Brian at Mountain Models recently released another micro for indoor and low wind flying, sized to use the AR6400 brick and the P-51/Sukhoi motor. It has just under a 24" wingspan and a suggested AUW weight of 1.8 oz. As a high wing trainer type, and having watched the video on the MM website, I think it flies very "Champ" like. The information page on the model including the video is located at: http://www.mountainmodels.com/produc...roducts_id=705

The PeregrinE may invoke a bit of nostalgia among some of us, as it was inspired by the Goldberg Falcon, a plane that many who started flying RC years ago remember fondly as a great flying trainer and sport plane.

I am more used to building parkflyer sized models, so I will admit that dealing with the very light, 1/16" wood for this kit required some thought before I started building. A lighter touch and a bit less tendency to use much force to put the parts together are good guidelines for building this model. I'd also recommend a "micro tip" for the thin CA bottle. It doesn't take much CA to get the parts glued.

The first picture is of the kit parts. It's a complete kit, including two plan sheets, an instruction manual, all the wood, wheels, control rod wire, landing gear wire, etc. All you need to finish the kit is the brick and the motor.

The second picture is of the basic parts for the wing and one half the ribs. The wing has a double spar, 6 ribs, a trailing edge, and a two piece leading edge.

The third picture shows the left wing half built, with the exception of the wing tip. The fourth picture shows the wing tip installed. Having finished up the left half, the right half is completed in the same fashion, and a center rib installed. The fifth picture shows the completed wing.

I have built a lot of MM kits, so I am pretty familiar with Brian's design methodology.
This one builds very quickly and easily. Parts fit has been incredibly good. The wood is very light, so as noted above it does require a bit of careful handling until the structure is completed. But once you've got it all glued up, it's a sturdy little structure.

Mark

Mark,

Good to see someone is getting one built up already!

With the wing done, it's time for the fuselage. The fuselage builds just as easily and quickly as the wing.

The first pic shows the crutch assembled, the sides and the top and bottom pieces. The second picture shows the crutch mounted onto one fuselage side. Also the motor mount piece is inserted into the front of the crutch, and also tabs into the fuselage side. The crutch has right thrust built into it (the engraved parts number goes up), and the motor mount and the tabs put in the downthrust (easily visible in the picture). The third picture shows the second fuselage side mounted onto the crutch. Up to this point, everything has been assembled dry. Now the crutch and sides can be glued, once you make sure everything is reasonably square. The fourth picture shows the top nose sheeting installed. The fifth picture shows the bottom nose sheeting in place. Just prior to this point, the additional formers that create the "pockets" for the nose gear and the main gear are installed. You can see the two formers with the gap for the main gear in this picture.

Mark

There are just a couple of steps left to complete the fuselage. First, the support for the horizontal stab is fit into the tail, and then the top rear piece is fit. There is also a small former that attaches to the forward part of the stabilizer support, and strengthens the rear fuselage. I checked to make sure the tabs were all fully engaged, to make sure the tail was straight and square, and glued it up. The next picture shows the bottom tail piece installed and glued.

And except for some light sanding, that completes construction of the fuselage.

Mark

Final two pieces to build are the tailgroup. Nothing fancy here, just nice laser cut parts that fit easily and get glued up. Some light sanding and beveling the leading edges of the control surfaces should finish up these parts.

I'd guess that my total build time to this point is an hour and a half. There really isn't much else I can say about the build, except it's easy, straightforward, and builds a light and strong structure.

I"m still working out my covering scheme, but as soon as I get my PeregrinE covered, I'll post up pics. I will probably stick to something pretty simple, and visible.

Mark

A bit more progress. Got the covering done on all the pieces (first picture). Got the landing gear bent up (second picture). I deviated a bit from the manual, and used some shrink tube as wheel retainers, which I find work pretty well at this size. A drop of thick CA on the end keeps the shrink tube in place pretty well. I also installed the brick, the motor and the landing gear (third picture).

Next up are gluing on the tail pieces and getting the control rods installed.

Mark

Got a chance last night and this morning to finish up the PeregrinE. Pictures attached. All up weight is 1.75 oz., which is right around Brian's recommended weight.

I think total build time from opening the bag to running it across my floor was under 7 hours. Pretty fast, even for a micro, I'd think. Nothing left to do now but wait for an opportunity to get her in the air.

Mark

Good job, looking forward to the flight report.
Q1. When covering the main wing, did you join the red and white covering before applying to the wing?
Q2. The front wheel is fixed (Not steerable)?
Rob

Hi Rob! Yes, I "stitched" the covering together before applying it to the frame, both the wings and the fuselage. It's probably hard to tell from my build pics, but the top of my build table has a piece of nice thick tempered glass about 3x4 on it. I laid the covering down on the glass, and ironed the seam with the tip of my covering iron. Lifted it off the glass and just applied it as a single piece of covering to the model. The nice thing about Solite is that once you take the backing off, it sticks to itself really well, and to the glass.

Yes, the nosewheel is fixed. Brian had told me that he looked at making it steerable, but at this scale it would add some weight, and make the build more complicated. Brian says his prototype takes off in 2-3 feet, so a steerable nose wheel is not really necessary.

Thanks for the compliments. I hope I can get it maidened in the next week or so, and I will report back. The website does have a video of Brian flying his prototype indoors, btw.

Mark

Mark,

Your PeregrinE Micro came out very nice! The red/white scheme fits the model perfectly. Let me know what you think after you get a chance to fly her.

Brian

It was a nice, warm, sunny morning today, so I grabbed the PeregrinE and headed out to the local soccer field to give her a try. Winds were light, probably 2-4 mph. I decided to hand launch, as I didn't think the wheels would do too well on grass that hasn't been mowed since last October, and has started to green up and grow a bit.

After the hand launch, I needed a couple of clicks of left trim, and it flew fine at about half throttle. Under full throttle it climbed quite a bit with the neutral elevator. I probably did four or five circuits before I decided to switch to high rates on the rudder. I found that it "carved" through turns much better with the higher rate. The elevator was fine at the low rates recommended by Brian.

Brian had told me that the model was very stable, and it is. This is not going to be a model you even attempt aerobatics with, although at full power a loop might be possible. This really is a very nice, controllable, easy flying indoor plane. I did have some wind gusts, and frankly at one point I thought it might get carried away by the wind. But some additional power and full rudder managed to turn it out of the wind and get it flying back towards me.

All in all, I'm pleased with the way it flew and the way it looks. The early spring probably means that indoor season is over this year, but I think the PeregrinE will be ready for next year's indoor season.

Mark

Mark,

Move your battery (and hence, the CG) back a bit at a time. It won't climb much at all after you get the CG back more. I was a bit conservative on the plan sheet for the CG location.

As for aerobatics, loops and barrel rolls are about all you'll manage with her. Spins at the CG on the plans are basically impossible, though moving the CG back might get it there.

Brian