Bob Archbold Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Well thats the Glasair done for,,,,,, A catastrophic crash due to what would appear to be a servo problem and on only my second session at the field... First flight of the evening absolutely fine.... Second flight - plane takes off, climbs steeply, wing over and plumments to earth... Wing snapped, spinner, prop, cowl, fuselage bulkhead and nose wheel all goosed!!!!!!! On close examination it would appear that there was a servo malfunction in so much as I found one aileron to have dropped by 6mm..... On getting home I noticed that the servo arm is in a completely different place to the other and on reconnecting the battery etc. the servo didn't re-centre itself..... Anyone out there had or know of a similar problem? Well was that just a fleeting return to the flying field? did a £65 crash put me off? No way, spares ordered... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Wright Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Sorry to haer about the crash Bob,...did you examine the plane after firt flight of the evening? It sounds as if the damage is quite major...I did not know you could get spares..thats good to know! What did you have to replace? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Archbold Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 Hi Mi.hael! Oh just a few bits and pieces... spinner, prop, engine mount, fuselage, undercarriage, wing.. you know, just a few superficial bits......... II did check the plane over after the first fkight and all seemed well but this servo problem has got me stumped, it works fine but is in the wrong position. Hmm... £65 gone but hey ho.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 I bet a new kit was cheaper that the combined price of spares. Could the servo arm have slipped on the splines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bennett Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 If your servo works okay, but is in a different position from when you set it up, it could mean that one of the gears has lost one or two teeth, which has allowed the potentiometer which registers its position to slip. If you unscrew the casing and take the top off you should be able to see if any teeth are damaged anywhere. Depending on the servo brand, you can often get replacement gear sets. Another remote possibility is that the servo was assembled incorrectly in the first place, with the gear that's supposed to be fixed in position by a flat on its shaft not registered properly, and it's now slipped into its proper registration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Archbold Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 Well, the combined cost of the replacement aprts is £65 compared with the NORMAL current selling price of around £160 (RRP £199.50p), On the other hand paid £125 as I think someone had cocked up the advert in the magazine so the loss isn't too great....... I'm thinking positive here. When I assembled the model the linkages weren't correctly set and I re-adjusted them. This was all three control surfaces. the rudder was pointing left the elevator pointing up and one of the ailerons was out as well. On top of that one of the servo horns wasn't perpendicular to control rod etc. She flew absolutely beuautifully for the first four flights. And the fifth and then..... I haven't started to strip the model yet as I thought it best to wait until the new fuselage and wing arrives to do the 'Transplants'.... I will do a thorough check when I strip the parts out. I'm pretty peeved about the incident as I know it wasn't 'pilot error' but hey ho there is more to worry about in life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Laughton Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Are you sure that you used the right servo arm? I read somewhere that is you used another manufacturers servos arms (different to the servo manufacturere itself) you can get that problem and it is an increasing problem which could explain the ok first flight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Archbold Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 Well, theglasair comes pre-assembled; just a minimum to do. So, all of the radio gear was in place, just not correctly adjusted......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Wright Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Bob, I had the same issue with mine...when I conected power to the model I had to ajust the rudder, and elevator at the push rods!...once in the air it took four clicks of up elevatoer to fly hands off..re-ajusted after that flight at push rod again....keep going mate..we all bend 'erm eventually!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Archbold Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 Oh, I've got no intention of giving up, I did that fourty years ago... No, I have ordered the replacement parts and will perform the surgery as soon as the new body parts arrive. Anyway, I've got the ASW28 and Sbach to look forward to... Mmmm..... What really peeved me was the way the elastic band retainers caused so much damaged. I'm tempted to reduce the six bands to four and / or fit some wider bands if available... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Archbold Posted July 12, 2013 Author Share Posted July 12, 2013 Just a quick note to Michael Wright All of the spare parts have arrived from Wheelspin Models and a great service they provide, The fuselage and wing have all of the cutouts ready to accept the servos, receiver and esc etc. Should make the rebuild quite painless; lets just hope that all goes well on the return to the flying field....... My god, just think how long it would have taken to rebuild a balsa model.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Wright Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Thanks for the 'heads up' Bob, that will help if and when I bounce mine!...cheers!!..are you going to post some pics of the re-build?...we would all ove to see those as it will help others greatly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Archbold Posted July 15, 2013 Author Share Posted July 15, 2013 Hi Michael No exciting photos and nothing to repodisappointeder than the rebuild is complete but for a new prop, I ordered the wrong one... I must say that the quality is really good, everything transplanted amazingly well... not one swear word uttered. I do have one minor complaint and that is that Hobbyzone could do with painting the side cabin windows on their spare fuselage. It seems rediculous to have to look for a colour that matches the windscreen... check out the photos on the Wheelspin Models web site if you want a look... Anyway, hopefully airbourne again in a few days time. Anyone thinking of trying the Glasair will not be disappointed in any way. It flies beautifully and crashes even better! I will post an update after its second maiden flight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Wright Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Nice to hear you are almost ready for round 2...we are all waiting with baited breath!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Hoolahan Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Bob, that's interesting. I also have a Glassair Sportsman and flew it half a dozen times or so with an instructor (but not with a buddy lead). Then I tried to take off one day when it was a bit blustery, and the plane flipped over and crashed. Bent prop, broken cowl, and worst of all - rubber band lacerations I put it down to a combination of wind gusts from the side and pilot error (or stupidity). But the interesting thing is that on repairing it, one of the ailerons was way out of line, and I had to remove the arm from the splines on the servo and reposition it. I wonder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Archbold Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hi Geoff! Oh dear, touche then.... I have rebuilt her and she flies as straight as a dye but the wings were shettered by the elastic bands. I now but one diagonally and two back to front incase of a similar incident. As far as I can see the V.I should not have allowed our incidents to happen..... but that dropped elevator.....hmmmmmm... I am going to fit a standard receiver soon as the V.I prevents rolls and inverted flight, even when switched off... they should ban flying aids you know...ha! LOL... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Archbold Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hi Geoff! Oh dear, touche then.... I have rebuilt her and she flies as straight as a dye but the wings were shettered by the elastic bands. I now but one diagonally and two back to front incase of a similar incident. As far as I can see the V.I should not have allowed our incidents to happen..... but that dropped elevator.....hmmmmmm... I am going to fit a standard receiver soon as the V.I prevents rolls and inverted flight, even when switched off... they should ban flying aids you know...ha! LOL... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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