Mini Q

[Dave75]

Great info! I'll keep the nosecone around the same length, and keep searching for the CG sweetspot over softer grounds. I'm also searching for proper servos without much luck. But trying to mold the new nosecone is buying me time. The carbon I want to use refused to bend to the shape of the cone. I might have to go with glass or aramid. I patched up the fuselage damage with small CF/epoxy patches, and I bridged an open ding in the outboard LE of the wing with spread tow.
Regarding the elevon reflex, I stole the term out of context from a post on this thread. I meant that I have positive elevator offset programmed into a 3 position switch: 1 is level (0 offset), 2 is elevator 2mm up, 3 is elevator 4mm up. I launched the glider at position 2, and soon after switched to position 1 to attempt to gain airspeed.
All in all, I used sub-par servos, and I did initial flight testing on a rocky hill. I believe success will come after changing those 2 variables to what's been recommended, and I look forward to ripping this little glider across the sky soon. Thanks!

 

[surly]

Hi Folks,

New guy here. I just picked up a miniQ and have a few questions.
First off, thanks to all for this thread, super helpful.

My bird weighs in naked at ~200g. Add all the intended gear and its up to 342g. Add some ballast, glue, tape, and minus some dust...I'll certainly be north of 360g. I was expecting closer to 320g and thinking even then the wing loading to be approaching scary. I know these are screaming little machines and I am up for a challenge, but also know small weight changes can have dramatic effects, especially on such small craft.

So...should I be concerned or am being a weight weenie??

The DS843MG servos i got weigh in at 12.5g, not 8.5 as stated.
The 1300mah nimh battery is at 93g and it's cg is only halfway to the nose.

I've done the math, a smaller 600mah lipo battery could weigh 1/3 the nimh and could be pushed little further forward. With additional ballast at the nose being twice as effective, overall weight could be reduced ~33g. Further remove 8g with lighter HV servos...41g. That's over 10%.

Is that worth the effort or should I shut up and build?

 

[Konrad]

Depends on the slope lift you have.

You are correct in that small weight changes can have dramatic effects. But that is because of the CG not so much the wing loading.

The DS843MG is the appropriate servo.

Now I like 2 cell lipo and the Blue Bird HV. So I'd go high voltage not so much out of weight concerns but that I like the HV set up.

Are you new to small slope ships and plank flying wings?

 

[surly]

Depends on the slope lift you have.

You are correct in that small weight changes can have dramatic effects. But that is because of the CG not so much the wing loading.

The DS843MG is the appropriate servo.

Now I like 2 cell lipo and the Blue Bird HV. So I'd go high voltage not so much out of weight concerns but that I like the HV set up.

Are you new to small slope ships and plank flying wings?

Yes and no. Been flying an Alula, so yes on 'small and planky' but at maybe 1/3 the wing loading of the miniQ, seems wrong to even compare. I did go through the process of dialing in the CG and it really came alive when perfected, so understand the hyper sensitivity to CG.

Luckily, plenty of lift around hear most of the year.

 

[gp49]

Hi Folks,

New guy here. I just picked up a miniQ and have a few questions.
First off, thanks to all for this thread, super helpful.

My bird weighs in naked at ~200g. Add all the intended gear and its up to 342g. Add some ballast, glue, tape, and minus some dust...I'll certainly be north of 360g. I was expecting closer to 320g and thinking even then the wing loading to be approaching scary. I know these are screaming little machines and I am up for a challenge, but also know small weight changes can have dramatic effects, especially on such small craft.

So...should I be concerned or am being a weight weenie??

The DS843MG servos i got weigh in at 12.5g, not 8.5 as stated.
The 1300mah nimh battery is at 93g and it's cg is only halfway to the nose.

I've done the math, a smaller 600mah lipo battery could weigh 1/3 the nimh and could be pushed little further forward. With additional ballast at the nose being twice as effective, overall weight could be reduced ~33g. Further remove 8g with lighter HV servos...41g. That's over 10%.

Is that worth the effort or should I shut up and build?

