Here's a close up shot of the skid thing.

I think Chris told me that his balanced with the battery at the back of the wing with the FX.

i have a 25 la and mine balances with the battery in the front and the reciever 2 formers behind the front of the wing. it is at the front end of the range, but if I get a lighter pack or lithium pack it will be farther back

I'm having a blast with my Mini 3D. This is the easiest plane to hover and harrier I've tried. You can't make this plane drop a wing.

I found:

25LA is GREAT

Wheels are too small and stress the gear, try 2.5" dubro ultra light wheels

HS-81's too wimpy for huge throws, rudder blew back during KE and one stripped on the aileron. Went to 225MG on elevator and rudder, much better. 85MG on ailerons would be a good choice. All up weight is still only 2lbs 5oz.

Lots of little mods you figure out as you go along, but well worth the effort Glad I bought two.

I've got mine all straightened out and it's flying great. I'm running a Norvel .25- plenty of power to spare. I have the CG @ 4"- with the norvel it idles high and was somewhat hard to land into some wind...... I just waited for a dead spot in the wind and set her down. I was a little worried that I might run out of fuel and have to dead stick it in a 10 mph wind..... I think that would have been hairy!!! can't wait to get out there and try it again.

alex

Well this plane sounds identical to mine now that I've changed the engine. I have the same weight using a hatch setup for the battery near the back of the wing.

Mind if I ask what prop you're using for this great performance? I have yet to fly mine since the mods, and for now all I have is an APC 9x4 that I was using with my OS 15.

Edit: If you know what static rpm you're turning please pass that on too.

Thanks,
Chuck

Here's a stock Dave Brown mount, and here's the same mount on a diet, and a shot of the cut off beams and tri-stock for them. The lightened mount weighs .36 oz. and the cut off stuff comes in at .19 for a weight penalty of .17 oz. I'll take the mount for tenth and a half.

Chuck, what battery are you using, and could you post a picture of your hatch please.

Tom

I'm using a Futaba (Sanyo) 250maH NiCd battery. Here's a quick picture of my hatch. I've gotta run at the moment but it at least shows it's location (let me know if you need more info). It's made of 1/64 ply and I just covered it with some blue I had lying around. Later on if I get a color match I'll redo it in that wonderful purple/pink color . It's pretty much the same as was shown in earlier posts, just in a different location. Those are small servo screws holding it in and the battery is velcro-ed to the bottom of the wing (with one extra thickness of balsa sheeting for strength). It balances just past 4". My receiver is in the nose, under the engine tray right up against the wing's leading edge...nothing special there.

Chuck

Thanks Chuck, that's exactly where I thought the hatch should go. FYI, I think Econocote, A.K.A. Towercote, Circus Pink is a very close match on the color.

Tom

Chuck - you might want to consider changing your linkage setup. I noticed you are running the clasp one hole from the bottom of the horn. You lose servo resolution when you do that (granted - you don't need a heck of a lot on this mini 3d). I ditched the control horns that came w/ the Hitec servos and replaced them with std dubro servo horns. That enabled me to move the clasp out further.

Just food for thought...


Drew

ps - I'm going to get another one of these w/ the .25 and HS 85s.

Just finished installing a new O.S. .25LA on mine. Originally flew with a magnum .15XL and it was enough to hover but just slightly under full throttle with very slow pull out. So, picked up a new LA yesterday and installed it tonight. The weather around here really sux but if and when it is decent, i can't wait to get out and try the new engine. Anyone else have much experience with the .25LA combo yet. Only weighs 2oz more than the .15.

Sean.

Mine now has the .25 LA as well.
Like you though, I am waiting for better weather.

10x4 APC works great on the .25LA, pulls strong from a hover. Remove the baffle.

Forget the 250mah packs. Use a 650 or 720mah Nimh pack, they weigh and cost the same as the small nicad packs and you get lots of flights out of them.

Instead of a hatch cut out the covering, put in the radio gear and cover the opening with clear packing tape. Not pretty but it's light and simple. If you need to get at the gear just remove the tape.

Happy Flying.

i'm going to try the .25 FX on my next Mini. Chris told me his is running HS 81 Nylons on his .25 FX, which is surprising, but he hasn't had any problems, yet!

For those of you who love this plane, I think you should check out the extreme Flight Yak 54. I hear it's manufactured by the same guys who build the Mini, so it should be straight and well constructed. It looks great on the video. I'm surprised Chip H. has not posted a video for his Cap X yet. I think those videos do wonders for potential buyers. I was sold on the Yak the second I saw the video.

