WacoNut

I thought I would post a little on my Waco crash from last year and the following rebuild.

It was pure and simple pilot error, too slow on final and stalled the plane on landing. Tried to flare and recover and no such luck. The plane took a bad bounce and stalled again and hit nose 1st then cartwheeled onto the wingtip.

The results were the fuselage was crushed from the wing saddle to the firewall was shattered. All 4 wing panels had broken root ribs. The bottom wing tube was bent. I was tempted to just trash the plane but my wife insisted that I rebuild it.

Here are a few pics from the last flight.

WacoNut

After letting the plane sit in my basement for approx. 7 months I decided to dig into it and see what it would take to get it fixed. I stated by removing all the fabric covering. I exchanged some e-mails with Dany at AMR and we came to the conclusions I needed to build a new fuselage and cowling. The tail fathers were in good shape so those we saved. I order new root ribs for all the wing panels. Once I received all the parts it took me about 6 weeks to build a new fuselage and repair the wing panels.

WacoNut

Once all the structure was repaired I spent another 3 months covering, detailing and painting.

Polyfiber-Lite fabric was used and Klass-Kote primer and paint. The rib stitching was from Scale Rib Stitch and the tapes from Gary at Pink-it.net. I also punches 2,608 rivets from aluminum cut from coke cans.

The detailing took a little while to complete.

WacoNut

All finished and ready for flight.

WacoNut

Maiden #2
I flew the plane on May 26th, just over a year from the crash date. The plane flew very well and only required minor trim adjustments for straight and level flight. I have to say I was very nervous to fly the plane after crashing it before but she does fly great.

In total between the 2 builds I think I have around 1,700hrs invested. I don't even want to thing about the $$$$. I am glad my wife talked me into rebuilding the plane. I think the rebuilt plane came out even better than the 1st build.
Later!
Anthony

Sir_Sparksalot

My Feedback: (8)

Remarkable ability in workmanship displayed.
Thanks so much for showing what can be done with a solid attitude of commitment.
It sure is a beautiful aircraft. I hope she flies for a very long time.

Villa

Hi WacoNut
I have had many crashes like you decribed. Been flying R/C since 1972. Here is what I believe was the problem: . Every now and then I hear someone at the field mention that they crashed during a landing because “THE WIND GOT THEM”. This looks like a strong downdraft pushed the plane into the ground. That ever happen to you? Since I always insist on determining the cause of every one of my crashes, I kept questioning that “THE WIND GOT ME” reason, since I used it also. Then I realized that these types of crashes always happened when the plane was very far away, or when I was landing at a much different angle to me than usual.

I am now convinced that these types of crashes are due to the wing stalling. Yes, stalling. The plane falls straight down because the wing lost lift. And the reason is that the plane is so far away and almost coming toward you, that you have lost your ability to estimate the air speed. So it stalls and crashes. My answer is to land the plane directly in front of you as much as possible, going right to left, or left to right, only. In that location you will be better able to judge the air speed of the plane, and how far off the ground it is. Use the throttle and the elevator during the full length of the landing approach to position the plane to touch down near to “in front of you”. Throttle extends the landing point, while elevator shortens the landing point. I usually hold a little throttle during the landing and only go to idle in the last foot or two of elevation. Please give this idea some thought. I would appreciate hearing any input on this.

WacoNut

Villa,
You hit the nail on the head. That is the reason I crashed the Waco. It was the 1st time flying at that field and I was coming in wide on the runway. As I made a correction to get on center I bled of too much speed resulting in the stall at 10-15ft altitude. During the correction to get on center the plane was coming directly towards me and I lost all sense of speed of the plane. Very expensive mistake I don't intend to duplicate.
Later!!
Anthony

Villa

Hi WacoNut
Thank you for the detailed confirmation. I have been putting that out for over one year and yours is the first agreement. Others will be blaming the wind again, believing that exonerates them.

soarrich

My Feedback: (98)

Beautiful plane. Nice to see in this ARF age that some still build well.

WacoNut

Thanks!!!!
I love to build, I think more than flying actually. I think it is time well spent, beats sitting on the couch watching TV all winter.
Later!!
Anthony

KitBuilder

Gaaaw-geous... Sweet repair!