Flying Updates

June 11th 1998 After getting the K&B .040 BB ABC engine to run smoothly, the plane was flown on 6/11/98 and then exhibited very strange control responses to aileron input. While the plane was being landed by my flight instructer I noticed an excessive amount of dihedral. The wing half joiners (consisting of steel rods inside of brass tubes) had become dislodged from the light balsa surroundings. The wing will have to be repaired with epoxy and a plywood joiner. Any owners of this popular trainer may want to check this out prior to the next flight. You may not be as lucky as I was!!! June 15th 1998 After talking with tech support @ Horizon Hobby, it was determined that my wing was one the early examples with light-weight balsa in the joiner area. The new Easy 2's do not have this problem and an updated wing is on it's way. Great customer service!!!
June 26th 1998 After receiving the replacement wing on 6/23, I promptly CA'ed the wing joiner area and then epoxied the wing halves together. The plane was the flown on a windy afternoon and the aileron response was noticebly quicker. The plane was flown the second time by my instructer John and we decided to leave due to the wind. Then IT happened... The plane was landed and as I was cleaning it up for the day, I noticed that the lower area of the firewall was severely fractured. John (with 25yrs experience) took it home and laminated the lower firewall with plywood and replaced the nosegear strut mounting brackets with two high quality units. Angle stock balsa was epoxied to both sides of the firewall, front and back included. The plane was buttoned up and will be re-assembled shortly. I recommend beefing up the firewall area before it fails. An additional modification was made by replacing the flimsy balsa control rods with hardwood dowel rods. These rods are much stiffer and it was a total of $2.00! Hopefully the future offers less fixing and more flying!!!!
ARF IMPRESSIONS: The overall build quality of this ship is decent, but the included hardware is mediocre. With a minimal cash outlay, I have replaced the tires, main landing gear, nose gear brackets, fuel tank, clevises, control rods,and spinner. Not all of these improvements are mandatory, but they do offer peace of mind and enhanced airworthiness. I feel the minimal effort of retro-fitting an ARF model is an appealing alternative to building if the person is new and wants to get in the air sooner. This method will be the catalyst to continuing (or not) in the hobby. Building experience is gained gradually while the ARF owner makes the above improvements and allows that individual to accumulate the needed tools and be flying at the same time. In my case, it has sparked the desire to build a plane in the future.