Pre-assembly CardinalARF repairs

In order to get into the air more quickly, I bought a CardinalARF. The good 'ol USPS, however, decided that it would look/fly better with a few degrees of dihedral! Can't imagine how, but everything's OK except for the wing.

LE broken at butt joint (surprise)
LE sheeting snapped
Two rib LEs crushed
Inboard center sheeting broken diagonally
Top spar has "green tree" split at edge of center sheeting
Top TE broken at first open rib bay
All center sheeting joints are cracked open

I've (fairly neatly) cut away the damaged wood, and can repair the rib outlines OK I think, but I need advice, 'cause I'm really NOT good at repairs. I've left the top spar and top TE alone, for now, because I think I can "splint" them with thin plywood and CA. Suggestions, please?

I'll stick in a photo as soon as I figure out how.

Two comments:

Was anyone else surprised to learn that the Front leadout is "UP"?

I'll definitely use a layer or two of CF veil on the center section of the CardinalARCs, 'cause there's not much holding the center together. It must be OK, as I haven't read of a rash of wing-folding, but it doesn't look very robust, to me at least!

My advise is to return it or take it up with the post office. I tried to make an insurance claim with the USPS once. I finally just gave up.

Unfortunately, I failed to request insurance. This probably saved me time, as I once tried to make an insurance claim against USPS; what an utter waste of time!

I have the photo, although fuzzy, shrunk to an acceptable size. Let's see if this works . . .

Bedamned! First try!

2nd edit - -

OK. I know I'll have to cut away more wood, but how far. And I'm willing to sacrifice as much covering as necessary. Places that look like they were hit with a "strike/slip" fault line were - Notice how the Top Spar slips down, and the TE, also.

Ooouch. Brodaks might replace it if you asked real nicely. They like keeping customers happy. I think the nose ring is broken off all the ARF Cardinals by the time you open the box. Any advise I could give as to a repair would probably be bad. Good luck.

Is this one you got from me or from someone else?

The ones I shipped to you were shipped by Fed-Ex and were insured. At this point it may be too late, however. We had one other one that got damaged and are in the process of filing the claim on it, but I think Fed-Ex would have covered it. (We will see how this other claim comes out.)

Relax Leonard,

The CardinalARCs I got from you are fine. Besides, as you mentioned, you ship FedEx, and this was USPS. This was an ARF I got from another source, solely with the intent of getting up more quickly. The best laid plans . . .

I'll get started with an ARC later tonight.

I had an Oriental arrive with a smahed wintip and a bent wing also, I emailed John and he told me to ship it back and the replacement arrived safe and sound.

That's service from Brodak above and beyond what would be expected. He corrected a problem created by someone else. Kudos John.

>In order to get into the air more quickly, I bought a
>CardinalARF. The good 'ol USPS, however, decided that it
>would look/fly better with a few degrees of dihedral! Can't
>imagine how, but everything's OK except for the wing.
>
>LE broken at butt joint (surprise)
>LE sheeting snapped
>Two rib LEs crushed
>Inboard center sheeting broken diagonally
>Top spar has "green tree" split at edge of center sheeting
>Top TE broken at first open rib bay
>All center sheeting joints are cracked open
>
>I've (fairly neatly) cut away the damaged wood, and can
>repair the rib outlines OK I think, but I need advice,
>'cause I'm really NOT good at repairs. I've left the top
>spar and top TE alone, for now, because I think I can
>"splint" them with thin plywood and CA. Suggestions, please?
>
>I'll stick in a photo as soon as I figure out how.
>
>Two comments:
>
>Was anyone else surprised to learn that the Front leadout is
>"UP"?
>
>I'll definitely use a layer or two of CF veil on the center
>section of the CardinalARCs, 'cause there's not much holding
>the center together. It must be OK, as I haven't read of a
>rash of wing-folding, but it doesn't look very robust, to me
>at least!

Front line up is the way to go.

My first Cardinal was Fedexed and had a broken wing, fuselage, and one flap. Called Brodak and they sent me another one. Said they had insured the original one. The second one came UPS and had a broken wing. I decided to keep it as I didn't want to be lost in the freight business. Big mistake. Windy, where are you when I need you?
Larry Lundy
PS. Before the second Cardinal, they sent me an Oriental by mistake as a replacement, which they let me keep, and I purchased the second Cardinal and also two Baby Clowns. The Oriental and Baby Clowns Arrived OK. Great ARFs.
L3