Greetings,

So I have this old plane I used to fly. I never solo'd her, got tired of not getting to fly all day at the field and quuit going..

The aircraft is my Hangar 9 Arrow. The wing has a loose aileron that flutters in flight if I power up too much. I can move it as much as 1/8" up and down past center, without effecting the servo so I know its loose.

I've been told I have to pull the covering back and work on the the joint where the control arm joins the hinge joint, as the shaft that the aileron rides on seems to be moving in the wing.

How do I pull the covering back to get at this without dmamging it, and how do I go about reattaching the covering??

I am in the process of setting up the plane for fligh as my interest in the hobby has rekindled, and I want to do more with the aircraft than leave it hanging in my living room as it has been the last two years..

Any advice, on this particular problem or setting her up and flying her is welcome.

Note please, I currently cannot afford to renew AMA so I will not be flying off club feilds, nor will I likely have an instructor as all the ones around here are club affiliated and would want to fly at the club feild, where Icant fly till i can afford the $60 for AMA again.. Sooo, Im using FMS flight sim software and my JR transmitter to train, and hopefully will be able to keep from damaging my bird when I finally take her up. (assuming that I havent figured out financing for the AMA to use the club resources like a smart guy would by then)

ALONE! DONT FORGET THE EXPO!

Lightly score the covering with a hobby knife (avoid cutting into the wood)and it will peel back. Don't take off any more than you need to.
after the repair you should be able to iron the covering back down. Seal around the edges of the cut with clear fingernail polish.
There is a time (I think late August) where if you get your AMA membership it will be good for next year also.
From a financial stanpoint it may be better to wait until you can get an instructor and just stay on the SIM for now. AMA could cost less than crash damage to your airplane.
No matter what you do best of luck to you.

when i renewed ama it was $40 that was earlier this year .anyway can you post a picture of the problem area?is this a single servo setup?if so it may be an easier repair going to a dual servo set up,one servo for each airleron with the linkage going direct from servo wheel to aiirleron horn.

Actually I have some detailed pics of the wing I can put up. The problem isnt really visible by picture though. Its a wobbly aileron issue, and completely conceild till you A: Fly it, or B: wiggle the ailerons to test for slop.

When I get home I will post the pics, Im at work right now..

I asked at the local hobby store the other day and they told me $58 or something.. Any case I cant afford $40 for now so I may just takethe advice given and fly my simulator till Spring when my busy season starts and I can afford extras..

I think I remember seeing on the AMA page a reduced price after August, but Im not sure. If Ive some extra $$ around I will go look. I cant even find my card so I dont know my # anymore, but its been expired for over a year anyhow.

FIX IT !!!! If you don't and try flying it the flutter will probably end up putting the plane in the ground and that would end up costing more then joining AMA and a club where you could get a lot of help.

The AMA probably still has a record of you if you belonged at one time, just ask if you decide to go that way. ENJOY !!! RED

If you can't afford to join the AMA and the local club, maybe this isn't the right hobby right now. Fuel costs money. Repairs cost money. $15/gallon for fuel, $10 for a roll of covering, cost of glues for subsequent repairs. And if you go it alone, chances are you'll be doing a lot of those.

You're spending $1 to save a nickel. Put your money into the AMA and a club, and you'll save yourself a lot more money in the long run.

Brad

It's probably cheaper to join the ama and a club, than too risk the posibility of crashing you plane. Plus, half of the fun is going to the club and flying with your buddys, Thats just my 2 cents

OK,

A whole lot of you are for clubs, and I admit having the experience and help of others is always better.

However let me now relate to you the rest of the story so you understand fully my reluctance to bother.

I joined my local club when I got into this the first time. They promptly lost my application and record of the fee. In their defense, they accepted my word that Id sent it and let me in anyhow.

So began countless hours at the club field waiting for someone to show up that could help me learn to fly. No instructors were available during the hours I was (Evenings and weekends). Again, in their defense i only asked a couple times and gave up..

I really did not like sitting for hours and not flying..

Now, the club has matured, grown, and prospered. They sport one of the finest flying sites in the NW, right behind the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

I fully intend to start checking them out again, and hopefully find a contact I am not intimidated by who can help me learn what I missed the first time around. I sincerely hope that what I have seen so far is not the norm.. No one is EVER at the flying site.. an occasional Line control flier but I never see anyone at the RC site during the hours I can be there. I have to wonder what the point was in paving the runway and drive road if they aren't there 90% of the time. I don't think my hours are abnormal, evenings and weekends are when most working class can go play..

Again, in their defense, I have only just recently been watching the field, (As in the last week or so)

Add to that, making this whole line of thinking moot, I freely admit that trying on my own will be foolhardy given my financial state, and intend to stick to my Simulator till I can get my AMA, right before I get new batteries and a better charger..

In the mean time I am asking around these places to get info to do it right, which you guys are giving freely.. Thank you! My next step is to go to a flying event this weekend and meet some of the people.

Then I fix the wing issue, then the rest will fall into place (hopefully)

I promised pics of the wing, so here are links to them:

There appears to be several clubs within a very reasonable distance of you. Have you looked at the AMA club locator?
http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx

Ironically i did that search yesterday, I may skip the Mac club if Im still not happy with them and go to one of the other sites till Im trained up and ready to fly on my own. (Cant beat the local guys for distance, the flying feild is literally about 3 miles from my house!)

