Are some of you taping or sealing the gaps on ailerons, etc ? Tape ? Does it help with the Do.46 ?
P.S. Barry,,, did you get my PM about the prop fix ?

Sturtz, I tape all the gaps on my planes. Don't know if it stops flutter, nobody will say for sure, but I still do it. Central Hobbies offers a product call "Trim Seal" that I used at first. It's an iron on thin, very thin, product that works very nice. When I ran out of that I just went to same color monkote. Just cut a small, narrow strip and iron it on. I think I can tell a slight difference in the authority of the controls. But it just could be in my mind. Nothing else in there might as well be that.
Thanks,

Barry

No, I just looked, nothing there.

Barry,

I'm going to take your word on this, I'll back em up and try her tomorrow after work.

Sturtz,

As far as the hinge line sealing, I'm using clear monocote, a real pain in the a** to keep bubbles out of, but a little soapy water, apply squeegee it out as best as you can and let it set over night then iron! Presentable.....
I agree with Barry on this, not sure that I have noticed a difference, but I think I would have if i hadn't sealed them! Better safe than ..... well if you ever lost or saw one lost due to it, you know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Sargent

One of the few Texas transplants to Oklahoma!

I taped(scotch) my hinges about 20/30 flights ago, I can "almost"
say with certainty I did not notice any difference... On flutter... I
don't know.. I did not have any before and I have none now..
But since it's easy to do, I'll do all my planes from now on...
I used utrakote on my profile, and it's what I'll use... My scotch
tape is starting to dismantle itself already with all the use and fuel
the YS puts on it... Hope the covering works better...
Coupling.... Mine has none[8D]... I was trying like heck to do a
K.E. loop... But I lost the fight with the sticks... But it did turn
into a flat spin...

Gary... Thanks... Great day today:-))) Won't make it tomorrow,
But make it good on Friday and the weekend buddy:-)

Okay guys... after reading about wing failures and the landing gear problems, I have decided to do the following:

I have Kevlar thread to reinforce the wing. 5 or 6 strands CA'ed on the top and bottom (and wrapped around the spars and ribs) should only add 2 ounces or so, and it will make the wing much stronger.

I am planning on glassing the LG block and firewall, but thinning the epoxy WWWWWAAAAAAAAYYYYYY down to save weight. I'm gonna go with a Magnum 80 or the Saito of about the same size. Yes the Saito will have more power, but unless I can find one with 5 gallons through it already I'm just not willing to break it in.

My question is: do you guys think that the reinforcement I have mentioned is adequate: I wanna keep it light. I wanna be able to use the stock fuel tank to save wet weight.

While I am at it and the cover is off the wing, should I uncover the fuse and bulletproof (Kevlar) it also? Another 2 ounces, yes... but if it needs it.......

brokensolo, I have mostly heard of problems with the landing gear block but not the wing. Can you post some pictures of what you've got done so far? Biggest problem I see with repect to the wing is that there are to few ribs in the wing and it causes it to drum (vibrate). Mine sounds like a whole drum set......[:-]

Barry, I would love to get a YS...... but I'm not desparate. (well, not yet anyway) [:-]

brokensolo welcome... I may have missed it, But I did not think there was
a problem with the main wing, I have none... People have added wire to
the hori. stab. which some has reported failures, I use tail wires.. And of
course the gear.... Glassing the gear should work..... On mine I just added
a angled piece of 1/4 bulsa stock on the 4 corners of the L.G. block.. I
C.A.ed the pieces before epoxing them in... And it's working to date.. I've
had a few fuel out dead stick landings I did get the plane flatten out up right
before it hitting the ground and my L.G. have survived so far

I read back on like page 8 or 9 of a couple guys having total wing failure, but if it's not a major problem, I'll just leave it alone. I forgot to mention that I was going to wire the stab. My fault. I guess just the glass and wires will do it, then.

The Magnum 80 will be plenty to pull out of a hover, right? Properly propped (ha ha...) of course.

I had a total wing failure on # 2. But in fairness it was after I slamed into the ground. I really don't think you have to do anything to the wing (except bolt it on) Just fly it. The landing gear isn't that hard to reinforce. Do it like raideron says. That's pretty much the same way I did mine.
As far as the Saito go, 5 gallon to break in??!?!?!? Whoa!!!!! I literally run mine for 1 tank (11ozs or 9.5ozs depending on who you believe) and install it in the airplane and go flying. I even start leaning the bottom end down after that first tank. Not all the way yet but start with the 2nd tank. After about 10 flights I will have progressively leaned it to normal flying jetting. Not that big of a problem. I've had my engine in 4 UCDs and I still don't have 5 gallons run through it.
Thanks,
Barry

I have seen mention of wing failure a couple of times in this forum and i have probably read about 40% of the threads.

I have also read a couple where people felt or found rib damage when they unpacked their plane. I wonder if those that had wing failure may have had some unoticed shipping\packing damage that weekend the wing.

