Mini Eagle. Maiden Flight.

...fly like a bird

I’d half considered a “bird-plane” before but, with lots of other projects happening, I’d never taken it further than that. However, seeing the Mini Eagle offered on special by Banggood was enough to spur me to get this nice-looking EPP kit.

It’s a great quality kit - nicely packaged with everything you need including linkages, control horns and even an engine mount - all you need is a 1100kv motor (I used a 2212 1000kv) an ESV (20-30A) a 3S 800-1300 (I used a 3S 1000) and a prop adaptor for the supplied beak-orange 8x4.

The only minor drama was with the wing-edge extensions - flat foam pieces to be glued onto the straight wing leading edge to give the wing an Eagle-shape. I was concerned that misalignment of these could end in disaster but, as it turned out, they caused no problem and do enhance the overall effect of the Eagle in the air.

The other area of concern, no ailerons and a V-tail configuration, also performed without a hitch. So it turned out that the maiden flight, undertaken on a beautifully sunny and mild winter afternoon, went of flawlessly.

It ended up really enjoying the unflappable nature of the Eagle - it flies super-slow with little effort, looks great, and has taken the spot of easiest plane to fly in my experience previously held, ironically, by the Walrus glider…

Warping Walrus

...wing warping of the unexpected kind

The sudden onset of warm weather has had an unexpected outcome - the Walrus has gone soft!

I've had the plane in the back of my car virtually since I've had it with little ill effect. However, with the last couple of days been moderately warm (only in the low twenties) the right wing tip has warped where it was pushed against the car. This caused the Walrus to have a right turn yesterday, and this afternoon again although worse.

I have taken to putting in a few cushions to, well, cushion and support the plane so there is less stress on it. I wonder if this is a common issue, and if there is some solution to the problem? The obvious remedy is to not have it in the car, although this would also mean forgoing the best opportunities to fly. 

So I'll have to give this some thought. Perhaps some sort of aeroplane bed?

A Profound Sadness

...collateral damage by stupidity

Having returned home, I was overcome by a profound sadness at having inflicted such wanton damage to such a lovely aircraft. It was like a nice pet being given to a bad home, and I was the culprit. Oh dear.

It may seem silly but I really felt gutted by the sequence of events; the effort I'd made, aspirations thwarted and damaged caused for no gain. A sorry waste for no benefit at all.

I pondered the situation and decided on two things. Firstly, as damaged as the Phoenix was it was still repairable to a flying state. Secondly, I would get a smaller and more novice-friendly aircraft.

For the Phoenix it was spares-shopping and improvisation. The nylon fuselage was up-ended in a jug of boiling water and left overnight, in the hope that relief of residual stresses would help to straighten up the wrinkles.

The original kit had included a fixed spinner, if no motor were to be used. This I modified to adapt to the spinner-base and to clear the propellor mounts. The battery tray, which had shattered most impressively, I tried to reconstitute after the fashion of a jigsaw-puzzle but then abandoned as folly, fabricating another out of modelling ply.

The wings mounts I superglued together and reinforced with fibreglass mesh. Ailerons were remounted, using hinges to replaced the ruptured EPO hinge and, as a bonus, I "activated" the moulded-in flaps giving them the same hinge treatment as the ailerons  and installing servos in the ready-moulded wing recesses. A new battery to replace the compacted original 1800mAh completed the repair process.

Now all I needed was the skill to fly the recreated Phoenix...