Nice flying in the vid guys, those things rip! The weasel launch was good

Nice job.

The next batch are being built up with a couple of improvements I hope will solve the issues.

I do have a spare yellow nose if it is needed. Also have a fin that was damaged in shipping, but could be repaired if anyone has a badly damaged fin.

Have fun!!

-Wayne

Not sure where my CG really is, I aimed for 22mm from where the leading edge line meets the fuse

That was way tail heavy. But I only found out about that after realising that I had nowhere near enough reflex dialed in

So the first three "flights" looked like this - after the first "launch" (dropping straight into the ground), I decided to use the motor for launch - a good idea. As others have noted, it is difficult to grab the nose for a good firm lauch. Better

MiniQ maiden crashes Stetten 9may2020 (1 min 14 sec)

Setup: 43g 1400kV motor (from a MPX Razzor), spinner from MPX Merlin (33mm), 7x6mm Aeronaut Cam blades. 800mA 2s lipo, 12A Blue Series ESC, Turnigy TGY-D56MG HV servos, Re-inforced the central area by glueing a GRP ring onto the wood. Painted the canopy as I didn't like the large black area on top, the yellow does not match too well. The blue dots are meant to look like eyes - in the air they are not noticed

So I had a better flight after moving ESC and RX and lipo as far forward as possible - which was not enough, as it flew very tail-heavy...

MiniQ tail heavy on Stetten slope (3 min 31 sec)

For the next flight I glued in some lead, then it should work fine. Love the looks, and it really is a robust bird

Just finished the build of one of the latest batch of planes, the ones with the improved strengthening over the spar. Has Bluebird BMS A10V servos, 2/3A 4 cell 1300 MaHr battery, and 1 oz. nose weight in the spinner to balance at 22mm aft of the extended LE ( ignoring the little fillet). Total weight is 14 1/2 oz.

With some flight tuning, I ended with these settings: static reflex at 3 1/2 mm up, elevator throw +/- 5mm, aileron throw +/-6.5mm, elevator expo 20% and aileron expo at 35%. Admittedly have only 3 flights, but these settings produce level flight in fairly good conditions, and a neutral dive test.

Canopy fit compromised by length of forward carbon rod, which extends so far aft that it rests on the new section of fuselage spar cover. Need to measure, shorten, and remount to provide clearance. Also canopy fit can be improved with some heating and reforming at front and some bulking up of rod where it engages the fuse so that there is more tension pulling canopy downward.

It is a zippy little plane that will be fun to fly when conditions will not support heavier planes.

Hey Bill,

Glad to hear to have one of these little guys. They are a fun little plane, I hope you will get a ton of fun out of it! I don't think I have ever seen you fly anything small. Missed you this year, hope to see you next year!

Regarding the canopy fit, I asked the factory to leave as much material under the canopy and we would let the end user do the final trim to fit their needs. The thinking being that the more material that is there, the stronger the plane is. They used to cut the entire length out for the electrics. A b it of trimming should allow the carbon rods to fit a bit better..? We may need to take a little closer look at this and fine tune the cuts they are doing. I guess it wouldn't hurt if we documented this info on our web site too.

-Wayne

So, MiniQ guys,
what's the latest mods, improvements over the model since July last year???
I see from the posts up to July, 2020, that there were some concerns over the "toughness" of the bridge over the canopy area and the wing joining arrangement??? Also some concerns about the lack of symetry during the factory cutting out of the cockpit opening.
Go With the Flow
Bruce

Bruce - The factory now laysup the bridge much thicker and we have them do just a rough opening of that bridge to allow the canopy to fit for transport. This allows the new owner to trim the bridge to meet their needs for the plane. Most glider guys will leave almost all of the bridge intact, while an electric pilot will remove most of the bridge to make room for the battery.

It is very easy to trim this bridge, a sanding drum on a Dremel will make quick work of the job for the glider clean up. Typically for a glider you are just opening up the existing holes enough to allow the canopy to go on and off nicely and have a large enough opening to get the receiver and battery in there.

Hope this helps,
-Wayne

Thanks Wayne for that update.
My own preference/ style is electric assist gliders, using the motor for saving a long walk !!!
So I'll have another browse through this forum to decide how I might go about this. I'm not planning for ballistic.
Just a 1250 motor and a 2S 850 or some such.
Any comments from anyone, with what looks to me, like a great little bird.
Go With the Flow
Bruce

One of the guys at the shop built one up with a bigger motor and he has been slowly going faster and faster with it. It rips along pretty darn well.

3 months have gone by without a posting on this forum.
Has the novelty worn off or have these miniQs been worn out???
Go With the Flow
Bruce

Hi Bruce, the MiniQ is such a stout little bird it would be hard to wear out. I bring mine almost every time I go to the slope. It came in at 9 1/2 oz. and flies fine from under 10 to 40 mph. It’s one of those planes that just flies much better than most. Along with the Sunbird, Ahi and Sprite thermal, I would recommend it to anyone without reservation.

Originally Posted by dylancoffin

Hi Bruce, the MiniQ is such a stout little bird it would be hard to wear out. I bring mine almost every time I go to the slope. It came in at 9 1/2 oz. and flies fine from under 10 to 40 mph. It’s one of those planes that just flies much better than most. Along with the Sunbird, Ahi and Sprite thermal, I would recommend it to anyone without reservation.

Concur in every respect, easily best value since I started RC soaring in '74. Actually bought a "just in case" spare but doubt I can wear out the original Mini Q unless something goes badly wrong. Even my Poky 40 is gathering dust.....

Cheers
Dave

Can't keep them in stock.. They usually sell out within a week of a shipment coming in. Magnus is pretty much the same story. Our next shipment will be mostly Magnus and maybe a few of the new Tempest models, then should be back to a mostly Mini Q shipment.

-Wayne

Great photos taken by Gerard Menut of a juvenile red tail playing with my MiniQ yesterday afternoon in Berkeley. At first the likely siblings were chasing each other and completely ignoring larger planes. Then I threw out my MiniQ and one took a lot of interest. More pics here:

https://www.face***removehere***book...58401205147543

Copy link and remove where noted to view.

I have a new one I bought from Neil haven't touched it yet it's red and black if anybody wants it same price as a new one