well crashed my trainer.....
 

well I was doing circle and decided to do some thing a little harder so I started flying a little closer to the ground and slowing it down a little like I was going to land and got to slow. the airplane started doing stuff I did not tell it to do like yawing and diping. it hit the dirt from not very high and broke the firewall cleanly off. the servo tray came off, and the piece of wood the wing bolts bolt into came off and the wing is fine. the fusealage is fine just needs a little glue. will see if folks will loan me the digital camera so I can take pixs,

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

Ouch. It sounds like it got a leeeetle too slow and stalled the wing. When you get it repaired, take it up high and practice the slow stuff, including the stalls. If you haven't done it on purpose before, get someone to help talk you through it. Practice from level, and from turns, and get a mental picture of the attitude the plane is in when it happens. Then you can avoid that attitude when you're down low!

If you do find that happening to you, let the nose down a little to reduce the angle of attack, and add power. If you add power and haul back on the elevator, you will likely find what a low altitude snap roll looks like. ugh.

The little dings we get learning to fly these contraptions aren't so bad so long as we learn something from them.

Later,
Larry

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

thanks larry.
Is there any thing I need to watch out for when fixing it?? do I have to use epoxy on the fuse or can I use wood glue? wood glue is for glueing wood u know. just that sort of thing is what I need to know, thanks all for helpin a fellow out!!!

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

on the flip side I did get new props for the plane and it flies good now that I have decreased the props pitch. its a 10x6 now and seems to fly good cept my little accident.

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

Wood glue will be fine for most of it. If it were mine I would use 30 or 45 minute epoxy on the firewall. Be sure you are gluing to a clean surface on the edges of the firewall and the mating surfaces on the firewall; remove all of the old glue that you can so that you are gluing to wood.

You did good if you reduced your prop pitch from something more than 6". For most of the trainers I have seen a 6 or even a 5 is best, especially when it comes time to get them slowed to land. The flatter prop will give you a little more thrust at low speeds when you need it too, like when you go around from a bad landing approach.

I have a Sig LT-40 with a 12-4. Plenty of thrust, but not too fast when the new guys try it.

Larry

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

After the repair, especially a nose repair, check the balance carefully. All of the extra glue and epoxy that far forward will make for a pretty nose heavy airplane.
-Tom

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

Better nose heavy than tail heavy!!:D

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

sorry to hear about your crash sarge it sounds like you did exactly what i did!!.take a look at my thread it sounds like mine was worse off than youres but shes ready for her 1st flight as soon as i get a new carb and put the engine back in!!.my posts under i wrecked my trainer this morning have a look im sure youl find it of help.just remember it allways looks worse than it really is!!.heres a pic of the damage!![img][/img]and one of her now!![img][/img]i hope this gives you some encouragement lol;).

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

You may want to epoxy in the wing mount mtg blocks too. Try not to think of this as a major repair but as a series of smaller repairs. It will be less daunting. Martino1fan thought he had totaled his plane too and it was worse than yours. If you have the time you could actually be flying it again this weekend. The important thing is to do it right, not fast. Think ahead a few steps and make an action plan. You may not even need to go to the LHS for parts, depending on severity.

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

As Bruce said: take your time and do it right, it will pay off in the future. Also when you get it fixed and start flying again : take your time and do it right, it doesn't pay any more to rush it, in fact it's probably a pay cut. ENJOY !!! RED



" EGO's break airplanes"

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

finished repairs today and had the guys at the field take a look. it looks like new like there was never a crash so thats ok. now the thing is the engine died on us again in flight. we will see more about that next time at the field.

they had a lot of people there today trying to fly and a friend had his sig senor airplane there. I have to admit I liked the looks of it and wished my lt looked as good.

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

if the engine is new you can expect it to die fairly often until its broken in, i wouldnt worry about it, my avistar with the .40 la did that for the first 6 or 7 flights and i have done about 5 flights now without a problem, good luck

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

my advice is make sure your running the engine rich as its new that way she shouldnt die check the idle setting by holding the plane nose down and see if the engine starts racing!!if so adjust the settings then try the same with the nose pointing upwards slightly and do the same .it should tell you all this in the book.my engine hasnt quit yet it sounds to me like yours needs setting up right!!.hope thios helps!
mart

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

Seeing that you just fixed it after a crash you may want to double check that the clunk in your tank is still where it belongs. Sometimes in a crash they will flip forward and end up cutting of the fuel flow. Just empty the tank completly and hold the plane up and jiggle it around-- you should be able to hear the clunk hitting the sides of the tank, if you don't then you need to check a bit farther into the tank. ENJOY !!! RED


You never did say where Misery Mo is ????

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

thanks all I will be checking that and it was raining that day and some water could have made it into the carby because I pulled back a cover to show some one my wood fixing job.

RE: well crashed my trainer.....
 

I've seen this happen on more than one occasion. A good way to prevent the clunk from flipping forward is to put a piece of stiff tubing on the line going from the tank stopper to the clunk. You can either put a piece of brass tubing in the line itself, or you can slip a soda straw over the outside of the existing line. Either way will make the line stiff enough so that it can flip forward. You want to make sure you leave some regular fuel line on it though so that the clunk can still move around the tank.

Hope this helps

Ken