Mini E Panic

[Craig Spence]

So I attached the bobbins the same way I normally do, drill a hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the bobbin bolt and simply screw in, hey presto, job done.

Later when it comes to fitting it all permanently I will apply thin super glue to the threads to strengthen them, or just wick it in the bolt for a permanent fix.

 

All the bobbins fitted.

 

And the Motor.

 

 

Here you can see the wires in thier hole, a good fit now.

 

And the ESC fitted under the battery bay, note the slot for the battery connector wires, this is to make connecting the battery a little easyer.

In fact you could just make the bay a little shorter.

 

Point to note for other builders of this model is make your motor wires longer to fit the ESC as its tight for big hands in there, good for all the gear though.

Problem is its very fiddly and I connected them up useing pliars but this could damage the wing seat.

 

Next thread.

 

 

[Craig Spence]

So to fitting the servos in the wing. This is tight and you should take care here, I put the servo in place then cut some old leading edge balsa, I had to cut angles on the balsa so I could rotate it into postion. Once there I wicked in a small dropped of thin super glue on to the balsa supports and marked the holes to be drilled with a pen.

 

I then removed the servo and wicked in more glue until happy lol!. Later I will drill the holes with a multi tool, if you can drill them before do it!.

I have only done this for best fit but it can be done before, I will repeat the process on the other side and put a little cap strip under each servo for the film to stick to, cover then refit.

 

Well thats it untill later tonight.

 

Cheers all.

[Craig Spence]

Thanks Bob,

 

I think that sounds a sensible route to go. Ill get on it tonight.

[Craig Spence]

So im finally entering the final stages, both the aileron servos have been fitted, just need drilling out.

 

I included these pictures to show the cap strips at the rear of the servos.

 

I then went on to fit the servos in the fuselage, now I was given alot of advice about this from avicraft and have listened to it.

However I have come up with a similar way which suits me, mainly for the loop system, this way it will be closer to the surface.

So i started by cuting the rails I needed and rilled out the holes.

 

Then fitted one and glued in place then fitted the servo and glued the other in place.

 

Once done I simply crewed it in.

 

The elevator servo is set slightly higher in our perspective as in the fuselage it will be lower and closer to the controll surface, ie.. less bend and less wasted energy.

 

So far im very happy with the build.

 

Next thread.

 

 

[Craig Spence]

Next step was the undercarriage.

 

I held the metal in place with the saddles and marked them up.

 

Once done I drilled the holes and screwed the saddles and undercarriage in place.

 

So to the tricky soldering, the undercarriage came with fuel tubeing conviently for me, I think its just there to stop the undercarriage peircing the bag the kit comes in, anyway on with the post.

I used the fuel tube to secure one side.

 

Then heated the metal for a few minits then simply added the solder, and its very strong.

 

Inner collets screwed in place.

 

Wheel and outer collet secured.

 

Heres the finished article.

 

Tomorrow im going to go ahead and cover the model. There are still a few bits to consider but I will get round to them as I go, such as press studs and ball sockets.

[Craig Spence]

So last night I almost completely finished the fuselage.

 I started by adding some balsa to the ligthening holes for a little bit more surface for the film to glue to.

 

I then attached one end of the loop system to the rudder servo arm, reattached it and left the wire loose in the fuselage.

 

Then I began the covering (more colours will be added later), just cut sheets for each surface and leave a little over lap, then iron on and iron the overlap down. Repeat until covered.

All covered now, I should say anyone who is building this plane to cover the tops of your ply wing supports before glueing in the fuz, I will cover this later in the build now.

Then I covered the stab in sureing that I left the front clean for a contact surface for glueing.

Then the elevator was covered and hinged, I just used a scalpel to cut the hinges and then wicked in thin super glue to hold inplace.

I then pushed them both together and pulled the elevator back a little then added thin super glue to the remaining hinges.

 

Next thread.

[Craig Spence]

Once I was happy I sized the tail and cut away the excess film so I could glue to the tail sheet, this was lifted then cut, dont cut the balsa.

 

 

And here we are, the stab and elevator.

 

 

Rudder hinged the same way, although a little slot had to be cut for the control link.

One rudder ready to go, Oh notice the balsa pushed into the film, maybee a better idead to hinge before covering?.

 

One complete tail plane, the fin is simply slid in and then I wicked in thin superglue. Very effective method and the fin is glued at the sides and the bottom.

 

So the loop system holes in place before covering.

Threading the loop system was quite tricky, i removed the tubes in the end and attached a piece of thin heavy metal to thread and slid it through the hole, once through I glued it to the tmaetal and pulled through.

Once through I glued the tubes in place by sliding them down the wire.

 

Here you can see the wires hanging out the back.

 

Then I replaced the motor and other gear, I just need some pushrods to complete this part of the build.

 

Back later all.

 

 

 

[Craig Spence]

well I managed to get the loop system done at the rudder end while one of my boys was sleeping lol.

Ill get alot more done tonight and hopefully fly it at the weekend.

 

You can see a little glue run here and there but I will be removeing it later with debonder.

[Craig Spence]

Got a little more work done last night, covered the wing supports.

 

Then I glued in the press studs, I pushed these into the balsa with a set of pliars and then wicked in some glue, made a mess of one as well, debonder lol!. A strong fit though so far, I think if they come loose I will use some epoxy.

 

Got the main wing covered in a see through red, I dont where im going with this colour scheme lol!, hopefully it comes out good.

 

Then covered the ailerons.

 

Then a simple hinge job and glued them together.

 

One completed wing, im waiting for the servo extensions and different colour covering for the lower wing.

 

Hopefully have it done tonight.

