Sunday 11th

I think the Orme beckons again this afternoon

sadley i still havent fixed my Floh so will have to give it a miss

Just been posted elsewhere that Marine Drive is closed till 2pm for a triathlon for anyone planning on going

I've checked the weather it looks like the wind is easing this afternoon, my MF has new servo gears & ready to go again

What a nice evening up on the Orme. Got there just as the wind was starting to ease off, had a nice flight with the big yellow glider, followed by some DLG action. The last flight was all going well, scratching around for lift with the big 'un, although I'm not sure the last climb/dive was such a good idea now

Andy
(who has a nice pile of bits now!)

Maybe not a good idea but hell it was spectacular

ooops

Indeed it was!

A couple of pictures of the aftermath:





All signs are pointing towards flutter of the flaps as the cause, provoked by a maderately quick (although by no means the most excessive) dive from height. The centre wing panel spar is intact (and v. strong) but the skins are completely destroyed. The flaps are both delaminated, and in two pieces. The outer wing panels are both okay, apart from the joiner boxes have split. The horizontal stab is perfect, the fuselage is creased aft of the wing, and the nose section is completely wiped out. The ESC and BEC are both perfect, both lipos are decidely crumpled, and the motor/gearbox seems to be okay.

Not bad for a day's work!

Andy

mmmmmm not good m8!
On the bright side, when a model is flat packed it makes it easier to transport on a motor bike!

On a happier note, a couple of pictures Andy Ellison's new Jart M70 on the Orme yesterday

With pleasure!

It was really quite amusing to be honest, yep, it's a shame to lose such a nice flying model, but it is a cracking excuse to replace it with something else! Luckily most of the equipment onboard is okay, so I'll give everything a thorough testing, and start the hunt for a new 3m E glider Worthy of a seperate thread methinks....

Considering the outer wing panels detached at about 100 ft above the slope, and the fuse/remains of the centrepanel carried on into the ground at high speed, hitting nose first, the prop blades, and motor/gearbox seems to be fine! I was expecting to see just dust.....

Cheers
Andy

I'd be interested to see the inside of the centre section it looks full of fresh air, did you tape the outer panels on?

I'll bring the remains with me on thursday night for all to see.

The wing is hollow moulded though. There is the main spar inside (looks like hardwood with beefy carbon caps, and wrapped in carbon too) and a rear spar (vertical grain balsa with carbon caps). Other than that, it is hollow. The wingskins are a glass/Herex/glass sandwich. So the spar takes all the bending loads, and the skins take all the torsional loads. It looks like Flutter of the flaps has caused the centre section to simply destroy itself, which meant a complete loss of torsional rigidity, and the outer panels were then free to twist and turn, and ultimately come off. The outer panels probably twisted and the joiner box failed (split) which is when they ejected themselves. They were taped on with about 9" of diamond tape.

I think the outer panels are repairable, and the rear fuselage is too. The centre panel is a write off, and I think the nosecone is too.....

Andy

OWWWW thats a shokker!, bad luck Andy, but you see there is such a thing as to fast!

M

The thing is, I have had that model going a fair bit quick than that. The dive from the top of a climb was quick, but not excessively quick!

You should see what it has done to the flap linkages though. 3mm steel rod bent like a banana!

Andy

Got the old aching ribs from some great combat as the lift died away photo courtesy of Steve Dorling

Just had teh quote back through for the spare bits for my Graphite

Centre wing section, £319. Nose section - £43.

So assuming I mend the outer panel joiner boxes, and the fuselage, that's £364 to get it back in the air. The whole airframe only cost me £450! and a new one is £650 now... Hmmmm....

Andy