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A very bad day at the office


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Here They Are for your enjoyment!
Before anyone remarks about the proximity of dwellings near the crash site, please be aware this was taken with a long lens which shortens the prospective, in other words the house is a long long way away!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Regards
John Bowman








Edited By JOHN BOWMAN on 19/03/2011 21:35:51

Edited By JOHN BOWMAN on 19/03/2011 21:36:29

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Terrific pictures, John.
 
What a terrible shame - you have my commiserations Timbo - we've all been there - and those who haven't will (or have poor memories) but it doesn't help much at the time. I find it much harder to take if an equipment failure that genuinely couldn't have been foreseen is the cause like in this case - much easier to give yourself a mental kicking for dumb thumbing....
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Thats a sad day all that work lost.
Yesterday I also had a bad day. After being unfit to get out for the past month I finaly went to the strip only to find that the farmers tractor driver had driven over the strip with a slurry spreader and left ruts 4" deep then gone round in circles and created a crater nearly a foot deep, he even dropped the electric fence to do it.
What makes this personal is the fact that I have done most of the mowing for the club over the past 6 years, with that and the efforts of other members working on the fence the strip was realy good.
As I had only taken an electric glider an a Swift wing I decided to have a go and, you guessed, broke both
I have to keep reminding myself that we do this for Fun
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How far away is the Rhyl Skytower in the background terrific pics JB you had my commiserations at the field Tim, hope the pains on the wane.
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Oh you poor bloke- that's really bad, and the PC-9 looked gorgeous. So sorry mate.
Did you check your UBEC yet in the workshop?
 
Don't know what else to say, it can happen to us all, but 3 in one day, that's incredibly bad luck. Stay positive, it isn't always like this is it?
 
Matt
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I have checked the UBEC, and also spent all morning analyzing data from the inflight data recorder which was fitted for both flights. Its very telling, and although geeky, very interesting to watch the PC replay of the systems during flight.
I have also spotted a physical issue which may well reveal the cause, but until my investigation is complete.... I'll keep quiet.
I will create a new thread for the post mortem, so anyone interested in helping with the diagnosis ( and I will appreciate all input ) watch out for that later today.
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Following a little good news this morning from my home insurance company who have agreed to payout for my house roof repairs following recent storms - I have taken the plunge and ordered its replacement.
Found a retailer (Brentford RC ) doing it for a very reasonable £189, seem quick off the mark too, as I have just had an email to say its already been shipped
I decided to get the exact same version because......
1) It was a very nice model and showed great potential.
2) All the major mechanical and electrics survived, so I have the retracts and powertrian ready to fit. Most importantly, all the work I did modifying the rear end to make it removable and independent of the fuselage ( servos repositioned into the tail area ) also survived with just one broken tailplane half - which as you can see, I have already repaired with foam, balsa, and C/F rod. Shouldn't be too hard to find some matching covering, and then its simply a case of modifying the tail end of fuse, fitting the threaded inserts, and this original section should then bolt straight onto it.

 
Now, controversially perhaps, I plan on fitting the exact same electrical system as in the original, so for discussion on that decision, and to possibly sway that decision see HERE.

Edited By Tim Mackey - Administrator on 30/03/2011 15:53:24

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Actually, its probably very close Steve. However, i wont actually need any blue - just red and white, and I have several rolls of different shades of both. If push comes to shove, I could just re-do the whole tail red and white areas.
I shall of course, simply use the new elevator from the kit to fit to this tail end.
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Sorry to hear all that Tim, especially the F-18. But with as many years model experience, i'm sure it won't grind you down.
 
Does it make me feel better about my 4 write offs in 9 months...... NOPE, worse because it's happened to somebody that CAN fly !!
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  • 2 weeks later...
Tim - sorry to scratch old wounds but I came across a reader's letter in the February 2009 RCME and wondered if it might provide the answer to the strange mystery of your failed solder joint.
 
It's in the "All Write" section of readers letters - a letter from Richard Burfoot entitled "Gold Standard" and raises the issue of what he calls "Gold Embrittlement Failure". The circumstances he describes seem to bear a marked resemblance to what you discovered, so for what it's worth you might care to look up the letter and see if it is the real answer to what happened.
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RW - I remember the letter, and also the very mixed response it got both in the mag, and the forum. Many people dismiss the idea, claiming that over many years, they had never ever experienced it.
Mr Burfoot also mentioned that GEF only occurs after several weeks or even months of usage, and my connectors had only been fitted a matter of days.
Anyway, thanks for pointing it out
PS - Replacement PC9 has arrived, and is in the queue of unopened boxes, so should be flying again fairly soon - this time with 6mm Gold connectors.
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