rebuilding the extra 260 after a crash broke off the tail section.
06-06-2015, 10:40 PM
#1
love to build!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: nj usa
Posts: 3,693
rebuilding the extra 260 after a crash broke off the tail section.
i was motivated by my friend nigel here at watt flyer who does amazing repair work with balsa or foam,and began to repair the extra 260 36"ws i was going to bin but held off for some reason. glad i did, especially after the company i ordered it from originally screwed around with my order and never had it in stock.
the condition after the crash was considerable damage to the fuse behind the root wings and behind the cockpit canopy cover. the tail section was completely off and the bits and pieces were to small to fit together like a puzzle. so i had to measure the distances required and cut pieces of balsa sheeting to replace the sides of the fuse and connect the tail solid again. i also had to make new servo openings in the tail section for the elevator and rudder servos. a really good thing was the canopy and motor vowel were not badly damaged.
next up was to re-glue balsa ribs cracked in one wing tip and drip some ca down the leading edge to strengthen it as i believe it may have been cracked but couldn't be sure. the wings are straight and look strong.
i just have to finish stripping some old covering,do a smoothing out of repairs and then recover the fuse in white mono coat[or ultracoat]. the motor survived the impact, the crash was more on the wing and the fuse snapped behind the cockpit canopy so i have the motor ready to reinstall. all this may get done tonight since the windy day allowed me time to putts around in the workshop today. got a lot done on the quad and the extra. certainly can't complain.
heres a few pictures,the weight gain is a bit much, but if you could see this bird fly with the 35-30-1400kv motor on 2200mah 3 cell using a 10x8 prop,you would gasp t the vertical climb speed and roll rate was incredible. if i loose a little of that i will still love this lil bird.
the condition after the crash was considerable damage to the fuse behind the root wings and behind the cockpit canopy cover. the tail section was completely off and the bits and pieces were to small to fit together like a puzzle. so i had to measure the distances required and cut pieces of balsa sheeting to replace the sides of the fuse and connect the tail solid again. i also had to make new servo openings in the tail section for the elevator and rudder servos. a really good thing was the canopy and motor vowel were not badly damaged.
next up was to re-glue balsa ribs cracked in one wing tip and drip some ca down the leading edge to strengthen it as i believe it may have been cracked but couldn't be sure. the wings are straight and look strong.
i just have to finish stripping some old covering,do a smoothing out of repairs and then recover the fuse in white mono coat[or ultracoat]. the motor survived the impact, the crash was more on the wing and the fuse snapped behind the cockpit canopy so i have the motor ready to reinstall. all this may get done tonight since the windy day allowed me time to putts around in the workshop today. got a lot done on the quad and the extra. certainly can't complain.
heres a few pictures,the weight gain is a bit much, but if you could see this bird fly with the 35-30-1400kv motor on 2200mah 3 cell using a 10x8 prop,you would gasp t the vertical climb speed and roll rate was incredible. if i loose a little of that i will still love this lil bird.
06-09-2015, 01:19 PM
#2
Super Contributor
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Ex UK Brit now in Latvia west coast - Ventspils
Posts: 12,916
Hi Stu ....
Nice to see you having a go ... as you no doubt found as you work - you see or understand ways you can get around problems. What looks daunting at first soon changes to ... If I do this, then I can ....
One of the ways to keep weight down is to use thinner balsa for structural and face with foam such as thin Depron to give stiffness / bulk. Of course cutting out lightening holes helps as well.
If I have a rib in a wing that is shattered but still with parts in place ... then again foam comes to the rescue to keep weight down. A part rib in foam slid into place against the broken rib still in place and bingo !
My wife watched amazed when I inserted LE rib parts to my Extra using bamboo skewers ... Instead of opening up wing and covering ... I removed the broken / loose bits of ribs ... then starting with the furthest inside the wing inserted depron ribs by sticking on point of the bamboo skewer and then carefully manoeuvring into place. Doing each rib in turn till I got to the root. No-one would ever know that wing was smashed internally !
Use of foam along with thin balsa or lite-ply meant my weight only changed a small amount.
Brilliant ... good job Stu .... Pity I'm not nearer to you - I would have offered my Laser machine to help.
Lets see if any others jump on the repair wagon ...
Nigel
Nice to see you having a go ... as you no doubt found as you work - you see or understand ways you can get around problems. What looks daunting at first soon changes to ... If I do this, then I can ....
One of the ways to keep weight down is to use thinner balsa for structural and face with foam such as thin Depron to give stiffness / bulk. Of course cutting out lightening holes helps as well.
If I have a rib in a wing that is shattered but still with parts in place ... then again foam comes to the rescue to keep weight down. A part rib in foam slid into place against the broken rib still in place and bingo !
My wife watched amazed when I inserted LE rib parts to my Extra using bamboo skewers ... Instead of opening up wing and covering ... I removed the broken / loose bits of ribs ... then starting with the furthest inside the wing inserted depron ribs by sticking on point of the bamboo skewer and then carefully manoeuvring into place. Doing each rib in turn till I got to the root. No-one would ever know that wing was smashed internally !
Use of foam along with thin balsa or lite-ply meant my weight only changed a small amount.
Brilliant ... good job Stu .... Pity I'm not nearer to you - I would have offered my Laser machine to help.
Lets see if any others jump on the repair wagon ...
Nigel
06-10-2015, 04:28 AM
#3
love to build!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: nj usa
Posts: 3,693
thanks Nigel,
i have to admit the repair was far simpler then the one you did and i still have to redo the magnets for the canopy. if they don't hold strong ,if i have to i will replace them with a spring latch. i know i have a old one somewhere but i need to realign the magnets better.the magnets do hold but i want to hear that solid "click" when they touch.
the fuse actually came out a 1/8" to a 1/4" shorter and i had to trim the canopy by that much to get it to fit
. it was a simple trial and error,or trial and success when figure ring out how to refasten the tail .all the stringers were broken in pieces so there was more of a "how it looks by eye" fitting the tail back on.
any added weight is no problem since this plane is way over powered and i'v increased all the aileron ,rudder,elevator throws to maximum. thats the way i like flying all my planes. rarely do i down the throws with duel rate switch....even during landing. heres a few pictures of the progress and should get to fly it this weekend for sure. i was really going to miss this plane since it is with out a doubt the best lil windy day flyer. when other buds are hanging around grounded,i fly the [email protected] out of this bird. hummm,explains why i crash her...lol.
i have to admit the repair was far simpler then the one you did and i still have to redo the magnets for the canopy. if they don't hold strong ,if i have to i will replace them with a spring latch. i know i have a old one somewhere but i need to realign the magnets better.the magnets do hold but i want to hear that solid "click" when they touch.
the fuse actually came out a 1/8" to a 1/4" shorter and i had to trim the canopy by that much to get it to fit
. it was a simple trial and error,or trial and success when figure ring out how to refasten the tail .all the stringers were broken in pieces so there was more of a "how it looks by eye" fitting the tail back on.any added weight is no problem since this plane is way over powered and i'v increased all the aileron ,rudder,elevator throws to maximum. thats the way i like flying all my planes. rarely do i down the throws with duel rate switch....even during landing. heres a few pictures of the progress and should get to fly it this weekend for sure. i was really going to miss this plane since it is with out a doubt the best lil windy day flyer. when other buds are hanging around grounded,i fly the [email protected] out of this bird. hummm,explains why i crash her...lol.
