ORIGINAL:
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Guys I need to warn you all about the clearance between the flaps/ailerons and the wing when they close.- Last July (the hottest day of the year) I had my viper set up at our club in the blazing sunshine, - turned on the rx and did the usual checks. Only to find when lowering the flaps the left one would not go back up! - it was catching on the wing!- the heat of the sun was doing its work.- I spent ages sanding down these issues on the build but obviously not enough. I then noticed the right aileron was doing exactly the same thing! - out with a scuff board and some grease and problem solved ( I thought!!) - I had a flight and it was probably my best to date - half hour later and flight No 2, - took off as normal, plenty of power then went into a right bank - as soon as I went to tuck the flaps up I knew something was wrong - there was a slight hesitation, the nose dropped and she spiralled to the ground!!! - huge explosion I lost everything! ( my worst nightmare come true!.....gutted!)
So when I went to put the flaps back home I can only assume the left one stayed stuck down which caused an aileron effect etc (Ali has confirmed this ) so be warned guys - make sure those gaps are well sanded down!
So here I am now with out a jet, ( yes its taken me all this time to recover!)- ive been in touch with Ali and im very interested in the Futura 1.9m. My only gripe with the viper was it took plenty long enough to get off the ground (p80se) - it seems the futura by all accounts might rotate a little quicker ( I would use a p100rx) but I was wondering if any of you guys out there have any experience with the futura and particularly any one with experience in flying the viper2m and the futura1.9m to give a good comparison?
Just want to get as much info as poss from everyone before I make the next big spend!
Best regards
Rich P
I had the same issue prior for leaving for KY Jets, I took a dremel fiber cutoff wheel and used the side area of the wheel to make a sharp bevel on the leading edge of the flap filler panel, it will not catch now, as a matter of fact Ali inspected my flaps prior to the maiden flight. He did so by having two people support the total weight of the airframe by the wing tips, then moving the airframe up and down to create flexing loads while I deployed and retraced the flaps numerous times, they did not stick!.
Speaking of flaps I had an issue with the geometry of the linkages with the supplied external control horn (i.e. i could move the flaps quite easily by hand when the digital servos were powered up), I decided to go with an internal (hidden) linkage, see attached PDF drawing.This increased the mechanical advantage of the servo dramatically.