Ours came out a porky size. Just under 400 g with a Nimh batttery, and it's about to gain a little more because of a mid air with a Moth that split the seam on the LE on one side. It flies well in 12 mph, comes alive in 20+. Just get the CG in the right spot, get your up reflex dialed in and throw it hard and level. Do not take your eyes off of it.

 

[surly]

Good to know, thank you. I will proceed with what I got.

More questions:
Control horn attachment...is it sufficient to rough up the surface and epoxy? Or should I cut a deeper notch?

Servo attachment...ive shaped the plywood trays to fit nicely. Was gonna use the angle adapter that comes w the servo but there’s very wood to bite into, so that doesn’t seem very secure. Thinking of bonding another layer of wood on the tray and screwing into w/I the angle adapter. That would be more secure but impossible to unscrew once in place. Might as well just glue the servo into place. Is there a way to be secure and removable? Some good double side tape?

Is the nose bulkhead used for non-electric builds?

Lastly, do you bound that nose cone on permanently? Or just tack on and/or tape?

Really appreciate the advise, thank you!

 

[gp49]

Good to know, thank you. I will proceed with what I got.

More questions:
Control horn attachment...is it sufficient to rough up the surface and epoxy? Or should I cut a deeper notch?

Servo attachment...ive shaped the plywood trays to fit nicely. Was gonna use the angle adapter that comes w the servo but there’s very wood to bite into, so that doesn’t seem very secure. Thinking of bonding another layer of wood on the tray and screwing into w/I the angle adapter. That would be more secure but impossible to unscrew once in place. Might as well just glue the servo into place. Is there a way to be secure and removable? Some good double side tape?

Is the nose bulkhead used for non-electric builds?

Lastly, do you bound that nose cone on permanently? Or just tack on and/or tape?

Really appreciate the advise, thank you!

• control horns - make a slot thru surface and epoxy the horn with a nice fillet.
• servo attachment - I have friends who just epoxied the servos in place after roughen the surface. Since I put cheep servos in mine I made them removable with some ply + hard wood..
• bulkhead - Do use one - it will make the nose stronger. I made one from ply so that I could set it back about 1/4" into the fuse and use the space as a 'compartment' for my weights.
• nose cone - I tape mine on. Make dialing the CG a lot easier.
• tail - at first I had a little epoxy on it. Big mistake. First harder landing it cracked the fin and fuse. Now it's friction held (pretty tight) and if we land hard hopefully it will just pop off.

 

[surly]

little tip...
A different site suggested that these trays also fit the corona ds-843mg servos, and indeed, they fit perfectly. Aloft’s photo shows two but there’s only one per package, so if you want two, order two. Cheers.

 

[Nigel]

Ah yes, sorry about the photos. We altered nearly all of the servo trays to be sold individually to avoid confusion, and ended up creating some in the process.

 

[surly]

Your website is pretty clear actually. It says sold individually. But my lizard brain was like ‘maybe they mean individual packages of two?’

I’m just glad they fit the suggested servos for the miniQ.

 

[Wayne]

Manufacturer changed how the package them.. Used to be a pair, then single.

 

[Wayne]

little tip...
A different site suggested that these trays also fit the corona ds-843mg servos, and indeed, they fit perfectly. Aloft’s photo shows two but there’s only one per package, so if you want two, order two. Cheers.
View attachment 6490

Add it to our product page. Thanks!

 

[L320Y]

Hey everyone. Been flying this little guy for a few weeks now. CoG was tricky to dial in and as a result I had a few... “spirited” landings.

One thing I noticed is that, due to the lack of a central spar, the wing tension is held through the central wooden ring thing. As a result there’s a combination of compression above and expansion below it when the wings flex. My landings appear to have cracked that seal, causing wing flex and unwanted dihedral in flight as well as spoiling the up-elevator authority.

I don’t think this is a problem, I forced some epoxy into the cracks and the wings are much more solid. But worth keeping an eye on - it wasn’t an obvious crack when the plane was on the workbench. Apologies if this has been mentioned before.

