Last summer my uncle, who bought an rc plane but gave up on learning to fly it, gave it to me. But he crashed it and I need to fix it. This fall I practiced extensively on a simulator (realflight g3) and got pretty good at it, to where I could consistently do good landings, even in light crosswinds. Anyway, it is a hangar 9 alpha trainer, one of the older alpha trainers, before they came out with the new one with the 3 bladed prop and "evolution trainer power system." In its most recent crash, it went nearly head on into the ground. The spinner and propeller are broken, the front landing gear is bent back a bit, the two wing halves have split apart about a 1/4 inch, and the aelieron servo has broken off the bottom of the wing. The main things I need to know are what type of replacement spinner and propeller to buy and what type of glue to use to fix the split wing and detached aelieron servo. Are spinners universal? Will any spinner for a two blade prop and 40 size engine work? Do I need a specific brand or type of spinner for this airplane? The old one was white plastic, should I get another white plastic, or would a cool aluminum chrome one work? The prop that broke was a 10x6, which was I think plastic, though it could have been carbon fiber or nylon and I wouldnt have been able to tell the difference. I have two spare props my uncle gave me, one 11x6 plastic/nylon/carbon fiber, and one 10x6 wooden. Which one should I use, or should I order a 10x6 plastic/nylon/carbon or some other size that would work even better? Lastly, what type of glue do I use to fix the split wing halves and the detached aelieron servo? The aelieron servo is still glued to a chunk of wood that broke off of the bottom of the wing, so I need to glue that chunk of wood (presumably balsa) back onto the rest of the wing. Wood glue? Super glue? Epoxy? Elmers glue? And with the bent front landing gear, Im pretty sure I can just bend it back with a pliers. The starter motor I have hooks onto the spinner, thus preventing me from testing the engine until I get a new spinner. Is there any way I could test the engine before I spend money on a new spinner? I would just ask the guy at the local hobby shop all this stuff, but there is no local hobby shop, I would have to drive several hours, so I plan to order all the parts from the internet and need to know exactly what type and brand of spinner, prop, and glue to order. Do you guyz think its hopeless, should I just buy a new ARF plane and take the engine and radio off this one? Thanks for your time, sorry for rambling on so long.

As for the spinner, you can get any brand and any color that you want. The plastic ones are a lot less money than the metal ones. Just measure the old back plate to see what size to get. As for props, you might want to stick with the 10X6. You can use the wooden one that you have if it does not have any chips, cracks or signs of damage. If you need another one, you can get a Master Airscrew or APC, which do make them in a plastic type material. As for glues, a medium CA and epoxy should do the trick. Good Luck, Dave

If you have a dremel or maybe a sharp knife, clean the old glue off the wing halves. Sand to wood and use 30 minute epoxy for this high strength area. Depending on the break, you might want to make a splint out of ply to help support the break. (actually the splint would probably be a very good idea.)

While you can glue the aileron servo back in with wood glue or 5 minute epoxy.... the 30 minute will work fine and keep you from buying more glue now.

Make sure you pull the nose gear off before you bend it back in shape. That wire is pretty strong and the firewall/whatever it's attached to might not take the force.

I always use plastic spinners because they break. On impact a plastic spinner shatters and absorbs a lot of energy that would otherwise break more stuff. Plus they're a lot cheaper. Measure the backplate for size (as already mentioned)

That plastic is probably a glass-nylon prop. For a beginner, I'd buy a 11x6 Master Airscrew. There not a very good prop, but they are cheap and extremely durable. Both good for a beginner. The APC's are much better, similar priced, but not quite as durable.

You'll probably need a roll of Monocoat / Ultracoat etc to fix the covering, and an iron. They're about $15-$20. Your mom/girlfriend/wife won't appreciate you using her clothes iron. Trust me.

Before you fly, get some help...... and mostly have fun.

All good advice so far. I will add to it by saying most electric starters have a rubber insert [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXBC72&P=0]Link[/link] that can be pulled out, turned around, and used on a prop nut. See if yours is the same way. That way, you can decide if you want to invest in a spinner while you're learning to fly.

