Hello, im Nicolas from Chile and i have a Christen Eagle with a Zenoah G45 (very smooth, more than the fuji bt50) , Topflite 20x10, well balanced. Last flight in a straight line, at full throttle repentinely the engine blows out with the completly firewall, Design Problem?? Manofacturing Problem? i dont know. I taken some pictures spoken by self. Lucky i can landed the airplane in a deep stall (C.G. very back) with a wing crack

I changed the scheme of the wings monokote for a Visual reason (hard to see its upor down because the feathers)

Sorry for my english

Anyone thinks that Great PLanes can give me the warranty??? opinions to reinforce in a nexy C.E.?

How long? How many flights? It looks as though some of the wood cracked over time and then the rest went all at once because of the now weakened structure. I am surprised that the aircraft cam out relatively undamaged after the engine departed ways!
Have you discussed this failure with your dealer/hobby shop?

HELLO, WELL I LUCKY TO LAND WITH OUT A c.g. THE EAGLE HAS 2 YEARS AND APROX. 50 FLIGHTS, BEFORE IT HAPPENS, I NO HEARD RARE SOUNDS , VIBRATIONS OR SIMILAR.

ASK TO THE DEALER IN CHILE IS A MISS OF TIME, YOU THINK THAT g.p. CAN ASSUME THIS ???

nICOLAS

SORRY I SAYING WASTE OF TIME , NOT MISS OF TIME

I can't see anyone doing anything for a 2 yr old airframe.

I have seen several of these at our field with larger motors and not seen something like this happen. It would be hard to say exactly what happened. A hard landing or bouncing ( as they sometimes do) could have broken some wood overtime and was missed..

Sorry for your loss.. always hate tos ee that happen.. although with some patience and some long nights it looks like its repairable.. its a fairly clean break. I must say a plane like this is not really designed to be flown at full throttle in level flight.

I had the beginnings of this happen with the Pitts but caught it before it separated. There is no chance at all of GP picking any of this up.

I say, send the pictures with a detailed explanation to GP, you never know...

Hello Fellas, have someone pictures of a reinforcment to the firewall of the eagle??? some one haved this problem???

wow

The problem with this is that the same type of damage could easily happen on a good ground loop. Say it landed too fast, wing still generating lift, improper control input, plane lifts back up and stalls to left, pivots on left wing tip, bashes nose into the tarmac, sets down hard on wheels, and drops front of the plane with the engine.

The manufacturer has to see that as well, then decide which cause could be true, then determine if the engine used met the size noted with the models instructions. If there's any room for error, then the customer will not prevail.

Lesson here is to periodically inspect the aircraft looking for stress indicators at various critical locations. Especially so when using a gas engine on a plane originally designed to accept a glow engine. Should there be indications of impending failure take the steps necessary to structurally reinforce those areas where failure is likely, and to provide additional spport on a new plane designed for glow that's being equipped with a gasser.

None of the above is intended to argue what happed to the plane, but indicates a viewpoint that I'm reasonably certain will be inferred by the manufacturer when presented with a claim and photographic evidence..

They are not making the plane from what I understand, I am not sure why they stopped building it, I was lucky my friend had one new in the box and I jumped on it for a backup

Dave