Bingo...... Steve hit the nail on the head......I wonder what the "new" wing structure looks like?

Darn, that one looks even worse than mine did. Our fuse remains looked very similar though. I got another call today from Hobbico and they are still giving me hope of a good outcome.

See Ya,

Pat

Ps, So are you guys still willing to risk flying yours just cause it ain't broke yet?

Pat,

Mine is standing in the corner waiting for someone to fix it first.... mine will not get into the air until it is fixed. Gathering fund for new covering...yes, all the covering is coming off the wing, may be even the fuse. My plane has a broken tail already, courtesy of UPS. Need to remove covering on the last foot of the tail to repair the damages anyway.

Brian, an EAJ

Brian,

You are a smart man.

See Ya,


Pat

I have a quick observation and question.

It would seem to be only the last batch that are breaking which have the airbrake wells fitted, so my question is where does the airbrake bay start in relation to the joiner ending on yours? Is there a relationship between these two factors?
Could this be why mine hasn't broken after the hundreds of flight I've logged on mine?

I have serial number 0012 on all parts. Does this range seemed to be a concerned one. I had mentioned better bracing previously for spoiler box and how to do it without stripping covering!!

Spoiler bay is out a bit from the joiner end......and the bay is not incorperated into the spar nor even touching it.

Rossco,

My wing broke well inside of the spoiler bay. The change in spoilers have nothing to do with it. My wing was very sparse on glue in a lot of critical places as in the D-tube sheeting area and in gluing the spar cap to the ribs and shear web. My wing had no chance of survival and would not of held up to a bad tow more than likely. Compound a poor spar design with even worse quality control and it spells failure. I am guessing your plane got a good generous helping of glue and that is the only reason yours has held up as well as it has. One cannot know what they have without opening it up and looking.

See Ya,


Pat

Originally Posted by Big Nuts 181

I have a quick observation and question.

It would seem to be only the last batch that are breaking which have the airbrake wells fitted, so my question is where does the airbrake bay start in relation to the joiner ending on yours? Is there a relationship between these two factors?
Could this be why mine hasn't broken after the hundreds of flight I've logged on mine?

Thanks Pat.

Since I'll be landing mostly on hard surfaces, I made a fiberglass fuse skid to replace the thin plastic one.

Originally Posted by flyingfever

Since I'll be landing mostly on hard surfaces, I made a fiberglass fuse skid to replace the thin plastic one.

I waxed the underside of the supplied plastic skid, and laid it over the wetted glass, weighted it all down to ensure good fuse fit. Using it over the glass gave a very smooth surface to paint.

Hope you don't mind if I steal that great skid idea! How's the electric self-launch system coming along?

Regards,

Steve

Originally Posted by SteveR

Hope you don't mind if I steal that great skid idea! How's the electric self-launch system coming along?

Regards,

Steve

Steve, Please do! I would have added a 1" ribbon of kevlar on the peak, but didn't have any. Be sure to wax the fuse before covering with wrap to make any mishaps with resin easier to clean. Motor, etc. is installed. Just have to do the final wiring, and battery locations to get CG right. If we get replacement inner wings, I'm thinking of doing the adequate strengthening of the old ones, and maybe using them for the inner wings of a really big scratch gull-wing glider. I did the math using my 3m MiniMoa, and came up with: inner wing = 66" ; outer wing tips = 100" ; = 166 each, X 2 = about 8.4 meters, which is about 1.75 scale!!!! Root chord is about right. It wouldn't be that hard to add angular root and end rib adapters to get the "gull wing". What do you think? Too crazy, or just keep them for spares in case of an unfortunate landing? Thanks, Bob.

Damn, that's a shame on such a neat sailplane. I do, however, build from plans so that I can avoid the dreaded import ARF failure sindrome. I have been bit by it on more than one ocassion. Best of luck to all of you that shelled out the cash, hope you can all repair your bird and finally enjoy them!!!

I checked with Hobbico and we should get an update shortly regarding their progress as they work closely with Phoenix Models to resolve the inner wing panel issue.

I think I can safely say that all of the U.S. K8 owners who purchased from Hobbico will be happy with the solution they come up with. Please be patient.

Thanks,

Steve