Has anyone found out what happened to cause the BVM Ultra Bandit to come apart in the air at St Charles funfly last weekend? It appeared to me that it pitched up a little on a high speed pass and then blew apart, but why. There were a few individuals filming the event but I haven't seen any of them surface yet. Anyone know anything?

Run, run while you can! Leave this thread behind!!

HAHAHAHA....

Man, as a relatively new member of the Jet crowd it does not take long to see which way the wind blows....

Solar Flares!!!!
Spacial Void!!!

I shouldnt be sarcastic, stupid or silly, id be very upset if it were mine. No insult intended.
On a serious note, I heard it may have been a canopy issue.
Sorry for the loss
Scott

I'll make the Popcorn. Who's bringing the Beer?

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That's a shame! It's a gorgeous plane!

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deleted

I just got a notice from the factory. They are on top of it and will get to the bottom of it.
I have complete confidence.
Scott Marr

Wow, canopy comes off and you loose the airplane? That is a bummer. I lost both my main hatches on this flight:

http://www.rcmachinery.com/MEGABARSECONDFLIGHT.wmv

And I have no idea what would be different between the two airplanes, if someone finds out, I would like to know.

Well, the Eurosport has been know to blow up after sheading its main hatch and plenty of Hotspots have split in half after the fuse shell came loose around the gear openings, so its not like it hasn't happened, to otherwise good airframes, before...

Bob

Nice convertible Sean! Keeps the components cool on those hot summer days.

Yeah - it's not unheard of (even on prop planes) for models to break in the air when a canopy is lost.

AFAIK, the most common cause is that if there isn't some kind of blanking plate (or other 'obstruction') at the front end of the upper turtledeck, then a strong & sudden airflow into this area will literally blow the aircraft up from the inside out - you're basically over-inflating it The problem is further exacerbated by models that have sharp edges at the rear of the canopy opening, which acts as a stress focus point.

Theres no difference Sean, they are identical in every aspect, or actually yours is much better cause it doesnt blow up and much prettier.
Scott

Oh, and theres that little difference of about 100mph.

Scott, I'm referring to shape, if it was a hatch, did air go into maybe a composite wing through the fuse?

If air gets in the fuse, I'm not sure there should be a compromise of the whole airplane.

If a cause is found, I would be interested to know because it will help me in what I'm building.

As you know I've not owned as many BV airplanes as you have, but have owned three or four and I would not dig on their quality in any way whatsoever. They are very well built airplanes. I'm interested purely from the aspect of building a better airplane, not "better than a BV airplane", just a better airplane.

The canopy did not depart the model. Please do not speculate on this, more info will come when everyting has been evaluated.

i think your plane survived because after a split second of the canopy departing the main hatch blew off from the pressure build up within the fuselage. a plane without a weak link like a big hatch may not fair so well and the pressure build up may get the better of it. i have seen a few planes "blow up" in flight like this.

but i am in no way implying this happend to the UB, i was not there and did not see it so cant comment.

Dave Stephens

Sean,
I think mostly the case would be the speed at which the canopy failed. Now I was not there and did not see it and have absolutely no clue as to what happened but it would make some sense to me if you were traveling 200+ and loose that big ass UB canopy, it probably wouldnt be a good thing.
I own one so I am anxiously awaiting the findings. I personally wouldnt hesitate to go out and fly mine this weekend. The experts have told me it appears to be a canopy failer as of now. I will go home and make sure mines glued in well.
I think if you were doing a downwind pass in 20-30 mph winds at or around 200 and lost your hatches like in your video, you probably would have had a different outcome.
Scott

It’s very hard to say what happened, but there was no evidence of the canopy leaving the aircraft before it came apart. It just pulled up slightly and then came part. There could be any number of things that could have caused this and to speculate without some further evidence is just that, speculation. There has to be some video of the plane flying just before the even as it was one of the primary airplanes to watch during the vent. It would be interesting to see if anything could be determined by looking at a video if it exists.

Not the canopy leaving, the canopy colapsing is what i heard.
Scott

Like Sgt.Friday used to say, Just the facts. ( Badge 714 )
After all the facts are in, Then and only then can a solution be made.
Semper Fi
Joe

Dude----- John,, you need to add some more names on the bottom of your list so we know who's side you are on,,,, Hope all is well

Dave

What are you getting at with your post.... Is it "Big News" to you if a UB crashed??? Would you start a thread about a Boomer falling apart in the air or better yet a .40 sized ultra stick...


My 2 cents!

Personally, I'd think it better if we don't see the footage. Too much is already 'slipping' through the cracks and getting on YouTube that we're gonna hit a point of no return with the media and overly-concerned curmudgeons with nothin' better to do than file papers to stop turbine flight altogether. Let's quietly discuss this, maintain integrity for the pilots involved and move on smarter, and more aware.

MY 2cents...

WoW simply amazing!!!
When Tams Viper Jet was having problems it was splashed all over this forum. When Skymasters F-22 had problems it was splashed all over the forums. When news of the Hot Spot coming apart it was splashed all over these forums and when Cermark had problems with the MB339 it was splashed all over these forums. Now we have a problem with an
Ultra Bandit and everything should be hush hush B/S...

P. Richards aka Swat Team

I don't care what plane it was. I just don't want everybody's video flyin' all over the net. Although I DID hear that if you peel back the first layer of composite on the UB, it's solid G-O-o-o-o-o-L-D!!!!!!