The guys in the club have been upset with me lately and I believe I may have been sabotaged.

My favorite airplane seemed to have structural failure. The spar broke.
This is a 5/8" pine dowel for a 5lb airplane.

I wouldn't think the forces of a 5lb airplane could do this.

What do you guys think?

What were you doing when this spar broke? It could be a suspicious thing, however I have seen breaks like this caused by over stressing a plane in flight. How old is the plane and how many flights are on it? Could it have been damaged in the hangor and not noticed? If one of your club members did do this prior to a flight, I would think that it would have been noticed prior to flight. Good Luck, Dave

When the spar broke I was practicing blenders.

The spar itself has 10 or 15 flights on it because it was recently replaced.

Why was the first one replaced?

I was in a hover and engine leaned.
It fell on its nose causing the aluminum wing bolts to bend in a "u" shape. The part in the dowel bent. Removal resulted in trashing the dowel.

how come they don't like you ion the first place?

They think I'm an a**hole.

So are you saying someone snuck into your workshop and somehow weakend the dowel so you couldn't tell after it broke? Maybe a more reasonable explanation is that you put it in with the grain in the wrong position and when you did a manuver that will rip the wings off many planes it came apart.

I find it hard to believe that just because you are paranoid and accusing people of doing something to your plane that they would think your an A-hole.

If you really believe that they sabatoged you airplane, they could be right.

BasinBum,
I think you are correct.

Grain orientation was not taken into account.
Thank you!
I knew I'd find the answer here.
Maybe they didn't sabotage it.
Oh well.....

Check your own background. Do they really think you are an A--hole or are you just paranoid. ( so much for amateur psychiatry ) Look back and try to find what you did to irritate someone enough to even consider sabotage.

From the picture, the grain looks in the right direction but I still would expect pine to break if you didn't saturate it with C/A. I would have coated it with C/A then sanded it smooth.

I just mentioned sabotage to get a rise out of the guys.
All in fun.

i think this is a joke- lighten up guys.

troll troll troll your boat

I think it was sabotage. [>:]

Wonder what the other guys in the club would have to say about this?

IT's just Pat we are used to him , hey Pat maybe it was that voodoo doll!! He He . Randy

Remember, just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they aren't watching you.

Could it be that their initial diagnosis was correct? Just an observation.

Cap'n Bob

i think it was the illuminati myself

Tinman - gotta love the reference - was the plane branded??

I have the same problem sometimes. Some people think I am an a** hole too. The thing is, I probably am... to the ones that think that.HEh heh!

This thread is by far the funniest exchange I have ever seen at RCUNIVERSE. I did not work my way completely through all posts, but why do your friends (?) think you are a jerk? BTW, the photo would indicate that the grain would provide more protection in a fore-aft stress situation than it would in an up-down stress condition.

did you check the expiration date on the dowelstock used? might have been leftover from the lasst millenium. not guaranteed strong after 2000! while you are fixin it check the ailerons too and the elevatoer make sure that they aren't outdated too!! maybe it was just the expiration date on the whole plane that came due! sometimes it just happens

Have you used your cell phone near this dowel? It could be the radiation from the cell phone that weakened it. Did you fly near any crop circles? I hear they do some pretty weird stuff. Have you noticed any mysterious men in black hanging around your planes? I'd call the guys up over at area 51 to check on them as well. have you eaten anything with MSG in it lately?...