 

[Craig Spence]

So I got alot done last night and this is in no particular order.

I covered the lower and installed the servos.

 

Then covered the ailerons and hinged them to the wing.

 

Attached the horns, clevises and controll horns.

 

Wires pulled through the hole and one lower wing ready to go.

 

Next thread.

[Craig Spence]

So now ill go on to the fitting of the aileron connectors. Poin to note here make sure your struts are fitted first!, I did this buit havent covered it yet in the forum.

So here they are, 2 carbon tubes, and ball studs abd balls.

 

The first thing yourl notice is that the hole is too big for the tread. You can either fill the hole with epoxy, push the link in, let it set and simply unscrew and this is what avicraft recommends.

I drilled the thread into some old snake, now the snakes diameter was a little big for the hole.

 

So I simply stuck it in the drill and span it on some permagrit, worked a treat as well.

 

Make sure you work the thread back and forth untill loose enough to do by hand you dont wanna damage these links.

 

Once sanded and cut to size I simply slid the snake and thread into the carbon and wicked in thin super glue.

 

Two strong links.

 

And here with the balls on, point to note here, make sure you trim the balls rough edges off.

 

I then dry fitted the link and pressed impressions on the ailerons. Once happy I cut away the film onb the impression.

 

Then drilled a shallow holw (pilot bit first 1 or 2 mm, then opened it up a little with a bigger bit, make sure you dont go all the way through.

 

Then I glued the balls in, you have to make sure these are glued in at the correct angle, basically a right angle you should be able to see what I mean in this photo, if not Avicraft have a detailed diagrame.

 

Then repeat the process for the upper aileron.

 

And of course the same for the other wing.

 

Next thread.

[Craig Spence]

Heres just a quick pic of one of the struts, this was simple but fiddly to fit, I made an impression with the struts onto the wing and cut the film away where I needed to fit the studs. Then push the stud in and glue, simple as that but it is a bit fiddly.

Oh and Avicraft fit theres the other way around to the way ive done it but the principle will be the same, courses for horese and so.

 

[Craig Spence]

So the elevator pushrod is carbon fibre for this, and the threaded rod has been installed the same way the aileron connectors was.

 

 

I then made an impression with the horn, makeing sure that it was offset to the side a little to go past one side of the rudder and to better suit your servo location.

 

Fitted the horn, you should trim some of the wood away inside (the triangle balsa to accomodate the clevis and also you should trim back the wider peice of the horn at the bottom to better fit the hole in the back of the fus).

 

 

Picture of the fitting of the thread into a snake and then into the carbon tube.

 

I connected the elevator horn first.

Then insured the fit was good and attached to the servo, you may need to cut some carbon back when you get a tube.

 

 

Next thread.

[Craig Spence]

A little mod I made which you may wish to include is this, trim some tube to fit inbetween the ply wing seat and slide your carbon tube through it. This will stop them caveing in when fitting the wing and keep everything aligned properly, also you may wish to reinforce to the seat with extra ply, I will soon, but it isnt really necessary if you take care.

 

The velcro set up for the battery, a shhet of velcro for the battery to stick to and a velcro loop stuck underneath it, this will stop the battery falling out and slideing.

 

The reciever installation, this looks a bit messy but was tidied up later, again my velcro friend.

 

A couple of pics I missed, this is sizeing the carbon and as you can see a little triming was needed.

 

And also the triming of the elevator horn.

 

Next thread.

[Craig Spence]

So here's the completed product and I must say a great build andgood looking little thing.

I took it down the feild today but didnt fly it as the conditions were a bit rough, my trusty IC Avicraft Frantic was just about up to the job with a 53 up front.

 

Heres a few pics anyhow and when I get it up ill post a review of it on here for all.

 

 

 

 

See ya later, until my next build, happy flying all.

[Ken Catt]

Hi... Nice build..What servo,s have you used?

 

regards

ken

 

[Gary Murphy 1]

Whats happened to the build???

I have one of these on order,my first proper build.

Would like to know how things have progressed for tips etc.

 

[Phill Mainwaring]

Hi

this reply may be a little late but due to circumstances I've been unable to do any building, I've now completed

my mini panic but confused as what wing to ballance it on . upper or lower it seems to need a lot of weight

to ballance it on the upper wing

thanks Phill

[GrumpyGnome]

I extended the nose on mine by about 1.5" and still needed a lump of lead Sorry but not organised enough to weigh it !

Flew nicely but is currently in the eaves - biplanes take up too much boot spaced in the car.

GG

[Phill Mainwaring]

thanks grumpy

I still don't know if its upper or lower wing but from your reply I assume its upper

Phill

[Mike Smith]

Hi Phill,

I can confirm that the balance point should be 3" back from the leading edge of the top wing.

Mike

[Phill Mainwaring]

Many thanks Mike

I had one of the early ones with a c of g at 2 3/4 and the amount of lead was huge

Phill

[Mike Smith]

I was lucky... mine came out just right, but then again, I did have the advantage of living only a stones throw from Avicraft and got great support from them during the build (and even the maiden flight!!).

[Phill Mainwaring]

Hi Mike

How did you manage to get it to come out right mine is way out and I tend to build light

Phill

[Mike Smith]

I literally just followed the instructions to the letter (poorly written though they were!). I have a fairly recent kit... I believe that earlier versions may have been slightly different, but don't know if they were more tail heavy. I have an Airtek Exel 3536 / 1100kv up front and this is mounted on four rubber mounts (recommended by Avicraft) which push it forward by about 8mm. The 2200mAH 3S LiPo sits tight up against the firewall. Came out just right.