Landing gear Fix after wreck

[crashedagain]

This is the undercarriage. Notice the Brace-bar is a harder wood than the balsa. I thought this might handle a rough landing better than the balsa wood.

Another view of the whole thing

This is the stance of the SC with the new set-up

A side view of the battery box, rebuilt with Balsa. I wrecked it in a full throttle nosedive. Hopefully this can stand up to my reckless flying.

Here is the binding method for joining the two pieces of Music Wire. I think the size was 3/32 wire.

A reinforced Wing Seat. I still have some sanding and painting to do... or maybe I'll forget the painting and have more fun flying it. (if it flies at all)

[SCC]

Hi Colin.
Great pics and descriptions. Neat job on the windings.

[crashedagain]

Thanks SCC. It was my first major fix on the SC. It worked well. But I had some rough landings and i realised that balsa wood was not a good replacement for the undercarriage. i never realised how beat up it can get under there. Anyways, here are a LOAD of pics to show my 2nd overhaul of the Undercarriage. I hope this one works. (Caution... there are LOADS of read-along pics with this thread. Peruse if you have the time.)

Notice that the Plastic tie-down/Screw-down thingies are missing. This is where i realised that the Balsa wood was not a good choice for this project. This was after a day of flying (maybe 6 landings)


I removed the complete undercarriage and drew out the lines where I would begin a new cutaway.


Here is the piece of wood i would form to fit into the cutaway foam. It was much harder than the balsa and ... heavier too *sigh*.


The foam, completely cutaway. i tried to be as neat as possible.


The replacement wood, all cutaway to accommodate the battery box. I had to use a jigsaw for this part. It took a lot of filing away and carving to get it just right.


The battery cover liner next to the replacement wood. Notice the notched out holes on the wood; this is so that the indentations from the plastic liner can recess into the wood smoothly.



This is how it all lined up.


And here it is on the body of the plane.



The project went smoothly since i had done it once before (with the balsa). However, my dumb moment came i reconnected the motor and accidentally switched the connectors (If you asking if I am color blind, the answer is YES). When the prop went on and i opened up the throttle, the plane backed up like i never thought it could!!! ;D i got a small crunch on the elevator, but nothing that can harm the dynamics of the plane.

My only concern is that it added about 1oz to the weight of the plane. Do you think this is a great cause for concern? I am trying to overlook it due to the fact that someone mounted a Sony DSC-P100 Digital Camera and their plane still flew. So I hope the stock 480 motor can handle it. I will keep you informed on how the flights go. Its another windy day in Metro-Detroit, so I'll have to wait. Although, with this stiffer landing gear, and a the prop saver i just put on, i am feeling pretty invincible. ;D

Laters all
Colin.

Check out the PROP thread for the home made prop saver.

[mrmugen]

I have to say that is the most duct tape I ever saw on a SC! You win!

[crashedagain]

LOL . That was a SC setup for transport. I swear, i don;t fly it that way... the duct tape was just holding it together so i could take it to the field. Anyways... Send me a pic of your Ski setup for your cub. I want to see how to rig up my own. If you ever want to get away from all the snow and just spend some time in the windy-cold, come down to detroit... a 4 bedroom place with lots of room for you... and you can build me some skis while you're here.

[mrmugen]

Ski's are very simple. Heck I would feel like a fool to come and deliver one set of dubro park flier ski's and expect good treatment....lol. I may get down there to watch a few Red Wing games....may have to give you a shout while we are down there. I always bring a plane or 2 for road trips.

[duck9191]

^^ im sensing a super cub/red wing get together lol. im trying to get down to a few games, we should all meet up.

[aek42]

Crashedagain,

The battery box cover and the bottom of the fuselage are curved. The battery box is shorter in back to accomadate the curve. How did you get a flat wood plate to replace a curved section?

Alan in MD

[crashedagain]

Well, what you can't see is the box inside of the plane. From the outside, the box looks perfect. On the inside, the box sits a bit cockeyed due to the curvature (or lack thereof.) I wasn't concerned with the inside as much, cuz i needed to maintain the aerodynamic flow on the outside. Its a time consuming project if you're looking to make it a perfect fit. Did you break your batt.-box also?
-Colin

[aek42]

Colin,

I didn't break the battery box, but the foam ledges it sits on were cracked and bendable. I gobbed the whole area of the ledges, inside and out, with 5 min epoxy. While it was wet, I inserted epoxied toothpick sections, horizontally, from outside, into the ledges, for support. This seems very stong now, and I hope this action will prevent the battery box from breaking through the bottom, which is a very weak area. Not that I expect to crash the dear thing again...
I liked your pictures a lot.
Alan