nose job

[rosamonte]

I occasionally slam my plane into the ground. So far I have slammed my Edge 540 into the ground 4 or 5 time. Although the plane still flies just fine, the nose is getting pretty beat up. Does anyone have a good solution to repairing the nose, and protecting it in the future without adding a lot of weight? Thanks, Justin

[paulg]

You can maybe cut out the foam and replace it. Don't have much experience in that problem.

[rosamonte]

Thanks Paul. Its the result of have little experience and a small flying field. I'm always trying to turn the plane right before I land it.

[Captain Carlton]

Yah...the nose on these can get beat up...mine get chewed up from doing LOW 3D stuff.

[Jimv]

Cut ot the piece that's dented/chewed up and replace it a piece of styrofoam cut from a shipping carton filler. Use a sharp knife or a hot wire to cut the foam. Sand to final shape after the glue has dried. I generally use 5 min epoxy to glue in the replacement piece. I've replaced large sections of the fuselage that way. Covering the lower nose section with some packing tape will help protect it.

[king160woody]

You could also put a very thin peace of flat carbon on the bottom covering the area you keep bashing the ground with....very thin and about the same width of the fuse and glue it on with a small amount of good epoxy...If the carbon fiber is thin enough it will bend around the shape of the fuse....

[bills]

OK guys, I have a question along the same lines. I have been flying my Edge for over a year now and loving every minute of it. Even purchased a simulator to practice the 3D stuff on to help keep the repair bills down, which worked fine until this morning. To make a long story short, I hit the ground hard enough to snap a wing off at the fuse and push the plywood stiffener around the motor mount up and back into the plane about a half inch. Not a pretty sight.:o The wing break is pretty clean and I think can be fixed by cutting small holes in both wings at the I beam spar near the fuse and laminating both sides of the spar and gluing the wing back on. The damage to the nose is going to require some major surgery though. I will need to cut away some of the 1/2" interior foam and the exterior skin foam at the break to expose and repair the balsa frame. Anyone done a repair like this and have any tips?

bills

[Captain Carlton]

Ouch...when the horse is that bad... I normally shoot it. :)

[bills]

Well Captain, that was my first thought too. However, there is at least one and possible more new Airfoils planes on the horizon. I sure like the looks of the new Extra 260 Hybrid and the new Edge 540 would be better but there is no release date yet that I can find. So, in the meantime, as kind of a self punishment for doing things I should have been doing two mistakes high, I will do the repairs. It also builds character I am told.:D

bills

[rosamonte]

Well Captain, that was my first thought too. However, there is at least one and possible more new Airfoils planes on the horizon. I sure like the looks of the new Extra 260 Hybrid and the new Edge 540 would be better but there is no release date yet that I can find. So, in the meantime, as kind of a self punishment for doing things I should have been doing two mistakes high, I will do the repairs. It also builds character I am told.:D

bills

I haven't had a wing break off yet, but I have snapped the fuselage in half twice. Both times I thought about gluing it together and letting my kids play with it, but when I was done putting it back together it seemed solid. The second time a crashed and broke it in half it broke about an inch in front of the last break, so I guess the first mend worked. Anyway, I would keep fixing it until it's too heavy to fly. Regardless, I already purchased my second Airfoilz so I can be ready when the first is out of commission. Justin

[bills]

Justin,
I've got the wing back on and it seems pretty sound. To finish the wing repair I will mix a little epoxy with some microbaloons and add it to the joint between the wing and the fuse and fill a couple of small voids where some foam is missing. I also repaired the broken frame member just back of the motor mount but some of the foam in this area was crushed and needs to be cut out and replaced. I have foam for the interior repair but am having trouble finding the 3mm white Depron that the skin is made of. Even 3DX Hobbies only has the gray 3mm in single sheets. I am sure I can get this plane to fly again and even look almost as good as it did before this mishap. It's actually been kind of fun patching it up. I have heard of people using foam egg cartons or meat trays for small repairs but the Depron must be a little better. What did you use for for your repairs?

bills

[rosamonte]

Hey Bills,
I ran into the same problem you did. However, thinking that the plane would probably never actually fly again, I just put clear packing tape over the holes I had cut in the fuselage. I was pleasantly surprised when the plane actually did fly. If you figure something else out let me please let me know. I would love to replace the tape. It doesn't look great, but it works.

[bills]

Yep, I've used a lot of packing tape myself. Great stuff for foam wings.
The Edge is going to have to set on the shelf for a couple of weeks but when I get back to the repair I'll post how it came out.
I noticed on the 3DX Hobbies site that the new Extra 260 should be out by the end of this month. I'd sure like one of those ::D.

Bill

[Gamma]

Back to the original question: A strip of .5 Oz fiberglass along the bottom. Use Min wax water base poly urathane, instead of epoxy. It's light and strong.

Gamma

[bills]

OK, I've finally had the time to get back to work on the Edge. After repairing the frame, I removed the damaged foam just back of the motor mount using a hobby knife and a razor blade. The damaged area was full height of the fuse and an inch and more wide. For the interior foam I was able to find some half inch packing foam which worked nicely. I found some 3mm Cellfoam 88 for the exterior skin at the LHS and carefully cut and replaced all that I had removed. It took about 2 to 3 hours to repair and actually looks pretty good. From a few steps back the only noticeable thing is a slight color difference of the new foam next to the original. All up weight is about 19 oz according to my old scale. For as bad as it looked it was not that hard to repair so don't head for the trash can to quickly. Only thing left to do now is go fly it.:)
Bill

[rosamonte]

Hey Bill,
It sounds like your repair job is much better looking than mine. I am currently building my second Airfoilz edge 540, but I continue to fix my old one. Each time I make a major repair it seems to hold together. Last week I must have flown it 10+ times without any problems. It is getting pretty ugly and heavy, but it still flies. The first part of this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3NVUG-COqQ) shows the damage that I have inflicted on my plane.

