I found the best way to repair the bends creases, cracks ect is to cut the bad section and slip a piece of wood..bass wood (not balsa) inside the the tube and drive a screw into both halfs.. it adds very little weight and is very strong

I'll try to post a pic of my repair

note the mod to the gws battery mount.. the bamboo skewers make it much easier to hook the rubber bans on

I think someone else had this idea too, I was just slow posting lol

Hey, now that is a cool idea - I gotta go do this right now - nice pic - thanks, AirDog

I had a friend loose his landing gear the other day, it fell off at about 150 feet away in tall grass - we like to have never found it - looking at your picture reminded me of it - we used a blastic bag Wrap Tie to serve as a safety wire so it would not come out of the plastic slot - just thought I would pass this on - later, AirDog

Next time epoxy the wood in it makes a stronger joint and fills the small spaces between the wood splint and the fuse! Actually when I cut the basswood motor mount for the 3 degrees down and right thrust correction I run the same piece of wood into the fuse to 1" behind the front wing mount! Sure makes it crash proof!
boomer

Great repair idea. One way to keep from ever needing a boom repair is to put an aluminum arrow shaft in the tube when you first build it. I got this idea after I crunched my first one. I just happened to have an arrow shaft that was exactly the the same OD as the boom inside diameter. Worked like a charm. I've built 3 SS's for other people, so now I just make an arrow shaft a standard part of the initial build.

John

Did the same on my SS back when, only I just used approx. 6-8 inches in the nose. Survived a bunch of neighbors, kids, and me doing nasty things to it until this day. I think it's an Easton #2217 shaft. -thumbs

Ok now you people are freaking me out. I'm just in the process of building a slow stick. Does the Aluminium tube bend/break that easily in normal action or you's doing crazy things with it.

I was thinking of reinforcing mine by stuffing(jamming) in a solid piece of balsa. Would this help alot? What part does the tube break easiest?

My fuselage broke right at the point where the front wing support is. I used a 3" piece of Oak wood and epoxy.
Has not broke again but I fly better than I used to.

Originally posted by TEM
Ok now you people are freaking me out. I'm just in the process of building a slow stick. Does the Aluminium tube bend/break that easily in normal action or you's doing crazy things with it.

I was thinking of reinforcing mine by stuffing(jamming) in a solid piece of balsa. Would this help alot? What part does the tube break easiest?

If you crash it it may bend or break as it's light weight and thin walled! However it's easy to repair!
boomer

I dont think the balsa would help much..

the tube is pretty soft and can suffer damage even with a moderate nose in..

I also advise you to put a pull tie around the motor and gear box..
I had a mild nose in on the first flight with a EPS400C on it and the part of the gear box that holds the motor broke.

I glued it and wraped a pull tie around the motor and gearbox.. this make it much stronger

the SS is a good flying plane stock out of the box... it flys much better in windy conditions with a 400 and 8 950 KAN cells

I also am using my SS as a Aerial Photography platform, so I need the power...

power is good.... more power is better... too much power is.... just right!!

Ok now you people are freaking me out. I'm just in the process of building a slow stick. Does the Aluminium tube bend/break that easily in normal action or you's doing crazy things with it.

Don't worry much. My dad let me fly his Slow Stick and about 20 seconds into the flight a bad JST connector came loose while I was performing a stall. The nose dropped and never came back up. 90* down for at least 50'. That thing was screaming right before it hit the ground. It "landed" on solid dirt with some light weed covering. No damage except the speed actually forced a small weed through the LE of the wing!. Ooops. I doubt my dad will ever let me fly that bird again. Time for the BN-2!!

Edit: Oh, and if it would have landed 1" further left, it would have hit a barbed wire fence. Probably would have sheared the wing in half!

Chris

<<or you's doing crazy things with it.>>

Err... yes. What did mine in was too much wind, plus carrying the extra weight of a 8-cell AA pack (~8 oz) and a 400C.

John

Of course we are doing crazy things with them! Bent mine up at a 45 degree angle trying to do loops indoors.

Chuck...