PointMagu
Posts: 582
Joined: 1/29/2005
From: Cumberland,
MD, USA
Status: offline
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1st flight report:
On Sunday April 30th, we flew the Waco for the 1st time. Taxi trials the previous week had revealed a faulty rudder servo and a tail heavy situation. These were addressed and corrected the Saturday before the initial flight(s).
The OS 60 was partially broken in, (2 tanks) and the decision to fly her made. My club president, Bob Wittington took the transmitter and rolled the Waco out and into the wind. Rolloff was smooth and the Waco climbed into the air.
The takeoff was flat and began picture perfect. About 30 ft up, the plane pitched up sharply but Bob handled it well and proceeded to circle the field several times, trimming as he went. The 60 was marginal for power but she flew well. The 1st landing was flat, smooth and a huge success! After reducing the throw on the elevator, (our reasoning for that sharp pitch up), I topped off the tank and fired her up again. This time, the taxi and takeoff was again flat and smooth.
Once again, about 40 ft up, the plane pitched violently up and looped itself. Bob yelled he hadn't done that and the plane began a rapid descent towards the ground. Bob had time to chop throttle and pull back on the stick. Another 5 ft of airspace and the Waco would have touched on her gear. Unfortunately, the 5 ft wasn't available and she hit hard on the nose.
The aluminum gear bent back. The aluminum inner cabanes were pretzeled and the bottom lower wing panel snapped at the fuselage. Other than a broken prop, that about summed up the total damage! The upper wing and fuselage were unscathed!
So, what happened?
STOOPIDITY, that's what. MINE.
When we carried the plane back to the pit area, the battery pack was removed to check things out. Uh-oh.
Back around Christmas, I had t-e-m-p-o-r-a-r-i-l-y installed the radio to check throws, etc. The pack I used was an old one that I had laying around. YEP...I never removed it and flew my beautiful bipe with a pack that had a weak cell! STOOPID.
Everyone commented on how well the plane had flown so I decided to repair the damage and REPLACE the battery.
NEVER build a new plane over Winter and install everything and let it set. I had completely forgotten which battery I had installed and was so excited to see how she might fly that I committed a cardinal sin...ALWAYS check EVERYTHING before that 1st flight!
So, I've straightened the landing gear, rebent the cabanes(mostly) and reattached the lower left wing panel after carving out the old snapped ply spar, (a la Dremel) and installing a new one, slightly shorter to accomodate a NEW 2400mAH battery pack.
I'll post a few photos but I've none of the crash damage...only my repairing efforts in a day or so.
Oh, and I removed the new OS 60. I recut the engine plate to accomodate a well used ASP 90. The larger displacement and additional weight up front should cure the tail heavy thing and keep me from having to add that 8oz to the nose. The added hp will also make the plane a bit more "peppy". Fortunately, the profile fuselage appears to not have sustained any cracks. The holes drilled for the 60 in no way remotely match the ASP pattern so those 4 holes will be the biggest concern on future flights. I may plug them with doweling and epoxy before redrilling the mounting holes for the .90.
So, there it is. A great flyer and a not-so-great builder. Oh well, I lives and I learns...lol.
PM
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Ah yes, snakes in the cockpit....
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RE: Wacky Waco...Updated - 
