Thinking about buying a GP Lancair very soon. Noticed several old posts on RCU about GP Lancair wing snapping from 03, 04, and 05. Has anybody bought one of these planes recently and had this problem? Would appreciate any input you might have.


Cyclops

A buddy of mine just bought this plane as well and is currently in the build. I'll ask him if he's heard anything about what your're describing. Great looking plane.

I have bought two in the last year. The first had no problems. I was fairly vigorous with it without any problems but try to fly scale. The second awaits its maiden. I believe it is a matter of carefull wing joint but those who had a problem may have had OEM production flaws. Who knows. Great model though and flies beautifully. Strongly suggest you go for it with O.S 91 surpass with Pitts muffler. Looks very fine in the air too.

Thanks for your response. I have a Saito 100 I might use in it or maybe a OS 75, not sure yet.

cyclops......

Thanks for your response. I have a Saito 100 I might use in it or maybe a OS 75, not sure yet.

cyclops......

My buddy is installing the OS .75AX

Well, I too, have bought another after five years. One was on the shelf at my LHS for a long time so, for $200 bucks, I took it home. This is an excellent plane but you really should make your own wing joiner out of aluminum [ like I'm doing with this one ]. Also the wheel pants wont last very long. Somtimes, it just lands a little hard. I will install a Saito 1.00 again on this one like the last only this time I will use an RCSpecialties "Turbo-Muffler" , with the engine mounted inverted. Works just great. I'll leave the pants off but will use a Robart nose strut. It's fast with a Master Airscrew three-blade 14-7 prop. In closing, no, I did'nt crash my first Lancair, I was talked out of it. Seeya, MM

The snapping issue was on RCU a while back. Many cured it by glassing and/or fabricating a metal bracket for the 2 piece UC. I had one that was built stock with a Saito 100 and I had no issues. Seen many locally that were built stock and never snapped. Maybe it would be good to glass it just in case.

I'm in the process of building one now. I have read all the old posts on the wing snapping. I glassed my center with 4" strip just in case.

There is a lot of good info in the older posts about mods to simplify some of the construction. For instance, the plane is very nose heavy. Do everything possible to keep the nose light and move everything you can aft.

I am glad you started this newer post. I will keep it updated with my experiences along the way.

I'm using a Saito 91 mounted sideways with a hole in the cowl to clear the rocker covers. Would have liked to leave untouched but I'm going for a bit of simplicity and it will also aid in cooling.

Crossing my fingers on the wing snap thing.

I maidened my second Lancair on Tuesday. Wind was quite gusty but pretty much on runway heading. Everything was perfect. No, repeat, no trim adjustments needed! I guess second time build luck.

The Lancair is such a pretty plane in the air at a huge airfield with a nice mountain background. Alas, we don't have that here ...

None of those wing failures were at the center joint. Go back and read them carefully. They all failed at the side of the fuselage or at the end of the gear pad. Reinforceing the center joint is not going to do anything but add weight.

The cause of those failures was wing flutter. Great Planes had the builder use double sided servo tape to hold the aileron servos in place. Works fine for gliders, but on the high performance Lancair, the servos tended to come loose. And when they did, the aileron would flutter violently, causing the wing to self destruct.

If you build the center joint as designed and change to a secure mount for the aileron servos, you will have no problem.

Jim

I have been following these wing failure posts. In every case that I saw photos of a broken wing it was always where the wing meets the edge of the fuse and not the center. JRF is right in that it is not at the center where these break.

I glassed my center section anyway more out of habit and it couldn't hurt.

Wing flutter is very destructive and must be eliminated. I do believe that mounting the servos firmly and having tight controls is essential. But, I also believe that wings should be strong. Real strong. I hope GP strengthens the design and materials being used.

I don't plan on any snap maneuvers and my wing servos will be firmly anchored.

I guess i will drag mine out of the attic wing is glass in the center, how do you mount the servos in the wing thanks frank

my lancair is working very good.
first engine was rcv90sp with big four plade propeller.
second engine is webra .90
nose gear is very soft material and ichange it.