There's no substitute for experienced help. Your plan is good to stay with the sim until you can get an instructor. It's worth the $60 just to have an experienced pilot look over your plane before you fly to spot any potential problems. That's one crash averted already. Then there's instruction, probably worth 3 or 4 crashes, at least one of which would be a total. Then there's being networked with other guys to ask questions to in order to keep from making bad purchases- worth $100's again in the long haul.

Have you called or emailed any of the instructors personally? Maybe they can meet with you at a time that fits.

Well back then the club didnt have anyone designated as a club instructor. The guy I had as my "instructor" wasnt a club member, but I ahd trouble meeting his flying times, in part due to my own commitments to my family.

Now, that said, Im going to waffle here and admit I should be at least a bit more flexible since these guys really are giving up there valuable time for me. (Which is why I am looking more and more toward a possible club when I can do it)

Trouble really is in me, I just feel really guilty taking up someones time that could be used for thier flying to help me out. No matter what other excuses I make for it thats the issue with clubs. The guy I had teaching for a while just got to the point he had too many students, so between his flying time and all the students together I got maybe one flight in in a 5+ hour day at the field. Not his fault he was a popular instructor he he..

I will note for those reading this thread my outlook is somewhat changed, and greatly humbled.. I was reading in the AMA section and found a link to an article about being a flight instructor. It was quite humbling to realize what the teacher goes thru just to help some semi greatful dude like myself learn to fly.

Audi you can get all the contact info for Evergreen Aero Modelers at, http://hometown.aol.com/jeichten/TEAM.html. They are the club at the Museum. I'm sure they will be glad to help you get going again. If you want to come all the way to Grants Pass the Rogue Valley Flyers have 4 instructers and we'll get you going but Evergreen is a heck of a lot closer for you.

Oh by the way, I believe their next meeting is at 7pm on Sept 13th at the Museum.

here's a recomendation for the repair,that I did on my NEXTAR when the ailerons loosened up on me.

its simple find where the tourque rod enters the aileron, then with a sharp exacto knife cut a channel in the bottom of the aileron,so it won't be seen.
follow the tourque rod to expose the rod fully in the aileron, (really a large wire) just enough so that there's space for some epoxy to fill around the rod place some tape so no glue escapes at the wing and glues your aileron to the wing.

then use some 5 min epoxy and fill the channel with the glue and hold the rod and aileron still for a couple of min.clean up any exess glue before it totally hardens carefully with a razor blade and your done.
I would recomend you do both sides since one side is loose the other one is likely going to also,since I did my repair the ailerons have been rock solid.

You know, I joined that club, but I never did give them the chance to help me.. I always went out to the old McMinnville cub site instead, the Evergreen site was always empty the few times I went there. (including my crash )

There is a line control event this weekend, (tomorrow) at the Evergreen site. I plan on being there, as club members will be there, and its likely some RC'ers will be as well. My bird isn't flight ready right now, and Ive not got AMA just yet, but I can meet the guys and get a feel for them.

I have to say, thank you to you all. I was pretty negative about the clubs and help in general due to my past experience. You've all in your posts here and in another thread helped me to realize that A: I was responsible for at least %50 of my disappointment last time, and B: I really should give the club a go if I want to seriously get back into this hobby..

Gee, all this because of a $30 micro heli I got on E-bay! (Bought an Alany Micro Mosquito indoor and the bug hit hard!!)

There is a very simple and effective way to fix your aileron problem.

Drill a hole where the black dot is. The arrow points to the dot.
The hole can go through the aileron or not. It just needs to reach the torque rod (the aileron actuating rod). You can drill a couple of holes if you like.

Use medium CA and squeeze enough into the hole to fill the wallowed out opening around that torque rod end that you can now see.

Hold the aileron in alignment until the CA kicks.

You're done.

OK, you need to cover that little hole with something and then you're done.

CA is awesome in what it can do for you. It will soak into the wood around that area and make it strong enough to stand the forces that wood faced and failed to withstand. And it will fill the opening inside that aileron. And you'll have a nice rigid connection now, and it took what? One or two minutes? OK, three.

A couple of details before you do this..................
Turn on the TX and RX and center the aileron stick and trim. You want the CA to freeze that torque rod in the aileron with the aileron centered so you won't have to retrim the rigging or the airplane.

As for your problems with the clubs.

The AMA has setup an arrangement with clubs that offers you and others like you an opportunity to fly with AMA instructors at AMA clubs. Some AMA instructors have authorization to instruct non-AMA members on the club property and all be covered by insurance. It works. I've got a couple of students who aren't members of either AMA or the club. So I know it works and think it's an excellent deal.

A bit of advice......... Ask whomever you contact at any club about their instructors. And you make your decisions from the answers you get. Clubs really don't come about because flyers are driven to teach the masses their hobby. It's really not often that the bunch of guys who got together to fly and needed a place to do it also happen to have guys who even wish to teach others. It's great when it happens, but it's not the fault of any club that it didn't happen for them.

Lots and lots of good advice..

Im thinking I am glad I picked now to begin getting back into this hobby. My biggest downfall was lack of patience.. I wanted to be able to fly it now, and it just doesnt work that way,you must first learn to crawl before you can learn to walk!

Right now, I can trickle money in here and there, get information and play with the simulator, and by the time I have the money to do what needs done with AMA and the club, I will have already made the right contacts, the right repairs to my aging bird, and have some simulated flight time under my belt. Then, when it all comes together hopefully it wont take too long to get soloed, but even if it does, oh well..

(I must be getting old, Im slowing down in everything I do, patience.,. what a concept!!)