Wipeout!

This is what happens when the plane flies better than the pilot is capable of. Short story - I out flew my own ability, became disoriented while inverted, a moment's indecision, and CRUMP!!!!!

[photo not recovered: lg-146270.jpg]



The repairs are going well.

There was no harm done to the engine. The tank has a slight dent as the mounting strap broke free and it smacked into the back of the engine. The profile fuselage & tailplane damage were easy to fix.

Tonight I re-joined the wing. Before re-attaching the outboard wing I cut out the worst of the damage (one completely trashed rib), removed the sheeting from the wing, and the rest slotted together cleanly with plenty of surface area to glue. The damage to the web spar was an L shaped pattern, easy to put back together. Lamination over the re-join of the spar, replace the missing rib, and it'll be good to re-cover. The repairs all look straight & true, so hopefully I'll be in the air again within 2 weeks and with only a minimal weight gain.

Its a pity - I had just cured my engine run issues and was getting perfect runs. That's probably what led to the overconfidence that caused the crash. To date, this JR Flite Streak is the best flying model I've ever owned.

No tears shed. Its all part of the learning curve.

cheers,
Colin

They are tough airplanes. I had a broken nose and a two piece wing in a full size Streak a while back, and it flies as well now as before the incident. Mine is much uglier though, I did not recover, just patched over the broken areas. Best of luck to you.

>This is what happens when the plane flies better than the
>pilot is capable of. Short story - I out flew my own ability,
>became disoriented while inverted, a moment's indecision, and
>CRUMP!!!!!
>
>[photo not recovered: lg-146270.jpg]
>No tears shed. Its all part of the learning curve.
>cheers,
>Colin

Drats have to find another good propeller!

What is the tank strap made out of? FP? up front?

>What is the tank strap made out of? FP? up front?

The tank strap is cut from a sample of the tough stuff Samsonite suitcases are made from. Worked really well. I have enough to make several more.

The engine is the loop scavenged 1970s OS MAX .15, bought on eBay for the princely sum of $26. Its a good one! 15,000 on a Taipan 8x4 when set to peak on the ground (launch with it backed off a bit).

cheers,
Colin

>Drats have to find another good propeller!

The only thing I'm upset about is killing the 27 year old Aeroflyte brand spinner that I've had since 1981 and my first plane that was bigger than a 1/2A. Unobtainable now as far as I know.

G'day Colin. Looks like several of mine. Soon you will be as good at as I am and only knock off the rudders

Doing repairs is half the battle. One thing to try, if one can afford it, is to take four planes to the circle, all the same model, and when one crashes, hook up the next, etc. End of day, more flying time, more experience and more repairs, but oh, such fun mate! Crikey! [photo not recovered: sipcof.gif]

Hi Colin!
What's that yellow thing on the front end of the crankshaft ahead of the propeller??
Looks like a starting pulley or some such????
Thanks!
Dennis T.

Bad luck Colin,

Flight is the art of throwing yourself (or your model) at the ground and missing.

Looks like this time you didn't miss!

>Bad luck Colin,
>
>Flight is the art of throwing yourself (or your model) at the
>ground and missing.
>
>Looks like this time you didn't miss!

Indeed. I'm not upset by it because (a) it will fly again soon and (b) this plane has pushed my very rusty flying skills forward quite a bit.

cheers,
Colin

Those little Max 15's are great motors hey?

I got one cheap and it goes as well as a dear one

>Hi Colin!
>What's that yellow thing on the front end of the crankshaft
>ahead of the propeller??
>Looks like a starting pulley or some such????

That is what is left of the Aeroflyte brand spinner.

This photo of the intact model shows the spinner prior to its demise :-

[photo not recovered: lg-141521.jpg].

The old Aeroflyte brand spinners are a prop washer embedded in the back half of a spinner. The cone of the spinner screws on after you have tightened the prop nut.

Here's a photo of "ground zero", showing what happened to the rest of the spinner

[photo not recovered: lg-146351.jpg]

Man this hobby is great! I haven't had so much fun in years.

cheers,
Colin

Sorry to say, BEEN THERE, DONE THAT.

FLY SAFE, John

Colin, I know it will be back in the air before we both know it. The Jr. FS sure is a great flyin' plane. I had one growing up with an ENYA .19 on it. What a blast. Pic is a foam wing ext. mount bellcrank Enya .15.... has been passed on to a fellow SSW member.

[photo not recovered: 29564.jpg]

Attachment #1, (jpg file)

It sure is. Best flying plane I've had to date.

Here's links to a couple of videos of its first flight, taken by my wife. Better watched in high quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5brbFNYNtk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_UkaDzqU5Q