Extreme Flight,
Thanks for the tips, I spent the time to address all of these points on my model, I am hoping to keep it for a long time. The wife was also nice enough to build me sun covers for the whole plane so that the black covering does not get too hot in the sun and this gives the fuselage some protection during transport too. I wanted to mention one other thing that I have been doing on my Yaks. I found that if you fly on wet ( early morning dew, not rain) grass that quite a bit of water can get in the main wing recess in the fuselage and the thin balsa there doesn't like it..wrinkles up as it swells. So I have been sealing the recess with a couple coats of clear model dope. It adds almost no weight and also hardens/waterproofs the surfaces. Thinned Epoxy would work too but I like the smoother surface left by the dope. I really think that these models are worth the extra effort to protect them. I got 10 more glitch free flights on my 88 Yak today, what a nice flying day it was.
James
ORIGINAL: EXTREME FLIGHT
Right on the money Charles and Joe. A few extra minutes spent during the assembly process adding a little CA to high stress areas can really add to the longevity of your ARF. I always mention this in the manuals, but for those who have overlooked it here are some areas to pay attention to:
-Add CA to all servo mounts
-I always run a bead of CA around the joint between the root rib and the horizontal stab sheeting as well as the rib which holds the elevator servo. I do the same with the wing root rib and attached sheeting.
-Thin CA around the anti-rotation pins in the wing and stab.
-I usually thin some 30 minute epoxy with denatured alcohol and seal the edges of the elevator servo arm slot.
-Thin CA to saturate the cowl mounting tabs.
-CA on any fuselage joints that appear to need it.
Like I said, this only takes a few minutes but really adds to the durability of your aircraft. I usually end up putting several hundred flights on aircraft over a couple of seasons before selling the airframes to local flyers. Many of them are still flying and holding up great.
Another area that is often overlooked is regular maintenance. We must remember that these are high performance machines built very light and just like a racecar or motorcycle they need to be properly looked after and serviced. I always pull the cowl and look everything over after the first flight sessions to be sure everything is secure. When putting the plane away after a flying session I always check my kinkages and servos to make sure everything is tight and secure. Every 20 flights or so the cowl comes back off and I have a good look under the hood. There is no reason these planes won't last for many seasons with just a little TLC.