Well i couldn't stand it so i took my mini with the newly installed .25LA out in the garage tonight to see how the little thing would run. I have never been all that impressed with the LA/FP series engines but i have high hopes for this one. It started and ran very well. I have a 9X4 MA prop on it now because that is all the local HS had but hopefully i can round up a 10X3 and a 10X4 before i get a chance to fly it so i can compare the 3. Anyway, with plain old 15% fuel, this little engine seemed very strong. I absolutely can't wait for the weather to get better, probably not for another 3 months though. Hey Wayne, let's find some flying jobs in FL and move down there! What do you think?

If you can find me a job as good as the one I have now in Florida, thats fine with me.
You will have to convince my wife though..

Dave called me last week and let me know about the delay with my 330. Bummer!

I put my brand new 25LA on the test stand, and broke the stupid fuel nipple where it leaves the needle valve.

I love that these engines are light, but if I meet the guy that made this piece out of plastic, I'm kickin' the crap out of him!

I broke two off of my 46LA before I sold it. After buying a couple of back plate assemblies, these engines aren't so cheap, and now I gotta wait a few days until it gets here.
[:@]

I don't exactly know where Celina is, but the weather in NE Ohio has definitely taken a turn for the worse. As of today I'm considering it the real start of winter. The temps have dropped into the low teens with wind chills well below zero. Here we go...I'll be waiting out the next 3 months with ya. You folks in the West and South (and overseas) are going to have to keep us entertained with flight reports and such!

But...if the winds die down and the opportunity presents itself, I'll do everything in my power to get my Mini in the air...even if I have to shovel some grass!

Chuck
(all dressed up and no place to go)

Wisconsin did the same thing. I don't think it got above 10 yesterday. Today will be a tad warmer, but not much.

I'll be flying the Slow Stick from my garage for a while. Even a 5 mph puff of wind goes right through you at these temps. I won't complain, however. I've seen Halloweens where kids were walking in snow. We got lucky that the cold held off this long.

Yes TT. This flying season lasted a lot longer than last year, it's been good...no complaints (hear that Wayne? ). Besides, I've got my new Aeroflight Pro to keep me company and I've got a lot of practicing to do. This coming Spring is going to be great.

Chuck

I gotta quit being cheap and get a sim. My excuse has been that my PC was too old. Like 8 years old, runnung Windows 95 on a (get this) 233 mhz processor. Now I have a much better PC, and just need to order the darn thing. For $150, it may be the best way to go.

I flew G2 in Chicago a couple of years ago, and did not like it. They had it in "arcade mode" so that anyone could fly it. I did like the DB sim, however. It seemed pretty good, but everyone just raves about the Aeroflight Pro. After all, what the heck does DB know about 3D... Just that he doesn't like it I guess.

Stay warm.

Ok, I can see us weathered-in guys starting to get off topic . TT, I sent you a PM regarding sims (in a nutshell: Long live Aerofly Pro!)

Chuck

Well I managed to get six flights in with my new 25LA. This is definitely a good choice for this plane. Lots of hovering power using the only prop I have for it at the moment, an APC 9x4. And I was running the motor rich due to the cold (13 degrees). I shoveled about a 50' long patch on our club runway and the 2 1/4" Lectra lights worked like a charm off the thinner snow (of course the cold makes it a little more powdery). Thanks to a too rich mixture in the beginning, I had two deadsticks. They were so easy to handle I let one flight go until I ran out of fuel (that may become a more common practice). I hardly noticed the few ounces I added overall. Now I'll just wait for the next non-windy day...

Chuck

Well, I finally got the Mini 3D in one piece.

25LA (with a tongue muffler), Electron Rx, 4 HS-81s, 1 HS-85MG, and 700 mah 5 cell NiMh.

2 pounds 1.75 ounces. I was in hopes for 2 pounds even, but it wasn't to be.

With my battery and Rx just under the wing, at about the servo lead hole, I get a CG about 1 inch aft of the spar. If I put the stock muffler on (1.5 ounces heavier) I get the CG at the spar. I used two 6 inch extensions (throttle and battery connection) and two 12 inchers (tail servos).

I added some nyrod where the firewall screws go into the first former. I hope to avoid a vibration breakdown further down the road.

I hope the 10x3 APC does ok, otherwise a 9x4 APC will get a go.

I still have to sand down some bigger wheels. There is no way this plane will get out of my field with the stock ones. I need at least 2.5 inch wheels.

Wish me luck when the weather breaks. We got another inch this morning...[&o]