maidened my Eflite cap 232 yesterday

[mlamb01]

I got several packs on it before I had to stop flying it. Flew great, but I found it hard to land. It just won't glide in like the skyfly does. I have to keep the power on slightly, and bring it in gently nose up.

Well, after one landing that bent one of the landing gears(this was in the field), I looked it over pretty good and saw that the lower portion of the fuselage had developed a crack in it. Looking down the length of it I could see that it was crooked right at the spot, but not by much. The covering was not broken, but there was a slight wrinkle at the spot.

Also, seems to be another spot on the canopy where it is cracked as well. The previous night, I was working on the plane on a small table, cleaning up the hinges, when it slipped off and fell on top of the canopy. At that time I did notice a little wrinkle up there, but did not think much of it.

So what probably happened was that I cracked the canopy that night, weakend it a bit, then the landings the next day cracked the fuselage. What is the best way to fix this? Right now the covering is not broken, just a wrinkle at the spot. I am thinking about getting a thin flat strip of carbon fiber as wide as the fuselage, and put a 6" length piece on the top and bottom where the cracks developed. Not sure how to handle the covering, or how to get this glued back together so the fuselage is perfectly straight. Should I use gap filling CA or 5 minute epoxy?

[Laggard]

You went straight from a Skyfly to a Cap? Congrats on your success!

[mlamb01]

I don't know if I would consider it a complete success, because I did end up cracking the fuselage.

The way the cap turns and manuevers, its so much easier to fly than the skyfly. It will do a loop within several feet, with any altitude at all its almost impossible to hit the ground acidentally. However, I'm still learning to fly this thing around and land it, I am not trying blenders or anything like that.

[pstrdenver]

are you opposed to cutting the covering in order to repair the balsa?

[mlamb01]

Acutally, I've already cut off a small piece to see what I am dealing with here... I've cut off about a 1/2" square in both spots to see what the break looks like.

On the top of the canopy, its not really visable. You can kind of feel a ridge there, and when I bend the fuselage i can see it flex there. The other crack is on the bottom, right behind the trailing edge of the wing. It kind of looks like there is a small ditch in the balsa where the break is.

What I am thinking is that I will get some thin CA, line up the fuelage correctly, and then use a precision tip and apply the CA right where the cracks are. Then after it sets, coat the area in some 5 minute epoxy. Or I am better of just using the epoxy? I am afraid it might not wick down into the wood like the thin CA would.

[pstrdenver]

you'll probably be alright just using the thin CA. I would use epoxy or gap filling CA (medium to thick) if there is a need to fill in an area at the break though.

[mlamb01]

How do I recover the area? Will I need to go out and buy a whole roll of covering? Would a small piece of scotch tape work?

[pstrdenver]

clear packing tape will stick better an dlonger than scotch tape.

[mlamb01]

I got 4 more packs in today... I am starting to like this plane. I have moved the battery forward quite a bit. I had it mounted over the middle of the wing to get the CG that was listed in the manual. Now I have the front edge of the battery even with the LE of the wing, and it flies much better now.

Landings are much better too. I give it just a little throttle, and make small corrections with the elevator and airleons until I touch down. Before I was cutting the throttle about 2 or 3 feet about the ground.

I also added a bit more expo to the elevator and airelons, that helped alot to smooth out my flying.

[mlamb01]

Also, I really started to appreciate the bright yellow covering on the top of this model... It was bright and sunny today, and it reflected very well in the sky and easily allowed me to keep my orientation at a further distance than I was normally comfortable at.

It was like a "ah ha" moment. I turned it towards me once, saw the bright flash of yellow, and realized that could help with my orientation.