Herr Mini Sport Build

[scigs30]

I have started on my next Herr kit and so far she is a fun easy build. I am making some modifications so it is a little stronger. I have the fuselage pretty much done in less than one day, not bad for using only white glue. I added balsa sheeting instead of weak 1/16 balsa stringers and added balsa block to the rear of the fuselage. To make the cowlings, I first sanded the formers down by 1/16 inch, then I made paper patterns for the balsa. After I cut the balsa, I sprayed it with Windex and taped into position. This morning I did some final trimming of the cows and glued in place with white glue. The wing will have to wait until I get my spruce in the mail. The original plans call for balsa spars and I am replacing those. Also I am sheeting the top forward position of the wing.

[rcers]

It is a great little plane. They fly wonderfully.

[stuart]

this is going to be fun to watch,i'v built 2 with ailerons added and both fly great! build light if your adding ailerons and mount the servo for the wing bottom center to save weight. i took out to much dihedrail on the yellow minni,shes fast and is a handful,but thats why i like it.

even as a 3 channel it will fly great.

i did a build thread on the yellow minni and the red one is as old as my being in this hobby,3+years,and its pretty beat up...lol...the learning curves has to come from somewhere...lol. count me subscribed and do post any mod's you to this bird. stu

[scigs30]

Those are some nice Mini Sport builds, I must say this is a great kit for the price. I decided not to add ailerons, but I did beef up the wing and landing gear and the wing will bolt on. My spruce came in for the spars so I was able to build the wing, man spruce is hard to find these days. My last Herr kit was the Piper Cub and I wish I would have sheeted the top of the wing instead of using stringers, I don't like the starved look. Also the balsa sheet does not add much weight. I am still waiting on the grooved wheel blocks, wheels and tail wheel assembly. Once those arrive I will begin covering and have her finished. So far the weight as shown is 2.4 oz. I really like these Herr kits and the next one will be the Herr Pitts. I will make those wings bolt on and will sheet the top front portion of the wing and rear fuselage. Also it will be electric. But before that I am working on my own design and will see how that goes.

[stuart]

you will love the Pitts build,i built mine stock and only beefed up the stringers for the turtle deck as i couldn't let that area go as planned either,i would have damaged that area long ago...lol. if your using the thinnest balsa sheeting you'll be ok weight wise. i power it with a eflite 480 park and 30amp esc......the Pitts flys on the windiest day at the club field and i get tons of compliment. mostly comments made behind my back while I'm flying.



the mini is looking great!!!!! looking forward to your covering it and following along on to the maiden report. thanks for sharing this build with us,i love Herr kit to ! i also built the 48"ws cub by Herr,but it was crashed so many times i lost count....but this is how it looks now. stu

i hope you don't mind me sharing pictures,i don't want to high jack your awesome build thread....i just like the Herr kit a lot..

[jungmann1]

That is a cool little plane and I like the changes you are making. I, too, hate the "starved horse" look unless it is scale, like on a Hurricane. Very nice build, might have to get one of those. John.

[scigs30]

I started covering my Mini Sport tonight and decided to go with Aluminium. I first tried Coverite Microlite film and ended up ripping it off. The stuff is real light and I could see right through the Silver, not what I want from an RC build. So I went back to my old trusty Monokote. I have the fuselage done but will probably tear the detail off the cockpit and apply a strip of black Monokote.
If I have time tomorrow, I will finish the rest of the structure.

[CHELLIE]

Wow, thats looking super nice keep up the great work, Chellie

[rcers]

Originally Posted by scigs30

I started covering my Mini Sport tonight and decided to go with Aluminium. I first tried Coverite Microlite film and ended up ripping it off. The stuff is real light and I could see right through the Silver, not what I want from an RC build. So I went back to my old trusty Monokote. I have the fuselage done but will probably tear the detail off the cockpit and apply a strip of black Monokote.
If I have time tomorrow, I will finish the rest of the structure.

The Microlite and Nelson Solite are great with their ability to shrink and save weight though. Once it is all covered it is more opaque. They also wont bend these very light structures.

