Subw00er

I was flying today and mid flight I was making a turn to the wind and the wings folded up on me and it did a nosedive to the ground. I have not crashed previously (with this plane anyway!) and I had not noticed a crease in the wing previously. It bent where the bands strap it to the fuselage and I was using the required # of bands(6).

Does anyone think this is a warranty issue, or are these wings known to do this?

v8eater

From the sound of things this happens to these wings. I talked to a guy at my field and the exact same thing happened. When I started flying my used aerobird I noticed the wing was creased a bit. I didn't do anything about it and it started to fold in flight. I fixed the problem with a square piece of balsa stock taped to the top of the wing. Another flier suggested a strip of carbon fiber taped to the wing for better strength an aerodynamics. I seriously doubt they will cover it. How much damage was done?

RC Sumo

If you can afford to...go ahead and replace the wing while you are making repairs to the folded one.
Here is a simple, inexpensive way to reinforce wings to help keep them from folding:

Use the clear packing tape that has strings in it.Tape the underside of the wing. The tensile strength of the tape is enough to keep the wing from folding in just about any turn. I constantly pull loops and high G turns on my original wing that has the tape reinforcement. The tape runs lengthwise...parallel to the wing. The wing will still flex, it just won't snap. Unless you have ALOT of weight and are pulling an extremely hard high speed turn. But this is for a wing that hasn't been creased.

As for the creased/folded wing. While I have seen the balsa strip work.....I prefer not to put anything on the top side of the wing as it creates an uneven surface and therefore turbulence over the wing. Unstable air over the wing can be tricky, as in tip stalls @ 8 ft trying to land. My suggestion would be to use a Carbon Fiber rod on the underside of the wing. It will flex, but you won't break it or the wing.

But v8eater is most likely correct. Doubt they will cover that kind of damage. Although they have been great about radio and rx problems. Warranties in general are to cover manufacturing defects....this might have been a pilot oversite. if the wing was weakened somehow without apparent damage...it was only a matter of time before it failed. This would be true of ANY aircraft wing. Regardless of construction.

So.... I would get another wing and repair the old one to have as a spare. New wings shouldn't be more than $20 in even the most expensive hobby shop. Then you can fly while you repair the old wing.

Here is a source for Carbon Fiber rods: www.airdyn.com
Your hobby shop might even carry them. Especially if they have alot of plane and KITE materials. The rods are very popular in kites. If you have a kite shop around...they would most likely have one as well.

Good luck!

f00sion

I taped the underside of my wing as suggested when I first got it..since then ive crashed countless times, putting many creases and dents in the wing.... I have my ruddervators extended and the control line in the bottom hole and it can turn incredibly tight circles and loops at high speeds, no folding yet.

evil_nathan

I agree with the wing-taping with Fiber Tape.... but the carbon fiber rod trick is the most incredible thing I've ever seen for re-enforcing a wing like the aerobird has.

I know this has already been said, but I had no idea just how strong the wings would become when they were re-enforced.

A friend of mine bought a new wing for his plane (a Freedom Flyer) , and the first thing he did was fiber-tape a TY1 carbon fiber rod to the underside of the wing, and now it's incredibly strong. He also re-enforced the LE with a strip of fiber-tape. I guess that on a pusher-prop - u may want a small strip of fiber tape on the TE where the prop can sometimes chew the wing up on impact.

He has cartwheeled the plane at full tilt with only minor bumps on the wing LE, he's crashed into paved parking lots, crashed into power poles - and even had a few rough landings - and the same wing is still flying today.

For such a small investment (prob about $1 US) for a piece of carbon rod - It'll make your wings last a LOT longer.

Those wings are designed to be delicate, and fold with little or no provocation - It's the whole weight x surface-area x make-it-as-cheap-as-possible scenario.


Nathan.

