient torque for the job. If you plan on only using one servo then I would recommend an HS-85(mg) as it will fit by itself. The fiberglass is a bit on the thin side for the servos to solidly mount to. To give the servo a solid mount, cut a small piece of thin ply wood and fit it in under the fiberglass on each side of the servos as shown. Test fit the servos first as you may need to slightly enlarge the opening for the servos to fit in.
@905778:HS-81mg installed
!!V-Tail and Push-rods
The V-Tails fit into the fuselage with two small pre-installed metal rods that fit into corresponding tubes in the fuselage. The only thing that you need to do to the V-tail halves is to install the ball joint to the pre-threaded elevator surface. Screw the small bolt into the threaded hole and use a dremell or similar tool to cut the head off (I used a small drop of thread lock here). Then just screw the ball onto the exposed threads and your done. Now we area ready for the most challenging part of the build, fitting the elevator push-rods.
@905779:note area to enlarge opening
The first step here is to cut, roughen up, and glue the threaded metal pushrod-ends into the carbon tubes. I leave about 2” of smooth metal past the threads when I cut the rods and then use the cutting dykes to gouge up the metal so that the Epoxy has something to bite to.
@905780:V-Tail end of pushrods
Once the metal rods are secure in the carbon tubes, you can thread the ball joint ends on and bend them so that they line up with the ball joints. I have my push-rods exiting through each of the sides of the “X” bracing at the rear of the fuselage. I found it necessary to cut a small amount of fiberglass from the tail of the fuselage to allow more clearance for the V-tail ball links. Then I simply put about a 30 degree downward bend in the rods so that they line up with the ball joint. You should continue to test the elevator motion as you bend the rods so that you are assured that there is no binding. Once you feel that you have it right, it is time to work on the other (servo) end. At the servo end, you mark and cut the carbon tube and again, roughen up and glue in the threaded metal rod. On this end you thread on the included clevis and set them so that you have neutral elevator throw with the servos centered.
@905781:V-tail linkage through sides of X-brace
!!Battery and Receiver
SoaringUSA offers a custom 5 cell 720mAh NiMH battery that fits nicely in the tight nose of the Mini Blade, but you could also use a small 4 cell pack. A little grinding and persuading was required to fit the 5 cell pack in and a bit of adhesive or some double sided tape will hold it in place.
The type and size of your receiver will determine where you can fit it in the Mini Blade. It is recommended to use a small receiver with end plugs. However, I am using a Berg 5 with top plugs and had to mount it upside down with the plugs between the battery and nose weights. The Berg 5 receiver is great for this application due to the channel configuration. It is a 5 channel receiver but uses channels 1, 2, 3, 4, & 6. This is important because many of the transmitters use channel 6 for flaps or flaperon configurations. Whichever receiver you use, make sure that it does not interfere with your servo or push-rod movement.
@905782:5 cell battery pack note lead shot and ¼ ounce pieces
!!Balance and Programming
The Mini Blade should be balanced at a Center of Gravity approximately 2-7/8 inches (73mm) from the wings leading edge. This will most likely require you to fill the nose cavity with lead. #8 lead shot will work great here. Standing the fuselage on the nose, fill the nose cavity with the lead shot and drizzle thin CA (superglue) over the shot. Experiment with the amount until you get the Mini Blade to balance at the CG. I had to fill the nose cavity and also add 3/4 ounces of stick on lead as seen in the picture. Once you are satisfied with the amount of lead in the nose, put a thin layer of epoxy or goop over the shot so that none of the small pieces break free.
Programming your transmitter will vary depending on what brand you have and how you set it up. I set my Mini Blade up to benefit from the 2 aileron servos through flaperon mixing. On my Futaba 9CAP I activated the “air-brake” function; as I lower my throttle stick both ailerons raise (spoilerons) and the elevator lowers to keep the plane level. This really kills the lift from the wings and helps slow the plane for landings. If you are using two elevator servos you will also need to activate “V-Tail” (ruddervator) mixing on your transmitter.
@905783:Mini Blade with air-brakes on
!Flight Experience
My expectations of the flight performance of the Mini Blade were set high and still managed to be exceeded. The flight performance is a multi sensory experience in that it is both visually and audibly fast. The Mini Blade makes a pleasing whistle as it screams by on the slope.
@905784:banking a turn
My first flight began with a slight nervous shaking but ended with an adrenaline induced tremor. I double checked my radio programming and made sure that all the control surfaces moved correctly and freely then launched it off the slope into moderate lift. The Mini Blade, only requiring a couple of ticks of down trim, rose out of my hand and quickly gained speed. I made a few “figure 8” turns to get a feel for how the plane flies and was quickly grinning in response to the speed and sound of the plane. Turns were very precise and tight and the Mini Blade tracked straight and felt solid in the air. After a few minutes of flying I decided to test out the spoileron response. I quickly realized that down elevator is required with the spoilerons up. Once I was comfortable with the spoilerons on, I made a few practice landing approaches to gauge the speed. Being slippery in the air, the Mini Blade comes in fast, but slows down nicely and soon touched down without any incident.
On the next few flights, I progressively pushed the Mini Blade through more aerobatics, dives, and hard fast turns. The Mini Blade pulled through big loops while retaining energy all the way around. Rolls were quick, axial, and produced a high-pitched whistle as the ailerons were fully deflected. This plane is a very stable flyer and quickly builds your confidence in its strength and flyability. It is easy to see how the Mini Blade would be a competitive F3F or Man-on-Man racer as it snaps through turns and changes directions with precise response from your inputs. The combination of high energy retention and low drag results in a plane that can link multiple aerobatics in a seamless, graceful series.
!Conclusion
I like my EPP planes and will always enjoy flying them, but a plane like the Mini Blade brings a whole new dimension to slope flying. If you have been on the fence about getting a composite plane, then I recommend that you take a hard look at this one. A model with this level of design and quality takes the guess-work out of building. The wings and V-tail go together one way with no alignment to screw up. The simplicity of construction and outstanding performance of the Mini Blade opens up a whole new chapter of slope flying for me. With just a couple of hours of construction you can have a robust molded slope plane with outstanding performance that has the durability to last through the years if you take care of it.