Fun Fixing a Viper Wing
Setting up a new Viper that will use a Nelson for my Kid that wants to try the faster stuff.... I think I got the wing they made after one heck of a lot of rice wine on a monday! Test flights revealed a ton of aileron trim needed.... took it home and put the incidence meter on it and saw what I expected... one wing was perfect while the other had a bad rash of wash in. Broke the trailing edge from the aileron on out... reset and covered the wound on bottom of wing. Next test flight revealed the aileron trim was no longer needed at all... perfect. However... now that I dared to try and fly on the course... it climbed like a homesick angel in the turn... tried a couple of quarters on the offending wing... no change at all. Returned home and checked the lateral balance.... wow... the heavy wing was not just heavy... it was made of IRON! To get it to static balance took 36 grams of tip weight! I usually use #6 or #8 finishing nails for fine balance... I went straight to the 12D coated sinkers which I sunk 8 1/2 into the light wing tip! I think the next flight will be just about right! The Vipers, for the price, fly AOK when you take the time to fix them and set them up just right... but some sure do need more work than others!
Dan