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Instead of being faced with a decision on what to build this winter, the wind sock pole at our field decided for me. On an abnormal (for me) approach I managed to mis-judge my distance to the wind sock pole by 6". [X(] This of course pulled off the right wing panel which in turn openend up the fuse to spill all of its guts across the field.

The post accident report

Fuse- bad
canopy and hatch - good
rear top deck - good
horizontal and verticle stab - good
left wing panel - good
right wing panel - ok, 4" gash 6" from wing tip
DA-50 - fine
Prop - bad
All servos and electrics - good
Cowl - ugly

After adding up the good, the bad and the ugly I decided I had more good than the other two. After inventoring my needs, I placed an order with Balsa USA for the wood and Dennis at Carden for a new cowl and some advice. Dennis gave me the low down on how to fix the gash in the wing and a good "Get'er Done" pep talk.

Once the wood and cowl showed up with the Minnesota cold I set to scratch building a new fuse. I still had a pretty good one piece canopy/hatch to work with and aft/upper decking, the remainder of the fuse is good scrap. I was able to truss up the new fuse and make a nice splice with the existing upper deck and aft tail section while keeping it all straight and true.

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Right wing panel and alignment of old tail to new fuse

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Splice of old to new

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Canopy and front hatch trued up and remounted. Siding attached and wings back on.

ROCKY1405

My Feedback: (6)

Doug: It's looking good! You are a Magician with the building board. [8D] Next time though, avoid that wind sock pole. Just how fast do you think it was going when it jumped out at Ya like that and grabbed your wingtip? I know the trees on the North end of the field had stalked your models in the past but I thought the wind sock pole was gonna leave you alone.
Ron

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Trees on the North giving me a problem??? If you are refering to the time I made a soft field landing during our picnic contest while knocking you off the top step of the podium, then... I will take that compliment. Yes, I checked and the footings around the wind sock pole and it appears to be a bit "mobile".

Thanks Rocky for the building compliment, I wish I could fly as well.

ROCKY1405

My Feedback: (6)

My friend, you fly JUST FINE!!! Now, go glue your fingers to something that says Carden on it! And, it doesn't hurt any to "Think Spring" these days either. [8D]

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The days are getting longer.

ROCKY1405

My Feedback: (6)

Yeah, but WAAAAAY to slowly for me!!! [>:]

zzw26n

My Feedback: (45)

Very Nice re-build Doug, impressive!

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Thanks Ward,

I'm sorry for destroying the first airframe [&o] I cried, you can ask my wife. It was pilot error, but not from lack of ability.

It flew perfect (little tail heavy) and come spring it will fly again. I decided I would only rebuild if I could make it better than the first airframe and for that reason I am considering this airframe #2, my 2nd Carden build. It will have a different color scheme so as to honor the first airframe.

Doug

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It may not look like much, but a lot of time has been spent on fitting the cowling and wing pockets. Flushing out and fitting a tapered wing in a wing pocket without creating a large gap between the root and the exposed side takes some time. Here are a few picks

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A couple more

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Fuse complete minus some final fit and finish before covering, then on to the wing repair. Hate to see all the covering on the wing panels go but I must take it off to get the repairs done.

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Hey Rocky, check out how small the blue Extra 260 wing panel is next to this.

ROCKY1405

My Feedback: (6)

Wow, that is substantially larger, isn't it? It ought to make it really stable in those "elevators" you were working on last summer. As usual, your workmanship is beautiful to behold - keep it up its really fun to see your models taking shape. Makes me want to go back home and glue my fingers to something. Or, at least, to go back and re-do more stuff on the P-51 that fights my every move. Once that one is done, I'm gonna have to get something a lot lighter so I can fly with you and "Slick". By the way, I was relieved to see that it wasn't your airbus that got parked in the Hudson. You guys have got to stop feeding those geese! Feed the dog in the cockpit, not the geese on the runway!! Don't make me come back up there Young Fella!

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I wish you were here glueing your fingers then I would have someone to drink beer with. mmmm beer...
I have always wanted to build a P-51, but seeing your frustrations is making me shy away. Like all of your other aircraft that Mustang will turn out reliable and looking great.

I was impressed with how well that Airbus turns into an Airboat, wonder if I could get a sea rating flying it. [:@] I want the contact to shotgun all of these damn urban protected geese. I would be happy to fill the food shelfs.

Stay warm, keep the sun screen on thick and think spring.
Doug

Mj77

bud its looking really good!she'll be a new babe once done!HEE HEE!

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Here is my first shot at repairing a foam wing core. Cut out the damage, make a plug and sheet over, sounds easy...[:'(] what a mess.

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Ta-Da!

Just some light fill at the seams and final sanding before it's ready to cover. What I didn't show was I removed the balsa sheeting 1 in back from all edges to create an overlap on the plug with the new sheeting.

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more

hmalcom

Hi Doug,

My 30 per cent Carden Extra went down due to a broken battery tab.
I have the about the same amount of good pieces left over as you did.

After seeing your rebuilding work, I will try to rebuild mine. Since I bought mine used, I don't have
a set of plans. If you know of a set that I could buy or borrow to copy, I would appreciate the lead.
I'll also contact Dennis to see if he has them available. I'll need a cowl from him too.

I'm now running dual batteries in my gas planes.

Regards,
Harry

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Harry,

Sorry to hear of your loss. I run dual Li-Ions and switches on my plane, it's a very easy setup and worth every penny. Balsa USA supplied me with all the quality stock I needed and Dennis had a cowl that I ordered off their website. I have the plans and the instruction manual including parts listing (helpful when ordering stock from the balsa shop) if you need a source.

If you need building pictures you can locate my first forum on this same Carden site which details my inital build last winter. The forum is named 30% mod to midwing. If you find yourself in a pinch and can't find a picture on that site, just ask I might have a picture on my computer.

Doug

hmalcom

Hi Doug,

Thanks for the reply. I just talked to Caroline and they're shipping me a cowl and plans.


I will be looking at your pics for guidance.


Harry

A-Track

Looking nice Doug, you sticking with the same colors or ya going to recover the entire plane in something else?

Slick