Brian, I'm not sure what happened. It was a windy day with around 20+ mph crosswind, with gusts to around 30. The model was the Griffin by Xtreme Composites that I converted from electric to gasoline. The model weight was 9# 13, very light. The mods to the fuse were around the landing gear and engine areas. Also added a foam pipe tunnel which went to the wing TE.

I didn't think to take a good look aft of the pipe tunnel. I saw the foam crutch in the rear section and thought all was okay. In retrospect, the foam was not glassed and offered marginal strength. A built up crutch from balsa sticks probably would have proved stronger and could have been lighter.

The snaps and wind appeared to cause the fuse buckle at the wing TE. The crutch started about 4" to the rear of this area and just wasn't there to support things. Anyway I managed to quasi control the model into 2 foot tall soy beans but the resulting hard landing finished the fuse off. Post mortem revealed rather scant glass on the inside which was at most 1 ounce cloth. Had I realized, I would have added one more layer of 1.5 ounce in this weak area.

Hence the suggestion to Rodney to beef up the area aft of the wing TE. One layer of 25 gram glass may not be enough. The Griffin fuse was pretty large and I can't tell if Rodney's fuse is of similar size.

I know the Griffins suffered from bad wings early on but that problem was fixed. My fuse appears to have been the only one to have suffered this fate. Just unlucky I guess. But as I said elsewhere, little emotional attachment here. If it was my lay up, it would not have been built that way.

I discussed the experience with Bryan Hebert along with the landing gear mods. The factory was apparently thrilled with the gear mods.....easy to implement saving a bunch of weight. We'll see when these will show up in Bryan's offerings.