Scalebuff

A relitivley new member to our Club (like a year) just finished his spitfire, after flying mine and falling in love with it he asked iff he could borrow my plans and start his own, i agreed and 6 WEEKS latter hes at the field for the maiden...

he modified the plans beyond all recodnition, E.I BUTCHERED THEM!, it ended up being a 92" WS powered by saito 1.20/ spring air retracts, full working flaps and the usual stuff...

so he brings this monster to the field dwarfing my beloved spit it was a grate looking spitfire, the attention to detail was incredible..

the guys at the field war swarming all over it, but i thought to myself 6 weeks??????? i know im not the fastest builder in the world but for the amount of detail on this plane its a 3 month job minimum! imo anyway and a few guys agreed me on this...

so we land all aircraft for this giant spit's maiden, all expecting a long proccess off pre flight checks!, but nothing!!!!, he fueled up his saito (not even run a tank of fuel) and taxied out LOL, we all gasped and made the sugestion he checks it over, un-willingly he pulls it back to the pits for a check, now what im about to tell you is no joke nore am i making this up so be prepered!... lol

first we notice the wing is rocking about a little more then it should so we check the mounting plate to find no epoxy just a few dabs of CA of wich some joints had already broken loose and the M-plate was prety damn loose..

secondly ALL controll surfaces were not pinned and some u could pull out with a sharp tug of the hand, and on top of that the landing gear was catching somthing inside the wheel well's on closing needing you to tapthem in with your hand....

this was a 5 minute inspection!! and i have not listed all the problems here those are just some of the bad ones, all controll rods were that CHEAP plastic crap only even thinkable on throtle control...

anyway we advise him to take it hope and make some mods and fixes, 2 of the guys including myelf offered to lend a hand with some of the things, but no this guy was adament that this flew today!.....

we all watched in horor! (and i mean that realy, we were scared!)... he taxied out to the runway and powered up, i dont know what it was but the viabration was emence, i own a few large warbirds but they dont sound like that! lol...

we all trying to tell him to take it easy (knowing some of the problems) he does 2 circuits and starts dancing about like a mad man, saying it fly's like a dream he hitts the throtle and puts it through what i can only explain as the most worrying set of monovers i have ever seen, after about 2 minutes of airobatics we see something drop and dangle from the wing, after a flyby we see that the right wheel assembly as "DROPED OUT THE WING" then he starts cursing the plane a prepairs for a emergency landing, we advise he keeps some extra hight incase anything goes wrong, on the last turn onto final the fusalarge comes away from the wing and the plane spirels out of control, for some reason the plane throtled to max in the dive (dont know if this was him or some other crazy mistake but he noted he had no control )

as u all guessed it plumets with a nasty crunch totaling the plane...

he go's into some sort of rain dance! cursing this plane and saying "i just dont understand it" LOL, im just glad that no one was hurt, we have all writen to the club chairman telling him of this event are we are trying to get him out of the club!..

this guy is a danger to the public!

Wayne22

My Feedback: (2)

maybe he will get frustrated and leave on his own accord.

When there are serious safety issues (like a wing about to fall off) someone needs to take a stand and insist that common sense and safety must prevail. He should not have been allowed the privilege of flying that day. Easier said than done, especially when the guy is adamant, but the results show that the majority of your club members were correct. Somemes you just need to draw a line in the sand...

warbird_1

My Feedback: (61)

one word WHOA!!!!!!!

bentgear

What type band do you think he would fit in;

0 Country
0 Pop
0 Rock
0 Punk
0 Rap
0 Blue Grass
Sorry, just could not resist.

I can see a wheel falling off every once and a while, maybe even a canopy, but some of the workmanship you see at the field leaves so much to be desired its scarry.
Ed M.

Maiden Voyage

At that rate he won't be able to afford to stay in this hobby very long.

p-47d-25

I'm still trying to figure out what prepairs, fuselarge, and spirels are.

