I can't speak for others but for me, with that 'V' rod, keeping both wing's butts properly squared up and flush, fitting the connecting plate then holding it all together - still aligned - while you got both mounting screws installed & seated was a freakin' nightmare! With the angles involved the slightest slip threw everything off, & you might not realize the butts weren't completely flush until too late. On top of that, try doing it at the field with the wind blowing!! It's like trying to herd cats.

My solution was to glue the V-Rod in place in one wing, pre-aligned properly. I say 'glue' as in, just enough to hold it firmly yet to be able to remove it with a little force if needed, w/o destroying anything. For the record I used Foam-Tac, even tho it isn't foam; it dries with a little flexibility. Even in the gluing process, you need to exercise care that you have BOTH wings butted up squarely while the glue dries in the one tube. I used the joiner plate as an 'indicator' while it was drying, cuz if they aren't flush that plate won't seat properly.

Compared to how it was before, it's now such a simple, can't-miss thing you wouldn't give it a second thought!

Thanks Harrow and StarHopper44

A fellow club member advised me of the fact that the newer MM's come with only the single rod this morning. Now I remember why I seemed to remember two rods- mine had originally came that way (alas, I couldn't tell as it was glued together).

The thing is, as I was putting the wing together today I could easily see why I had that idea (to glue the wings together) in the first place as, just like StarHopper44 says, it's a absolute pain trying to get everything lined up.

So I too, will now try fixing just one side of that single rod into a wing. I haven't got any Foam-Tac but I have some other semi- flexible glue I'll use.

Still playing about with adapting the screws etc at this stage but will almost certainly go the same way of using some nylon bolts.

Thanks again.

In the end, I cut a small rectangular plate in the fuse where the two small screws go down into. I removed that section (including the small 'nuts' that are patently inferior quality) and installed a plastic rectangle approx 3mm thick by 50mm X 40mm so that it butts against the inside of the fuselage sides.

I'd pre-drilled this plastic so that I could glue two larger nuts (that were the same dia and thread as the 6mm dia nylon bolts I'd decided to use instead of the crappy stock ones) on the underside of the plastic. I used 24 Hour Araldite (which amazingly went off in just over an hour in our sweltering 32 degree C weather.

I then used 5 minute epoxy to fix the plastic plate firmly in position and glued the small piece of foam back on top. When it has all gone off, the wings fitted perfectly and, (importantly) securely.

So now, the nylon bolts feel as though they tighten properly rather than the 'hit or miss' feel the stock screws had.

When you consider just how much force is being put on a relatively small area of un-reinforced foam, it's amazing more wings haven't pulled off.

The whole job only took just over an hour (not including waiting for the glue to go off) and it gives me the feeling that that's one less thing that can go wrong on my MM.

Originally Posted by Beanz

I've finally bought myself a new set of wings for my MM (I'd stupidly glued the wings together on my initial set- doh!) so I'm about to swap the servo's out of my old wings.

However, I cannot remember if I've read somewhere, that the stock servo's are crap or not. I've read so many posts about all sorts of planes now, that the old memory is chock full of stuff and I'm confusing myself.

So, can anyone advise me if the stock servos are any good?

Also, the MM fliers at my local club have TWO wing joining rods. I won't be seeing them until Sunday so meanwhile, has anyone else here got two joiners? If so, did the plane come with them or did you adapt the MM yourself?

If D.I.Y Do you have any tips?

I had a couple of the servos go duff after about 10-15 hours of flight time and would recommend replacing them, I used the hk hxt900 which cost less then $3 each and the plane felt much better with them in compared to the old ones.

Thanks nigelsheffield. I've never had any problems with HXT900's and for their price, they're a bargain.

Thinking of maidening my MM this morning so I'll get that out the way before going any further.

Originally Posted by Harrow

That is because it originally used to come with two wing joiners, as well as two strengtheners in the wing. Later versions saved 20 cents in the manufacture and left the second wing joiner and strengthener out. As a result, some people have managed to break the single wing joiner and destroy their plane.

