MicroMold Mini Phase

leccyflyer · Post by **leccyflyer** » 29 Jul 2024, 09:25

To continue the vintage slope kick, here's a pretty sad looking artifact that had been left in our club hut last week - free to a good home. Not a model that I remember, as I didn't do any slope soaring back in the 70's and the wings held together with duct tape it didn't look very promising. However I was persuaded to give it a new home and got it on the bench for a triage session.

Stripping back the duct tape revealed a two piece wing with wire joiners, but with the wing roots in a perilous state of disrepair. I've cut a pair of thin ply root ribs to preserve the dihedral angle and started filling in the biggest gaps with balsa, trimming the mutilated trailing edge to a viable grafting face and refixing the wing joiner tubes, which were very sloppy. The wings are solid balsa with a hardwood spar and very high aspect ratio, as a one piece it only just fitted in the car, but as a two piece I reckon it will be a great extra soarer to fit in the rucksack.

I did have a go at cleaning up the covering, but it was pretty bad and in the end I've bitten the bullet and started stripping the Solarfilm, much of which had already separated. The wing covering came off easily - one side had been applied with the backing still on! The fuselage is more of a challenge, but she'll be right once finished. A definite candidate for flying with the Digimac II, to see how I get on with split sticks. The great thing with the Lemon modules is that I can trim the model out with a conventional transmitter, before rebinding to the Digimac II.

Post by **Phil_G** » 01 Aug 2024, 19:25

A couple of SSA members had Miniphases, flew well, IIRC it was essential not to slow them down too much or they'd go all tip-stally on you.
A couple of degrees of washout would help (real washout, not the 'plane the TE underside' pretend washout

)
One of them also had a shorter wing for windier conditions, maybe 48" I dont remember

A lot of fun for very little outlay, we love throwing things off hills

leccyflyer · Post by **leccyflyer** » 01 Aug 2024, 22:00

This one looks like it's seen a lot of flying Phil and it does have that carved in washout as mentioned on the plan, which I've been careful to preserve during repairs.

I'm just about at the covering stage, but think I'll add a lightweight glasscloth bandage to make the wing roots nice and sturdy. Have decided to just go with replacement Solarfilm, even though it's my least favourite covering film, rather than laminating film and tissue. I'll add a bungee hook, as I don't currently have a bungee capable glider.

Post by **Tobe** » 02 Aug 2024, 05:54

You sure have been busy and done an amazing job to give the model a second opportunity!

leccyflyer · Post by **leccyflyer** » 02 Aug 2024, 10:34

Thanks Tobe - the wing roots were the main thing to be sorted and they were in a very bad state, I've inset some suitably hard balsa to take the stress of the wing bands and reinforced the mating faces with some thin ply. Now, before covering I'll add a wrap of lightweight glasscloth to restore the rather rubbly surface of the old fibreglass bandage, before recovering.

I was going to use laminating film and tissue, but have found some old Solarfilm the same colour scheme as the original, so I'll use that. I don't really like Solarfilm, so it's unlikely I'll use it for anything else.

leccyflyer · Post by **leccyflyer** » 03 Aug 2024, 17:53

Spent a little time at the field today, before the rain arrived and whilst sitting out a passing shower in the club hut I was persuaded to take home the other half of the orphaned vintage glider pair. It's similar to the Mini Phase with the same basic wing shape, though in this case it looks like veneered foam rather than sheet balsa. The fuselage also has a removable nose, which clips in to a former that is equipped to take a small motor, which is fed from an integral tin tank, with brass tubes exiting the top of the fuselage and F1.

It's 72" span, parallel chord wing - 4" chord, with a small vertical fin and massive rudder.

I've no idea what it is - perhaps someone here knows?

leccyflyer · Post by **leccyflyer** » 06 Aug 2024, 08:55

Miniphase restoration coming towards completion. Fuselage finished, all recovered, control surfaces rehinged and linkages restored, servos, receiver and a wee GWS 2A brushed ESC installed as a voltage regulator, to take a 2s1p 450mah lipo as a battery pack. I've inset a small hardwood block on the fuselage floor, under the servos to take a bungee hook and allow for adjustment in the position of that, but will try the model on the slope first.

The wing roots have been repaired, with a replacement glasscloth bandage applied with Eze Kote and a smear of lightweight filler to fair it into the balsa repairs. All goes together nicely and will be recovered with white Solarfilm today.

leccyflyer · Post by **leccyflyer** » 07 Aug 2024, 22:39

The Mini Phase is all done and ready for a maiden flight.

Needed to add quite a bit of lead up front to balance the model, using a lighter Lipo pack than what I guess would have been a NiCd or maybe even a DEAC and much larger receiver than the wee Frsky 4 channel job. The servos are fairly lightweight too, but they are bang on the CG so wouldn't make a huge difference. Haven't weighed the model yet.

Covering is from my dwindling stocks of vintage Solarfilm and there wasn't sufficient white to do both wings. I did consider doing the topsides white and undersides orange, but decided to go for the orange on one wing. Logos created and cut from vinyl using the Silhouette Cameo. Luckily I still had a Micro Mold tow hook in it's original packaging and so could scan that to make the logos.

The mystery glider is coming along too - fuselage all ready for recovering.

leccyflyer · Post by **leccyflyer** » 15 Aug 2024, 09:30

Successful maiden flights for my two "rescue" vintage gliders yesterday after a morning's flying of other models on the flat led to a pre-planned departure for the slope site, some 15 minutes away. Conditions were perfect a 10-12mph SE wind, that did get a bit variable at times and the Mini Phase got away to a near vertical climb from the handlaunch, that I just about managed to tame and turned into a very nice relaxing maiden. The model flew just exactly how I expected a vintage R/E soarer to fly, really nice and stable, climbed out easily and nothing too dramatic. She does speed up quite quickly when the nose is pointed down but is surprisingly manoeuvrable, given the modest rudder throws. Fairly happy with my landings, one about 25 yards away in front and a completely unplanned spawny arrival at very high angle, nestling in amongst the other soarers just behind us.

The mystery glider, which I've named Mini Phake, due to the similarity with the Mini Phase fuselage, has a larger rudder and more throw and that also flew beautifully, albeit with a tendency to pitch down a little in a sharp tur. Perfectly controllable though and with the excellent lift was way up in the bright blue sky in seconds. Both models are a great addition to the fleet and will be definite inclusions in the first team for trips to the slope.

At the moment that both have FRSKY 4 ch mini receivers in there and tiny GWS brushed ESCs as voltage regulators to run the radio off a 2s1p 850mah lipo. That meant that they were able to be trialled with my slope radio - A Futaba FF9, with a Frsky plug in module. If I'm going to fly them with one of my restored and converted Macgregor sets, I'll swap out the Frsky receivers for one of the small Lemon 6 channel receivers. It'll mean taking two transmitters on the slope, but it's worth it for the nostalgia.

leccyflyer · Post by **leccyflyer** » 15 Aug 2024, 15:40

My pal Derek has just sent me some pictures of the Mini Phase and MIni Phake in flight. I'm calling the rescue of these wee vintage gliders as Mission Accomplished.