Couldn't resist either.

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

It took me 4 weeks to build and have ready a 81 inch citabria, well, lol on the 5-6 flight the fus separted from the wing. The wood cracked on the trailing edge about 12-20 inchs both ways, bad wood i think.

Scalebuff

Dago Red

ya im not saying a plane of that size cannot be ready for air in that amount of time, i personly build pretty slow to some people i like to take my time and go ever every stage about 3 times

the thing that worried be was the attention to detail on this plane!, there is NO WAY! he could have built this plane in that time and also added all this great detail, if it was built as a static model it would be a show stoper but it was in now way air ready!...

if i had the plane i would have to rip it to peices to see what was going on in there and redo like 60% of the building work... to be honest, i think i would just start from scratch it was THAT! BAD!

but Dago Red sorry to hear about that plane going in, i know you build with quality crap happens some times but this guy had a brain transplant with a slug i think

i think the worst i have had due to poor building was a gear strut come through the wing witch i should have reinforced more but that was a damn hard landing too , came in red hot (hotter than i thought) and like a fool panic!!!!! and tried to put here down .... but that was a few years ago now and we live and learn i guess

Highlander

Just goes to show you that the plane is only half the equation,

some folks are just that way,

But the real failure was on the ground , when the safety officer didnt red tag the plane ,rules are rules, in such cases one mad person does not out weight the safety of many,


Highlander

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

Gizz
I see a differ between his problem and mine, his was crappy craftmenship, mine was faulty wood. On a low wing its harder to rip a wing off, the fus is riding the wing, not hanging from it. But like you said about some stuff aboutthe plane, common sense would have saved it. At the moment im building a 89 inch plane, this one has 2 months on it so far not done yet, he should have taken that long and not have rushed through. I built hours every day for those 4 weeks. + it was a kit, parts allready made, he clearly hamburgered it toughther,lol

scottrc

Sounds like someone who is a great builder and flyer who may be having some "stability" issues.

Or in plane talk "He's NUTS!".

You guys as a whole should band togther and red tag him.

bentwing_J

Sounds like he butchered it about as bad as your spelling!

I'd build an observation shed and keep him around for the free entertainment! (and park your vehicle a long distance from there)

Anyhow, stick to RC and don't enter a spelling bee anytime soon.

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

It seems to me that your clubs respective Field Marshal Safety Officer could intervene in the future with this over zealous R/C Fighter pilot and "Require inspection and subsequent approval before he a "fellow R/C'er takes flight at you alls flying site again.

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

I thought that before any new plane flew, at least some one in the club would do some kind of inspection. thats how our club is.

Joe Trinkley

you guys are picky, me personally would have been telling him if he wants to fly it...fly it! Go to the truck and get the digital camera out and have a blast, don't red tag him from the club, sounds like to me he's an assett to the club and you all and he had a great day! safety my ass, get out there and fly 'em! You could have watched him just as easy from your vehicles right? Not much for a camera shot though. Now as for the hot doggin with a piece of crap I wouldn't have done or recommended, but it's his plane. I'm excited just hearing about him, what state are you guys in?

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Joe. so your saying if someone flies a plane thats going to have a structural failure in flight.... and crash. thats its ok?.. and even if you cant predict where that crash will be or into whom.. thats ok?. I'm pretty sure you didnt mean that .. did u?.. BobH.

