ORIGINAL: combatpigg
ORIGINAL: 804
ORIGINAL: tbirdaerospace033
From what I've seen, part of the problem is the ARF's themselves.
I was out of the hobby for a while, got back in a few years ago, put some ARF's together and have spent more time repairing ''shotty'' workmanship on the ARF's than actually flying them.
I'm going back to building kits. That way I know the glue joints are secure, and if reinforcement is needed, I can do it in the building process.
I am convinced that with average piloting skills, a kit built plane will last longer than an ARF.
I've had just the opposite experience. In six years, I've assembled, and flown the crap out of, about 25 Arfs, from small electrics to 50cc gas. 5 to 30 minutes spent checking glue joints and particularly engine mounts goes a long way. Done right the first time, I have spent very little time repairing anything I didn't cause myself.
804, tell me, how do you check the integrity of a ARF glue joint done with a hot glue gun? If you have such a technique, you could have helped prevent hundreds of Lanier Q-500 ARF firewalls from ripping out, engine and all. This type of glue fouls the surrounding wood and repels attempts to reenforce or repair it with glue of better quality.
My point here is that unless you strip the model to bare bones, there is no way that 5-30 minutes worth of pecking around an ARF is a guarantee of anything good.
I agree with 804 5 to 30 minutes of checking glue joints, and touching them up with thin CA on the arfs will and has prevented many problems. I am a pylon racer and have been for many years. As far as the problem with the lanier Q-500 fire walls goes, granted they were week but even after most pinned and removed the covering from the nose and glassed the complete front end most beginners and novice pylon flyer's were still ripping the firewalls out of them. Even the great planes Viper that many Novice pylon racers build and fly get the firewalls ripped out
I still use one of the first Lanier Predator arfs to just keep in practice with. Never did do any thing to the firewall in it other than what 804 mentioned and it is still flying today. One thing I did do before I flew it the first time six or seven years ago was replaced the plastic wheels it came with and installed the pizza cutter wheels axles and gear dist by Jett same wheels I have on all my 428 Q-500 Bird of prey's The biggest problem with ripping the firewall out of the Lanier Q-500 was pilot skill (bad landings) Oh Yeh in the article this forum is about Don calls it Pilot Proficiency. I have both he's books very good!!! even though I do not agree with everything he has to say