The one thing I'd also suggest is having an experienced flyer check out your plane before flying it - there may be more damage than you think - you know, an ounce of prevention kind of thing.

Good luck with your repairs.

-MA

cjmdjm,

Can you post pictures of your plane? It would really help us out to see what damage there has been done, and this could get you some more specific instructions on repair.

How are the wings put together? The Alpha's I’ve built (and have Alpha 60) used a tube in the wing to set the dihedral, and tape to hold the halves together. If the factory supplied 1/4" tape was used to seal the gap, slide them all the way apart and check for any damage to the joiner tube or wing structure, and if no damage exists just slide them together and retape. I'd recommend using 2" clear packaging tape, and cleaning the covering with alcohol to remove any trace of fuel residue so the tape will stick. There is no need to epoxy the wings together - actually your better off not epoxying them so the will separate/move in the event of another mishap.

I did a wing repair article, [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=910]"How To: Wing Repair"[/link] that is in the RCU Magazine How To section. I rebuilt the wings on an Alpha 60 (which is very similar to your Alpha 40) and this article shows what I did. Take some time and read through it – you’ll gain some insight on how the wing is constructed which should help in checking for damage.

Again, for the servo, it would help to see the damage. It above article shows how I replace some of the sheeting and added pieces of balsa for extra strength at the joints. You may have to add some extra bracing under the wood for the servo depending on the severity of the damage. Same for the ailerons – it would be very helpful to see what the damage is like before giving specific repair instructions.

You didn’t state what engine you have, but if it’s the Evolution .45 an 11 X 5 prop will work. I like the Hobbico NextStar 11 X 5 with the red tips – they are easier to see the tips when the engine is idling. But depending on the engine, an 11 X 5 may be too much prop and a 10 X 5 or 10 X 6 would work better. Let us know which engine you have.

Since you don’t have the 3-blade prop do you have the flywheel on the engine? This will have an impact on getting another spinner to fit.

Hogflyer

I will suggest 30 minute epoxy for all of your repairs as that is the strongest and it is what you need to attach the wing halves anyway. That will keep you from buying a bunch of different glues.
Exactly what engine? If it is a .40 use the 10X6 (nylon/plastic is better, Master Airscrew for learning) if it is .45 or .46 go with 11X5 or 11X6.
Any 2" to 2-1/2" spinner will work.
Make sure to check the balance after your repairs (with an empty tank) which brings another thought. It would be a good idea to pull the tank for inspection and new fuel lines.

You said the aileron servo is "Glued in" but typically it is SCREWED to a small piece of wood at each end and that wood is then glued in place. Please double-check this.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo...450-manual.pdf is the manual for the ARF version currently produced. It may help answer some of your questions.

Good luck and welcome to RCU if not already greeted properly.

Thanks for all the help so far guys. I will try to post some pictures later today.

Here are a bunch of pictures. Much higher resolution or additional pictures available on request. I noticed that not only is the front landing gear bent back, but there is a crack in the firewall where the front landing gear mounts to the firewall. The crack doesnt extend all the way up the firewall to the motor mount, but close. The motor still feels firmly attached to the airplane. I also noticed there is a dowel which is broken, which I later decided is probably where the rubber bands that hold the wing on attach, so thats a problem. I was thinking of putting a small block of would up against the back of the firewall, to provide support and prevent it from cracking or bending further. And your right, the aelieron servo is screwed onto a chunk of wood which needs to be glued back into the wing. There are a couple steel rods that run through the wing, and despite the wing halves being split a quarter inch, it feels very secure, it would take a lot of force to pull the two halves apart as is, so maybe I can just push them back together and tape, like hogflyer suggested. The engine is an OS max FX. It is an older alpha trainer, not the newer one with 3 bladed prop and evolution power system. Other thoughts, especially about the cracked/bent firewall where the front landing gear attaches?

