Beast Repair

[JZSlenker]

Bought myself a UM Beast for Christmas. WOW what fun. This little thing is powerful! I had a little incident last time I was out flying. I caught a nasty gust on final approach, over corrected and bounced the wing on the ground. Has anyone a remedy for the crushed foam on the Beast? It's not broken, just crinkled in.

[Saddlebum]

Originally Posted by JZSlenker

Bought myself a UM Beast for Christmas. WOW what fun. This little thing is powerful! I had a little incident last time I was out flying. I caught a nasty gust on final approach, over corrected and bounced the wing on the ground. Has anyone a remedy for the crushed foam on the Beast? It's not broken, just crinkled in.

Boil water on the stove, remove from heat, let cool about a minute then dip the wing tip in for about ten seconds.

That should pop the foam back to it's original shape. If it gets a little like alligator skin, smooth it between your fingers while it is hot.

Sounds weird, but it works. Ask any Radian owner (like me).

...The Bum

[skyman]

It's not pretty, but you can use toothpick supports if needed.

[Glacier Girl]

As Bum said the hot water trick works well. I've even used just plain old hot water out of the tap. This is actually an old trick we use for bending Depron. Take a look at these two F16's, both were made using hot water bending, even the lower intake is one piece hot water formed. Often it may take a couple of shots at working out the damage.

And for great reinforcements if you need em, the CF control rods used on these micros are great. They are thin enough to sneak em in between the paint on the foam, so you'll never see em. I used this technique on my Champ's tail feathers, before I flew it. Takes a little finesse but it can be done, as the foam isn't much thicker then the CF rods.

[z-8]

Tis but a flesh wound. I have a small 45-45-90 triangle of clear mailing tape on the bottom of all 4 wing tips. There is no way to avoid those little crumples if you flare out you landings. Eventually you're going to dig each wing tip like that when you stall that baby M12SII six inches too high, I don't care how good you are.

[SHADY]

I've been thinking of trying my upholstery steamer to do the same thing.
Just never have the time when I'm at work or forget to bring the plane.

[Saddlebum]

Originally Posted by SHADY

I've been thinking of trying my upholstery steamer to do the same thing.
Just never have the time when I'm at work or forget to bring the plane.

Steam is too hot, Shady. Actually, boiling water is too hot also. The right temp is about 200 degrees.

If it gets too hot, the cells on the skin puff up like lizard skin.

...The Bum

[JZSlenker]

Thanks for the tips, I will try it this weekend and report back.

[JZSlenker]

WOW that did work great! Not that I doubted you guys, i just mean it works extremely well. Thanks again.

[SHADY]

Originally Posted by Saddlebum

Steam is too hot, Shady. Actually, boiling water is too hot also. The right temp is about 200 degrees.

If it gets too hot, the cells on the skin puff up like lizard skin.

...The Bum

Just checked the steamer with the digital probe thermometer. At less than an inch from the exit nozzle the temp is 204 degrees.
Once you back off to around 6 inches it drops to 160- 170 or so...

Will give another update once we try it on something... Thanks for the heads-up Bum...