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The Mini WOT 4 thread


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well, I picked one up today so thought I would start this thread for everyone to put their thoughts, comments and advice in. I know my previous post already had some, but figured a seperate plane specific thread might spark some more interest.

i haven't started building mine yet but bits dont look that bad. Dispointingly though the build needs servo extension leads but doesn't come with any so I had to buy 2 of those as well as a y-lead.

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It's a nice plane and has shown itself to be fairly robust. Undercarriage is weak, servo arms have to be drilled out to take the wire holders. Motor bullet connectors are ridiculously tight fittng (ie impossible to connect). There's more space in the battery bay if you route the esc under the canopy. And you'll need some lead up front to get the CoG right.

But still a nice plane.
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Percy, I am assuming the thread to refer to is my previous thread which actually discusses whether to go for the Mini Wot 4 or something else (in my case the mini spirit glider from HobbyKing. I started this thread as a tidy Mini WOT 4 only discussion that could rattle on for ever with thoughts, problems and improvements just for the plane in question. Maybe a bit OCD?

Started the build this morning. Ailerons glued on. Just trying to free the servo lead pull string now from inside the wing!

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Don't push the motor to ESC wires fully home until you get the motor turning in the correct direction

As the tiny connectors are very very tight and will not stand push pulling many times

Also the battery hatch predrilled hole for the moving clip

Is too close to the hatch and prevents it closing

Just fettle the arm before screwing up so its this can be moved out of the way

Check and double check the arrangement to fit the rudder hinges that attach to the rear fuselage as this is

A task in itself

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  • 3 weeks later...

Mine got its maiden flight last week. Not too bad actually and actually enjoyed flying it. Only thing I found as an issue was elevator travel, and whilst I can adjust that with my D/R settings I am a little concerned by the stiffness of the hinges. Not sure if that is a result of my build (excessive glue perhaps) or a nature of the design / hinge. Or could the servo not be man enough? Any thoughts / experiences of other owners?

Thanks

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  • 3 weeks later...

Put a 3100kv motor in from hobby king for extra weigh and bigger prop ,ive taken off the under carriage and put in a 20 amp esc mid cab which made the servos more responsive ,il be ordering some better servos from hobby king ,there’s a video YouTube as my next upgrade ,it flys a lot better now but still won’t glide ,let the power off and it falls out the sky ,I’m going to sharpen the leading edge to get it to glide ,il add some pics tomorrow

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I'm slowly fine-tuning this model and I'm coming round to it a bit more. It certainly falls out of the sky when you cut the throttle. My response to that was a throttle curve with more power earlier on in the throttle range which means I'm no longer just using the 3/4 to 4/4 range of the stick. Equally it makes landing trickier because the tiny sweet spot between coming in slowly and plumetting out of the air is a very small stick movement.

Still not overly impressed with the u/c. I did contact Ripmax who asked if the landing site was bumpy... In fact it was a the local cricket pitch which is as smooth as the preverbial neonates gluteus maximums. I ended up buying a spare u/c so I can fabricate a CF jobby.

The main gripe I have with the model is the somewhat anaemic elevator. I've put the DR on 110% (the servo arm and control arm are maxed out) and yet it still lacks any oomph. Rolls are nice but loops / inverted feels like seriously hard work. The recommended rudder throws meanwhile were well over the top and I had to calm them down significantly (think I ended up on 50% DR even on maximum attack mode!).

It looks great though and I really appreciate that it's not a flipping foamy. The issues seem to be related to the size IE you need to fly it fast or it falls out the sky and the u/c just isn't built to handle a fast landing. I suspect the lack of elevator control is partially related to a relative lack of oomph- it tends to fall out of loops due to lack of speed. More power would help though I'm not sure whether the stock motor will take it. I suppose as suggested a heavier motor would remove some church roof even if it would cut down on the currently quite enjoyably long flight time. I think my timer is currently set for 7 minutes which is fine with me.

Overall I'm happy with it. I suspect if it had been 10-20% bigger it would have been a far nicer plane and would still have been "compact". It would have also enabled it to be flown in stronger winds, even with a AS3X rx I'm still wary of flying in a strong wind. Partially that's due to poor penetration so perhaps again a bit more oomph might have helped.

BTW does anyone have the specs on the stock motor?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Flown mine a couple of more times and been really happy. However,this afternoon it didn't feel as comfortable as previous and I ended up nosing it in. Managed to snap the motor shaft. Is the shaft itself replaceable or is now the time to upgrade the motor? I want to keep the same 10Amp ESC and 2S batteries though.

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The shaft is very soft anyhow Andy, and bends readily on landing

I found a 2mm drill can be cut with a dremel disc to correct length.

If you order 2mm silver steel, it is actually 2.1mm and far too tight to fit

Check your piano wire stock for 2mm, but be aware that too is 1.9ish or 2.1mm and will not do

You may have some from spares box

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Andy, 14 swg wire is 2.032mm very close to the original shaft. I snapped a 2mm motor shaft once and managed to reduce 14 swg by spinning it in a drill while gripping with fine emery paper. This won’t work with really hard wire but is worth trying. Good luck with making or finding another shaft.

Edited By buster prop on 11/12/2017 16:51:13

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  • 7 months later...

I have now flown mine.Using info on this thread i put 2 thin washers on top of the motor mount and 2 £1 coins up front to get the cg (with a 800mah 2s lipo).All electrics standard including servos and the supplied 5x5 prop. Made sure all servo horns had linkages on inner hole and outer hole on the horns for maximum leverage and opened up holes slightly for nice free movement. All control surface movements as per the manual.Hand launched and after a very slow climb out it was flying really well but under powered and more elevator movement needed even on high rate setting.No trim was required on the flight and a very small amount of down elevator needed to hold inverted. Has anyone tried it on 3s yet with the standard esc? Would like to try different props has anyone done this yet?

Great little plane but would like a bit more go!

Cheers.

 

Edited By robert feltham on 14/07/2018 17:10:08

Edited By robert feltham on 14/07/2018 17:10:34

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Posted by Denis Watkins on 09/12/2017 16:55:24:

If you order 2mm silver steel, it is actually 2.1mm and far too tight to fit

I would change either my supplier or my micrometer...decent silver steel is ground to H8 tolerance and should be within microns of the correct size!

P.S. Nice one Percy...laugh

Edited By Martin Harris on 14/07/2018 18:19:55

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