Well do to an unfortunate mishap at the 3DHS FLI event over the weekend I became the owner of one of the prototype 3DHS 70" Slicks. I wish I could say it was flyable but alas it will take a little work and some TLC to resuscitate this beautiful airplane.

Many of you have sent PMs and posted after I have recovered some of the other 3DHS planes with custom schemes and this one will be no different so I thought I would start a thread on the rebuild and covering job of this 70" Slick to share how sopmething like this gets accomplished. I tend to think some of those planes that end up in trash cans may be put there a bit prematurely so sharing the repairs might help some others in the future.

I should begin by stating this crash as best we can tell was due to a an unresponsive elevator servo and came down through a canopy of trees before impacting the ground. So for starters the main damage is to the fuse sides in particular where the spar tube passes through the fuse and along the top of the turtle deck. Also the fuse had the vertical stab and rudder ripped away but in one piece if you could call it that. The canopy is a complete loss. Left wing has some medium damage to towards the tip. The right wing damage is more extensive with every rib forward of the spar broken and held in place currently by the sheeting. The right wing damage was not discovered until I stripped away the covering last night to reveal the true extent of broken balsa. The exisiting ribs in the right wing appear to be fixable if done in the correct repair order (already thinking that through).

The good news is that the fuse is in 1 piece and none of the primary balsa beams that run the length of the fuse are broken. I think this is in no small part due to the very good engineering that 3DHS has put into this plane using some carbon stock to reinforce certain areas of the fuse. Of all the large aircraft that had extensive damage this weekend, this was the only one where the fuse did not break behind the wings during a crash. Impressive!

I should also mention that the main spar in both wings is intact without any cracks. Another impressive!!! This plane took a beating and to not break the fuse or the spar in this crash is remarkable.

Finally...Many thanks to John (jfv61) for allowing me the opportunity to fly the plane beore the servo issue arose inflight. It was great to meet you and when I get this plane back together you need to be first in line to twist the sticks and wring her out!

David

Sorry about the crash but can't wait to see what you do David.

Subscribed.
Good luck!

perscribed

good luck?... you mean "lucky duck!"... this is the closest you'll get to a 3DHS kit

Originally Posted by theKM

good luck?... you mean "lucky duck!"... this is the closest you'll get to a 3DHS kit

LOL...hadnt thought of it that way ...although I am not sure I would call this a kit once you see the pics.

I'm also looking forward to what you do with the covering job. Your custom job on the silver 51" Slick is awesome.

This is gonna rock,really liked the covering work on your 51'' . Looking forward to seeing how the 70'' rebuild goes.

Originally Posted by DPHOYE

LOL...hadnt thought of it that way ...although I am not sure I would call this a kit once you see the pics.

well, as long as you can rebuild enough to extrapolate plans (get all the right incidences for all the important parts) the worst case scenario is a scratch build

Bring on the pics!

Originally Posted by Dman17

I'm also looking forward to what you do with the covering job. Your custom job on the silver 51" Slick is awesome.

Check out his SR
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=3061

David has skills!

Mad Skillz!

Great! really looking forward to see how you go about a proper covering job on these planes!

Are you finished yet? JK...I'm in....can't wait to see the finished product. Have you made a decision on the final scheme?

Steve

Dang, I was real near the trash can at SEFF and I never got a chance like that! LOL! The only thing I saw there was Powerlines walking around with one taped to his arms, head and Butt..... I did see a few get re-built and flown! Ain't that right, Hypersprint.. If even a little peice of a 70" would have only been in that can!!