karl grey Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Well it finnaly happened this weekend after nearly a year off flying. Crashed my newly recovered Great Planes Super Sportser saturday while trying to practice bunts. First flight of the day was fine and even managed a decent landing with the model. Over lunch, we decided it wasa time to start learning maneuvers for the clubman routine so decided to try the bunt. Took of and climbed to a safe height then rolled to inverted and pulled some inside loops to warm up. Staying inverted i went for the outside roll still at a decent height. First one was untidy as i wasn't quiet level as i fed in down elevator but it went round. Went around in a circuit and lined up for the second attempt and as before rolled to inverted and fed in down elevator and over she went in the loop, better than the first. Round again for a third try. Rolled to inverted as before, fed in a bit of down to hold level. Fed in more throttle and started to feed in more down but the model didn't respond and instead dropped the nose and headed for terra firma. More throttle and more elevator and still nothing, to late to roll out and pull back and watched her hit the deck inverted at about 60 degrees dive. Came to the conclusion the nylon clevis on the elevator gave up as when we retreived the model the push rod and elevator horn were not connected but the retainer was still in place on the clevise. Damage done was not to bad. Firewall detached and wing mount broke. Engine still in one bit just needs a clean up. It looks worse than it is as it's all clean breaks. Will be back in the air soon but with metal clevises replaced on control surfaces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 That's why you shouldn't use nylon clevis. Some Artf kits with plastic clevis are som bad, they won't even stay closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl grey Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 I agree with you Paul, recently built the seagull yak which came with good metal clevesis apart from 2 for the stab support rods which were so bad they wouldn't close, replaced theses with good quality ones. Didn't occur to me at the time to replace the sportster clevises, lesson learnt though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 One problem with nylon clevises is that they can seem fine at first, but they "age" quite quickly. The pin seems to weaken. So if you do use them - and I have done so on the odd lightly duty model, though I prefer metal - then you really need to keep an eye on them for "wear". If you are going to start practising aerobatics and putting more stress on the model then I really would swop them out for metal clevises - much better. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Do watch out for mis-matched threads with metal clevises too Karl......some are American threads & these can seem to fit M2 rods OK but are in fact a very loose fit & will pull off at the slightest provocation......caveat emptor!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Bad luck Carl........welcome to the elite band of fliers that have had a crash ( that's all of us mate). This might help...........along with a nice cool beer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flight1 Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Hay Cymaz a least it was his own plane to become one of those 'elite' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Missed a good flying session on Sunday ,flight1, you were invited!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flight1 Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 yea my answer machine is currently behind a good few sheets of plasterboard .did not know until this afternoon .the way it goes anyway I was still sulking from the day before! Edited By flight1 on 10/06/2013 19:52:16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl grey Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 I've made a start on the repairs and with a bit of luck it will be fit for this weekend. Firewall all back in place, just need to refit the engine cowl forward from the firewall then rebuild the wing mount and lower fairing. Engine stripped down and cleaning in progress. Hope you've made a start on your sukhoi Flight1, that was not a good afternoon for the both off us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flight1 Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 I have ot even looked at it, I will need to make time. i think you will be finnishd before I get started, even though I got less to do me thinks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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