Ultra stick Lite Gear mounting plate??  
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Ultra stick Lite Gear mounting plate?? - 6/2/2008 5:46:53 AM   
Blade-breaker


 

Posts: 101
Joined: 5/14/2008
From: Austin, MN, USA
Status: offline 		Hey everybody, this is unfortunately my first post in this category.

I have been flying for about 9 years and have had lots of good stories AKA crashes, over the years, but this one wasn't my fault really!!

I recently bought a gas engine G26 and mounted it on a Ultra Stick Lite, Its a great flying combination thanks to quite a few tips from others on this site! This afternoon I was flying around at my place and I was experimenting with different air brake setting to see how it handled. On my last landing I came in a little hard on the main gear but definately not anything exciting and the main gear wood mounting plate in the fuselage broke right out!!! I was planning on doing a touch and go, so at the time of the failure I was powering back up, the plane droped into the dirt and killed the engine.

The damage to the plane was almost nothing besides the wood landing gear plate being ripped out. Didnt even damage the wood around it, There was a GREAT lack of glue/epoxy holding this piece in place. I have always built my own planes in the past and this would never have happened with one of mine!! I guess its part of owning a ARF... When i moved the firewall back on this plane I thought the glue job on the firewall was kinda skimpy. I am glad i ended up doing that, would have been worse to have the engine remove itself from the plane.

The worst part of the whole deal was the carb on the engine was full of dirt! I pulled the carb off and looked down into the intake port and there wasnt any dirt inside the port or on the piston or cylinder. I am guessing when the prop hit the ground it stoped the engine and then fell in the loose dirt. I took the carb off soaked it in gas and gently blew all the gas off and repeated a few times. Put it back together and it ran fine.. Whew!!!!

Should only be a few hours to rebuild, I think I will use a piece of light plywood and beef up the gear mounting plate!! Ill be sure to use lots of epoxy!!

Anyone else have a Hanger 9 plane build quality issue?

       Post #: 1

RE: Ultra stick Lite Gear mounting plate?? - 6/2/2008 1:34:44 PM   
allans


 

Posts: 53
Joined: 11/12/2002
From: Yorktown Hgts, NY, USA
Status: offline 		I have had three of them . They all recquired that I install some kind of reinforcement in the landing gear . The most effective so far has been laminate or sister thin ply on the outside of the fuse. The ply should be at 3 inch long to distribute the twisting force from the block the landing gear is screwed into .

Clamp and epoxy the ply to the sides and then put two long thin screws through the ply, the side of the fuse, and then directly into the block. Then add big soft wheels at least 3 inchs in diameter .

If you land on grass this is a must . Insome ways concret runways are better as they do not tend to grab the wheels on landing as grass can sometimes do.

By the way you will be shocked at the light wood the landing gear block is made of . I do not know how the got the holes for the gear and the blind nuts drilled with destroying it.

Also - do not use as OS 120 AX on this plane , this excellent engine has a very heavy power box muffler set well out from the engine. The lever arm will and has created enough vibration in the fuse to induce structural failure , especially in the stab. This usually occurs in mid flight - but fortunatley for me I spotted it in the engine up on the ground.

Trust me on this one, the plane is light and flys like a dream but that comes at a price in structural weakness.

(in reply to Blade-breaker)
       Post #: 2

RE: Ultra stick Lite Gear mounting plate?? - 6/2/2008 6:58:41 PM   
Blade-breaker


 

Posts: 101
Joined: 5/14/2008
From: Austin, MN, USA
Status: offline 		That sounds just about like what i was thinking to do. I am glad to hear that someone else has had success with this as a fix.

I plan to make a new block to replace the one that broke out, Ill probably use basswood or something similar. Then i was planning to make a reinforcment plate on either the inside or outside of the fuselage on the bottom and maybe even on the sides.

It is a great flying plane, a touch more epoxy would not have hurt anything on my plane!!

Thanks

(in reply to allans)
       Post #: 3

RE: Ultra stick Lite Gear mounting plate?? - 6/2/2008 8:52:31 PM   
AA5BY


 

Posts: 263
Joined: 9/7/2006
From: White Oak, TX, USA
Status: offline 		The Ultra Stick Lite is the lightened by about 3 lbs or so of the previous Ultrastick 1.20. It is built light because the owners of the Ultra Stick 1.20 complained about it being heavy. The G-26 is a bit heavy for it evidenced by the need to move the firewall aft. The G-20 is probably a better choice weight wise, requiring no firewall location change and no additional weight to obtain CG. The G-20 also provides unlimited vertical so powers the plane well. This is probably one of those times when the additional weight consumes the marginally additional power for little gain in performance.

Regarding the landing... In crow mode, the plane will generate a lot of lift with just a little power but at full idle once that high drag condition has slowed the plane down, the sink rate is high and if not careful will produce a hard landing. The solution of course is to keep a few rpms on if the landing approach has to be extended. This issue I'd expect to be even more pronounced with the heavier G-26.

Normal landings do not experience the problem nor do landings with flaps... both able to produce a good descent ratio and flare with elevator increase but in crow mode, those raised ailerons are spoilers killing lift and as soon as all that drag slows the plane enough that the flaps are no longer lifting strong, the descent ratio increases fast... hence why the plane needs just a few rpms of power left on for crow landings.

I've likely better than one hundred flights on mine and haven't had any structural issues though I did add some triangle stock inside the firewall on the sides. If I recall, triangle stock existed top and bottom but not sides.

I consider myself now warned about the landing gear plate and will take a look at it. Thanks.

(in reply to Blade-breaker)
       Post #: 4

RE: Ultra stick Lite Gear mounting plate?? - 6/3/2008 3:58:24 AM   
Blade-breaker


 

Posts: 101
Joined: 5/14/2008
From: Austin, MN, USA
Status: offline 		I have been talking to an old timer at the L.H.S. and he made a good point. I was telling him how I plan to reinforce the gear mounting plate. He said yes that will keep it in there, but if you ever do have a rough landing and the gear plate is really reinforced you will just break the fuselage all to heck. Really got me thinking on whats the best thing to do.
I think I am going to rebuild it just like Hanger 9 had it built but I will use Aircraft plywood for the mounting plate, and basswood for the fillets on the fuselage sides. I do plan on using enough epoxy to keep it in place during normal landings and such!




(in reply to AA5BY)
       Post #: 5

RE: Ultra stick Lite Gear mounting plate?? - 6/3/2008 1:17:29 PM   
allans


 

Posts: 53
Joined: 11/12/2002
From: Yorktown Hgts, NY, USA
Status: offline 		If the torisonal ( twisting force ) on the block can be widely distributed it will not break the fuse in a hard landing. Fracture occurs when the twist froce is contained within the block and absorbed by the internal structure of the block. If there is sufficient contact area beween the block , the added side cheecks and the fuse , the force will distributed over the a wider contact area and then dissapated before the block can fracture.

This does not mean adding a great deal of additonal weight , it means a good design , with a very tight bond over a very large contact area, to transmit the force.

I am trying to think of a good example of this but at the moment , it is very early here and parts of my brain have not completely reported for duty.

I can think of only one mediocre example - it is easier to absorb a slap than a punch( given each is has the same amount of kintic energy).


(in reply to Blade-breaker)
       Post #: 6

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