Rob Clement - RC
ailerons fluttering

My buddy flew his U CAN DO 46 today for the first time, running a saito 82 with a 14x4w apc prop at half throttle flying level he pulled up into a hover and the entire half of the elevator broke clean off, we saw no flutter what so ever.

I just got off of the phone with GP and they tell me they have not heard of this problem. I find it hard to believe that this is still a "MYSTERY" to them. They say that people fix the planes and don’t send them back so they cannot fix the problem....... Very disappointed in GP.......[&o]

Well there gonna do something about this, total BS what happened and how it happened.

I personally haven't heard of any problems with the ailerons fluttering. Not from just flying the plane. Have you eliminated any chance that it could be something with the servos or linkage?
As far as the tail breaking off, I have heard of that happening but it's been a while. Most of the guys now put tail wires on to make sure that doesn't happen. Also it's been discussed that maybe in some instances that on assembly of the tail and cutting off the monocote that people would cut too deep into the balsa and weaken the wood. I don't have tail wires on my 46 and have flown it for months with no problems at all

Rob has it right... When removing the covering for the gluing of the stab, only
cut the covering, the knife should never touch the bulsa!! Some use a soldering
iron to scorch the covering for removal... From the long UCD 46 thread here on
RCU that seems to be the main problem with stab failures... And a few, me
included use tail wires.. But a lot have no tail wires, and have no problems..
I have never had any fludder on any of my surfaces.. That was on the 46 with
a YS 63 and now a Saito 100... I do cover my hinge gaps, but I did not have a
problem before that.... I just thought it would not hurt

I have built planes for more than 25 years. I had a problem with my first u can do. the right aileron just blowed away during the second flight. The cyano hinge failed, it has a 3 layer structure. the center layer it seems to be like a polypropilene material and the two layers on each surface seems to be like a porous composite. The issue was, layers separation causing that the aileron get separated in fligh. The only retainer was the servo pushing rod and the result was a broken aileron, broken servo suport and broken ribs.
I sent a report with pictures to GP. The answer was "buy another one". Not fare in my opinion. My recomendation to medelers is. Do not use cyano hinges. those are not reliable.
after couple years I got a second UCD. This time my wing is not aligned. When I put the wing in a flat surface it has a differetcial of 3/4" betwen each wing tip. I used a protractor to see if the deflection is at least symetrical and there is a 2 degree "gap" betwen tips. This time in order to fly it i need to use trims on the aileron. There is not other way to make the plane to flygh straight. i am disapointed about UCD. I love it it is a nuce looking plane but at the end of the day I have invested twice with poor results.
If someone wants to see pictures of the deflections please ask and I can provide the pictures

Hi guys, I bought a UCD 46 new and from its first flight I had nothing only Aileron flutter at any speed. I changed servos to Hitec metal gear and upgraded push rods and linkages but all this made no difference. Now all the wood around the control horn has come loose. I am very disappointed with this plane as I have only around 10 flights on it and it is shelved for good. What a waste of money