Wendell, What kind of foam(s) is this plane made out of? I'm curious about its ability to take a hit compared to a comparable EPP wing?

If it can't really take the hits, at least it can rest on its ARF laurels a bit more, eh?

It is made of regular white foam with a thin plastic skin. The wing has held up well to sudden stops but it might give way to a hit from a EPP brushless wing. It is probably a better parkflyer than combat platform.

Allmost picked one up an LHS, must have been 2 months ago! That spare CustomCdr 20mm single that I have, mated to a TP-450/720 3S Lipo would really hot rod this little wing up! Maby a wing is in my future after all!!

Wendell,

Did your instruction booklet offer part replacement and part numbers for Great Planes and Tower Hobbies?

Mine did but after splitting the canopy / motor mount plastic, I found out that you have to buy a whole kit to get the part wanted. No spare parts are being offered. Never were going to be offered.

Eddie

Looks like Tower has parts in stock.

Originally Posted by gwh

Looks like Tower has parts in stock.

I do believe Great Planes had a change of heart about offering parts.
Do you think my posting of what they did had anything to do about it?
Maybe.

I love this thing! Mine flies for 15-20 mins on a 3 cell 700mAh kokham. The little 180 motor screams like crazy. So much so that I can't believe I haven't burnt it out yet! But she just keeps comming back for more and more abuse!


I would never go back to the stock battery setup. I wasn't getting any longer then 3-4 mins out of it and it flies much sportier with the lithium anyway. With the decreased weight and very increased power it's unbelievable. I've hand lauched her into a 10 kmh headwind at full throttle and she litterally goes straight up! ( with the aircraft "sitting" pitched up at about 45 degrees into the wind it looks like it's on a string being pulled straight up! ) Then after a dramatically fast climb out, cut the engine and gliiiiide gliiide glide! All afternoon!


Fantastic little plane.



-Peej

Like Peej, I have used a LiPo, but a 2cell 640mAh. 11V might be a little bit too much for the poor speed 180 and I guess that the speed gain will not be significant due to the prop type.
Anyway, one should keep it as light as possible (mine is just below 200g with Hitec Micro05S and HS55).
Average flying time is about 15mins.

A lot of fun for the money!

If anyone else has a problem with the pushrods snapping as in the review, this tip may help. I'm here in Okinawa and after waiting only 55 days for the Mini-Slinger to arrive from Tower Hobbies (I just love being overseas), I began assembly and sure enough, the pushrods snapped just like in the review. Since I didn't have any 'music wire' on hand like Wendell did, and since the LHS's here are very sparce, I ended up replacing them with your garden variety paper clip.

They worked like a champ. They weren't long enough to put a vee bend in for adjustment so I got them as close as I could and used the sub-trim function on my Hitec Optic 6 to zero out the control surfaces. They are strong enough to move the control surfaces, yet pliable enough to bend several times to get them right. And if you break them, replacements are cheap and plentiful. Now, as soon as the winds from the lastest typhoon die down, (Did I mention that I love being overseas?) I'll be able to maiden this baby.

Three more tips for you... do NOT forget your Mini-Slinger in your car from morning until lunchtime in summer, in Okinawa! Ask me how I know! Left wing was exposed to direct sunlight and must have warped a bit cuz the winglet popped off. Oh well, have to wait another day to maiden. Got home, fast epoxy job, hand-bent the trailing edge of the left wing back into shape (carefully) and ready for the next try.

When lunchtime came around, I took it too the ballfield here on Camp Courtney. Unplugged the lead to the motor and hand-launched the Mini a few times to get it trimmed as much as possible w/o power. Ended up putting in quite a bit of right trim but seemed okay. Was surprised with how well it glided power off. I ended up doing ALL of my launches with power off and just hit the gas after I got my hand back on the transmitter. That's tip number two. When I was researching the Mini-Slinger, I saw a photo here of a guy with some 'prop rash' on his throwing hand and that scared me a little bit. Don't risk your fingers!!! Launch poweroff with a good firm, level toss, and smoothly add throttle. Don't worry, you have plenty of time because she glides like a champ.

Anyhow, it was quite windy (guessing 8-10mph and gusting to 15+) but since I had much more throws in the control surfaces than called for in the manual (even on low rates) and generous expo, I found that I didn't have much problem handling the wind. Much better than I had a right to expect out of a 7.05 OUNCE ship! Ran through both lipos and had a blast.

Last tip: DO remember to check your lateral balance. That antenna wire hanging out of the left tip of the wing WILL cause that wing to drop (AMHIK). I was able to get the balance spot on without adding any weight by sliding the lipo all the way to the right side of the battery compartment. Turns out that the wing wasn't nearly as bent as much as I thought it was, it was just the lateral unbalance that was causing all the necessary right trim. That explained a lot as too my calibrated eyeball, it seem pretty darned straight.

Verdict: What a hoot! Just about the most fun you can have for $40 (outside of Thailand ). BTW, I'm using the electronics from my recently deceased Coco Lama (4-in-1, lipos, servos) and they worked just dandy. Only an hour and a half til work is finished then it's back to the ballfield for some more stick time as we have another typhoon inbound this weekend.

Originally Posted by sting35

That's tip number two. When I was researching the Mini-Slinger, I saw a photo here of a guy with some 'prop rash' on his throwing hand and that scared me a little bit. Don't risk your fingers!!!

Last tip: That antenna wire hanging out of the left tip of the wing WILL cause that wing to drop (AMHIK). I was able to get the balance spot on without adding any weight by sliding the lipo all the way to the right side of the battery compartment.

- I am on my second motor- I had another speed 180. Over 200 flights and always have launch with the power on. I use about 10 degree up elevon deflection at launch and then flip the switch to regular trim for flying after about 3-5 second initial run.

- I taped the antennae to the bottom of the wing so that none will hang out creating drag. I have had the Mini Slinger spec'd out and still had controll.

-There are a couple of these at the field now and can tell mine is slowing down again. We play combat, follow the leader, who can cut grass without landing and who can fly the longest inverted.(try the whole flight, it can be done easily.) My 2 cell LiPo is going out and the airframe is about had it.

You ARE correct about a lot of fun for $40. By my evidence of number of flights, I've got more than my $4o worth many times over.

Originally Posted by Holtenbacker

-
You ARE correct about a lot of fun for $40. By my evidence of number of flights, I've got more than my $4o worth many times over.

I'm working on getting the full $40 out of mine. It's been TDW (Too D n Windy) here lately but, when I can fly, it's a blast. Hopefully, the airframe will stay together until I can burn up all three motors (two from the crashed Coco Lama) and upgrade to more power.

I just ordered one and can't wait, these things look fun.

It also looks like they fixed the motor mounting problem with a piece of ply glued to the back.