1fish

My Feedback: (3)

First let me say overall I am very happy with my Kat, it performs well in the air and up until today I have had no issues with the quality, and I am not sure I do now either...
Here is what happened, I have a YS 63 on my Kat and spinning a 13/6 on 20/20 at about 9300 rpm max, today I was having a great time flatspinning and doing harriers, then one of the other pilots yells "SpeedRun!" at my field thats where every one in the air circles at the right end of the field and one by one does a full speed run as low as you can get to the deck. I was up about 350 feet right behind a very fast mustang, not to be outdone, I pushed the nose down and punched the T stick the plane was hauling ***** in no time I leveled off at about 1 foot and was coming down the runway, all of a sudden the elevator tears off and one of the horizontal stabs is snapped, I am at full speed and have no up or down control. The one piece of stabilizer thats left is turned up and giving the plane a up angle, I use the spoilerons and throttle to navigate the plane back down to the grassy side of the runway and luckily was able to set it down nice and soft with no other damage..
Here is my question was I over taxing the airframe? When I opened the covering to inspect it the rear piece of wood didnt appear to have very much glue on it . Normally I dont go fast unless I am doing a wall slide then I punch it for a few feet chop the throttle and slide sideways and straight up at the same time so far this hasnt been a problem....

Johnny Mojo

Hey Fish,

In my opinion, you were going too fast. We have all said it before, 3D planes are not designed to fly flat out. Our planes are designed to fly most often in a controlled stall, allowing us to perform the manuvers that we love so much. I had a Burrito that I tried that with, and almost the same thing happened........that was a built up kit where I controlled the glue too.

I don't think you have a manufacturing problem there, I think you just put too much stress on the tail feathers. Congrats on getting it down and avoiding a total loss. When you get her fixed up let us know how she performs.

N.

depfife

My Feedback: (14)

Netmaker nailed it. Planes like the Kat are not designed to travel at warp 7. I have seen some profiles hold up to repeated high speed runs, but it is a roll of the dice.

Eric

1fish

My Feedback: (3)

Thats about what I figured, I got it put back together while I was at the field, in about an hour and a half I was flying again, it flys the same as it did in the firstplace I might have added a 1/4 oz or weight to the tail with the repairs but not enough so I noticed any change in performance...
Usualy the only time I have the throttle full on is when I am rocketing out of a hover, and belive me with this set up (YS 63 13/6) it does that with style!! It hovers solidly between 1/4 and 1/3 throttle when you punch it it blasts of perfectly!!!

georgec

A profile is not a speed plane for sure I am sure it was the high speed for sure. They will take alot of abuse but not speed.

TailTwister

My Feedback: (1)

A YS 63 at full power, on a 13x6 and a light 3D profile? You're lucky you didn't travel through time dude...

To me it sounds like a single cycle flutter issue. They don't always get the chance to buzzzz, before they snap. I'm glad you got it down OK, and nobody was hurt.

AFSalmon

My Feedback: (3)

I'd have to agree with everyone above. Profile funflys like what we fly are purposely draggy and meant for slow ballet style flying in the air. They will certainly take some punishing Gs and moderate speed. But high speed in a straight line will certainly cause flutter on any flat surface. Tail feathers are notorious for that. I know exactly how how feel though! I did the EXACT same thing at our field with a bunch of warbirds doing high speed runs. Took my 80" edge full speed down the runway and the stab started fluttering really bad. I killed the power immediately and saved the plane. Actually there was nothing broken and it flew again just fine. It's the straight line high speed passes that will excite flutter. It's actually better to keep the flat surfaces loaded in some way so as not to induce the flutter. Translation: Never fly a straight line!

TailTwister

My Feedback: (1)

I'd like to add that I appreciate 1fish saying right up front that he was intentionally flying in this manner. There are folks around that simply would have said it failed in flight, and pounded what ever company produced the plane to get something for free.

Thanks for giving the whole story right away.

AFSalmon

My Feedback: (3)

I second TT's comment above. We've had a few customers order replacement parts for planes they broke themselves and it's certainly appreciated. Had one guy last year order a new 80" Edge because he did a full speed blender and ripped it apart! Now, that must have been an amazing site.......for a few seconds.

1fish

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks for the complement guys.
Maybe someday I will be able to get that darn 80" Yak kit done, the problem is i have very little time off and when I do I would much rather fly than build oh well, its comming but slowly...