Hello,

Had my first mid air this weekend flying an Avistar I had picked up cheap. Got run over by a big Sukhoi who was hotdogging. Anyway, took off most of the left wing tip in the midair and the resulting spin finished the job on the left panel. Fuse has slight damage easily repaired and the right wing panel doesn't have a scratch on it. Left panel is a total loss. Though I've only flown it a few times, I find myself really liking the Avistar for a end of the day relaxing plane.

Anyway, anyone know where I could find one of these without ordering the whole wing from Tower? I've only got $50 in the plane after selling off the radio gear and while I don't want to scratch up a new panel, I also don't want to spend $90 shipped on a new wing.

If anyone had any ideas please let me know here by message or by e-mail at:

ovrlrds AT swbell dot net (forgive the anti spam speak).

Used if fine if someone has one they want to get rid of.

Thanks,
Duke

Tough one Duke, been there. Wish I could help. My feelings are that if you got to spend, buy the whole plane. That replacement wing is $75.00 and the whole plane is $99.00 If its at the LHS then there is no shipping. The manufacturer knows that on a trainer there are going to be wrecks and it seems that they take advantage of that. On more advanced planes like the UCD.60 the wing is only $54.00. Go figure. Any fields around that have a training program? Check the AMA website and look at the list of clubs around you and drop them an E-mail. Some local member might have one. You got to admit though, mid airs are cool! Its tough when its yours though. Good luck, Joe

I hadn't thought of having the LHS just order the whole thing to save shipping. Thats a good idea.

The midair was not all that spectacular, it was kind of overcast and I was on the back of the pattern while the Sukhoi was doing his thing over the middle of the field. The guy headed out towards the tree line and instead of coming back inverted as he had been doing, he abruptly pulled up into a vertical climb. I knew he was going to be close, but I figured I should just hold my heading thinking he saw me and had some maneuver in mind. He said he never even saw me until it was too late and by the time I realized that A) he was getting way too close way too fast and B) he didn't have a clue that I was there, I didn't have much choice. I was on low rates with the flapperons fully deployed and while the Avistar is good at low speed, she's no aerobat.

When the guy hit me it took off about 6 inches of wing and ripped the aileron loose. The drop was a fast spiral and right before I got down I tried to roll it right and pull up to fight the spiral. I can't say how much that helped if any or if I just got lucky. The Sukhoi did much better as he was able to glide in on the edge of the field with a cracked spinner and broken prop.

I'll e-mail around the local clubs and see if I can dig one up that way.

But its not all dark and dreary, I just got a new Ace simple series Ultimate kit for my Fox 25 and and picked up a well loved extra 300 ARF with a Super Tigre 61 and 4 Fut servos on it at a swap meet for $60. Check out my other post and tell me if you recognize it. I'll be posting the pics in a few minutes.

Thansk for the ideas,
Duke