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Old 07-13-2011, 02:55 PM
  #21  
RoyR
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Pueblo West, CO
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Default RE: Four Star 60 dies on maiden day.


ORIGINAL: Kmot

There is a lot more damage than is evident from the photos I posted. So the question is, is it worth it to try and repair it?

If I repair it, it will require lots of cutting out of damaged wood, then cutting new wood to match, and then gluing it in with reinforcing wood, etcetera. You all know the drill. What I would end up with is an airplane that is heavier than designed from the added wood and epoxy. It may not matter to a Four Star, just sayin'. And the work involved would be extensive. I would also need to strip all the covering off and recover the plane from the ground up so that it does not look like a plane that was wrecked. What would be the point of that? Just to say ''I fixed it!'' ?

Or would it make more sense to just build another kit from the ground up, and cover it in the same scheme?

I'm still in shell shock a little, so I just don't know yet. I also have not determined the cause of the brown out but opinions are leaning toward Rx battery.
I think the answer to that question is up to you. I was buying a Yak from a friend at a good price including servos and engine when he gave me a demo flight. The engine was new and not broken in and had a flame out. He had to land down wind and smashed the landing gear off and into the wing. He dropped another hundred dollars from the price and I bought it. I took it home and looked at it for a few weeks then went into "rebuild" mode. I took off the cover from all the damaged pieces, took out all the broken pieces and rebuilt them from scratch with stronger wood, then covered it back with matching colors. It looked as good as new. I flew it for a couple of years and one day while making a normal landing the wheels caught a rut in the runway and dang if the landing gear didn't break off again. This time without damaging the wing.
Once more I stripped it, rebuilt it with even stronger wood and once more have a great flying low priced airplane. And I was happy to say I did it.
I have some pictures of the last repair. Before During and After

However I just bought a new Sbach and my first Gas engine. I hadn't gotten the engine tuned up nor broken in and after a number of good flights, I ended up having three flame outs in three days. The last one I got careless and stalled out 2 feet above the ground. It landed flat, but tore out the landing gear. The damage didn't look bad, but it was extensive, running throughout the forward part of the fuselage. This time I decided to buy a new airplane (which had just been put on sale at $100 off) rather than spend the next month or two trying to make the broken one look good again.
This is my first gasser and I want to fly.
So the answer to your question is, Do you want to fly or re-build?

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