Join us as we do the maiden flight of the Mini Talon that was sent for review by GearBest.com (the plane can be found here: )
Before going to the field for the maiden, I took care of a couple things that were bugging me. The hatch was driving me crazy with its requirement to use a hex driver to do and undo two long 3mm machine screws that held the hatch in place. I like to be able to get to the battery connectors as soon as possible after a flight and I didn’t want to have to be looking for the right tool and then take the time to undo the long 3mm screws. Some guys have been using Velcro or magnets to hold on the hatch cover but in some cases, they have lost the hatch cover when it blew off in flight. Based on the KISS principle, I just McGyvered a good old canopy latch system and now she’s good to go.
The second mod I took care of was to create some decent skid plates for this hot landing belly lander. Many of the Mini Talons I see on YouTube that get flown a lot, are pretty much trashed from belly landing on gravel back roads and other hard surfaces. You’ll see how I solved this problem in the video and here’s a link to the InstaMorph I used to create skid plates for the front and rear of the plane:
As for the maiden (and subsequent flights), it went picture perfect and I’m digging this little plane. Here’s a link to the plane so you can check out the specs:
We were flying in the afternoon and it’s always a bit of a challenge because our field is a morning field (with the sun to your back) meaning that in the afternoon, the sun is right in your face. We only used the right half of the airspace because we’d lose sight of the plane if we flew too far to the left. This meant we were turning far more often than normal.
The plane is very short coupled and the tail wants to wash out and skitter around a bit if you’re trying to fly it like a slalom plane but, if you fly this plane as intended, it is not an issue at all. The plane flies very well and flies quite fast on very little power. It doesn’t like to fly slow and at just under half throttle, she comes into her own and effortlessly covers a lot of ground (or is that sky?)
I'm going to save a list of "Pros and Cons" until I have a dozen or so flights under my belt. If I was pressed for a recommendation right now, I would say get one.
Thanks to all the heavy lifting done by other Mini Talon owners on YouTube (thanks for your help Joel, Keith, Neil and others) who figured out what the best stuff is to shove in this plane, I am really happy and will not need to change a thing. Here’s my set up:
Plane:
Motor:
ESC:
12V UBEC:
Radio:
Receiver:
Battery:
Strobe Light:
BitEye FPV Camera with DVR
Video Tx:
Video Rx/Goggles:
Thanks very much for watching and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comment section for the video.
Happy flying!
Bob
The Royalty Free Music is from YouTube’s Audio Library
Song: Ever Felt pt.1
Artist: Otis McDonald
Song: Smart Riot
Artist: Huma-Huma
Song: Where I am From
Artist: Topher Mohr and Alex Elena