Freewing MIG 15

Today the MIG flew very well indeed. After a gentle underarm launch from Tim, the model climbed quite quickly, at half throttle it flew level with no stick inputs. After a couple of circuits, I decided to do a "lazy eight", turn back into wind and land. Unfortunately, half way through the "eight", due to my enthusiasm at flying a model again, I completely for got to check the Sun's position, as the model rolled slightly right, it vanished completely. I shut the throttle, the ensuing silence was interrupted by a dull thud somewhere on the opposite side of the runway. The destruction is almost total. Battery destroyed (its in the barbecue), the fan casing is in three parts and the rotor has no blades, immaterial as the motor doesn't turn anyway. The main ply support for the battery and elevator servo was split from end to end. The wings are off, and the fuselage is not only wrinkly, it is also a good bit shorter and consists of several misshapen parts. On the good side, I like to think that the work I did on sanding out the pimples in the tailpipe and cutting cheat holes in the fuselage did make a difference, especially as it seemed to be flying quite quickly on about half throttle. Most encouraging is the fact that the model can be launched underarm, and literally "flew straight off the board". I think I might get another one.

That's a real shame to loose a new plane so quickly, sounds like it's beyond resurrection using the boiling water trick. Definitely get another one.

Sorry to see it in bits. Hurry Up Brian before they go out of stock again, possibly after this weekend.....

Ordered a replacement fuselage from Motion RC, unfortunately no 64mm edf in stock. Fortunately found one on FleaBay, even more fortunately, half the price! Taking a second look at the wreckage, I think that replacing the foam "strut" in the air intake was not a good idea after all. If I'd left it in place, it would have cushioned the battery, and it would have stiffened up the front end too, so the short fuselage is probably my fault. At least I can get a working rudder organised while I wait for the replacement fus.

This morning I gave the Mig's fuselage front end a spot of steam treatment. Considering how much the foam had been compressed, the result after about half an hour of steaming and tugging is quite encouraging. I've made some foam plastic formers to hold the fuselage in shape while the epoxy cures. Before I glue it, I'm going to steam it some more with an oversized
EPO foam bung shoved into the intake duct. Hopefully this will recover to fairly close to the original shape. At the moment the nose ring is a fairly loose fit.Making the nose profile slightly oversize will allow it to sit snugly. I hope.

Thumbs up to your "sticking with it" attitude to try and fix the damn thing. Hopefully we should see it fly again by Sunday.