DW Mini Rainbow (new motor)

Introduction:

After flying the larger 800mm rainbow, I was curious as to how the smaller one would perform with a bigger motor. I also liked the new motor mount I used for the bigger cousin (after reinforcing the arms with push rods). This also meant I could get rid of the old motor mount which was mostly dead weight anyway.

Components ($45):

• Emax MT1806 2280kv
• 12amp ESC
• 2x 9gram servos
• Micro receiver
• 6030 propeller
• carbon fiber spars
• 3d printed Bonsai motor mount

Conclusion:

The build was quick and easy. I decided not to carve into the foam for placement of the electronics in case I didn't like the flight characteristics. I reused the foam from the motor packaging to form a battery guard in the front (the gray stuff). If this wing turns out to fly really well, I may reconsider embedding everything (including the batteries).

After the maiden flight with the upgraded electronics, I soon discovered that I had to move the electronics further toward the nose to achieve the proper CG. Overall, it flies a lot faster than the older wing, but it also eats up the battery a lot faster as well (about 5 minutes with a 2s 600mah lipo). I suppose the battery can be stretched out if it was flown more slowly, but then it takes a considerable amount of restraint not to let loose on the throttle when you know the power is just sitting there untapped... :) The flight envelope is still rather large as it can also fly rather slowly (if desired). The motor still needs to be adjusted to put in more down thrust though.

I'm quite happy withe the way this wing has turned out so far, but to be honest, I still want more performance out of the wing. Since I still have another one unbuilt, I may use it to put on a 30-40g motor. I am hesitant to modify this any further since I still want a wing with a large flight envelope and I'm afraid I may lose that once I move to a 30g motor (which will require larger batteries).

Update 7/4/17 - Flew it today on 3s for the first time and it was a lot of fun. Lots of power and speed, but I may have to play with different propellers (perhaps tri-blade) with this voltage since it's fairly loud.