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Post by thevon on Aug 23, 2008 15:49:41 GMT 10
Ah well, I've smashed up my Wizard. There, I've said it. It makes me feel so bad I didn't want to post anything about it. We had a good time DSing although the conditions were fairly mild. I had a good fly with the Wizard, fully ballasted, but only maxed about 95mph. Lovely on the frontside too, great smooth aerobatics. After about 40mins of flying I did my usual landing trick of a gentle crash landing into the lantana hedge along the top of the slope. It's a really hard place to land, but this method has been good for me. Good approach, flaps down, a bit high, I thought I should pull up flaps and go around again but it dropped a bit. I'm a bit blurry about what happened then but it was a moment of indecision as it crossed over the lantana hedge on the lip. I thought it was going to drop in but it floated gently over the top. Which would have been fine on a normal slope except that I was standing behind a 2.5metre tall wall of lantana and suddenly Oh, Sh## I can't see it! I bolted over to a gap, pulling on camber in the hope it would track and climb but there was a huge clatter and crash and when I got to the gap it was up in a tree. Tricky climb up then back through difficult lantana, now with Ezza and Sean (who heard the bang) scrubbashing down to help.
It has two major fuse breaks, the V-tail ripped off. The wing looks OK but it actually has some bad damage - part of the main panel has delaminated and has lost its rigidity. And the trailing edge has broken away, but Ez reckons that's easy to fix.
I need a plane-fixer like some people need a house cleaner.
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Post by jirvin4505 on Aug 23, 2008 16:19:26 GMT 10
Ouch....that hurts Andrew. What an opportunity (always positive  a chance to further develop your composite skills. You'll have it going in no time. It'll be heavier......faster ;D aside.... I keep wondering what would be suitable for the DS siopes you like to frequent? A little time with a phil Barnes DVD and some bagging gear reckon you and the gang could turn out something similar to this... members.cox.net/jbailey19/MDS/www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=653168www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=613054The windsock group build project?? Focus Jeff.. Andrew is grieving.. Anyway I can help you get it back together let me know. cheers Jeff |
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Post by sean on Aug 23, 2008 18:56:56 GMT 10
Hey Andrew,
Such a shame to see the Wizard damaged today, but I'm sure that once it's fixed it'll fly just as well as it ever did.
Lemontree was a bit ugly today, quite rough on the back except for a few occassions when the wind died down, and then it wasn't very fast. It's a really hard place to land, gets turbulent a couple of metres off the ground, when you get below the line of the lantana. My Bird and Erwin survived some pretty nasty landings, including a cartwheel for the Erwin. Was lucky to get away with it this time. Westerly winds are bad news for moldies!
Eric and I went up to Wild Horse later in the arvo but it was almost dead-calm, only flew the JW, and it couldn't even maintain height.
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Post by skyboyken on Aug 23, 2008 21:02:04 GMT 10
Jeff,
you're such a tease!
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Post by ezza on Aug 23, 2008 21:07:26 GMT 10
It is a lottery ticket when landing at Lemon trees. Once you commit to landing, there are no second chances. You don't know if it will be smooth, your gunna get rolled, land really hard, clip a piece of lantana and spin, or in Andrews case, spat back out onto the front with no lift. Like Jeff said, it will be stronger, heavier and fly just as good as she did today. If you like you could bring the Wizard over to my shed next weekend after the comp and we could have a bit of a working bee on her.  Eric |
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Post by skyboyken on Aug 23, 2008 21:07:51 GMT 10
Very sorry to hear it Andrew, I'm confident it will be and fly good as new though. Here's why: When I flew my X Pro into my leg I did the following damage: - opened the leading edge, cracked and damaged the skin behind the LE - tore the skin top and bottom at the rear edge of one joiner box, and - softened the skin between the LE and the joiner box. A little care and a little CA, plus a little advice from Jeff and she's flying as good as new! So take your time, do it with care and she'll be fine.  Ken. |
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a chance to further develop your composite skills. You'll have it going in no time. It'll be heavier......faster ;D
