Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

I was wondering what the average life span of a nitro airplane is. Also this being an aircraft that was never neglected and always well maintained? (model airplane)

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

I cant answer from experiance, but from what I know about the engines and planes at this point... I would want to beleive that if you land your plane with no mishaps ,keep the engine mixture right, and basic cleaning of the engine and model it should last several years. I dont see any reason it would not.

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

I think that myself. Agree with ya definatly.

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

If you are insanely careful with the plane and never take any chances, there is a good possibilty that the plane could last years. But of course that rarely happens. As you get more confident you are bound to push the limits and will crash eventually. All planes that are consistently flown will crash, that is a fact.

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

I have a Great Planes Trainer 60 that is around ten years old. It has a Webra 61 that is twice the planes age. It has seen a lot of use and still flies and looks as good as it did when it was new. Now that you have me thinking of it I may give the UCD a break tomorrow and take the Trainer 60 to the field.

***Knocks on wood***

Eric

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

Well... I've never been kind enough to a model for it to last several years.:eek: My average plane survives 6 months now... Used to be they survived an average of 3 flights:eek:

This Triplane has survived appx 30 months. It is being retired now. I just inspected it and there's signs of excessive stress everywhere. (it would be easier to build another than repair this one properly.)

I know of one regularly flown model that is is on its 6th or 7th owner and is over 15 years old. Its condition is amazingly good... but it has had to be recovered at least twice in that time. This plane is still getting flown an average of 3 weekends each month.

I have seen models that were over 50 years old and were still flyable... (FF models mostly that old... a couple of CL models) still on the original covering.

I have seen a couple of over 60+ year old FF models that were converted to R/C sometime in the 1980's and are still flying as far as I know.

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

I have a lt-40 that is about 8 years old, and a sig senior that is about 18. I had to recover them both last year ,but they are still flying good. Seeems like trainers last the longest.

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

My buddy put well over 300 flights over 2 years on his Right-Flyer 60T. Eventually, the brass hinges on the elevator actually wore through and let go (we noticed it on the preflight).
We dug out those hinges and replaced them with CA hinges and it flew for another year before he gave it to his brother.
He did break the fuselage at the landing gear block on his first solo landing, but that was the only incident until he gave it to his brother. It really did need re-covering, but it still flew just fine.

He now has 4 years on a Global Tequila 40 and Global (Modeltech) Sukhoi 40... the Sukhoi has always been one of those planes that I just didn't "trust" from day 1 and have expected it to pile in on nearly every flight. Covering looks like heck, you can see wood soaked with fuel, the cowling is cracked all over the place... yet it still flies.
He's also got a Tornado 40 with a Magnum .61 that he bought used at about the same time he bought the Sukhoi. It's his primary Salton Sea plane (dry lake) and has outlasted 3 engines.

He just built a Vectorflight Extra 300 and loves it. I was so impressed that I bought the Sukhoi.

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

My trainer is 12 years old and still going strong. There is a Typhoon model at my club that is turning 20 this year.
I think that if a model is well built and looked after 7 years should be easily achievable.
If I got less that 4 or 5 years out of a plane I would be dissapointed.

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

I know someone who has a 20 to 25 year old trainer. The engine still works but the radio can't be used because of old frequince limits.

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

my sig senior has a 50 fsr on it ,what os made before they started making metal door stops:eek: runs good

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

I have a GP Super Skybolt that I have been beating the crap out of for 10 years now.

It's got holes that I have cut (and some that I didn't), the cowl is hanging on by a thread, and several chunks of balsa have long since disappeared, but she still flies great!

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

I have put on over 750 flights in 4 years on 7-8 planes. I guess I get about 100 flights per plane average before it is sold or crashed.

RE: Average lifespan of well maintained model???
 

My oldest is 6 years.
But recently I have been helping a buddy refurbish an old shoulder wing model that was flown by his late grandfather back in the early 1970's.
It needs new wing and tail covering to replace the oroginal doped tissue and a repaint of the fuselage. We're also fitting a wing bolt kit to replace the rubber band wing fastening system that's on the model and a set of new lightweight, foam wheels. Other than that its in pretty good shape.