So I've been having some issues getting my tower hobbies .40 engine tuned properly...seems like it will be too rich one day and too lean the next....so I'm working with it today and finally feel like I'm making progress. I take my trainer up for some quick flights to put the engine through it's paces. All I'm doing is touch and goes at my house. About ten acres clear cut with a pond. Totally safe. About my 10-15 minutes into the flight the engine dies. Nothing I'm not used to as this seems to happen all the time. At the time the engine died I had a fair amount of altitude...couple hundred feet. So I'm sorta spiraling down trying to bleed off that energy when WHAM!!! Hit a tree on the wood line. I thought The plane was much closer to me than it actually was. Lesson??? Fly at an AMA sanctioned airfield, avoid trees at all cost. This was my second run in with a tree. The tail section was intact in the tree...only minor wing damage. But when the plane came crashing down out of the tree it landed tail first and crushed the horizontal and vertical stabs. :-(
I haven't looked at it carefully but I think it's salvageable. What do y'all think? I'm actually kinda excited about repairing it. Is that bad???

By all means, go ahead and repair it ! Repairs like this are all a part of the learning process. From what I can see I might buy a replacement horz. stab, and do a leading edge repair on the right wing. If you did rebuild the right half of the horz. stab on the plane you should install a tail wire kit on it for strength. Better to cut the horz. stab out and scratch build a complete new one, or just buy a replacement from Tower. Have fun

Absolutely, it's repairable!!!! If I (an old man with 6 thumbs) can start with this and get to this inside a month, ANYONE can.

This, BTW, is an old CG Eaglet that did a figure-9 onto an asphalt highway a long time ago. IF I ever find a single part for the old ST .29 engine, it'll go back on it but for now she'll fly with a OS .20

So not to make this a repair thread.....but here is the progress so far. I just put my Billy Joel on and tinker away. I don't know why but it's the most relaxing thing I can think of to do. It's like everything else going on in this world melts away and it's just me the airplane. It's really one of the most enjoyable things about this hobby for me.

I was was wondering how you guys recommend repairing the LE? I was thinking spray foam and tape unless I can find actual LE shaped sticks.

Just scarf cut the LE, {a sideways cut} and scarf cut a new piece of balsa and glue in the new piece of wood. I would have glued in a half rib behind the repair but the sheeting will hold it. Sand to shape and recover the repair. Trainers are made to have patch work.

Mlw316, looks like you have a good repair started there. On the wing LE, do as Gray Beard says and fabricate a new balsa leading edge piece and splice it in. Scrap the foam and tape idea ! I would put an overlapping splint backup piece of balsa behind the LE at the outermost joint and maybe a small triangular gusset where it is spliced at the rib. Gray Beard's suggestion of a half rib at the outer splice area is good. All that will make that area of the wing plenty strong (but not strong enough to crash into trees again). Cutting out the old tail feathers is the right way to go. Are you going with replacement ARF parts from Tower? With new replacement tail feathers and a little neatly done white covering on the wing LE it will be hard to tell it was ever damaged. Be sure to get the horz. stab glued in parallel to the wing and the vert. stab at 90 degrees from the horz. stab. Get this right and it will not only look like new but it will fly like new too. Take your time and enjoy.

Yup, 100% with Larry and Gray Beard. Press on, you're doing OK.

Thanks for the input guys!!! Yeah I have already ordered the ARF tail section. Probably be up and flying again this weekend. :-)

What do y'all think? I'm actually kinda excited about repairing it. Is that bad??? No, but I'd also consider removing the tree!

One of my full size flight instructors once "Barber pole" painted a telephone pole close to the hanger.
A couple of weeks later, he managed to hit it anyway. (Stanton Airport, east of Riverton Il.)

I would rather eat worms then do a repair?? 2014 saw me doing nothing but repairs with only one build that I recall doing and I just finished the build before new years. I count putting a plane back together in flying shape as a repair too.I have some planes I pull the gear out of and hang on the wall for years then pull down and set them back up again. Usually different engine and gear.
I find it easier to do a brand new build then to do a repair. I have one more broken plane in the shop but it will wait until the mood strikes me again, it has been in the corner of the shop for two years now. The repair is easy but removing the old covering {I started that] turned into a night mare!!! The fuse is glass and all the paint needs removing then re-painting. Two things that will keep me away for the repair work!!

I agree with Gene, I also hate performing repairs on these things anymore, repairs usually adds weight and most know how I feel about that, so generally I just strip then pitch the airframe in the trash anymore. I once rebuilt a badly broken up 40% Carden Edge 540 that was given to me after the crash but after all the repairs it flew heavy to me and I only flew it a few times before just selling it, so no more repairs for me. This picture was taken after the repairs.



