Ed42d, I don't know about everyone else but I don't even try to use those little brass sleeves anymore. Just run down to walmart & get some of the approriate size from the fishing section. Been using them for years & never a problem. Cheaper too.

You guys remember a few pages back when I said I was going to use a new reciever from Polk hobby? Well let me tell you how it went. [>:]

I can't really blame this on any particular thing yet as I haven't got it sorted out yet but My Showtime maiden was pretty much a disaster. Spent most of yesterday tying up loose ends on the plane and finally went out to fly it around 5:30 in the evening. A thunder storm was coming and the wind was kicking up pretty good as well. 15 & up if I had to guess. The range check was a little short but not what I would consider unacceptable. And last but not least, I had a 15X4 prop for the Saito 100, which probably should have been a 16X4. Well, I guess the real last straw was my son telling me over & over again that he thought I probably shouldn't do the maiden because of the wind & the fact that he could see lightning in the distance (remember the thunderstorm?)

Anyways, I took off & saw the plane was just a little tail heavy for my tastes but not to bad. The wind really affected it a lot, evidently it was blowing even more up there (50-100 ft.) then it was down on the ground. Anyways, after a few minutes of fighting the wind and the plane I brought her in for a landing. I looked everthing over & all seemed to be well so I kicked her back up again. A couple of big circles around the field and the planes seemed to become very mushy on the sticks. All of the sudden I saw both ailerons fluttering violently & I do mean violently. I immediatly killed the throttle & let the plane kinda flop down to the ground. It came down just over a rise in the field & out of my sight but it was a soft landing I know 'cause it came down flat & it wasn't that high up, less then 20 feet.

Anyways, when I got to the plane the only damage was to the horizontal stabilizers (& the landing gear block) Both horizontal stabilizers were destroyed & the elevators were ripped out by the hinges. It appears that they were fluttering too and it looks like the stabs just exploded. There is no apparent impact damage other then the landing gear block & the ailerons and wings appear to be OK. I am at a loss as to what happened. The plane wasn't flying fast at all so I am wondering if the wind could have been a factor or maybe, somehow, that never before tried radio could have been a factor.

I had company all day today so I never got a chance to look at the plane today & the rain started yesterday before I had a chance to do more then a cursory inspection after the fact. Hopefully I'll know more tomorrow. The good news is the stabilizers are apparently all that is damaged so if Horizon has them in stock, it shouldn't take long to repair it.