Mighty Mini Mitsubishi A6M Zero

by localfiend | December 15, 2015 | (14) Posted in Projects

After Flitetest released their Mighty Mini Corsair and Mustang last week, I really wanted to build one.  However, I'd just purchased a UMX Micro Corsair for indoor flight, and there are lots of Mustangs out there.  I decided that the other side of the warbird picture was sorely lacking and in need of some attention.

Decided to build a Zero that will be swappable with the Mighty Mini Power pods. It was a close call between the Zero, Fw-190, and Ilyushin-2.  I wanted to have something that could be combat capable, within the same size range as the other mighty Minis, and able to use the same electronics.

I watched the flitetest build videos for the Mighty Mini Warbirds, and took a close look at the plans and saw several innovations that could make my design easier to build.

Going from an idea to the above picture isn't actually that complicated if you use the tools available on the net and the massive amount of information to be had from Flitetest and the forums.

My first step, other than the vague idea that I wanted to build a Zero was to track down a decent 3 View image.  10 Seconds on google found me this:

 

Next I tracked down PDF copies of the Flitetest warbird plans, and a bunch of Zero pictures for inspiration. By the time I'm done designing a plane I have a pretty good story board going.  Just about any graphical drawing program will work for plane designing.  I happen to use DoubleCad XT as it's free and very easy to use without a lot of clutter.

Here's a current screenshot of my Plans and all the stuff I used to get there:

 

 My third step, if I'm counting right was to match the 3 views size to my wingspan goal and then start tracing and taking measurements.  Building with foam starts out as a 2 dimensional process and tracing things will get you a very long way.

 

 

Using the tracing, as well as taking measurements off of Flite Test's plans for things like servo cutout sizes you end up with something like this:

 

 

Monkey see, monkey do.  Flitetest has made things simple, you can get a lot done by using their example.  The rest of the process was pretty straight forward.  Draw up all the pieces you need, cut out the pieces and start trying to assemble the plane.

There were two things about the Zero that made things a little difficult for me.  First off, the nose is very short, which made it hard to fit everything in place to achieve a proper balance point.  My first prototype was destroyed in seconds when I tried to fly tail heavy.  It's all part of the fun.

Second, the Zero tail is a bit oddball compared to the other Flitetest designs.  The elevator is forward of the rudder, and only the section of rudder above the elevator is functional.  I solved this problem by building a split elevator.  A piece of wire and some strategic foam removal....

 

The key here is to keep going.  After I destroyed my first prototype I did a bit more research to figure out where the CG should be, and then modified my plans.  I stretched out the nose, used a bigger motor (the prototype had a tiny one much smalled than the Flitetest F pack), used a bigger esc and still had to add a little nose weight.

Here's the result:

It did remarkably well in the high winds. Wind a pretty steady 14 mph without much gusting which helps. Thought I was still tail heavy at first, but that was just the wind and being out of trim. Roll rate is pretty crazy, but it's very stable in the air, probably as a result of the Zero's high level of dihedral.

It's also much faster than I expected it would be. The 2206 2150kv motor and 6045 prop put out 610 grams of thrust, which is a whole lot for such a small plane.

And after a successful maiden, you need to test the limits of your machine:

I'm pushing the limits of my thumbs more than air frame here. During lunch break at work today I took the plane out to take advantage of the calmer air. It was handling very well, the two crashes in the video were my fault. I tried to do a barrel row down the tree line and used too much rudder the first time, and the second I purposely stalled it to see what would happen and got caught up watching it fall. When I punched the throttle, it went from full stall to tip stall....


Makes me wonder if I should go slightly away from scale on the wings and make them more friendly for lower speed performance. I'm torn between that, and not losing the handling it has now, because the flight experience is excellent when you keep your speed up.

Any opinions?

Right now it's quite stable, very responsive, and inverted is excellent. I need to build and fly the Corsair and P51 to see how they handle.

We'll have to see how this goes.  If you have any opinions I'd like to hear them.

You can follow the build more closely, take a look at the latest beta plans, and see detailed build instructions here on the Flitetest forums.

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?23703-Mighty-Mini-Mitsubishi-A6M-Zero-Swappable-Build-Thread

Keep in mind that the plans as they stand aren't perfect.  I have a few things to tweak before the final non beta release.  If you still want to build one now, the plans will get you there, and I'd love to hear how things went for you.

 

 *********************************************************************************************************************

Final Plans are out.  Thanks everybody for you comments and suggestions.

Mighty Mini Mitsubishi A6M Zero v1.0 - Full 

Mighty Mini Mitsubishi A6M Zero v1.0 - Tiled

COMMENTS

LordVader on December 20, 2015
Just an amazing job on this plane. You've done justice to this warbird. Keep up the good work, can't wait to see what you come up with next. Definitely on my build list. 5 Big Stars.
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localfiend on December 19, 2015
Shifting the wing back or adding to the chord would certainly help out, though if I did both it might just equalize the weight gains. It would certainly slow the plane a bit. Right now the plan for the second build is to remove some of the internal paper and foam from the tail to save weight., and I intend to increase the under camber area on the wingtips. I'll also have hopefully have an actual F power pack to test with then as well. We'll see what happens after that. Rasterize is drawing up decals for the plans as they stand so I want to see what happens with the current profile first. Maybe 2 wing designs? One for speed and warbird characteristics and an trainer type?