Mike

[scigs30]

Mike, The Microlite is a good material and I will definitely use it for another application, but after covering the fuselage I was not happy with the results. I really like Monokote and I don't mind the extra weight for an opaque finish. I am almost done with this build, so far as shown she weighs 5 oz, not bad for the mods I did. Still have not decided what I am going to do with the cockpit area, the windshield that came with the kit is too thin and flimsy.

[stuart]

very nicly done!!!!!!!!!!,i like the silver look and it looks warbird with the decals. looking faward to the maiden.

i liked following along and hope you do a build thread on the pitts speacial. it's a more challenging build and was designed for glow but ep conversion is easy. i used a eflight 480 park brushless with a 3 cell 1500mah 20c. fits nicly but requried a lil lead in the cowel.

[Turbojoe]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but I'm having a heck of a time trying to find a thread on the Mini Sport where ailerons were NOT added. This is the only one I've found. Just wondering how it flew "stock"? I've had a kit on the shelf forever and I'm thinking about getting a super lightweight fleet together to fly at the little park/playground down the street. I already have this kit so what the heck, it may be a good candidate. I always seem to make mods to everything I build. This time I want to get crazy and build it pretty much as designed except as light as possible.

So who has flown one "as designed"?

Joe

[rcers]

They fly like most 3ch planes - the rudder yaw's it over and induces a bit of roll and then you use elevator to keep the nose up. I liked the aileron conversion and flight characteristics much better - but there it is certainly fine without them.

Mike

[Turbojoe]

Yeah, I was just wondering if there was an issue like maybe a too small rudder or something of that nature. It's not often that you see virtually everyone making the same mod to a kit unless it really needs it. I much prefer full house over R/E/T but like I said I want to finally build a kit without modifying the crap out of it like I usually do.

Joe

Sent from my Nexus 7

[rcers]

It is a worthwhile mod on this one.

[stuart]

just spent the last 1/2 hr playing in the shop with the Herr parkflyer i built so long ago that it used to be 72mhz......now just for kicks I'm using the hk spectrum Rx and a parkzone micro p 51 transmitter bound to it. this is just for fun flying in the park close to home as i really never flew the p51 micro very far away and i don't know what the range is. i figure a base ball field diameter will be max range as thats where i flew the micro with no problem. if she goes down I'll only be sad that she hug around so long and became a hanger queen. the Herr parkflyer deserves another go and has been rebuilt many time before.

[Turbojoe]

Stuart does yours have ailerons?

Nothing at all wrong with 72mhz. I have several Spektrum RX's but with all the unexplained crashes I've seen with 2.4ghz I feel much more comfortable flying my tried and true 72mhz gear. I think my last in flight glitch was probably about 15 years ago. No frequency issues anymore either because everyone else is on 2.4ghz. It's kinda funny. You'd think 72mhz ceased to function when 2.4 came out. I love it because the frequencies are mine all mine! I would never have bought 2.4 had I not been forced to for club issues.

Joe

Sent from my Nexus 7

[stuart]

my first radio and the one i use now is the hitec optic 6 with the spectrum module that is able to change the transmitter channel to different crystal rx #'s with a little screw driver. i had a few crashes i thought the 72 was the problem....,looking back i think my thumbs were the problem.

i recently have had a bad run with the transmitter and a hobbyking assan module. hopefully the use of hitecs 2.4 module and rx's is the solution.

the red parkflyer has ailerons and a new 2.4rx,the picture is old with the 72 antenna wire showing but it looks the same as the picture....real beat up.

[Turbojoe]

I have a Futaba 9 CAP that I use the Hitec Spectra module as well as the Spektrum 2.4 ghz module in. I love that radio! 32 model memory with the CamPac module. Someone can take it from me when they pry it from my cold dead hands.

Still haven't heard from anyone flying this plane without ailerons! Doing the mod is not an issue. I'd just like to know how it flys stock......

Joe

[Dereck]

Sometimes wish I'd hung onto my 72 Meg gear...

Have flown several low winged RE models, starting with a freeby plan from MAN way back around 1990. Some electric, but the early ones were - Shock! Horror! - 049 diesels. It works fine in most respects, can even do some roll-y aerobatics. Like FF to some extent, a fairly close and correct ratio of dihedral angle to vertical stab and fus side area is necessary, for one.

Ailerons are a much easier solution

D