Ok...so about a month ago i crashed my avistar into a tree and had to do some minor repairs(tore all apart, epoxied parts, and recovered) I brought it back to college(covered it at home) and was getting my radio and batts out to charge them(they were in the trunk also) and in the process of shutting the trunk the trunk "arm" hit the rudder!! now the rudder is way loose, and in not sure how to fix it...i heard the sound of wood cracking!. I was sooo f'ing pissed, all that work and i alread broke it AGAIN! Hopefully it will be an easier fix that i think it will be , but i just needed to let out some hot air...but im still pissed.

-Dustin

Dustin,
How hard it is to fix is going to depend on how much damage it took. If you can get a picture of the damage it might help us to come up with repair details.

Ken

i dont know how bad the damage is...it feels pretty bad but its hard to tell with the covering over it.

And i cant get a picture up here cause i dont have a scanner or a digital camera. If I can ill try to put it up, along with the covering job...which i have to say looks pretty good for my first time if i do say so myself

Dustin when the ratio of 'hanger rash damage' starts to exceed 'Crash damage' then it indicates that you have finally become a pilot

John

Might as well peel back some covering for a looksee. Your gonna have to anyways to fix it. Youd be surprised how simple some of the loud mishaps are to fix, by the same token, them silent ones are the ones that leave hidden weaknesses waiting for just the right moment (inverted highspeed flyby) to surface (Tail detaching, making an inverted yard dart). Best to just dig in and remove all doubt.

i would say cut out the vertical stabalizer carefully.. re install it with expoxy, and then use triangle stock along each side. balance it.. and go flying.

I found that the verticle fin on my Avistar was showing the same problems after 1 flight and 2 successive ground runs. So don't be so hard on yourself. It appears to be a weak point in the model and is better to have caught it on the ground than in mid-air. As mentioned, just darefully peel back enough covering to reattach the fin. Reinforce the base area with sime balsa triangle stock. ANd recover the joint. It took me about an hour to do mine and it's been rock solid ever since.

thanks guys...goin to class this morning and ill look at it on break...hope its not bad, cross your fingers .

-Dustin

Since misery loves company, I'll tell you what happened to me this weekend.

I was taking my latest review plane out of the car (A 120 size World Models Ultimate). Sometimes when the weather's cold, the rear window on my Blazer doesn't stay up. But if you hold it up for a while it will stay. So I held it up, and it finally stayed. I was about to take the plane out and I thought I'd better open the tail gate too - that way, if the window fell, I'd have room to drop the plane below it.

Well, sure enough, as I'm taking it out (It takes two hands) the window starts falling. I had the wings out by this time, so I tried to lower it to get it out of the way, and I was ALMOST successful - but the window hit the turtle deck just behind the canopy and put a nice crunch in it.

But it worked out ok. I plan to keep this plane (Which I rarely do with review planes, but this one is a keeper!) And I plan to add smoke to it some day. so I cut a hatch in the bottom so I could A) reach in and fix the Turtle Deck, and B) install a battery pack in the rear to counter balance the weight of the smoke pump.

Mike, Invest in a pair of $20 shocks for that hatch so it doesn't happen again.

Use a little thin CA to fix your fin, then run light weight weed eater line around the fin, stab and lower fuselage. Drill 1/16 holes in the fin & stab tips and through the lower fuselage (or put a screw in the lower fuselage and wrap the weed eater line around it. Run the line through the holes and secure with medium CA.

Most ARF tails are flimsy to start with and are very susceptible to hangar rash. Weed eater line or heavier bracing rods work wonders.

hey guys...got the vert. stabilizer fixed. the 2 metal studs that go through the tail made my rudder split in half at the bottom of the stabilizer. All i did was spread it open and put some epoxy in there and squish it together. Good as new. I went out the flying field today and took it up for its maiden flight after the crash... Man does it feel good to see it get airborne and know that you fixed it yourself. And it flew better than it did before. I was soo pumped, and i came in for a nice gentle landings each time. Just thought i would follow up on the progress i made...My plane is now, what us mechanics would call,...in "airworthy condition"

There was an older guy right beside me on my second flight up today and was telling me how to do all these cool little(simple) tricks...and it did them without a problem...glad i choose the avistar, it really shines when you start doin aerobatic maneuvers.

Just fillin you in...Finally got it done...AND IT FLIES!

Thanks for all your help!
-Dustin

The Avistar is one of the most functional trainers that I have seen. Many of us get bored with trainers quickly but I think a trainer actually forces you to "fly" the plane. For example ...you need to coordinate the sticks with the slower rolls as opposed to just hammering the stick left or right. The best pilot in our club maidened a kids Avistar ....did a 4 point roll on the climbout into a rolling circle....I bout crapped my pants. He put that plane through its paces....the only thing he didnt do was hover it.

ive broken my rudder many atime all u have to go is strip back the covering reglue it ore fit another bit re-cover it and your done.[sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif][sm=tongue.gif]

Yep, the thin CA works great when you just want to pull back a little covering and fix a crack in the balsa. The thin CA will follow the crack quite a distance.

I miss my Avistar. Broke and fixed it so many times, probably too much. But the Avistar is worth fixin. Just peel back the old Monokote and cut it off, make the fix and recover. The Avistar is worth fixing. I had great fun with mine. Tom