 

[Konrad]

No apologies needed. This has been noted before. TJIRC has been addressing this with a larger web over the top. Can you post a photo showing what you did and maybe giving us an idea as to which production run your model is from?

 

[gp49]

Hey everyone. Been flying this little guy for a few weeks now. CoG was tricky to dial in and as a result I had a few... “spirited” landings.

One thing I noticed is that, due to the lack of a central spar, the wing tension is held through the central wooden ring thing. As a result there’s a combination of compression above and expansion below it when the wings flex. My landings appear to have cracked that seal, causing wing flex and unwanted dihedral in flight as well as spoiling the up-elevator authority.

I don’t think this is a problem, I forced some epoxy into the cracks and the wings are much more solid. But worth keeping an eye on - it wasn’t an obvious crack when the plane was on the workbench. Apologies if this has been mentioned before.

Same result in from our landings. Please check you LE seam! Ours was split so nicely that it was hard to notice If your LE was split then look down into the cavity and inspect the spar! Ours was separated from the wing skin on the bottom - about 2" long.

Now both the LE and the spar are fixed. Ready to fly again.

 

[Wayne]

Just a little follow up guys, we have TJI researching a new structural adhesive for these areas that should cure the issue. Prices will go up slightly as the stuff does ad to the costs, but well worth it IMHO.

For that matter we are doing the same with all of our composite manufacturers as we would like to offer you better airframes.

 

[L320Y]

Thanks for all the follow-ups! Yes, my leading-edge was very much cracked, I forgot to mention. I wish I had read that post about the spar earlier, so I could have checked it - but after having glued the fuselage brace things feel a lot better so I am fairly confident. I've attached a photo of where the crack was.

The fuselage was cracked near the front of the canopy, and the sides of the fuselage were cracked too. Part of the fuselage problem might be that I have been using a battery that's too large, and during one of my landings it shunted forwards into the nose and spread the seams outwards. The wings also had some cracks at the

My model is one from the recent batches with the "bridge" over the top of the fuselage. All I did was mix up some GG epoxy and smear it all the way round the wooden divider, then flexed the wings up and down while pushing the epoxy into the gaps. Not a very scientific approach, but it seems to have helped. I'm sure the improved adhesive will work for future runs, and I for one would be happy to pay a little more for it. All in all, a great little airframe and a good learning experience. I had quite forgotten how important it is to tune the CoG.

Also, I have fashioned a carrying case out of good old fashioned cardboard and gorilla tape, and it's turned out quite well. I will take some photos of the case next time I'm in the workshop. The plan is to build a motorcycle saddlebag case so I can take it with me, so the case will hopefully offer some wind protection. I considered using a 35" gun case, but they're a bit bulky and heavy. Not to mention they look like gun cases!

 

[gp49]

Yours looks like only a flesh wound. I would go back in and make the glue joint more of a larger fillet on both sides of the 'wooden' bulkhead. Mix some epoxy with cabosil. I have now fixed that spot twice on mine. BTW, did you fly yours at Sunset Beach on the weekend of March 19th?

 

[Wayne]

It is official, we will be using structural adhesive on these in the near future. That should make this issue go away. Prices will go up a bit, but not much for the little Mini-Q.

 

[L320Y]

No, that wasn't me at Sunset Beach. I fly up at Tick Point with Dave, whose mini Q is very well tuned and was the reason I bought this one.

Definitely just a flesh wound, although it caused quite a lot of dihedral in the air. But because it's not noticeable at rest, I didn't notice it until much later. The softened wing axis caused the flight characteristics to change, which led me to try changing the CoG again, which led to the rest of the carnage. The LE separation seemed a little more catastrophic, but seems to have hardened up nicely with the epoxy.

I wonder whether a second spar, or a thicker wooden beam would help spread the load in future versions. It seems as though the stress is applied to a very narrow band of epoxy. A broader surface area might help spread that.

I'll try the cabosil. It seems as though I just mix some in with the epoxy and then dress the wound as usual? I'll try the BSI epoxy as a change from the gorilla glue stuff and see how I get on.