Just scroll down to see all the pics. Link to pics:
[link=http://web.mit.edu/~j_martin/www/airplane/index.html]http://web.mit.edu/~j_martin/www/airplane/index.html[/link]

AFTER the wing is rejoined as well as you can get it (use 30 min epoxy and push together if you can) you can remove the servo from its "tray" and test fit into the wing. If it fits well (trim if needed) carefully epoxy the tray back in place. 30 min recommended to give you some working time before setting. When FULLY set reinstall the servo. The dowel looks loose so it will be easy to replace.

Plane suffered a HARD landing mostly on the nose gear. Remove nose gear wire and place in a vice to straighten. If firewall crack isn't too bad (can't see it) just drizzle some thin CA glue into the crack while holding parts straight. DOn't glue fingers to the plane. Make sure firewall has NOT come loose from fuselage. When firewall is fixed reinstall nose gear.

I can't tell for sure but it sure looks like a nasty crack in the firewall. I would be concerned about the whole firewall and its mounting.
Best bet is to take it to a local club and have an experienced flier look it over.

I fix this stuff all the time for people, this is easy to fix. Epoxy is thick on fiberglass cloth and heavy, so get polyester resin which is commonly used on surfboards, or finish resin, something very thin, and cut up some strips and apply the two part mix over fiberglass cloth, thin stuff. Remove the monokote and clean up the castor residue first. You want to bond to wood. the aileron servo tray that is pulled loose is a no brainer, it was CA glued at the chinese factory, now you can epoxy it right back and never worry about that again. The dowel is a simple replacement part. Go to towerhobbies.com and get yourself a bulk bag of 10X6 and 11X5 props if you use a .40, 10X7 or 11X6 props if you use a .46. While you're there, use this free shipping coupon I just received, saving you money, the code is ad number 598B2, you'll hit $50 easy.
Pick up a spare glow plug, a prop wrench, and a couple of plastic spinners, yours is about 2 1/4"? Measure it. You can save a lot of time just by PM me your phone number, and I'll walk you through it. I've fixed fuselages that are split in three pieces and when I'm done, it's hard to even tell. I've got a lot of scrap monokote I could send you saving you the cost of buying rolls for just a patch job on the nose area. Happy to help you out. As far as the wing, if it's separated (can't tell in the photo) you just need to remove 1" of covering using an xacto knife and heat gun to soften the adhesive backing and remove the area that you're going to cloth and resin, again, order these online, and then make a 2" strip of fiberglass cloth (Walmart has this stuff cheap, like $4 a roll of 20'). The car repair resins are too thick and heavy, so make sure you find something almost as thin as water, polyester is the type you want, dries clear or just slightly yellow. It's $20 a quart, don't know what smaller cans cost. Hope this helps. Too bad you're not local, I'd fix it for a pizza and beer and share the pizza with you while you watch. The firewall is just a epoxy and clamp job, then after it's set and aligned, you need to remove the fuel tank and get in some more support to brace it stronger than before. You can brush in epoxy and add pieces of Popsicle sticks to the seams on the INSIDE of the firewall corners making sure you can still get the fuel tank back in place. Once you get past the investment for an iron, heat gun, brushes, spare parts, you'll have a nice cluttered bench like the rest of us. If you don't mind used stuff, I'm sure I have some of these items in triplicate and can give you a deal on it. But that's my nature, to sell, and I should keep this a forum. Shipping this back and forth for me to handle it for ya is just not cost effective. Vacation in FL much? Sometimes I add a thin piece of plywood to the firewall and screw it in place and sandwich epoxy between the old firewall and the new. When you're done the first time, it's not going to be real pretty, so work in just the damaged area, and add some epoxy to the landing gear block and servo tray while you're at it. They all took a shock and are always weak areas on an ARF. If you run to the LHS (local hobby shop), he's just going to want to sell you a new fuselage or ARF again, in most cases. Learn to do you're own repairs. I know a lot of guys that throw this stuff out in the trash at the clubs. Sad. They must never have scratch built or assembled a kit with that choice. One fact, the uglier the plane repair, the better you fly it.