dribar

I had the field to myself yesterday, so I spent a lot of time exercising the airframe. My goal was to turn as sharply as the guys flying BVM Kingcats at SRQ. So, I got to 2 mistakes high, and started pulling turns at 60% throttle with an increasing amount of elevator. More and more on each try. Holy cow!! This thing can really turn on a dime. Second test was to do the same at a slower speed. Nope. Not good. She wobbled like Dorain and stalled out of the turn. Bad news and very repeatable.

Learned a lot yesterday. 6 flights done with 58 total. Did one flight searching for a new speed record of my own. I don't think I'm going to hit 200 without a good breeze behind me. Still loving this bird.



191?

Tip22v

Good info on the flight characteristics, thanks for posting! The mini will turn tight at high speed but I've also stalled mine at high speed so care must be taken when yanking and banking at high speed

Flightcrew

T3chDad

I just sent you a PM...

Flightcrew

Dansy

My Feedback: (53)

Flightcrew

JP electric retracts landing gear hub bolts

I found a local store "Fastenal" where I was able to size and order the replacements. I also found them on Amazon, if y'all don't have a local store. Here are the specifications:

M2.5 x 6mm socket head cap screw

T3chDad

That's good. I'm glad you found what you needed and posted your findings.

Tip22v

I got a few more flights on my T1 mini this past weekend. For those of you wondering about how well the LG-15 works check out the braking on this landing:

whewth

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bushong572

My Feedback: (59)

I have about 15 flights on mine (K 85) and have been very happy with it....no issues.

dribar

I love this plane. Flew flights 76-78 yesterday. She's a 10 out of 10. Jet guys still comment on how stable she is and how she has no bad characteristics. The PNP fit and finish was also great. I blew out one of the flap servos a few months ago due to deploying them at a very high speed. I couldn't believe how well they routed and protected the wires inside the wing. Love her. Here's a pic from yesterday:

Tip22v

If you are wondering how a T1 Mini belly lands on grass check out this short video:
This was my first flight of the day, landing gear cycled on the ground but once airborne the left main gear would not extend so I choose to belly land. A few minor scratches but fortunately no damage. If you ever have to belly land in the grass be ready on your flap switch, as soon as you touch down get the flaps up. -Tom

dribar

Nice job Tom.... as always.

Tip22v

Ducted Fan Dan

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Did any of you guys drill a hole or sand a flat spot in the carbon rod that holds the wing in? I flew mine Sunday and after the flight the wing had slipped about 1/8" out. All of the retaining screws were tight but maybe not tight enough.

Tip22v

T3chDad

DO NOT DO THIS! You'll make the problem worse. In 200 flights I never had a wing slide out any. Try tightening the clamps a little more.

bushong572

My Feedback: (59)

Make sure your clamps aren't broken. I had 2 break on the horizontal stabs. They fractured right where the bolts go thru. It might have cost me the plane if I hadn't noticed it. I wound up gluing the stabs on....yes, I know replacing a servo is going to be tough.
I recommend all owners check theirs. I've owned many planes with this same setup and have never had this happen before.

Ducted Fan Dan

My Feedback: (2)

Cool, thanks for the help. I had forgotten that they were clamps. My fear has been stripping the threads.

dribar

I used to be gentle when tightening the wing bolts. Then one day I was taxiing and made a sharp turn. The wing pulled out 4 inches... embarrassing to say the least. Since that day, I'm a little more aggressive with the amount of torque I put on those screws. Never had another problem.

dribar

I did post a new speed record (for me) a weekend ago. One thing I learned is to turn your gyro off if you're going real fast. I have an AS3000 spektrum gyro that I am very happy with. I keep it on all the time but at a low gain (50). I was doing the long 30 degree down run to let the GPS catch up with the airplane. Pulled up hard at the end and at the top of the up line, she started cavetating badly. It was the gyro. I threw the gear down to add as much drag as possible and landed asap. I was really worried about stress damage. I mean she was shaking like a raggedy andy. No problems at all. Flew another 5 flights this past weekend without an issue, but I did lower that gain to 40 on the low setting. All good. What a great airframe. I'm shooting for my 100th flight by EOY. Sitting at 83 this minute so it shouldn't be a problem.

Tip22v

Dan,
I've also experienced a little gyro wobble at the higher speeds, but not to the degree you describe. Nice job recognizing the problem and getting the gyro disabled before something really bad happened. -Tom

Agrav8ed

I lost my Xcalibur due to the same thing. But unfortunately my elevator ripped off while I was trying to Tone the gyro. Lesson learned the hard way.🙁
thanks,
Tone

Ducted Fan Dan

My Feedback: (2)

I got another flight Sunday with no issues except that the landing gear would get hung up on the wheel wells on the way up. When I landed I turned the plane upside down on the stand and noticed the main gear struts were not extending all the way. I'm going to lube strut and try to get them to move more freely. The bigger issue is while I was actuating the gear up and down with the transmitter the nose retract quit working. When I got it home I unplugged the nose retract and powered it up with an external battery and nothing. The main retracts both work with an external battery. Has anyone seen this before? Pacific RC Jets sells the JP motors for the gear for $30 so it won't be a big deal to get another one but it was strange that it happened all of the sudden.