ORIGINAL: flycatch
Not being rude, when was the last time you tried to evaluate the glue joints in the tail of the plane? This is almost impossible. The appearance of the plane looked super. Hot glue joints don't survive the knock of a 100cc engine. This I believe what happened to this plane. I have several ARFs but nothing this big. The pilot did not induce this failure. Tthe manufacture did this. Many posters have brought this to light and I still hold the manufactire responsible for this tragedy.
No offense taken. I inspect just about all of them and most definably in the giant scale. so the last time would be the last ARF I assembled, a 50c RC League Yak54. The tail is assembled by the user, and this gives me an opportunity to look at the aft before it is assembled. I usually add glue to this area if not more wood to strengthen the tail gear mount and surfaces. I have found poor gluing in many planes in this area. In addition, I often add flying wires to the tail of an aerobatic giant. Just good policy IMO.
I started in the hobby over 40 years ago when we would build everything, so even removing some covering if necessary to expose a questionable area is not a problem for me. I consider it cheap insurance and gives me much more piece of mind about the airframe. I like to be able to thrash an aerobatic plane around if I feel the mood. Seeking out locals with similar abilities is wise IMO.
Yes, ultimately, the manufacturer is to blame for these defects, but I just don't see anything changing in the foreseeable future. If we continue to buy these inexpensive planes, this is what we will have to do to make them better. I expect it. I small price for the savings we are getting in the long run, is it not.