The Rotmilan was ordered sometime in November last year and arrived 2 days before New Year. It took me ages to choose a glider, when your paying as much as this you have an awful lot of choice! i originally went for the new Stinger F3B but with massive wait times of up to 9 months i scrubbed that one (i think my name is still in the waiting list for one not sure) I whittled it down to the Needle 124 or the Rotmilan. I always liked the looks of the Extreme, and heard it flies very well (same manufacturer) The Needle has been in development for a couple of years but also has a great pedigree. A quick email to Milan Demčišák Jr (makers of the Rotmilan) asking him why i should choose the this model...
"As to Rotmilan choice: we know very good Needle 124, Needle 100, because we manufactured the prototypes for Thuro, but at present we manufacture only Scorpion model and fuselages for Needle 124.
Our Opinion is, that the Rotmilan´s wings and servo drives are constructionally much better worked over and also we think, that it is our best model as to flying characteristics, which was manufactured by us." SOLD!
Fuz already has ballast tube in and moulded servo tray, i stuffed a couple of futaba 3150's in i love this servo plenty of power in the beasties.. The snakes have decent wire inside tubes, no plastic.. Incidentally the fuz is a work of art and very stiff too! Lots of room to get your fingers in, however getting the wires back from the wing harness required some ingenuity. Had to solder the wires to a stiff piece of piano wire to get round the ballast tube past the servo tray to the front.
I always make my batteries up, Eneloop 2500 4 cell pack. Was thinking about 6 volts but i have heard they ain't great for servos! not sure if true of not, makes little difference on speed, i do have 6 volts in my Viking2 lost one Hyperion servo so may be something in it... or might be that the hyperion is crap.
Love these switches. Recommended by Kevin Newton, i have not looked back since using them.
Making up wiring loom, i find this strangely relaxing.... however word of warning, do not do after a few glasses of wine, i had to re-solder quite a few the next day as well as tend to a couple of solder burns on fingers!
Never tried MKS before, thought i would give it a shot. Not particularly cheap but have impressive stats. That's the cam drive unit you can see. this comes with the kit and is very impressive.
Mks Servo frames glued in. Took me 2 days to do the first wing, getting everything straight for maximum movement. MKS don't have as much travel as most servos so positioning is very important. Incidentally took me 30 mins to do the second wing!
#Making nose weight. Plant pot, cover nose in tin foil, push in plant pot, you then have a mould. Heat up lead then poor into mould. Once cooled down file off excess lead, you will find a perfect fit in fuz. Watch you don't get it stuck up there when you adjusting c of g. I wished i put a piece of string in the mould so you can pull lead out of fuz easy if needed. Simple and effective.
Gives a very neat install. Make sure all lines up before gluing as there is little adjustment.
Finished in under a week of evening building. I think she looks fantastic!
As for flying, i have only had a few flights so far, and i love it! the drive system in the wings works beautifully, mks servos are quick and responsive. I love the shape of the glider.. it looks right, and if it looks right, it is right!
C of G 106mm
Aileron up 25/15
Flap Aileron 8/5
Spoiler 45 degrees
Elevator 5/5
Rudder 8/8
Snapflap 3mm Aileron 4mm Flap
All this will of course change......
Rob
UPDATE.........
Rotmilan F3B from Rob on Vimeo.
C of G is around 108mm, snapflap on flaps increased to 6mm LOVE THIS GLIDER!!!!!!!
