flyerdave

My Feedback: (212)

Well, the thread owner is serious about getting it replaced,but even more so,making sure that great planes knows that there could be an area of their product that might need some attention. Yes, I did contact great planes and did get a response today. Although they didn't say they would replace all or part of the plane, they didn't say they wouldn't. Whatever they decide to do, I will be okay with. I didn't start this thread to get into some juvenile back and forth, I just put it out there to see if anyone else had the same problem and if so, were they able to get any help from great planes? Thanks to everyone who has responded,all of the information is appreciated.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Don't get me wrong this thread is providing a probable cause of the crash, and that does provide a service to future and current owners. If a flier knows where the warts are they can take steps to modify the weak areas to prevent the same problem from occurring. ARFs aren't cheap so anything we can do to extend their flying service is money ahead!

John_M_

Hey Dave... I see there's a lot of oil around the point of failure... someone commented on it thinking it was epoxy, but it clearly looks like oil... I'm sure you sealed that area well to prevent oil soaking into the wood... do you see any chance that the oil somehow got into that area.?.. oil would soften the wood fibers and make it more pliable and prone to failure... not to mention that it only looks like 3 ply plywood to begin with; which isn't the strongest grade of plywood... could have been a bad batch of plywood that was used, i.e either inefficient glue when the plywood was made, or just too soft of wood used to make the plywood... either way, when you get plywood down to those small dimensions used to locate that wing, its not that strong even with the best grade ply... they would have been better off to use some long fiber hardwood dowels, spruce or beechwood... maybe it was destined to failure by design, and you pulled the short straw ( the ARF kit that Murphy's Law put together)... wish you all the best with tech support!


John M,

flyerdave

My Feedback: (212)

I just looked at the wing closely and I see where it looks like oil, but there is no oil on it, just epoxy.Thanks

PointMagu

My Feedback: (11)

No wanting to fan any flames about ARF's but I've never purchased one that didn't need, "some" redoing or reinforcing.
The hobby has become a fraternity of pilots rather than builder-pilots. I started off building ukies from Sterling back in the 60's. By the time the Chinese, Vietnamese and Philippinos started marketing ARF's to the west, I had a critical eye for structure. I immediately realized that weight and material cost were of primary concern to the manufacturers and not pilot skill levels.
Price really played no part in this either. Case-in-point: Goldberg SU-26MMX ARF. You can look up my re-build thread on this site as to what was needed to make the Sukhoi truly a long-lasting airframe.
The distributors like Hanger 9, Horizon, etc. have received more then their share of hate mail from irate pilots, some justified and some not, I'm sure. WEhen buying something likle an ARF, it's Caveat Emptor...You gotta know what you're holding in your hands, decide if you're the kind of pilot and trust the structure as you see it OR grab a hobby knife, CA and epoxy, cut some REAL birch plywood and remove the laminated light ply found in 99% of imported airframes. I'm just sayin'

flyerdave

My Feedback: (212)

I think you may have the best idea, and that is just modify the wing leading edge hold downs and if great planes chooses not to help with the fuselage, I will just order a replacement and get her back in the air.I didn't start this thread to sound like a whinner or like I would never buy another great planes product if they didn't replace this one for me. Theirs is a huge company and they would never know the difference in one less buyer. I did want to find out if there was a common problem and if others had been having the same problem. It is obvious that there have not been many others that had this problem and so yes, I accept the fact that I could have beefed up this area and I will pay more attention to the wing hold down areas of any other ARF's that I have from now on. I still say that if this thread makes someone else take a closer look at their wing hold down on their big stik and possibly modify it or at least be more aware of it, then it was worth the conversation. The wealth of ideas and experience in these forums is very valuable and I along with lots of others do appreciate it.

flyerdave

My Feedback: (212)

Got my final reply from great planes today, they said that if it had happened durring the first 90 days after purchase, they would have considered doing something but because it was long past the 90 day period, they could not. I am fine with their decision and will continue to be a great planes customer. I do think that I am not the only one who has run into this and if this discussion causes just one person to reinforce or beef up their wing hold down tab,then maybe it will save them from the same type incident that I had and keep a dangerous situation from happening.Thanks again for the replies.

N410DC

So, if I want to push the G-limits on my new Stik, I need to do so before 05-01-2014. Got it.

John_M_

Sorry to hear that Dave; I was rooting for you... sometimes things slip past quality control and the miss-fortunate one discovers it in the most undesirable way... it certainly looks like a short coming with the design... hopefully with your efforts contacting them regarding this issue, will bring to someones attention at Great Planes to take a closer look at the design of the wing attachment... they do make some great products no doubt about it... it was a politically correct decision, that works in conjunction with their warranty policy... if they had bent their rules for you, then they would have to bend them for everyone; not a profitable way to run a business if they did everyone a favor.


Its also interesting to note that this hobby revolves around a lot of decent people and company's, especially businesses based here in the US... I'm sure something good will come out of your efforts; if not directly affecting you, certainly others will benefit from it.


John M,

SushiHunter

Well it looks like the company designs and constructs these planes to last 90 days. Anything after that and your just flying on borrowed time. The plane fulfilled the time it was designed to serve (90 days) so the company isn't going to change up anything. But that's the way it is with many things in todays world, like automobiles for example. They don't build cars to last more than 8 to 10 years anymore. The older cars last longer so they set up smog test systems, not to mention the cash for clunker BS, in attempt to remove those cars from use.

The only solution for the plane issue, as pointed out by others, is to reinforce specific areas of the airframe to increase service life past what it was specifically designed for by the manufacturer.

KJGCT1

When I bought a Stik years ago fellow flyers told me to put dowels in the wing. Two different flyers had the mount on the wing break, When the plane arrived I saw that the plane's wing was supposed to be mounted with two layers of light ply. Even when epoxied together would any of you guys trust it. So I left the original mount and added a dowel on each side! I flew the heck out of the plane for years before I made to big an outside loop, or perhaps I began it a bit to low. It hit our paved runway so hard the glow plug was broken off and the fins on the head were 3/4 gone! A new head and the engine was back in the air! Flying a ARF is an exhilerating experience! You fly it like you stole it, who cares if you wreck it, because you did not spend a hundred hours building it. I once looped the Stik about three feet from the ground, so I went lower, and lower until I spun the wheels on the runway. I did it three consecutive times before I missed on the high side! I destroyed a General Hobbies ARF a few weeks ago. One of the guy felt so bad, I said its only an ARF. He said yeah but thats a $350 airplane. I told him all I care is how much time I have in it. If it was one of my kits I built I would be pissed off!