grampayeehaa
Member
I ordered the Minimoa From Hobby King's US warehouse for $115.00 which included shipping. Much to my delight it arrived 4 days later. This PNP kit came with everything needed to build the plane, except the TX, RX and 2200Mah, 11.1 volt battery. This even included two bars of steel weighing about 1oz each for CG ballast. The build went reasonably well. The only problem I ran into was the elevator halves, which were joined by a bent wire were not level with each other. A little tweaking took care of that.
Wednesdays is our weekly fly day for our RC Group, I picked that day for the Minimoa's maiden flight. The first flight was devoted to trimming and getting used to its handling characteristics. Flight duration was about 10 minutes. Wind conditions were very light with a heavy overcast. Motor usage was about 60%-40% motor off, motor on respectively. I checked the temperature, (by touch), of the motor, esc and battery, immediately after landing, and found them to be only a few degrees above the ambient temperature. I checked the battery usage by time of charge duration to full capacity. I took a little over 9 minutes to reach full charge. Noting that it normally takes between 40 and 45 minutes to charge a depleted battery I calculated it used about 1/4 of the charge. The most glaring fact that I observed during the first flight was the lack of power from the motor. From what I had read and seen in videos I was expecting a zippy plane. This was not the case. To get a fair climb rate you have to keep it in a gentle ascent with a bit of down elevator. Without the down elevator the plane immediatly goes vertical and stalls.
Flights 2 and 3 went well. Although the Mini is not the floater the Radian is, its sink rate was not bad and it was stable in flight. I was hoping for a bit of wind so I could test its wind handling characteristics, but it was not to be. Toward the end of flight 3 a small dark cloud moved in and I slipped into its updraft. Although the lift, created by the cloud, was not all that strong, Mini climbed and handled well. I am sorry to say Mini's motor lacks the thrust necessary to do loops and rolls although its air foil is robust enough to handle them.
I like the Mini and it looks great in the air. I can't wait for thermal weather and maybe a trip to the slopes.
Wednesdays is our weekly fly day for our RC Group, I picked that day for the Minimoa's maiden flight. The first flight was devoted to trimming and getting used to its handling characteristics. Flight duration was about 10 minutes. Wind conditions were very light with a heavy overcast. Motor usage was about 60%-40% motor off, motor on respectively. I checked the temperature, (by touch), of the motor, esc and battery, immediately after landing, and found them to be only a few degrees above the ambient temperature. I checked the battery usage by time of charge duration to full capacity. I took a little over 9 minutes to reach full charge. Noting that it normally takes between 40 and 45 minutes to charge a depleted battery I calculated it used about 1/4 of the charge. The most glaring fact that I observed during the first flight was the lack of power from the motor. From what I had read and seen in videos I was expecting a zippy plane. This was not the case. To get a fair climb rate you have to keep it in a gentle ascent with a bit of down elevator. Without the down elevator the plane immediatly goes vertical and stalls.
Flights 2 and 3 went well. Although the Mini is not the floater the Radian is, its sink rate was not bad and it was stable in flight. I was hoping for a bit of wind so I could test its wind handling characteristics, but it was not to be. Toward the end of flight 3 a small dark cloud moved in and I slipped into its updraft. Although the lift, created by the cloud, was not all that strong, Mini climbed and handled well. I am sorry to say Mini's motor lacks the thrust necessary to do loops and rolls although its air foil is robust enough to handle them.
I like the Mini and it looks great in the air. I can't wait for thermal weather and maybe a trip to the slopes.