wade72209

ive been flying about a month and my plane is showing the signs of it . The original stickers and covering has been falling off since i bought it . The 2 crashes i had didnt help it either . Now my plane is patched with lots of clear packing tape and spray paint. i crashed once learning and then bought a simulator and practiced a couple days doing nuthing but take offs and landings . then my second crash was sheer stupidity trying to fly from a school yard at the end of the street and i ended up in the top of a tree. Also i had a gas leak inside the plane that i didnt see and had to rebuild the complete bottom and firewall. I do good work inside the plane and my plane still flys like new its just looks like crap. ive taught myself how to fly and also how to repair . i first started i was using a grass field about 40 miles from my house but this is to far for me to drive everyday just to fly . i found a place that they use to fly rc back in the 70s and started using it , the only thing is the grass is 3 feet high and u have to land on the street. which isnt as forgiving. so now im wondering do most people recover these or just keep patchin and flying.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I recovered my Tower Trainer after I had been flying it for a couple of years. I still have it and it's still flying today. It's 11 years and counting, and has well over 600 flights on it. When I recovered my trainer it was where I learned to cover, so I guess that made an entirely different type of trainer as well!!!! A covering trainer!!!

Definitely recover it. And make sure you seal the hinge gaps as you won't believe the difference it will make in the way it flies.

Ken

sharpshooter223

if its the only plane you have besides the simulator, i wouldnt recover it yet. if you mess it up then you wont have any actual plane. maybe have an experienced builder recover it for you and show you how to. but if not these trainers are meant to take a little more wear than other planes to patching may be the best option.

Jazzy

It shouldn't be too hard to do. The worst parts will be removing covering that has been CA'd and not tearing off balsa (the wing ribs for example).
Just do sections at a time so that you can fly and recover at the same time. This will probably mean cutting hinges and installing new ones. If the control arms for the ailerons are glued into the control surfaces you may need to make new ailerons as removing them will destroy a portion of them. The wing can be done in a few hours - just don't get elaborate with your color scheme. Make sure you have a sealing iron and a heat gun.

Take your time and try to find a "How to" article for covering. There is bound to be one floating around here on RCU somewhere.

You'd be amazed how much spraypaint and packing tape add to the weight of your plane!

Good Luck!

sharpshooter223

well, i know my first covering job suckedand it took me awhile to figure out even with how to stuff. im sure i would have been a ton better if i had somebody to show me how. my point is, if its your only plane you dont want to ruin it.

PA BEN

Just buy this one it's cheep and a good flyer. Put your engine and radeo in it. You'll spend more money in covering. Just my 2 cents Been flying it for two years now.

http://www.airborne-models.com/html/...p?ProductID=15

sharpshooter223

that acctually looks like a good idea. if you do something like that, THEN i would use your previous trainer to learn to cover.

midwestpilot

My Feedback: (1)

I recovered my Easy sport 40... spent 50 bucks on covering.. could have bought a new arf for 80..

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

a recovered trainer will look like a brand new plane. look for covering instructions here on the top of this forum. i agree though wait till its cold out then knock yourself out. also recomend you find an instructor to decrease the "fixxin" factor

trainers are very easy to cover, lots of flat areas. its a 2 night project the first time then just depends on how fancy you get.

FlyingGreg

My Feedback: (4)

For the cost of an ARF trainer and since you said you have crashed your and leaked fuel all over the inside, I'd just buy another one. Recovering a plane is a lot of work. That's my $.02.

Greg

spiral_72

My opinion, is exactly what I'm doing.... I'm just about 2 months ahead of you... A beginner.

If you can get over it looking bad, fly it man. Flying experience is a hard thing to aquire. If you recover it now, something else will happen anyways. I'd wait till you finish puching holes in the wings, banging it up on hard landings, and the general destruction before you rebuild it. By then it might be time to retire it to the wall on your garage while you move to another plane.

Scotch tape isn't a bad thing! It shows signs of flight