Aerobird wing reinforcement??
 

Hello! I just got an Aerobird and while I have fewer than 5 flights under my belt, I must say, I absolutely love it!!! I've spent many hours on the G2 flight simulator and have flown a couple of glow planes. I decided to get the Aerobird for the convenience of being able to walk to the park accross the street and be flying in 5 minutes.

I do have one question. How do I reinforce the wing? I've flown in some pretty stiff wind and have been successful at controlling the plane. However, yesterday I was having a ball watching my 'bird scoot through the sky when I decided to try a loop. Toward the very beginning of the maneuver (where the plane begins to gain altitude) there was a gust of wind and low and behold, the wing snapped right in two!!!

Luckily the plane was close to the ground when this happend and the fall didn't do much damage. During previous flights I had seen the wing flex a great deal during loops, but assumed it wouldn't break right in half. I guess I was wrong.

Does anyone have any experience with this happening to them? Does anyone have a good idea for reinforcing the wing to prevent this in the future?

Thanks, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Aerobird wing reinforcement??
 

Hi, I have reinforced 3 AB wings so far, the best way for me seems to be the wide reinforced fibreglass tape, I also put a piece of folded x-ray negative plastic in the bite area on the trailing edge, this also helps reinforcing.

I do some very radical things with my AB and the yellow wing in centre reinforced the above way has never folded or delaminated ..... yet :)

Tas

Aerobird wing reinforcement??
 

The same thing happend to me tonight !! A bit gusty and trying to do a loop and all of a sudden the wing bent,folded in half and down comes my aerobird !! what a piece of s..t.. Before this happened i liked this plane, my first one.. But now i am so pissed. If the plane cant handle it, then it should say you can do a loop in the manual.. I am selling it as soon as i can and getting a "real" electric plane. Maybe a gws zero and a 4 channel radio..

Aerobird wing reinforcement??
 

Oops, I forgot to ask one more thing...Is there any way to salvage my broken wing? The foam is broken, but the covering is fine.

I fixed my wing!
 

I, too, have trashed my 'bird wing. I believe I created a weakness in the wing on one of my many visits into the local trees. The next flight involved a steep dive and when I pulled back the wing folded at the weak point.

Here's how to fix it. First, go to your LHS and get a small thing of CA. The one I purchased was initially to fix a damaged Slow stick motor mount and cost $2.99. This cures in 20 seconds or so. I tell you this because there are many different kinds and they may not all be safe with foam. Next, head over to your local Kroger and purchase the Kroger Brand Tropical fruit Popsicles. This runs for $1.29 or 99 cents with the highly versatile Kroger Plus Card. If tropical fruit is not available, make sure the brand you get contains an orange flavored pop. Take out 4 of the orange flavored pops, melt them down in the sink. At the point where your wing folded, likely 3-4" from the center, CA 2 Popsicle sticks to the underside of the wing with the center of the stick parrellel to the wing at the crease of the fold. Bear in mind that you have to re-attach the fuselage so leave room. Then on the exact opposite side, do the same thing for balance.
I also take shipping tape with the little fiber threads in it and tape the entire leading edge of the wing (for tree branch protection) and the rear edge of the wing at the points where the prop could eat it for lunch.
You will be amazed at how well this fix works as I found myself doing loops silly until I was taken down by a non-mobile surface-to-air missile (tree). I would post a pic of the fix if I were not at work.

Hope this helps.