Back to Basics

I'm paying the penalty for sneaking out to fly this morning. I should've set up the Panic's servos properly, instead of leaving everything at 100%. However, today's "hard landing" has had a good outcome. I stripped the covering on the underside of the top wing. There was an area of broken balsa sheet, and a patch of fibreglass tape which had begun to peel off. Lifting the covering away from the damaged area showed that a lot more work was needed than I had thought. In its past, the Panic had had a severe bump in the same area, the fibreglass tape had been epoxied on to cover two oblong holes which must've been pushed in by the ply wing mount "pylon". Not only was the sheet damaged, but local to the holes, the main spar was broken and the shear webs were just small unconnected bits. Fortunately the tail was an easy "re-assemble and glue" exercise. It was a nice ragged break with all the bits present, and painting the area with plenty of aliphatic glue had things together very quickly. The wing will need a new piece of main spar spliced in, new shear web fitted, and some repair profiles for the damaged ribs to support the new sheet covering.

As they say Brian, everything happens for a reason.
Looks as though the Panic wanted you to discover its guilty secrets today rather than be subjected to a catastrophic crash in the future. Phew! I would definitely buy a lottery ticket if I were you this week Brian.

Simon, if I win the lottery, I'll ......... be quite surprised. Perhaps I'll buy a ticket on the off chance.
This morning looked OK for a bit of Panic re-building, got the area to be re-sheeted all prepped with support tabs for the new sheet glued in. Nipped indoors to get on the Internet to find some press studs to replace the ones that are somewhere in a Cashmoor ditch. I visited the Avicraft site to see if they did any spares, unfortunately they didn't, but they did have a download for the Panic Kit. I printed it out, grabbed a mug of coffee and had a look at the Panic's build instructions. Found the recommended press studs and ordered some from eBay (post free!) . While making a note of the CG position and recommended control throws for beginners, I became aware of the sound of rain on the roof window. Panic to get the Panic inside, now hanging up to dry out in front of a fan rescued from a power supply from an old computer. The fan runs continuously and helps to stop the "damp" feeling in colder weather, runs on a 240V/12V adapter. One wing tip on the Panic has bowed in and the press studs are at a funny angle. It looks as though the rib and studs will have to be replaced. Going to be a problem with the covering, with luck it'll lift up and go back into more or less the original position.

Brian - Interesting reading - goes to confirm what horrors can be hidden beneath the skin
of a preowned model of unknown history.
Having now read the instructions your next flight should be a more sedate affair.
Catch up soon.
Colin.

This morning I realised that there wasn't a chance of re-assembling the torn apart covering, especially as a tip rib was knocked out of shape and the covering would have to be removed to get at it. The centre section had been repaired, sheet covering fitted and a piece of lightweight fibreglass cloth stuck over the whole area. I peeled the old covering off the underside of the wing. I found that the original sheet covering had come unstuck in several places, even more fortunate that nothing untoward happened in the air! I sawed off the damaged tip rib, glued up the buckled inner rib and clamped it between two pieces of hardwood engine bearer (scrap box treasure). Made a new tip rib using the old one as a template. The "pop" fasteners are held by two screws as well as epoxy resin, that's a shame as I'll have to cover the tip with the pop fasteners in place, and it might not be quite as neat. The top wing being half stripped made me wonder if I should strip all of it, but I don't know if the Panic will have any more hidden surprises, so I'll just cover the underside. Perhaps the next flight will show up anything else, if not I might re-cover the whole model. I've got some film left from various projects, and as the Panic's original colour scheme was a bit gaudy, having a random pattern might be in keeping.

Damaged inner tip rib.

The upper wing is just about sorted out, only needs covering on the underside. The lower wing seemed to have survived with only minor damage to the covering near the right aileron servo. As it was just a case of cracked covering, I thought I'd do a temporary repair with Sellotape. Unfortunately it turned out to be a bit more complicated than cracked covering. The LE sheet had a "soft patch in amongst the cracks. I noticed that the cracks opened and closed when attempting to bend the wing. Cutting away the covering showed not only damaged LE sheet, but a crack in the lower main spar. I spliced in a new section of balsa and cut away the area of damaged sheet. Hope to complete the patch later on today. The main spar should never have been used, the photo shows the grain running across the spar, I wonder how long it had been like that? The area around the crack was discoloured, so it isn't a new break. Again, fortunately the last "arrival" shook things up just enough to show that something had flexed.

The Panic is now complete apart from one strut fastener. I had enough (just) bits of HobbyKing film to cover the undersides of both wings, didn't have enough for a decent overlap on the LE so I covered the gap with a strip of pink Solarfilm left over from a Flair Giles 202 re-build. The new wing tip is covered in yellow Solartex. All I have to remember now is that the Panic is dark on top and a lot paler underneath, and if I can see a yellow wing tip and the wheels are underneath (where they should be) then the model will be flying the right way up and from right to left. But I will have forgotten that by the time I get the Panic to the field. I have a soft spot for the Panic now , ever since I have flown it for a flight time in excess of my total flight times of the previous two years.

Can we assume it will make another "debut" tomorrow, Monday?

I've just realised Brian, you didn't even break the prop as a result of the Panics unplanned arrival in the ditch last time! By the description of your further refurbishment the repairs haven't really cost you a penny. RESULT!