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Post by coyote on Aug 12, 2022 15:41:14 GMT -4
Hi folks
Two weekends ago I had the misfortune of crashing my FMS T-28 on approach - it tipped its wing and corkscrewed itself in tall grass
After a quick examination, I was happy to note no damage except canopy had fallen from the plane.
Replaying the crash in my mind, I realized I had essentially stalled it. Lack of flying (almost 3 year) made me too tentative in my approach and I was going too slow - so more time in simulator and more practice w trainer required
Also, re-examining the aircraft more closely 2 days later, I did note some damage
1) 1 of the clips holding canopy and pilot on top of aircraft was loose which meant that it could have flown/fallen off in flight
2) More importantly, I noticed that, because of the crash, one of the ailerons had separated just by the servo horn making that aileron almost useless (halfway seperated from wing). Had I flown with the damage, aircraft turns/rolls in that direction would only have been 20% effective if at all.
Moral of the story, try and figure why you crashed and then, even if everything looks OK, make sure you go over entire airframe carefully.
It just might save you another crash 😎
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Post by coyote on Aug 12, 2022 15:43:01 GMT -4
PS: If a balsa plane and there is lots of damage, take pictures (where parts and pieces go exactly) as it may help w rebuilding process.
Another lesson observed I wished I had known sooner.
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Post by krmckay "Bombs away" on Aug 12, 2022 21:03:33 GMT -4
Great lessons learned Marc.
I have found more damage to my 3D printed plane that had a hard landing last week upon closer examination a few days ago. Has anyone ever saw an APC prop split length ways? I found a 1" crack from tip radiating towards root of prop. completely unnoticed in my original inspection for damage. I'm also going to reinforce the area of landing gear to take more abuse. That is the reason it broke into two halves.
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Post by krmckay "Bombs away" on Aug 20, 2022 19:54:34 GMT -4
Here is another lesson learned. Lost my Fun Cub into the trees south of the field today. Wind took it and flipped it in flight and I pulled instead of pushed on the elevator..ooops. With the help of Dennis it was found 10-15 ft up in the trees. minor damage so I thought. Just lost 1/2 of the hortz stab...an easy fix right? Yes it was. however upon powering up the plane I found that the left aileron servo was dead. replaced it and powered up again this time the throttle /prop had an issue, wouldn't spin just chattered. After troubleshooting come to find out the ESC was toast. I was moving the controls so Dennis could locate the plane so must have damaged the ESC. replaced it and tried one last time to check all surfaces for correct operation.......NOPE right aileron servo seemed to have one stripped tooth. ...replaced that. Ok one more last test and ........ no again, found the rudder hinge broken at the bottom , a little CA later and all fixed.
Lesson here is no matter how little damage there seems, look a lot closer, I bet you can find more wrong and possibility save the plane on its next flight. I'll let you know tomorrow after a test flight.
Kevin
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Post by Dennis on Aug 20, 2022 20:04:46 GMT -4
Here is the pic I took when I found it
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Post by krmckay "Bombs away" on Aug 21, 2022 12:35:07 GMT -4
Test flight went off with minimum problems. I did find one last problem with the plane ...not enough to stop flying it for the day but does need to be looked at tonight. The Elevator servo had broken free of its glue and needs to be re-secured to the foam . a five minute fix once I get my hot glue gun warmed up. Trim was way out because of this and had to max out the main and sub trims to fly level today. Plane is now airworthy again.
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Post by coyote on Aug 26, 2022 15:31:44 GMT -4
Glad I'm not the only one that lands planes 20-30 ft up 😁
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