Did anyone witness the fiberclassics fuse failure at Bryan IMAC early today??? Wow. Has this ever happened before with a fiberclassic airframe?

Lets hear details....

Sounds really crazy.... I remember reading about some reinforcement needed on a 'pin' to keep the wing or something stable..

I would too like to hear what happened in more detail

I was there. The whole tail section of the plane came off while the pilot was doing a snap in his freestyle sequence. Once I saw that tail come off I was running along with alot of people looking for some cover.
The thing came strait down into the runway. It dug a hole in the ground and cracked up the engine. The plane was toast. It was a really nice airplane and it sucks that this happened.
The structure on the thing is really thin.

Fiberclassics should really relook at their design. This just gave a really bad impression on fiberclassics. I would not buy one.

txflyer where you there?

While in freestyle....performed hard snap on horizontal and the entire tailsection left the rest of the plane. The pilot most admirably throttled back and used ailerons to best prevent the projectile from going behind flightline. Straight in though, center of runway. I know at least two people got it on video...not me though.

Interesting note on the plane: I think it was a Mike McConville backup extra 330 from the 2000 TOC...

sorry flynbrian...missed your question...Yes, i was there.

I think that Mike flew it in the 2000 TOC.

Other than the crashes it was a very fun contest.

I flew intermediate and got first! so I am happy.

I feel his loss .

congrats....I got 2nd in Basic....lots of fun.

Yes, it was at one time, one of Mike's airplanes for the tournament.

I'm sure Niklas will be back in the air soon. I had already overheard him discussing his plans to acquire another aircraft during the awards ceremony. The whole thing was truly unfortunate, as Niklas is always the first guy down here in San Antonio to lend a hand or help a fellow Modeler. In Fact, he has spent several weeks over the last 2 months helping a younger modeler get one of his aircraft ready and repaired for the IMAC season.

Bill

I have seen Nick fly this plane many times. What a beautiful flying plane. I am shocked to hear what happened however. Guess I will be looking into this since I also own a 330S from Fiber Classics. Guess time will tell on how and why this happened. Fiber Classics has always been great planes...could have been one of those things.

Really hate to hear this happen....Nick is a swell guy and a great pilot.

There is a thread about this in another forum.

Here ya go:

THREAD:
http://rcuniverse.com/showthread.php...32&forumid=144

VIDEO:
http://63.160.59.10/files/IMAC_crash.WMV

Phil (Mesa, AZ)

I wouldn't be to quick to blame Fiber Classics for the demise of Niklas' airplane for several reasons. If I'm not mistaken FC lightened that airplane for the TOC at Mike's request...I think some of the material was removed from the aft fuselage area. Even knowing this Niklas' Extra seemed very strong torsionally as are all of the FC Extras that I've seen.

One of the real reason for the failure might stem from a trailer accident we had last year when the eye-bolt hold downs for the models were installed incorrectly. On our trip to the IMAC Nationals last year both our fuselages came loose in the trailer...my 42% Radiocraft 330LX slammed into the aft fuselage of Niklas' Extra pretty hard. We checked it thoroughly but some damage was evident.

If this were a common occurrence you would have seen or heard this sort of thing before. As most of us know the FC Extra is a well proven design that's been around for many years now. I think Niklas would agree that this wasn't a design or quality control problem...I'll bet money that he'll buy the same airplane again without fear because it is well designed and flies wonderfully.

George Hicks
Team JR

That is a shame. Glad no one was injured.

Hello,

Thanks for the comments and kind words.

Lets just make a couple of things very clear.

This airplane was a pre-production, experimental one of a kind,
In other words weight savings was incorporated that does not exist in regular production planes.

The airplane was involved in a very rough trailer ride last summer where the tail section was subject to some massive forces, i wasnt able to detect any visual damage but it is not impossible that it was the initiating factor.

I think that with over 300 produced and only one known inflight failure like this, there is no reason to worry.

I for sure will order a replacement sister for this one and i am not worried for the structural strenght of it.

This is certainly not a manufacturer problem.
Any structure can and will, fail if not handled right.

I have flown full composite air planes for over 10 years, i fly and design full composite UAV's as a living and i will continue doing so because that is to me the ultimate in strenght, weight and all over performance.

Hope too see you all soon with my next full composite airplane.

Niklas Nyroth
[email protected]

Nyroth, its hard to watch that video man! The plane just hit the ground and didn't even budge....

Sorry about the plane, looks like there was nothing you could do. You say you got another one though!

I've just watched the video and it made me feel sick!!!

I've just finished a FC 2.6 330L, with all the time and money I've put in it if that happened I think I'd die.

Great shame. Very sorry to see that.

They are pretty good airplanes, but I saw the wing fold on a 3Meter FC Extra last fall. The pilot was doing a blender, rather a gentle blender, when the wing just folded. The carcass hit in soft dirt yet we were amazed at the amount of damage done...motor went back to DA, all servos needed re-gearing, cannisters are now used for scrap metal, headers destroyed. When these go in, they go in hard.

The pilot got another, but he flies it with a touch of apprehension. No more blenders, only really soft 3D.

I don't think it's reasonable to judge a whole class of airplanes (composite) by the failures of a few. Remember the H9 Edge, with the folding wings a while ago? You don't hear of them folding anymore. There have also been stories about Aeroworks 33% Extra ARF's with folding wings and stabs. These are examples where there may have been manufacturing issues with stick and foam planes, not composite planes.

I don't think the composite technology is all that new. People have problems with stick and foam planes too. IMO, its how the manufacturer deals with the reported problems that's the real test. And from what I've seen (from personal experience) FC (now Composite ARF) has always gone beyond the call when servicing or replacing their products.

Pete Castine

I just found out that Marco Benincasa of Italy had a similar problem at the 2002 TOC....regarding Composite ARF it would seem- though I have no confirmation - that they are going back to foam core wings - I repeat that I have no direct confirmation of this as of yet but what is certain is that working composites correctly isn't easy.

Composite-arf is going on making the all composite models.

Scale and Aerobatics (http://www.scaleandaerobatic.com) instead, sell the planes with foam/wood wings and tail, because they do not use the original fiberclassics molds (they are in Thailand), but use molds made over existing planes.

thanks for the info...interessante quel F3A....

Hi Cranston, hey all,
I was also there when the wings on the 3meter folded. Very sad. The pilot, though, is very happy with his new Comp-ARF.

However, it might be noted that there are considerably better airplanes out there. No, not ARFs to be flying in 20 hours labor, but better flying airplanes after they are finished, plus better looking finishes and cleaner installations can be done on some of the top kits available (ZN, 3W, and another dozen European made airplanes fly considerably better in my experience).

The expensive molds and extensive pre-production work to mass produce the Comp-ARFs are also a disadvantage. As other airplanes continually evolve and improve, the molded ARFs roll off the line the same version day after week after month after year.

However, please do not misunderstand what I am trying to say here. I think that they are great airplanes, but I do not think that one should buy the airplane thinking that it is hands down the best...it is simply not true. It is, however, probably the best ARF and biggest bang for the buck.

Mark

There's nothing like logging onto this site and seeing video of your plane hitting the ground for everyone to get their Ooo's and Ahh's.

That was a beautiful airplane. I have a picture of it, when it was still Mike McConville's, on my fridge.

It's a shame someone had to put that video on here.

Stallion...I don't follow you..please elaborate...