hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

That plane is very fixable! Just try you will be surprised how easy they go back together! Yes you may have to buy a few things! I have seen so many airplanes go into the garbage, I pull them out and either fix them or get what balsa and ply off them and use that to fix planes with. I jut fix one that hit the ground when a cross wind flipped it over and it hit the ground hard. The engine was 20ft from it and the fuel tank at least 10ft. split all they way down past the trailing edge of the wing! Two days later I was flying it ! Had to hand make a few parts but cost me nothing but time to fix and it flys great, Just try before it ends up in the trash can! And I love the Hangar 9 planes I have many!

RCER88

My Feedback: (25)

Now days there are two types of R/C flyers.

Type 1. The modeler. These are the guys that KNOW the art of building and repair. The can take your wreck that you have "wrote off" and with a little effort and materials can make it fly again as good as new if not better! for pennies on the dollar.

Type 2. The ARF'r. They buy the ready made airplane. Put it together and fly it. If it has a mishap throw it away and buy another. Some do not even take the time to diagnose the problem.

The man that made you the offer. Take him up on that. He is the guy that can take you from type 2 to type 1. everybody has been suggesting arf's as a replacement. Since you say you are good with the trainer try this. Build a Sig Kougar. They are tough and durable. They fly excellant and can do some crazy aerobatic manuevers. A Kougar can build fast. (Less than a week if you commit to it for evenings.) Once you build one then you can look at ARF's and see the potential problems before you fly it. I have not seen an arf yet that I would fly that did not need some additional reinforcement in critical areas.

There is no good or bad here. It is the way it is. You never know once you start making some balsa dust fly you will be hooked. It does bring much pride when that bird you built from plans or a kit takes flight for the first time.

I flop back and forth between the two. BUT I have built enough to look it over carefully and reinforce critical areas. Thus I can prevent problems like the Landing gear issue.

Servos that is just bad luck. It happens. BEEN THERE DONE THAT more than I care to count now.

Good luck and I hope you continue to fly. Don't let one mishap stop you.

Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

Not sur
Not sure why, but I enjoyed this little thread Maybe I just needed a laugh and I was thinking of throwing a line in like, "Man all these RC airplane manufacturers like Hangar 9 and Great Planes SUCK MAJOR ROT BIG TIME..BUNCH OF ROTTEN LAMOS! HAHHAHAHA.....

OK, just kidding around here a bit for fun. Keep in mind though that most companies do a very good job and of course service is very important to some people. Hangar 9 has a good reputation for good service and being a good company as well as many others. If I buy from them I do expect a certain level of service and usually get that quality service.

I remember when I purchased my Alpha had a slightly bent rudder and I was not able to get it fixed correctly. I called Horizon and they shipped me the new rudder and elevator out immediately and trusted what I told them without requiring the parts be shipped back to them! If I buy from the Jap/China exports then I know I can dunk it in the trash because I won't get any service.

You mentioned that a wheel fell off or something like that. You got to remember people put these things together and people make mistakes. It is always a good policy to check over and then check again especially on your RC planes because gravity will soon make a believer out of you if you don't .

I have a Hangar 9 Alpha 40 and it is a great plane, however I have had to check it over several times because bolts do get loose. The nose wheel was not tight enough from the factory when I bought it. It is a good habit to go over any new product you buy.

As far as a second plane, there are a number of good ones. Escapade and Pulse XT 40 immediately come to mind. They fly much like a trainer yet you can reem them out if you desire. The Escapade price is just about impossible to beat, but just remember you may need to check the glue joints and strengthen some areas as needed. After all, it is a $100.00 airplane!

By the way, while you are rebuilding your Alpha convert your wings to bolt on. It would be a good time to do it. I converted mine to bolt on and it works really great.

Happy flying

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

*chuckle*

Mr67Stang

Well your pictures won't show. That happens on my work computer frequently. I will have to see if I can view them at home. Anyway if it wern't for the type 2's out there I would have spent a lot more money on airplanes comming up in this hobby. I have taken planes I did not even want just to "save" them.

