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Old 11-16-2003 | 02:04 AM
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Sincraft
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From: Elizabeth, PA
Default RE: Eagle 2 tree collision. Pics

Northern, NO problem. You are in good shape buddy! My wing did the SAME thing. All the ribs were missing or completely useless and of course the leading edge was destroyed except in one area but was still cracked and useless...needing replace. I am posting a pic of what you should do first. It looks like the only damage is in the right part of the wing. Assuming this is correct and it also looks like it is in the front..do this.

1. remove ALL the covering from the center spar to the area that was formerly known as the leading edge.
2. It looks like you have a Rib or two left on the outside or inside of the wing. You are going to want to template ribs from the good piece. And also, get an idea of what shape the leading edge will need to be. Try to save a nice 1" piece to template from so that when you get your square leading edge, you can shape the entire thing to match the piece you have. This will also help you pic the materials when you visit your hobby store to buy the wood.
The rib - make sure they are the same size as the ones in the center. I know my model has smaller and larger ones as the wing goes toward the center. Maybe, and I hate to suggest this, but cut open the good side of the wing as a last resort and template off of one of those ribs. Don't stress over it though, it's a trainer. They like being butchered.
3. Cut away all the excess wood from the center spar, and bring everything flush by sanding it etc. Then when you make all your ribs, glue them nice and level at the angle they should be to the spar system. THEN when they are finished being glued, take some pieces of 1/4" x 1/8" x 1" pieces of balsa, and glue them to EACH side of EACH rib against the center spar. So in other words, you would have the above mentioned brace pieces, Rib, brace piece. All against the spar. Then slather it all in glue. A few drops over the pieces after they are glued individually should hold things even better than the originally construction.
4. After that is all done, and you have your final wing half complete. It's time to cover. Overlap covering an inch over the spar area (or repaired area) to allow for the best bonding and adhering.
5. Make sure that before you glue that leading edge on, you get the basic if not final shape complete before gluing it. It's a pain to sand when you have to swing a wing around.
6. Now you have to balance the wing. You will notice that the repaired side is going to drop if you hold the wing with two finger at teh very center. Unfortunately you are going to have to cut into the good side of the wing. And then patch it. Get a piece of 1/8" ply or balsa chunks and glue them to the outside edge of the wing once you decide how much weight you need on that side to balance things. It doesn't have to be totally perfect. But it is a necessary evil otherwise your plane will want to turn all the time.

I'm enclosing a pic of my wing stripped down ready to be repaired. Hope you see what I did is much like what you are doing. The covering took the longest to be honest. Damn near 4 hours. I'm slow. Took me an Sat evening to do the repair..and an entire football game plus to cover it. And I burned my rug with the damn iron. DOH.

ASK if you have ANY questions. Good luck...and post pics of any progress you may have..
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