Check out the bottom of this page to see the graphics:

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?23703-Mighty-Mini-Mitsubishi-A6M-Zero-Swappable-Build-Thread/page3
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SP0NZ on December 17, 2015
5 Stars! Great article and awesome design localfiend. Now get back to work on that Devastator! :)
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localfiend on December 17, 2015
I was drawing on the Devastator last night before I started building a 42" version of the Zero. I'm using some of the concepts on this build to try and get a better fuselage shape for the Devastator and still have the power pod accessible.
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awesomebilities on December 20, 2015
awesome work, thanks for sharing.
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planefun on December 19, 2015
NICE! curious about this, what moving the wing back 3/16 or 1/4 do for behavior, and maybe a slight stretch to the wing chord (for a little better lower speed handling maybe)? 1/4" more chord adding 6 sq or 3/8" for 9 sq might "tame the beast" without really hurting overall appearance is what I'd hope. no doubt the combination will alter wing loading and CG a bit, maybe favorably? same span (frontal surface) so maybe not affect its high speed, also hoped. its VERY nice, just wonder if a little shifting like that might help.
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Ron DuBray on December 19, 2015
By the way, I just built the FT MM Corsair with 4" longer wing to slow it down and add lift for indoor flying. You really don't see that the wing is longer unless you place the smaller wing next to it. I plan on posting something on how it works out after I get to fly it.
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Ron DuBray on December 19, 2015
plans saved and added to my build list , Thanks for all your hard work.
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aviator08 on December 17, 2015
Excellent work! It takes a LOT of work even for a "simple " conversion. Great Job!! Thanks for sharing.
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localfiend on December 17, 2015
Thanks. It is a bit of work, but it's all fun work.
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jordy123 on January 12, 2016
Just finished cutting out, looks like a nice build. Thanks for the plans!
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on December 17, 2015
First of all, terrific job on this design! I saw your concerns about having to fly fast all the time, and thought of a few reasons why this may be, as well as some solutions.

Did you build yours out of DTFB, or did you use something else? How much foam did you use? (The Mighty Mighty warbirds from Flite Test use one sheet of foam).

All of these things will be determining factors in your final weight. In order to keep the weight down (especially in the tail), you might want to try removing paper, as well as in general using a lighter battery, lighter servos, etc. It's amazing how much saving just one ounce can do for you!

At the moment, what is your weight without the battery?
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localfiend on December 17, 2015
It's all Dollar Tree Foam, hot glue, and poster board. Also, like the Flite Test Mighty Mini Warbirds it uses one sheet of foam.

With all my electronics installed, weight before battery was 278 grams. I go into much greater detail in the Forum Build thread that's linked towards the bottom of the article. The electronics weight is sadly needed at this size because of the incredibly short nose on a Zero. Options are limited at this size range if you want to keep the plane a Zero, though I could have removed paper from the tail section to save weight.

I'm going to do a final revision of the plans (add more under camber area to the tips), strategically remove some paper, and perhaps use a smaller battery and an actual F-pack motor. I love the way it performs now, but making the design more accessible will be better in the long run
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on December 17, 2015
Sounds great!

278 grams equals around 9 oz, which is pretty heavy. (The FT Mighty Mini warbirds weigh 5.5 oz, or 156 grams.) I would suggest putting the elevator/rudder servos right in the nose and, as you said, add more camber to the wing.

Good luck and thanks for sharing your work!
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localfiend on December 17, 2015
Oops, gave you the wrong weight. That 278 gram weight is with the battery installed, which weighs 81 grams. That puts my weight at 197 grams without battery.

Wish there was room in the nose. If I keep the FT Mini power pod design there's not anything that can be done without making the plane bigger. I think that once my F power pack gets here, and I have a smaller ESC I'll be able to position the battery further forward. I also have some better suited wire for the split elevator. I anticipate saving as much as 25 grams, so 172 grams or right about 6 ozs.
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on December 17, 2015
Oh. OK, that sounds a lot better!

Maybe you should make the airplane a little larger? What's your current wingspan?
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localfiend on December 17, 2015
Wingspan is 25 inches, one inch wider than the other two - which is scale correct. The zero had a wider wingspan than either in reality. I'm going to see what my planned changes do and go from there.

I think I'd like to keep this one fast. And I want to fly the mustang and corsair to see how they actually compare handling wise, they may be similar. I'm relatively new to the RC world, and my Warbird experience is very lacking.

I'm working on a 42" version that's on par with the FT Spitfire size wise That can be the more docile version.

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?23757-42-quot-Mitsubishi-A6M-Zero-Swappable-Build-Thread
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on December 17, 2015
All right. Cool! Congratulations on your first design and article! Keep them coming!
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dharkless on January 26, 2016
Very nice article and drawings. What drawing program did you use?
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localfiend on January 26, 2016
Thanks. I use DoubleCad XT. It's free and simple to use.

https://www.turbocad.com/content/doublecad-xt-v5

Working on cleaning up some templates for release soon.

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Mighty Mini Mitsubishi A6M Zero