I-fly-any-and-all

My Feedback: (1)

not to be rude, but it does appear to be fixable.
Me and my two buddies I fly with have done and seen way worse.
We had a guy crash a hobbistar? 60 size trainer and the fuse was totalled from the nose to the trailing edge of the wing and the guy rebuilt it no problem.
If you would like some assisstance let me know.

cessnaflyer54

My Feedback: (68)

Well Dude, I fly alot of Hangher 9 planes ( Warbirds) and they are some of the nicest flying
planes that I have owned. There is not a plane out there that doesn't have an experation date
on it. They will all crash-sometime. You are just paying your dues to flying. Everybody has
gone through this process and if you aren't crashing, your not flying. Once you have built a few
ARF's, you will start modifiying the plane how you want it and you will start checking the plane
more for failure spots. All easy to fix, you just have to do it.
Good luck in the future and happy flying.

Adui

I beg to differ! I've never Crashed, just had a few hard landings (one inverted![X(])

LOL Couldnt resist, sorry!

joeheren

My Feedback: (11)

LOL...ME TOO!!!

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

I'm not gonna hide anything...

slick69

I agree with everyone on here. The plane is salvagable. If your not wanting to fix it then put it up in the loft for later when your ready to fix it like during the winter months. I have about 10 or more in my salvage yard up stairs but I don't throw any thing away as you never know when you might need something for a winter project. I have lost a few from servos dying, engine failures, bad radio days, it just happens and there are those rookie moments aswell but the bottom line is pick up the pieces and move on, try not to be so hard about it. You might get lucky & work out something with Hangar 9, they are very customer oriented. Anyway like a few others have said before cool of & make a bad situation better & there are lots of us on here that will help out if asked..... Happy flying

silverman1

I suck so bad working with wood, cutting and fabbing its rediculous like my spelling skills, measure 3 times and cut it once and I would still cut it short. I had a guy scare me away from planes. I got the big lecture if you can't light a hundred dollar bill on fire and watch it burn don't fly rc airplanes. Well they were all for sale the next day and never flown. I am better with mechanical stuff, building engines, diagnostics etc. I always looked up to the builders for their skill and patientance.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Ya know, to be honest, I think the guy who told you that was "right and wrong"

He was "right" in the sense that....yeah...you're risking $X every time you put the plane in the air. The best pilots, with the best equipment, most thoroughly checked out and correctly set up can STILL have a simple failure of a component, or a mid air from another pilot, or a freak accident with a bird. EVENTUALLY you're gonna see some money hit the dirt in this hobby. It happens.

I think he was 'wrong" though in the sense that it's not the same thing as lighting a bill on fire. If my, say, $2500 Edge goes in, I haven't simply "burned" $2500. EVEN if EVERY single component was demolished to its core atoms, rendered completely unrepairable...I'VE STILL HAD THE FUN of owning, flying, operating, etc. My $2500 didn't simply go up in smoke...I paid a fee for entertainment.

So...yeah...they're gonna wreck...but hey...every other hobby on the planet costs money too.

RCER88

My Feedback: (25)

I can not tell a lie! Not only have I crashed I exploded some! One even had a chinamen on it fighting me for the engine that was stuck in the ground so far. Now that plane was a total loss. The fiberglass fuselage was gone to four inches in front of the tail group! The wing the biggest piece was around the retracts.

I laughed so hard when that happened. The wing exploded in flight. Nothing to do but watch. It was well away from the pits so no one was in jeopardy. A old 60 size pattern ship. May it rest in pieces! First plane I lost in five years happened last year. "Knock on wood."

Now in that crash I lost a Rossi 60 Shattered the case, the tuned pipe split wide open. Five servos, receiver what did not shatter stripped or exploded. I had never seen a plane hit so hard in person. It was a fun airplane until that happened. It was real old twenty years or more. I will just have to build another that style don't come as an ARF.

gboulton that is a beautiful repair job. I like the color design.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks! Can't take credit for the scheme, though...that's the 2009 RBAR Series Champion Paul Bonhomme, as his plane appeared in the last 2-3 races of the season last year.