Also i wonder if there is any correlation between wing failure and Saito 100s.

Not that I dont think this plane would fly great with one, and am considering it myself, buuuuuttt, just maybe it has something to do with it.

Come to think of it I had a wing failure on my first one. But it was because of the fact that they hadn't lower the runway yet. They still haven't lowered the runway so I have just adapted.......[:-]

Ha, I had the same problem with the fuse on my somethin extra.

Haven't read the thread in a while and it looks like a few new faces have shown up. Welcome all!!!! Any body live in kansas on the thread besided me? Going flying this week end (hope fully). did some additions to the ucando. Bigger horns on the servos, Now getting close to 45degs on the surfaces. Going to be fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Building my 4th. Making good time. Have wing completed, installing stab and fin tonight. Also will install servos in tail tonight. Probably won't make Saturday but probably will have ready for an early Monday flight. Been in the penalty box for a week or so and this is the plane that will bring me out. Trying to make this the lightest. Goal = 5 lbs 10 ozs.
Thanks,
Barry

Anybody want to buy a used timer. Cheap!
Thanks,
Barry

Well........... Nah... I heard what it does:-) Can't afford that.. But
I may need something... Another 3 fuel out sticks again:-( All made
it safely home:-)...

Hi V Twin

We have a nice flying field here in Duluth. Our club bought the land from the University of Minn Duluth in 1988. In Superior, just across the bridge we have an awsome flying field. Wide open in all directions for many hundreds of feet and flat as a billiard table. Tomorow, 05/21, we are having an RC combat contest at our Superior field. The weekend of August 14 we are having our annual 2 day fun fly at our Duluth field. There are number of events going on throughout the summer.

Touch the tail only if you want to;

Northwing

I wish I could get out and fly. We're having the weirdest weather I have ever seen. Rainy, cold, blowing, then 1/2 hour it clears up and looks nice and gets warm, then back to the cold wet again...[:@]

Hey Guys,
SPUD here, sorry I don't have any UCD stories to share, because I haven't made it to the hobby shop to replace the stripped servo yet. I did put another 3004 in but after the first incident might as well wait for the metal gear servos - no reason to risk the plane when there's a problem.

The weather here was great this morning, sooooooo...I did at least take my foamies to the air' My tribute flew great some hover practice for when I get the UCD back together, then some spins & snaps and man was I feeling like Chip Hyde. So ounce the batt. was gone in the tribute ,off went the Yak 54F [sm=sunsmiley.gif]Man I was all over the sky, so I tried the world famous death defying inverted flat spin touch and go. You see I have put much thought into the I.F.S.L. ,and if you add just the right amount of power, you can touch the canopy on the ground , and then do a climbing invert flat spin, wa-la.......well at least it sounded good on paper.[sm=bananahead.gif] Hey Kokamo- if you need some extra foam I have a pile of it you can have cheap. Although it does say Yak 54 on some of it.[sm=biggrin.gif]

So the morale is if you do a Flat Inverted Spin Landing, leave it planted cause there is no going around!!!!!!!!!
Well thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

SPUDs pancaked........out

Off topic, but since there are so many here, I thought I'd ask a favor. I'm looking for about a 6x6" piece of transparent red monocote (or equivalent) to patch a little hole in a wing. I'd send someone $5 if they have a piece and would mail it to me. Beats paying close to $20 for a whole roll!

Thanks, Steve

Hey spud, have you tried the hitecs with the karbonite gears? I had a crash in my cap 232 40 size, broke every servo horn on the thing, but not a one had a stripped gear except for the throttle, it was a 3004. Threw it a way and put in a hitec with the karbonite gear in it.

Hey Goldeclad,
I'll definitely look into those. The wife and I are going to Broward Co. tomorrow-thats where all our big hobby shops are. The last big one here in Miami shut down. Any suggestions on which one to look at? Gotta get the UCD back in the air, been some great low wind days down here.

Thanks,Shawn

Hey Shawn, I use HS 425bb's and all but the rudder which has a HS 635HB
and run it on 6v... It does all I want it to do... I had a mini I was going to
use for the throttle, But I needed the weight...

On another subject... My Profile did good today:-) Had a couple firsts.. My
first K.E. loop and an up right flat spin... The wire L.G. sucks, But it's not
needed for long, into the wind it only needed a couple feet:-)

hockeyrules99... My C.A.ed on utrakote wing held on for today, dispite
trying to dislodge it, with tumbles, spins etc. :-)

Hey Northwing,

A couple of buddies of mine that I fly with at: http://www.grassfieldrc.org/ will be up there today for the combat meet. One of the guys, Doug, let me fly one of his SSC planes. I couldn't believe how well it performed with a 15LA in it! I do some GNAT combat with those guys. It is really a good time, although it requires alot of patience to keep those little engines running well. Have a good time if you go to the meet. Will you be competing?

-v_twin1k