My Classic Crashes

[BroncoSquid]

Figuring I will have several, i am going to start MY CRASH THREAD.......
Well, being new at this, yesterday I had my first significant Crash. By that I mean it will cost me money to fix. Up till now all my crashes have been super glue fixes.
Background, The plane, a PZ UM T-28. I will call it 4th flight. 4th time I had to charge the battery. I was flying in my usual spot making a wide smooth sweeping turn. The nose started to dip too much. When I leveled it off I couldn't tell if it was coming twards me or going away. It was way off by the time I got it turned around. On the way back I hit a power line. I didn't realize the plane was that far off. Well, the plane stayed on the power line.


No matter what I did with the remote, it wouldn't come free. Looking at the plane, it looked like it was trapped by the wing and the front gear. I threw a tennis ball at it several times. I finally hit the plane and all it did is spin on the power line. I then realized that the power line was about half way throught the wing. After throwing the tennis ball for another 30 minutes I finally got the plane down.


Any comments suggestions are welcome.

[hayofstacks]

Throw some tape on one side, 30 minute epoxy the crack untill you fill it completely. Reballance wings if required, fly tomorrow.

[BroncoSquid]

Intresting idea. I am going to order a new wing, but repairing this one is a good idea. With my extremely limited experience with foam, repairing the wing will be good for practiceing technique. However I think that simply filling the damaged area with epoxy would add a significant amount of weight. I will try to fill it with some foam or balsa, then epoxy it up.

[hayofstacks]

It wouldn't be that much weight. On my kids glider I use 5 minute epoxy, and its cruddier foam. I have had it split righ through the repair, but not in the same line of cracks, meaning it did not make the foam much stronger, and the epoxy wasn't either. After it dried, the weight was close enough I didn't have to worry about it.

If you put clear tape over the break, then keep the foam chunks that were in the hole, you really shouldn't gain much, if any weight. It will probably end up stronger, and it you have to balance the wing, all you have to do is put a bit of clear epoxy on the end of the wing tip.

Just trying to keep you in the air cheap or free. Gotta keep that free repair record.

[BroncoSquid]

I appreciate the Free advice on keeping it Free. Now all I need to do is find Free 30 Minute epoxy.

[dahawk]

I have a the larger PZ T-28 and had a mishap early on. Had it parked on the table at our field and was setting up my Cessna 182 which was also on the table directly behind it. Low and behold, I accidentally bumped the throttle stick on the Tx and the Cessna lunged forward taking out a large chunk of foam between the fuse and the aileron. Ugly and embarrassing. Looked like the dog took a bite out of the plane and it was brand new. Was able to cut out and sand to shape a spare piece of EPP I had laying around from the box that the plane came in, fit it in place, spackled, glued and taped. Covered the seam lines with a decal and back in business.

These EPP/EPO planes are very repairable no matter how hard we abuse them. Looking at your damage, I'd say: "No big deal". Don't worry about the miniscule weight you're adding with epoxy and tape. The tape on the LE will maintain the laminar air flow over the wing. Your thrust to weight ratio easily overcomes this ever so tiny increase in AUW. You can also use Beacon Foam Tac which is available at all the Crafts stores or your LHS if you can't find the 5 min epoxy. Good stuff. Worse case, you might have to add a little aileron trim.

Of course, you can always buy a new wing and then keep the old one in your hangar as a spare.

Good luck,

Hawk

[BroncoSquid]

I managed to crash my PZ UM T-28 into the San Diego bay where I fly. Fortunately foam floats really well. After wading into about 4 ft of water (the wind was blowing the plane out to sea.). I quickly removed the battery, took the plane home, opened it up, ran lots of fresh water on all electronics. Blew everything off with my air compressor, and I am proud to say it flew very well with no appearent effects the next day. (today)
Very Very Lucky!