For the curious, there's a complete rebuild thread (including my own self-abusing "incident report" about the crash) over here.

schweizer1551

mate it sounds like you need a quick drink and calm down.Models a like women......... one minute all is good next minute a major disaster comes along.I had a problem with hangar9 and they went out of their way to help solve the problem.You must remember youare operating a machine on a silver wire (antenna) anything can happen.I lost $1000 helicopter just like you did.gather all pieces and go home.A quick snort of fire water , and all will be better.Than rebuild the plane it can be done with ease and you will soon be flying again.Sorry to hear about you disaster but we all been there and it could happen again. BECOOLdont blame Hangar9.

djnsayne

My Feedback: (2)

In my experience H9 stands behind their product. I had a tango that crashed due to the wing coming off in flight......when I looked at the pieces after the crash I saw that the wing dowels had simply fallen out as they weren't glued properly. I called horizon and sent pics of the issue and a week later I had a brand new replacement Tango. Now that's service!

Adui

Rather ironic you say that, I spent far more in repairs in the year or two I ran cars than I have in the 5 I have run aircraft. RC car hits something (like a curb, a rock, a wall etc) and you break something that simple. RC plane comes in hard, nine times out of ten its so simple a fix that you either don't spend anything or spend less than $10.

Fact is my worst RC crash to date, (yes I admitted it I said crash LOL) cost me less to fix than my mildest RC car crash, a little glue, some balsa and covering, and presto flyo..

pattern flyer63

   I have  a Hanger 9 Alpha that I learned to fly with, my grand daughter has learned on, now one of our  club members is useing it. It has had the landing gear riped offseveral times, the stab and fin repaired, the fuse side and bottom repaired and it is still flying super. I did replace the front nose gear with a Fultz gear. Not to get awayfrom H-9, but the Great Planes E-Z Sport is a great flyer. I have done the IMAC Basic with no problems with an OS 46-AX hung on the front. Best wishes with your R/C experance, I knw you will find helpful R/C'ers in all parts of this country.Great bunch of people in this hobby of ours.

foodstick

I honestly think it would be near impossible to build and sell arfs at any price !

I am surprised its as successful as it is.

There are so many things to go wrong in kits and arfs, I would sure hate to be getting calls from unhappy customers..Maybe that why I wouldn't consider starting my own business, (paperwork and taxes as well)

Just like OP's plane crashed..all it would have taken to make a servo do that is a good bump in the shop, between car and field, or even possibly by someone in the pits when he had his back turned.

You don't have to jam a control surface very hard to break a gear on a standard servo. And if you are unlucky you never know until its to late. Even a quick field test might not show that a few teeth were missing if they were way out on the end of the throw.

This hobby can be a heartbreaker !

Stickbuilder

You probably don't have anything to worry about with the trash can thing. They don't come to Saunders Ferry park until things are running over. The thing that you do have to worry about is did Bill Carrol take the aileron for a paint stirring stick, or did Fred grab it to put it on one of his old planes, or did Don Lewis need it for the wood.

Bill, Waco Brother #1

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

LOL

Always a ray of sunshine, you are, Bill!

willig10

Lagamn:
I just sent you a PM. If you want to see the existing ad. Go to Buy and sell, then go to advanced search type in RV8 and 50 miles from zip code 76137. The add says 500 I will take 400+shipping. This airplane has only been flown 10 times. very good docile flying plane and can be fast and aerobatic when you are ready.

Let me know.

plane jocky

My Feedback: (146)

ive had the carden yak by them it was falling appart after every flight yes they do suck

laganm21

Well I went to the field today to find the aileron,it was still in the trash can, But today the parks department decided to bush hog the field today so if there was any wood still in the grass it got cut up, but i think i got everything today