Got mine somewhere in the middle, after they dropped one of the joiner rods but while the wings still had two metal tubes in each. An aluminum darning needle later I had two joiner rods. It still isn't easy to hold it all in place while mounting the wings. I use painters (low tack) masking tape between the wings to stabilize things while mounting them. Works like a charm.

Gord

I finally flew my MM last weekend. I was almost caught out by the near vertical climb (at about two thirds throttle) but managed to catch it with a lot of down. Some fellow club members who have a MM say that they have down elevator mixed in with throttle. Personally I probably won't bother doing that as I like to feel that I'm the one doing the actual flying rather than the computerised radio.

But once over that initial scare, she flew beautifully. I'd added quite a few ventilation holes around the fuse and spinner backplate without making it look like Swiss cheese but it was in the back of my mind to be careful with too much throttle to prevent overheating.

When I landed after about 8 minutes power on/ floating (about 50% of each) the ESC was only warm.

I have to say though, that I really enjoyed the MM's graceful turns. I could have caught a few thermals but as I was maidening FOUR different planes that day ( HK's FW190 Pirate- which is an absolute joy to fly- my new AXN and my HK Pitts Special) I didn't want to push my luck. In the end I maidened three of the four, with the Pitts having to wait until next weekend.

But all in all, a great morning's flying.

Well done Beanz, I have elev to throttle mix and it's really not cheating, what the plane needs is some down thrust but it's not easy to do on this plane so mixing is the way to go, plus I dont consider that I'm flying with power on, only when power go off and I'm gliding does the real flying start. I need full power on mine for a climb out in about 25 seconds and then glide for about 2 mins so time spent on power is minimal.

It's a LOT nicer climbing out without having to flight the nose up problem, and hand launches are MUCH safer.

I know some, or many, do see it as 'cheating' -- not me! I see it as improving flight efficiency - and anybody who'd call it 'cheating' is (to me) only crying "Hey, look how good I am!" It's only false bravado & pure hogwash, to me! Why do you think the radio mfrs would even bother to engineer & put in Mixing capabilities if it weren't to help improve the flying situation. I'm in this to have fun flying my aircraft, not to engage in some kind of fight for survival.
[/RANT]

Hi All

Well, my Minimoa arrived last week. Box was a bit dented but all was good inside, except the RHS Aileron has a bit of a twist in it. I'll have to work out to straighten that out in due course.

Obviously i'l need to do the few mods recommended by all and sundry, but not for now. I have a Bixler and a Bixler 2 to fly/build for now and to continue learning on.

However, and this is the reason for this post, I bought an engine mount for the Bixler 2 from smallpartsCNC in the US. Nice work for a reasonable price. In view of the potential problems with the melty engine mount in the Minimoa, has anyone thought of contacting him to see if a replacement mount could be fashioned for this plane? I notice he does one for the Radian/Radian Pro.

Any of you guys in the States near him? Is it worth asking? Bearing in mind it would be pointless me asking because I have no idea how to explain the problem, let alone supply photos and so on.

His EBay site is here ... http://stores.ebay.com.au/smallpartsCNC

Just tossing it out there.

Love the look of the Minimoa, and for the price it's a bargain.

Ta

Mike

NIgelsheffield and starhopper44 Actually I agree with what you say. I think what I'd MEANT to say was that I've seen quite a few fellow fliers who have all sorts of things programmed into their radios. From memory I think I might have even seen one bloke who only had to flick a certain switch and his plane would perform a perfect roll. With the radio's all programmed, the planes then fly beautifully of course. I still can't remember where and when I saw this but basically it really put me off having anything programmed into my radio.

Since then, I've flown for years steadfastly refusing to have anything programmed in. But more recently I've 'allowed' myself to have exponential etc programmed in and yes, it has really helped.