Subw00er

Which carbon fiber stuff did you guys use? I'm not sure whats best. Can I use flat stuff and 3m-spray glue it to the wing? That spray glue is industrial strength and I use it in my daily work. How would 2 flat (1" or so wide) pieces work, at the leading and trailing edges.... maybe just one strip down the center? I like the ideal of low profile flat strip so I dont change the flight characteristics with a rod... Anyway a part # would be great form someone who has done this!

Thanks for the replies so far.

evil_nathan

A TY1 Rod (only about 1.5mm in diameter - dunno in inches....)

Fiber-taped to the wing.....

Won't affect your aerodynamics at all it's really tiny......




Nathan.

SkrapIron

Hi,

I had an Aerobird Commander that suffered that same malady, except it happened at about 400 feet. I was banking overhead in a light (5+mph) wind when the wing simply folded over and the plane spiraled straight down. It auggered in and shattered everything but the tail boom. I actually never found the battery....

I moved on to a GWS Slowstick, since I tend to fly at my daughters elementary school.

You could borrow a trick from the Slow Stick guys. go to the hobby store and get a 36" 1/8" aluminum tube. Cut off about 12". Use clear packing tape and 5 min epoxy to attach the long tube to the underside of the leading edge and the short tube to the under side of the trailing edge.

It adds enormous strength and doesn't affect the flight.

I never got to fly the Aerobird Challenger. How does it perform with the pitch control? Have they figured out how to control the spin problem in a tight turn?

Co Fly

I recently bought a new plane to build, because I went through 2 fuselages and 3 wings due to wing malfunction. The aerobird is a capable flyer, but not meant for serious acrobatics. All of my failures were on wings that were fiber taped and usually during a spiral dive or hard rolls.. Yours sounds like a poor product were just banking, mine were self induced. I will have to try the carbon fiber mod, because I will always fly my aerobird for dog fighting and night bombing missions.

teddansonsplane

i have folded my aerobird wing. i was about to do a loop at about 200'. i pulled up and the wing snapped. the plane hit the ground before i had a chance to react so it hit at full throttle. i guess i was confused to what had just happened. besides the wing and the two studs that go into the foam right before the electronics there was no damage. the studs just got pulled out and i replaced them with a nylon bolt. i wouldnt recomend fixing your old wing. there is no point crashing again when you can avoid it. i plan on crazy glueing a piece of flat CF on top of the wing. i will only use a 6" strip or so because the wing folded right at the fuse. the wing i had only had about 3 flights on it so i was not pleased when it let go. right now the plane is back together and flying great. i just bought the aerial drop module and loving it. you get alot more practice landing when you have a drop module because your coming back down every 30 seconds to reload.

jatoo

I would not recomend putting anything on top of the wing. It could have a bad effect on the airflow over the wing. On the underside is ok, because there is not usually airflow over there.

aviazn

My ultracheap solution to my folded ABC wing was to duct tape a paint stick to the underside of the wing. My wing has folded twice now in two separate places and the paint stick works for me. The line through the control horns might need a little adjusting though to keep the plane trimmable if you end up having to tape the stick off-center. I have to say though that I haven't tried aerobatics with it, I just cruise it around at half throttle in my backyard...

cruuk

i agree.. DO NOT put anything on top the wing.. ive tried with a piece of wood and it flew horribly. ive gone through many challenger wings and the best thing.. and still currently on there is a carbon fibre rod taped to the LE and TE a la slow stick design.

it accomplishes two things.. first it makes the wing incredibly strong... you can put a couple of them on a folded wing and it will be good as new.. second it protects the wing from that nasty propeller. for beginners thats a big plus.

heres a pic.

jatoo

Do the rods come down below the chord line?

cruuk

nope, they have to be above the edges or the wing wont fit on the fuse. the fuse has a notched out area the same size as the wing.

camlf

I have notched out the underside of the wing and set in a 14" dowel. centered. I filled in around the dowel with glue. I used tightbon glue. So the support is in the wing and leaves a smooth surface. bottom and top. Test flight next day or so. will post how it handles dives and loops.