Do you have pics of your repairs?

Justin

[bills]

No, sorry, I didn't take any photos. I wish I had because it's great to see what other people have done, flattens the learning curve a lot.
Justin, the damage to your plane as shown on the video is far beyond what I have done to mine. I can see why it might be getting a little on the heavy and not so pretty side. The only other mishap I have had with my plane other than some not so pretty landings is an unintended tree landing which poked about a 1X2 inch hole in the leading edge of the wing. I have been in this hobby about 3 years now and it still amazes me how a tree can just seem to come out of no where.
How far along are you on the new one?

Bill

[rosamonte]

I just epoxied the wing in place last night. I would have had it done a while ago, but the old one keeps on flying. I have only been at this for about 10 months, so I am still crashing a lot. I'll take as many crashes on the old plane as I can.

[bighead93]

I just epoxied the wing in place last night. I would have had it done a while ago, but the old one keeps on flying. I have only been at this for about 10 months, so I am still crashing a lot. I'll take as many crashes on the old plane as I can.

What is your biggest headache flying? (Why are you crashing);) Before you start pushing the limits of any of the Airfoilz planes...practice them with altitude first!

[rosamonte]

What is your biggest headache flying? (Why are you crashing);) Before you start pushing the limits of any of the Airfoilz planes...practice them with altitude first!

The biggest problem I am having is landing. The area I live in is covered with trees. There are only a few places where I can fly. When I have the opportunity to fly in a nearby park I usually do fine on the landings because I have more of room. However, the park is often full of people (even very early in the morning) so I go to an empty softball field. My crashes generally occur when I do not have a lot of space to set up a good landing, i.e. I turn quickly then try to land. Suggestions?

[bighead93]

The biggest problem I am having is landing. The area I live in is covered with trees. There are only a few places where I can fly. When I have the opportunity to fly in a nearby park I usually do fine on the landings because I have more of room. However, the park is often full of people (even very early in the morning) so I go to an empty softball field. My crashes generally occur when I do not have a lot of space to set up a good landing, i.e. I turn quickly then try to land. Suggestions?

I too had a little problem landing my Edge...I was used to flying other planes and the Edge is a little different. The Edge requires a little speed when landing...I used to float in and I would tip a wing or just kinda fall out of the sky and bounce off the landing gear...this led to a damaged landing gear block...and damage to the nose of the plane. (Thankfully I avoided damaging the motor or prop) I have found that if bring the Edge in a little hot and about 100' out I reduce power to about 1/8 throttle and start gently (VERY GENTLY) nosing her up to slow down and when you get it right...the tires will meet the ground nice and straight. The trick is to keep the speed up right before you touch down...this will prevent the wing tip or the stall. (Just remember to kill the motor when you touch the ground) It really helps to land into the wind...this will give you just a little more lift and help slow the Edge down. With some practice you will be landing at your feet;) It is always best to land on low rates and how much expo are you using?

[msprygada]

The biggest problem I am having is landing. The area I live in is covered with trees. There are only a few places where I can fly. When I have the opportunity to fly in a nearby park I usually do fine on the landings because I have more of room. However, the park is often full of people (even very early in the morning) so I go to an empty softball field. My crashes generally occur when I do not have a lot of space to set up a good landing, i.e. I turn quickly then try to land. Suggestions? If you can learn how to harrier, you can easily land in 30 feet or less. Where I fly, I have lots of room but when I land, I generally only take about the length of my car to land. Where when I first started flying, I would need a lot of space like you do. Now I could fly in a ball diamond quite easily and easily land in the infield. I would do is when you go to your large area to fly where you feel comfortable, to practice landing in a very small area just like your confined field. Then if you get into trouble, you have the space to recover. Then you will have more confidence when you do fly in the confined area. Another thing you could do is if you have a sim, to practice landings on there. It may not be exactly the same as flying but what you need is quick reactions and it will help with that.

Good luck.

[rosamonte]

Thanks Bighead and msprygada.

I am new to this, do you have an video of you landing a la harrier? I'm not sure what a harrier is. Thanks

[bighead93]

Thanks Bighead and msprygada.

I am new to this, do you have an video of you landing a la harrier? I'm not sure what a harrier is. Thanks

I thought that might be too big of a step just yet! A harrier is almost a hover...nose up at about a 45-60 degree angle but you want forward movement. Takes constant adjustment to pull off correctly...a lot of throttle management. The harrier landing would be doing this...and the dropping out of the harrier to the ground smoothly. (I let the tail touch first) This is very easy to do with the help of some wind.

Correct me if this is not right.

[bills]

We had a fine day here yesterday so I had the chance to take the repaired Edge out and give it a try. It flew beautifully. Sure am glad I didn't chuck it in the trash. Thats where I was sure it was going after getting a look at after the crash.

Bill

[rosamonte]

We had a fine day here yesterday so I had the chance to take the repaired Edge out and give it a try. It flew beautifully. Sure am glad I didn't chuck it in the trash. Thats where I was sure it was going after getting a look at after the crash.

Bill

These planes can take a lot. I think it will be a while before I acutally damage mine enough to toss it. Justin