Since there are a lot of beginners who get ARF or RTF trainers and don’t know what is on the inside of the wing, I’ve decided to show how I did a wing repair with both minor and major damage.

I recently acquired a new, un-built Hangar 9 Alpha 60 RTF that is damaged. Supposedly it had crushed ribs in both wings, a hole in the sheeting on the top of the left wing, and a crack in the fuselage at the landing gear. For about ½ of what it would cost at a hobby shop I couldn’t pass it up (it’ll be used for an AMA intro plane and giving flight instruction).

When I opened the box I saw a lot of wrinkles in the covering near the landing gear block. I checked the fuselage on the inside and couldn’t find any damage. Feeling around on the outside it appeared to be solid as well. I tightened up the covering and installed the landing gear. After pulling and pushing any way I can I sure can’t find any damage to the fuselage. So I installed the prop and empennage and set it aside.

There are a lot of wrinkles in the covering on both wings. I started with the left wing tightening the covering on the top. I could feel all the ribs where broken at the center support, and decided to open it up from the bottom since its all red vs. the white with trim on the upper side. It’ll also be easier to recover being flat. The pictures show what the left wing center section looked like out of the box.