Bob

Repairing our toys is just another part of the whole hobby. A lot of us started as kids (I'm talking about us OLD guys) building kits or scratch building and we learned how a plane is designed and built - we can repair nearly anything. Guys today don't have that advantage - which is why places like RCU is nice - a lot of them bend a plane and dump it. You've already got one up on them, you're learning how to put 'em back in the air. Repairing really can be interesting AND QUITE REWARDING. Next time one of the guys dumps a plane, you grab it. If that one isn't repairable (a rarety), once you've got 2 or 3 "parts planes" you can probably put a whole new plane together - sometimes for next to nothing.

Yeah, it's good. It's ALL good.

+ 1 more on disliking repairing. I consider it embarrassing to crash a plane beyond repair and have to trash it. Therefore I have repaired a few planes that should have gone straight to the burn barrel. If a major section of the damaged plane is rebuilt and reflown, in my mind I can say it was saved. Some sort of self serving approval I guess. Using that criteria of reusing a major section of a damaged plane I can say "I have never totaled a plane". Some piece of it is still flying ! Twisted thinking maybe, but like a fool I rebuild stuff that shouldn't have been rebuilt. And ,yes, I say to myself halfway through the project...."I could have done a new kit build faster then this repair is taking!". They seem to drag on forever. For me, the other part of doing rebuilds involves used airplanes that seem like a bargain at purchase time, but turn in to a major restoration project when I get into them. I'am doing one now on a Topflite Cessna 182 ARF. I already have a T.F. 182 kit built model that is in great flying condition but is showing it's age (patina ?). I picked up this slightly used ARF for less than the cost of buying new covering for the old plane. Well, it's a "can of worms". I told my wife to "not let me buy any more used airplanes". Of course I said that when she wasn't around to hear me.

Well, I was referring to just working on the plane. Building, tuning, repairing....all the same to me. Just like being in the garage/shop tinkering I guess. I would, however, like to be flying the plane rather than waiting on stabs to be delivered. :-|

Repairs is a love of life for me! I can't remember the number of planes I have resurrected from the trash. so many at the field that many here will stomp the remains to dust so I can't get my hands on it.

The biggest problem with many repairs I've seen is overbuilding and improper technique like thicker lumber than the original.

MLw316 that stab? just uncover the good side and make a copy of it to fit the other side. no need for a new one. Be sure to not use a flat butt joint always cut on a 45 degree angle to increase the bond surface.

Good luck.

Funny that you should say that - I just now finished (for all practical purposes) rebuilding that old CG Eaglet (post #3). Still have the side markings to recreate (I handcut it out of monokote) and I need a spinner eventually, but the plane is ready for the maiden. That'll happen as soon as this little snow storm goes away and it warms up a bit again.

I agree with you on that stab - wouldn't take more than a few hours to have it (or a new one) ready to go.

Anyway, here she is now

Looks good!

I'm wondering about your dead-stick comments at the start. You said it happens a lot. I noticed you said after 10-15 minutes of flight. That seems close to a tank full of fuel to me. Are you just running out of fuel?
I usually visually check the tank after several 10m flights and calibrate my flights accordingly. Then I use a timer attached to my Tx ($3 from Ebay and works great). Just a thought.

PD

I've gone through at least 5 eaglets, sold three, They were a lot of fun on three channels. my favorite used a tired K@B 20 a 6oz tank could last over 40 minutes. still have a kit.

have fun...............

I thought I scored an Eaglet kit just a while back. An old builder died and a friend got a lot of his stuff and gave me what he thought were three kits. I opened one to build but the box was just full of small building items. One is an old free flight. When I opened the box of the eaglet the only thing in there were rolled plans. The guy made copies of only one free flight but in different sizes and used the box to store them. Bummer, I really wanted that plane!!

Gray Beard, C.G. Eaglet kits go up for auction quite often on Ebay. They usually don't sell for much, $50- $75. I'll look for one later tonight when I check in on Ebay and let you know if there are any currently listed.

G.B., Just checked; there is one C.G. Eaglet 50 kit listed on Ebay now. Auction ends in 22 hours, and currently has one bid @ $75. Kit looks pristine.

Thanks for looking but my days of buying kits is over. When I get my hands on one I make templates of the parts and either build the kit or cut one and build that. I have been building from plans for a very long time now. I belong to a wood working club and all the members know I build model planes so if they get one they often give them to me.
This week I will be cutting a couple kits, one for a friend and one for myself. The cost of a finished plane is almost nothing. People also give me balsa wood when they find it. I was given a big pile of blocks, 2X10X18 that was used as packing for a machine. Really good wood and perfect for most ribs and formers. If someone gives me an Eglet kit or any trainer I will be thrilled, I need a new trainer. The last one I was given is about worn out. I give free RC flying lessons.