JohnMcGowan

My Feedback: (15)

So yesterday I went out to my home field- Birmingham RC- to do a little practice flights for Club40. I took my yellow Raider as well as a new never flown raider with me to do its maiden flights.
So I had been flying the yellow one a couple times already yesterday and had been up for a few minutes on this particular flight and all of a sudden out of nowhere she starts to bank left. I thought that was a little odd. So I throttle back slightly and its banking more and more left. IM now having to hold almost all right aileron in it to get it to hold the wings level. Im wondering if my aileron servo is going South on me? Then I see a big wad of covering has decided it didnt want to stay attached to the wing and its flapping in the breeze!
I get it landed safely and without incident.
Since I dont have any yellow toughlon covering in my stash, it looks like the left wing panel will now have to have some different coloring scheme or stripes or something
And yes, I sealed all the seams on the covering when I put the plane together.
I guess Im glad it did this yesterday instead of next Saturday at the race in Huntsville/RCRC .
[img][/img]

dnrocc

My Feedback: (3)

Looks like thos 100+ MPH diving starts got the best of it.

Don

Scirocco14

what brand of covering is that??

Mark

JohnMcGowan

My Feedback: (15)

That'd be 110 mph Don!! LOL
Mark, its the stock Toughlon covering. I think the wind may have got under a small gap at the seam of the covering at the leading edge and it didnt take much to see what the results are.

Ive just returned from the mancave and she's as good as new now. The top wing panel on that side is now the proud home of some black and white checkerboard squares I made sure to purchase the 120 mph stuff though . hahahahahaa

Scirocco14

AH, I missed that. I've never tried Toughlon before.

Mark

JohnMcGowan

My Feedback: (15)

Mark, if you've flown an arf Skyraider or LA Racer you have
Thats what brand covering comes on them.

JohnMcGowan

My Feedback: (15)

Someone who was at the field Saturday just forwarded me these pics...
[img][/img][img][/img]

Tbatt

My Feedback: (4)

John,

You are one lucky guy to have landed that plane!

Toughlon is not very tough at all. I've had lots of problems with it not sticking very well.

Tim

jstaff

John several people in Texas had this problem 4-5 years ago. It is disappointing that it has not been corrected. My wings have been striped and recovered with Ultracote or Monokote.

JohnMcGowan

My Feedback: (15)

What I did was to strip most of the stock covering off the top of the left wing panel ( to help remove any un-needed weight), then I laid down a nice black/white checkerboard on the top of the wing. I think I may be able to see the plane good now since it'll have a black/white wing and a yellow wing on the right side . I also ran about a two inch strip of black/white over the leading edge seam over the stock covering on the right wing to hopefully keep it from lifting up. It wont be my fault if you dont see me coming up thru slower traffic!! hahahaah

DonStegall

My Feedback: (1)

I know that ToughLon is not as durable as MonoKote or UltraCote. However, MANY Club 40 planes have been flown with ToughLon on them without incident. And MANY other warbirds have been flown at 130+ mph with ToughLon on them.

Getting the Sky Raider Mach II and LA Racer 40 produced in solid colors with CA hinges was something that I considered one of my successes. Because it is easy to strip and recover the planes if you don't like the ToughLon. And it is easy to trim cover the solid color planes.

At one point an ARC Sky Raider Mach II was produced. I offered the LA Racer 40 as an ARC.

I am going to start offering the Sky Raider Mach II and LA Racer Mach II in ARC format again. I have the techniques down and my wife and son can help me with it.

I am also going to start selling the Sky Raider Mach II and LA Racer Mach II ARF kits again and I have them at good prices with some bonus ToughLon for trim.

ToughLon is fine if you are careful with it. You can never exceed 270 degrees. This damages the adhesive. You should really not exceed 250 degrees. 225 degrees is the magic number to get it sealed and shrunk properly.

I am going to scan the instruction sheet and post it. I try to send out the instruction sheet with planes so that people get a handle on it. I was making a video, but my new camera stopped in the middle of the video and I didn't notice until too late. I will make a video on using the ToughLon.

I'm glad John was able to save his plane.

JohnMcGowan

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks for all the great info Don.
Im sure we will all be hitting you up when its time to purchase our SkyRaiders and LA Racers.
I found on my Coverite iron that has a cotton sock on it, about 205 to 215° was just about right to allow me to work with the Toughlon covering.
Its also a good thing to know that they will be available as an arc from you .

Just a note to everyone that Don is a top-notch guy and I have purchased from him before. ...and will be purchasing from him again when I need a new plane. The way I fly, that wont be too long!

Folks, lets support one of our own Club40 pilots when you see that you need a new plane!!
Give Don a shout when its time for you to 're-stock' your hanger , you will be very pleased with his service, I know I am.

MajorTomski

I had a Kadet LT 40 lose virtually all of the covering off a right wing once. Hardly noticed the difference in how it flew Glad you got your raider down in one piece. I hope you resealed the stuf on the other wing too!

I have a first generation Skyraider that still has the original checkerboard covering on it. Flew for nearly five years with no problems.