Jason from SebartUSA has asked me to do a build thread on the new Mini Avanti that will be available soon. It is designed for EDF or turbine and has been flown with the P20. He and I discussed that a lot of people, myself included, would gravitate towards the new KingTech K45 due to the increased thrust and it being nearly half the price of the P20. I agreed to be the test subject for this combination knowing that I am on my own as far as seeing whether or not the airframe and K45 are a good combination. Hopefully, I will come up with some useful information, good or bad for the rest of you. This combo with 30oz of fuel should be about 1.5 pounds more than the P20 powered equivalent. I think overall weight is more of a concern than too much thrust. I can dial down the turbine, I can't dial down the weight.
I have the xicoy balancer and will weigh the plane as I go to show component weight and overall weight.
I received the kit last week. Very nice surprise is that the electric gear and gear doors are already installed! The nose gear doors also come with servos and have a sequencer in the controller for the gear. Nose steering servo is also installed and ready to plug in. The retracts are metal, and look like they are up to task. I have not pulled them from the wings yet to inspect the mounts. I will do that and report back. Since this is a turbine, and I fly at an AMA field, I need brakes. So, I will be adding electric brakes.
A gentleman on RCU did a build thread on the electric. I chose the same servos he did knowing they would be drop in. The Spektrum 4030 is a metal gear servo with 83 oz of torque at 6v. I am using s.bus with Futaba 18mz. Three SBD-1 adaptors will be needed to convert the servos. The spectrum servo is $39, even with the cost of the three adaptors, this is much cheaper than buying s.bus servos. Still get the convenience of less wiring and easy programming with the s.bus.
The kit does not come with a pipe. Grumania will custom make one, and the wren 44 pipe may work. Have to measure once I get the turbine in and I will share size and cost of each.
My initial impression is that I really like the size. Its not too big to handle, I think you could get it in your truck or SUV without taking the wings off. Fit and finish is very nice. We are all conditioned to having composite wings, this is built up and covered, but very nicely done. This is gonna be a quick build, not a lot to this plane, particularly when the gear is already done for you.
Here are a few pics, and I will break up the rest and explain by process.
