Taylorcraft crash
 

Bought a 26 cc taylorcraft back i sept 2011 paid 1280 dollars for a bind and fly.. flew it firsttime in mid april and had6 flights on it. It has a 2 piece wing that a nylon screw holds it in place.That screw screws into wing and catches onnut in wing. The nut has like 3/16 inch area to bite on.poor design in my book. Well nylon bolt srtippedand caused wing to seperate a bit from fusalage and causing left wingleading edge to wobble,,causing plane uncontrolable and it was demolished. MYQUESTIONIS do you think horizon hobby should replace it due to there poor design??????????

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

No

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

+1, no.

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

NO? why its a poor assdesign that a nylon washer grips on a bolt by 4 threads.Guess if you bought a new car and wheel bearing failed on front wheel and you hit bridge you wouldnt expect compensation????????

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

If I knew there was a defect in a design I would have corrected it before flight. If I have knowledge of a defect and I don't correct it, the failure is mine for deciding to take off with an airframe with a known problem. I've had to do that many times with model designs.

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

 i didnt know it was a defect untill after it crashed and examined the design,and saw the poor gripping area that was to small

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

you have to build in some redundance , if you have specific areas that are stressed.

sort of like the chinese firewalls on some ARF Planes, not strong enough.

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

yeah tellthe manafacture that, I agree

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

No Chance, you still need to go thru an arf for design problems. I haven't had an arf yet that was perfect. Some come close............... you still need to check.

Sorry for your loss.

Chris923

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

ITWASNTAARF it was a bind and fly???? BNF already built by them

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

Sorry... PNP, BNF, ARF, ARC, but you still need to go thru them.

Chris923

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

so you are telling me i have to check all there designs. And I have to eat it because they hire  poopy designers that  dont  have a brain that functions well ???

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

Sorry to say, but, Yes... It doesn't matter where it comes from. Some are better on quality controll than others. Some are just poor designs. Horizen anf Top Flite are usally the best, but...

Chris923

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

ok go buy a new tv bring it home and take it apart to see if its designed right before you watch it. IM learning now

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

Send Horizon an e-mail and see what they say, cost nothing to do and you will get an answer from them.

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

Camanche it's really going to be hard to convince anyone that it was the mfg fault your plane crashed, we know the wing bolt stripped the question is why? How much torque did you put on tha nylon bolt? There will be more mishaps if this is a design error so maybe it would be worth at least making the phone call or writing a letter, you just never know, the co. may just roll over for you.

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

I am guessing by looking at the manual that the Taylorcraft has the same setup as the 1/4 scale Cub. The blind nut in the wing of my Cub is more than sufficient (assuming it is the same) if not over torqued during installation. It only needs to be snug. On my Cub I noticed that neither of these blind nuts were pulled in flush in the rib so I removed both and pulled them in tight and epoxied them in place. Your failure in flight may have been one of the blind nuts coming loose from the rib but you would have probably noticed that during assembly at the field. After the crash was your blind nut still fastened to the rib?

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

It never hurts to try. Take pictures and ask nicely.

I once crashed a nice Christen Eagle due to engine stoppage. I had soaked the fuel stopper in gasoline for 24 hours, and it was fine so I used it. The test flight on the plane, and several other flights that day went great. Then two weeks later I flew it, and the engine wasn't performing correctly. Finally, on short final almost coming over a concrete wall, the engine quit and I smacked the concrete wall head on. Not much left of the plane. When I took it apart I found the fuel tank stopper partially disintegrated and pieces of the rubber in the tank and in the carb.

I figured "it never hurts to try", so I notified NitroPlanes, from whom I had purchased the plane. They didn't have the same plane in stock, but gave me the choice of any other plane of equal value I wanted, with shipping...... free!! I was impressed and d a m n glad I had taken the time to give it a try.

AV8TOR

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

i had a servo tray come loose on an ultra stick 120 , called horizon and told them what happened , and they sent me a new one, so it is worth a shot ,all they can say is yes or no

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

The blind nut didnt come loose it was in p[ace in the wing and no i just snugged the bolt making sure I didnt over tighten it. This plane use to have a one piece wing and i am not sure if tthis design has been around long. Like someone said in a high stressed area there should be some redundancy in that area. In my mind the nut that is gripping the nylon bolt is so narrow and only allowing maybe 5 teeth to bite the bolt, this should of been a MUCH larger area to grab the bolt and this would of held in place. THATALONEISMYARGUMENT never lift 5000 lbs with a 5000 lb chain or it may break,use a 10,000 lb chain.

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

Sorry but................

BNF is an ARF. ARF continues to prove it means Almost Ready to Fail.

Inspect, use your knowledge to remove the weak links. Fly.

Steve

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

I believe the wing tube is the main load bearing component here, as it is with the big cub which I own. I also owned one of the first generation Tcrafts way back when and the wing struts were functional.   I believe you would have seen some erratic flying characteristics as the bolt began to back off or fell out completely befoe that wing seperated if this thing was put together correctly.  Personally from your description, I wonder if the wing tube was installed at all or if it might have even been fatigued and failed some how since this happend so quickly.  Especially given the fact there are struts attaching the wing to the fuselage.  Like others said, I would take pictures, even call customer service and talk to them directly and see what they say.    </p>

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

the wing didnt seperate I think the bolt backed out allowing the wing to move away from thr fusalage there fore allowing the wing to change angle of attack, The struts held the wing in place but the angle of attack coultd change from positive to negative as the wing rolled on the wing supporting tube causing eratic flying.the bolt was put in snug but it can be gripped once screwed in wing and pulled out of wing bolt..ITSAPOORWEAKBOLTMADEOFCHEAPPLASTIC that the teeth give way

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

<span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">I think a BNF of that size is a bad idea as it gives some who do not have the understanding or know how to correct or maintain an aircraft a false sense of security (not directed at you comanche). At least with an ARF, you have to put the main sections together and will make the appropriate and often necessary adjustments. H9 makes very good planes in my opinion, but from my experience, you have to add glue (a lot) to fortify some possible weak areas. I am not a fan of nylon bolts and would give HH a call. They have been nothing but a pleasure to deal with for me.
</div>Harry

And sorry for your lost plane, that is</span>(was) a beauty

RE: Taylorcraft crash
 

my wingtube is tight on my planes and my wing bolts are 1/2 inch longer after the thread starts allowing ample grip on the wing , the wing should not have seperated so easy , my wing bolts are plastic or maybe nylon anyway they are super tough