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

You never know what some clubs are willing to do, not red taging a person. We have a guy that flys very dangerously, but wont listen to people telling not to fly like that. One day my plane took a little damage, and the guys were willing to get some glue to fix it ASAP so i could fly my plane out and midair them, im real good at midairs. My plane was a .40 size plane with a solid plywood fus and a 4 inch aluminum spinner on it, more than enough to take out his 1/4 cub. Lets say, i would have loved to, but my plane was the first plane i ever designed and flew, and wasnt about to lose it to a cub.

p-47d-25

Gizz,
in all seriousness, we had a guy smack one into a house (lucky shot by the way) because he decided to ignore someones suggestion to fly another day due to intermittent servo failure, or possibly a wire short.
This is the same thing! If there is the slightest hint at failure, recheck, recheck, have someone else recheck the damn thing again, until everyone is comfortable with you flying. He should know the safety rules put forth by your club (I do hope they have safety rules). Well, our club lost the field. Luckily, the house was owned by the person who started the club. No law-suit, just a close ass-kickin' contest between the homeowner, and the idiot. That idiot ran like a little girl running after the school bus. :stupid:

Is it really worth having a bone-head like this in your club?

Nick

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

We had a gentleman KILLED at our field in 1980. There was a single plane in the air; 60 sized sport plane.. The victim's back was toward the approach end of the runway. He was a student flier and just learing. The fellow flying the plane had a mechanical failure of a repaired stab. The plane struck the victim in the lower back, rupturing his liver. He died in the OR a few hours later. It was just one of those things.. not intentional or particullary reckless but it did happen because of a repaired (Insufficiently) part. So take caution for your own safety and that of everyone else as best you can. You never know when you might become the object of someone's handy work. BobH.

Joe Trinkley

just messing with you bob, trying to get some people stirred up! SAFETY FIRST NO EXCEPTIONS!!

strnglvr

My Feedback: (1)

Sounds to me like you guy's need to befriend him, and help him out to get a good fly'n plane, sounds like he is building a good looking plane, now you guy's need to help him build one sound,...............my thought's,........Paul

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Joe, I thought maybe that was the case ... !! good for you bro!!. BobH..

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

BobH good point but a question
How can you tell a part on a plane is rebuilt to the point of not breaking.

I slamed my easy sport into a flight station, the pole went throught the wing, broke a few ribs and the spar. I repaired the wing, a few months later it broke a inch from the fracture point or closer. What had happened was a fracture in a area that could have never been seen. The fracture was located where a rib was glued to teh spar, meaning i would have had to X-ray my wing to find that crack, and even then. No one was hurt when the plane spiraled out of control, it crashed about 600 feet away into a field.

Im not trying to prove you wrong, im just trying to figure out what is a rebuild on a part knowing that it wont break again?

I have also lost a rudder after a freind rebuilt the plane for me, it to spiraled out of control about 300 foot away, no one hurt.

I guess its just a matter of luck. A friend at out field with a huge plane about a 8 foot wing span, anyways, the canopy came off, slammed into the rudder knocking the whole tail lose. He kinda piloted ti away from the pits, it slamed into the ground about 8 feet away from a plane on the runway and about 20 feet from the guy going to get it. just luck, lol,
Please dont think im trying to point anything out, but when do you know somthing is repaired right.

The palen that lost the rudder never flew again, rudders are hard ot fix, the big plane was totaled, so was the easy sport.
I like reading this thread, kinda teaches all somthin dosnt it, lol.

Jim_McIntyre

Same test I perform on anything I build/rebuild or any student's plane. Yank on it, flex the wing over your knee. etc.

Of course, for the student, I first explain G-forces, what I'm about to do and why he should be happy if I manage to break it here on the ground.

I recently rebuilt my Ultimate (fuel soaked). Each wing will support my flight box individually and I can lift the plane (ungently) and shake it by any tail surface.... she'll survive the snap to inverted flat spin but I still watch for stress cracks.

Dago Red

My Feedback: (11)

there ya go. But that plane should be designed for that type of manuvers. But a easy sport is not designed to do snaps t oinverted flat spins. The easy sport arf its self wont support my 80 pound flight box, that i know of ,lol. How heavy it your flight box?

Did you do any mods to the plane to take that kind of stress? GOD, that is a awsome kit or some great mods you did to the plane to make it support you flight box. Did you rebuild the whole plane or did you scratch build the new parts? just curious to know.