yagger

Has anyone had any problems with the wings cracking or breaking in flight? There had been some reports and I'm just trying to find out what power plant that they were using and the maneuver that they were doing at the time of the failure

Yagger

wgeffon

My Feedback: (4)

I had a friend who had a BME 44 in his. It was way too much power but he didnt have any wing trouble.

Nathan

My Feedback: (12)

Theres one at our field with either an OS FT160 or OS FT300 (twin engine). It's been a while since I've seen it, so I don't remember which one it is. At any rate, it's more engine than is needed, and he's had no problems.

yagger

Thanks I am going to put a MDS 1.48 in it I hope that isn't too much power. I don't do 3D so that should be a good combo(?)

Yagger

Ricmussman

My Feedback: (24)

I have one of these planes! I have only flown it once. The firewall is all wrong, there is way too much up-thrust! I am in the process of fixing that. When it was at idle it flew great. Under full throttle it didn't fly good at all. once I get the thrust lines right it will be a great plane. I have a Super Tigre 2300 on mine and it is perfect. Many guys are doing the OS 160 it sounds to be the good combo too. I thought about my Saito 180, but I like it in my Cap 232. There is only one gas engine that is possible and that is the MVVS 1.60 gasser. I haven't heard if it has enough power, but the weight is right. All other gas engines are way too heavy. This plane needs to stay as light as possible.

I think that the wing problems were isolated to a couple of people. There are too many of these in the air with out any problems to make me not worry about fling mine. I do know that in mine, the connecting brace in the wing didn't fit very tight. I added some balsa so it fit tight before I epoxied it in place. I wonder if the wing snaps were because the guys didn't have a good tight fit on the spar. That is just what I wonder. I love mine and can't wait for spring.

desmobob

I just bought that airplane recently. I noticed that my wing joiner is a very loose fit in its pockets in the wing halves; mostly on one side, where it's very sloppy. I intend to build up the joiner with plywood and work toward a perfect (as I can reasonbly get it) fit.

I wonder if the failed wings had anything to do with this kind of problem?

Good luck with your 202.

flying2bill

My Feedback: (2)

I was one of the few that had a wing problem and in retrospect I attribute my wing problem with weight. I've tried this plane twice wth gas (zenoah & homelite). The 202 flew great with the Zg23 and no changes to the firewall but the wing snapped on flight #7.
The wing failure accured in straight level flight. That plane weighed in @ 13-3/4 lb. Great Planes replaced the kit for me @no $. The second one I put a Homelite conversion on, thought it would be lighter but came out 14-1/4 lbs. On the maiden flight it flew like crap (amazing what differance 1/2 lb makes) and on landing the gear peeled out (not a rough landing), the glue (looks like hot melt) just peeled away from the wood and the gear rolled under and through the wing (again I blame weight). So back on the bench it goes, good news, my brand new ST 2300 just arrived yesterday (thanx Phil) and I'm starting to get excited about this plane again. If you search on the other popular posting board you'll find a ton of posts on this plane and several reguarding thrust changes.

DeadRinger

I have the 202 and I think the reason for the slop on the wing joiner may be to allow for enough epoxy due to the fact that is the only real strength at that point. No wing failure has been at the joiner to my knowledge but right where the wing meets the fuse. Be sure that when you tighten the wing bolts that the wing is not smashing hard against the fuse sides because that seems like it might be a lot of stress at that point. Mine was so tight when I first bolted the wing on that it was buckling the fuse and wrinkling the covering bad.
Mine also had a bunch of up thrust at the firewall and it flew like it too. Also it had way to much right thrust even for the 160 and was pulling over and to the right of the canopy real bad in a full throttle vertical so I got it home and did a bunch of work to correct it and now she is dead vertical up and down line.
The plane is rather short coupled and is pitch sensitive so I used a fair amount of expo and learned to fly it cleaner on the sticks and it is as good a plane as anyone could ask for all things taken into concideration.
http://home.austin.rr.com/mygpgiles/

basmntdweller

My Feedback: (9)

I have a Giles that cracked the wing. I was about half throttle, pulled up to about a 45 degree and hit the snap switch, doing an outside snap to the left. I heard a loud pop and immediatly landed. There was a split in the covering just outside the fuse and I could feel that the sheeting had cracked. GP replaced the wing with out any problem. I have the OS 160FX installed and had between 30 and 50 flights on the plane. I had done many snaps and other high G maneuvers before without any problem. Early in it's life I had done quite a few snaps at full throttle although usually pulling out other maneuvers so speed wasn't that high. I have since flown the new wing four flights or so but kind of scared to push it too hard just yet. It has been a great flying plane. I haven't had the firewall troubles others have had. I had to add one degree of downthrust and take out one degree of right thrust to get my vertical lines straightened out.
Good Luck,,, Matt