zetor

My Feedback: (2)

Well, a few may remember my pt 40 that was lost a month back. I bought an avistar after losing it and met with my instructor today for an evening of flying. My instructor started out for take off and lost control of it and it hit one of the saftey net posts with the right leading edge at the end of the wing. The nosewheel was way to sensitive. He suggested using a foam that swells to fill in the hole in the wing. He said to just cut out the ragged edges and go from there. What does everyone else think? Does this sound right?

Dewey2

My Feedback: (24)

no that would make one side way heavy .not good!!! you will have to peace it back togeather with thin ca and recover that place. you mite want to check into a new good instuctor. that guy don't sound real hot. i run my nose wheels at 60 degrees throw i fly off a paved field.

3d-aholic

My Feedback: (7)

I agree.

Both my rudder and nosewheel (on tri-gear) are always maxed out....even on a first flight. Those particular surfaces are not used as often in flight....and when used....may need maximum deflection.

An instructor that crashes your plane with him 100% in control, and its a high-wing trainer...and no other reason for the crash...probably should help you fix the plane. So maybe thats why he suggested that to blame it on you.

What your going to have to do is to cut away the covering to see what you got. The shape of a rib can sometimes be extrapolated and glued in place. Crash scraps are useful to use as templates. Sometimes, the rib is mostly there and you can glue it back. Other times, you have to cut the whole thing out and recreate a new one. The leading spar can probably be cut out and a new piece "mended" it by cutting it at an angle and using epoxy. Check you local hobby store for "raw" balsa.

You can buy replacement wings for all trainers that I know about...so you have to weigh what its worth. What you have looks fixable though.

Shahid

Totally agree. Foam could be used, and the other wing counterbalanced but it sounds messy. Making replacemnt parts is not as bad as it sounds. I recently crashed a Blackhorse Travel Air. The tailplane had been completly mangled, I cut it out, CA'd it back together as best as I could, traced around that and made a copy. If In doubt wether your repair is good enough use some fibreglass cloth and resin to reinforce any broken parts which have been repaired.

If you wish to buy a whole new wing, you can repair the other one in your spare time and then have 2 wings.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

The good news is, being the repair is out on the wingtip, structural integrity is a moot point. There's really no stress out there.

Cut out the bad spots, make a new rib front or two and re-sheet it.

Here's an article that might help:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...?article_id=98

BenWillis

Zetor,

My dad crashed his Avistar a few times after soloing. I have fixed far worse damage than that on an Avistar wing as a result. Heres what you do....


1. Go the the LHS and pick up:

1 sheet of 3/32 4X36 sheeting
1 stick of LE stock
1 sheet of 1/16th 4X36 sheeting
1 roll white Monocote Covering

2. Carefully cut away the covering around the damaged area, be careful not to cut into the balsa sheeting. Also from the pics it looks like the damage didn't make it past the spar so try to keep the cuts in the covering isolated to where the LE sheeting is, I.E don't cut the covering where it is stretched over the open bays of the wing.

3. Now try to square up the balsa sheeting around the damage. Try not to cut away more than you need to. Sometimes it is easier to "mend" 2 pieces of sheeting if its just cracked and the structure underneath is ok.

4. Now you should find that you have 1 rib and a portion of another to repair/replace. This wing is pretty constant cord so you should be able to trace the shape of the wing tip onto some 3/32 balsa sheet. Cut this out with a exacto knife and sand to final shape.

5. Cut away any damaged leading edge and try to taper the ends. Replace this piece with a new one and epoxy in place

6. Glue these new rib patches onto the remains of the originals.

7. Once these are in place replace the sheeting with the 1/16th balsa, pay attention to the direction of the wood grain. It should be running parallel to the LE of the wing. Try to make your cuts a little oversize and sand to final shape. You can use a little filler if needed but none is best. Now before you try to glue these on take the scrap sheeting and cut a few 1/4" strips and glue them under the edge of the sheeting that was squared off in step 3. These will serve as a "ledge" for the new sheeting to rest on. Another tip is to sand a slight taper on the sheeting where it meets the LE.

8. Cut a piece of covering roughly 1/2" larger on all sides than needed and starting at the LE cover over your repair. I wont go over the actual recovering process but can later if you need me to.




I hope this helps you at least visualize the repair. Something like that could be fixed in as little as an hour. Let me know if you need any more help!!

Ben in SC

BenWillis

LOL

Well that sucks, wile I was typing my lengthy reply Minnflier swoops in and points to a nice link with all the info. Gotta love RCU!!!

Ben in SC

3d-aholic

My Feedback: (7)

Becareful when you resheet. This looks like they have sheeted the wing with a thin piece of foam-based convering. Where you mate the foam and the sheeted balsa, you need special "foam" glue. If you use regular CA, your entire wing with dissolve with but a few drops and it spreads like uncontrollable fire. You will only make that mistake once.

Crash90

My Feedback: (17)

Definately no need to panic. Once you remove the covering from the damaged area you will see that it's not so bad. Heck, my trainer was so banged up and crooked that i couldn't believe that it flew.

BenWillis

2MutchThrow,

Its just 1/16th sheeting. Ive been up close and personal with the Avistar many many times!!!

Ben in SC

zetor

My Feedback: (2)

I tell ya, this is one great site. I want to thank everyone who replied. Your input was greatly appreciated. I'm going to get me a few supplies tommorow evening and get this knocked out.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Faster than a speeding bullet <--- Blowing smoke from Gun Barrel

zetor

My Feedback: (2)

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There is a few wrinkles in the covering but nothing to worry about. The side to side balance didn't change. I'm glad I didn't go with the foam. Thanks for all the help