Both times that this has happened to Doc I was, unfortunately, a witness to the pieces coming down.

The failure mode this time is different than last time. Last year the glue joints holding the wing skins on failed. This time the wing tube failed.

I went and looked at the remains and talked to Doc and Ray (who was flying it). What they describe was that the model was flying at modest speed and had just started a shallow pull up when one of the wings folded over and then flew off. The model then tumbled and broke up (when I first saw it). This is nearly the identical condition that the last failure occurred at. The wing tube was bent over about 150 degrees, almost doubled over on it self. When this happened it appears to have broken the wing retainer, which allowed the wing to come off, not that the wing staying on would have mattered. Can not tell you for sure if the failure was right at the wing/body junction or not, but I think it was.

I feel bad for Doc he is a really nice guy and doesn’t need this sort of grief.

Steven