A few days ago I flew my MM again. Unfortunately there was nobody else around to launch it for me so I gave it a shove myself. Once again I was wary about giving too much throttle but due to this, I gave it too LITTLE throttle and the MM quickly stalled and, as I reacted and gave more welly, flipped and nose dived into the ground.

It was all over in about 3 or 4 seconds.

So now I am going to have some elevator to throttle mix programmed into my radio. I agree it's not cheating.

What I have learned from all this is to just get the MM 'up there' so then I can do the flying bit with far less stress.

By the way, my MM's motor really took the full force of the crash and upon inspection I discovered one of the motors three plastic 'legs' had broken, allowing the motor to move fore and aft/sideways (in other words it was all over the place). I re-glued it using Araldite 24 hour and it's much firmer now.

I've run the motor but there's now a slight 'grating' sound coming from the motor.

I'm gonna fly it anyway. If the motor goes belly up, then it'll be time to invest in a new motor.

As you might be able to see, I gently prised the red plastic 'cowl' off using a flat bladed screwdriver. It was then very obvious that one of the plastic 'legs' had bust. After applying 24 hour Araldite to the broken faces of the leg (and then a bit more to further re-inforce the join) I held the leg in position using masking tape and bad language (as it kept separating). By the next morning it was firm again. I used 5 minute epoxy glue to re-position the red 'cowl'.

However, before I did re-position the cowl, I slightly elongated the air vents using a screwdriver that I'd heated the tip with until it glowed red. I also added a couple more air holes as I found by doing it at this time, there seemed less chance of damaging the motor or wiring. OK, it's far less 'scale' now but at least there's less chance of melting the motor mount.

Sorry to hear of your *ahem* 'Ground breaking ceremonies' Beanzy....but there's always (?hopefully?) the value of the lessons learned, right?

I for one can see advantages of developing some kinda 'zipper kit' for repeated & easy removal/replacement of that nose cone. Motor access. So, thanks for sharing!

My #1 concern about this plane is its tendency to loosen its motor-mount screws. It's possible (my analysis) the Brake setting might be contributing to that....and IIRC it's On by default with this bird. It's something I want to check frequently, for sure, & keep a close eye on. Better access would make that an easier chore, plus enable experimentation. Now, how to best 'zip' the cowl & not mess up the looks? Hmmmmm.....

Hi NIgel, Starhopper and Beanz,

Just wanted to wish you guys a very Happy New Year. Here's hoping you all have many successful flights of your Minimoas and other planes in 2013!

I also wanted to share a video with you that I shot last May and finally got edited and posted this morning. It is not of a Minimoa, so this is slightly off-topic, but it is about an electric sailplane and has some superb camera work. I hired a professional videographer to help me with this project and got some excellent results.

Enjoy!

Jackson

Ventus at Pradera May-2012 (8 min 33 sec)

Hi Jax!
Always enjoy your productions & here's yet another superb example! Gosh I gotta get out & find me some slopes somewhere nearby to give that phase a try - it just looks to be a lot of fun, & would imagine that once you get 'engaged' you just don't want it to end & it's like you could go on flying forever! I fear tho, we just flat out don't have any features like that around here. I sure don't know of any; closest might be a one of the cliffs along the river but there's the trees to contend with so.....alas! One of the curses of living in a place known as the 'Coastal Plains', I guess.

But especially, thanks for taking the time to send New Year's wishes, and I'd very much like to return the favor, and pass the same wishes along to all our hearty & hardy 'krewe' here! May 2013 be your best year ever - all of ya!!

I'm trying to cob together an order from that Great Demon in Hong Kong (*LOL*) to beat out the expected freight increases so, need to get back to it! As my parting shot for 2012, I'll also share a brand new video -- not mine but from m'bud Francois....and it's a wee bit 'OT' also, as these aren't electrics. *ROTFLMAO* It's got some great shots I know you'll enjoy, so please do - & we'll see y'all sometime next year!!

The french way, Gliding video (Gopro) (5 min 18 sec)