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| Thunder Tiger Mini Titan E325 |
Average Rating: 8.5 |
Jul 14, 2007
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Reviewed By: Rc_HeliPilot
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Join Date: Oct 21, 2006
Location:
Total Reviews: 5
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Rating: 8 out of 10
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Initial Review & Comments
I purchased the kit version of the Mini Titan with the ESC and motor. I'm impressed with the overall quality of the model, but there are definitely some short-comings.
The feathering shaft should have a hole drilled perpendicular to the shaft and right through the center. A hole should have been molded into the rotor head so the user could insert a screw driver through the feathering shaft to lock it up while tightening or loosening the main blade grip mounting screws. The Mini Titan doesn't have this design, so tightening the blade grip mounting screws is fine - just tighten them against each other - but removing them is a pain. One side loosens leaving the other side tight and no easy way to grip the shaft to remove the screw. When you grip the shaft tightly enough with plyers, you chew into the metal on the shaft.
Another problem involves the design of certain assemblies where fine screws thread into plastic parts. Often, the plastic the screws thread into strips, so the screws never seat firmly.
I've built every step of this kit carefully, being particularly mindful not to over-tighten parts. Some screws thread into the plastic and don't even begin to tighten. The screw head reaches the plastic and the screw keeps turning.
With a rotor head spinning at 2800 RPMs, it's pretty disconcerting to think that any parts might slip free !!
A better design would have been to use nylon lock washers wherever possible. And, where not possible, slightly larger screws with deeper threads would have been much better.
Another annoyance lies with TT's decision to use ultra tiny screws that are extremely difficult to handle. I realize weight is an issue, but I honestly don't believe some of these screws had to be as small as they are. This is a helicopter, not a watch. And they used two different sizes that are so similar there doesn't seem to be any sensible reason why they didn't just use one size throughout. One size is M1.6x6; the other is M1.7x7. You have to lay these screws side-by-side to be sure they're actually different !
They left out spare parts too. I lost one M1.7x7 screw and now I'm grounded until I order more. TT could have included a dozen extra parts for each of these fine screws and nuts, and the additional cost would have been negligible. There are a few extra parts, but not many.
So, I think TT's got it right for the big picture, but they've overlooked important details that leave this new owner very frustrated and GROUNDED !!! |
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• Nice motor and motor mounting design
• Speed control works well
• Tail boom can be removed fairly easily
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• Not enough spare parts - particularly ultra fine screws and nuts
• Certain metal threading into plastic assemblies not well designed
• Parts availability is poor
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Aug 14, 2007
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Reviewed By: Rc_HeliPilot
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Join Date: Oct 21, 2006
Location:
Total Reviews: 5
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Rating: 9 out of 10
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Updated Review
I've been test hovering the Mini Titan for awhile now - probably 7 or 8 flights. So far, I agree with magazine reviews I've read that describe the Mini Titan as very stable in a hover. It has tremendous reserve power, and the build instructions for the control links have proven to be extremely accurate. The manual has scale diagrams for each link, so setting them properly is very easy and the resulting flight performance is quite good.
To setup my Mini's rotor head, I followed the CCPM videos available on the HeliFreak web site and found that the Mini's linkages were accurate and required no modifications.
The model is holding together well so far. The screws have remained tight throughout the airframe. Nothing has become loose following any flight.
The motor gets hot after a flight, but I think it is within reasonable limits. I don't have a temperature gauge, but it doesn't seem too hot to the touch, though you can't keep your finger on it for very long. [Not very technical, sorry.] The battery gets quite warm, but seems reasonable to the touch as well.
I have been happy with the stability of flight in a breeze as well. I'll comment more as I gain more experience with the Mini. |
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• As stable as the magazine reviews say it is
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• Some parts are a pain to get, like certain very fine screws
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