Official Freewing Twin 70mm AL37 Airliner Thread

[Tonydoright]

Xviper, thank you. I did just that all wing servos and gear retracts are operational tested away from aircraft blue box and a/c wiring. I do not have a servo tester but connected extension lead from the device direct to receiver. All are serviceable. Pretty sure the disconnect is in the blue box. All other operations through the box are there except all landing gear function. Spoke to MRC a couple of times today, waiting to hear back form them on the replacement blue box. One point of interest...The wing root is stamped with QC stamp and blue pen marks random that i didn't make. It may have been noticed at factory as fault but didn't get fixed. Very pleased with the quality of the machine. Tight lines, good fit, quality everywhere. Except the blue box, hahahaha, Appreciate the quick response!

[xviper]

@Tonydoright Well, at least you've ruled out bad retracts or dead servos.

[GliderGuy]

My AL37 (new in December 2019) has a very large number of flights/flight hours and is beginning to show her flight-time age (over 1000 flights). In the area behind the engine mounts on top of the wings, several very fine, chord-wise, foam-cell boundary stress cracks are beginning to develop. I attempted to repair these with some UV-curing glue sparingly squeezed into each crack, UV cured and sanded smoothed then painted over. This wasn't successful. The cracks quickly re-appeared.

Anybody have a suggestion how to "seal' these tiny stress cracks so they don't re-appear after my next loop? I may just have to live with them...sigh.😩

Thanks,
-GG

[xviper]

My AL37 (new in December 2019) has a very large number of flights/flight hours and is beginning to show her flight-time age (over 1000 flights). In the area behind the engine mounts on top of the wings, several very fine, chord-wise, foam-cell boundary stress cracks are beginning to develop. I attempted to repair these with some UV-curing glue sparingly squeezed into each crack, UV cured and sanded smoothed then painted over. This wasn't successful. The cracks quickly re-appeared.

Anybody have a suggestion how to "seal' these tiny stress cracks so they don't re-appear after my next loop? I may just have to live with them...sigh.😩

Thanks,
-GG

You're not going to like what I would do in such circumstances but ........................... I use clear Gorilla tape and cover the whole area with it. If you're more worried about looks, you should paint on a clear coat of some sort - MinWax or clear Urethane, then cover the wing with iron on Monocote or the like.

[Scale Freak]

Did a maiden on the Canadian North 737 tonight. Perfect conditions, very light breeze, calm air. Took off in about 250 ft from the grass field and other than some up trim, flew like on rails. landing could have been a tad more smooth, but it all came home in one happy package. The aircraft was a joy to fly and i know that i'll just get to like it more now. Got about 3 1/2 min, 43% still left on the battery.

[Alpha]

Congrats on your maiden, Scale Freak ! Looks like you have a nice field and airspace as the perfect backdrop to your AL37. Thanks for your support! 'Looking forward to hearing about your continuing check flights as you become more comfortable with how she flies.

[Scale Freak]

Anyone had the engine mounts crack? Can I get new ones or is there a fix?

[Scale Freak]

The mount on the engine pod has completely disintegrated on one screw hole, and the wing mounted attach has some signs of degradation at the same place

[GliderGuy]

Anyone had the engine mounts crack? Can I get new ones or is there a fix?

Spare parts are available here on the AL37 webpage (SPARE PARTS tab): https://www.motionrc.com/collections...pare-parts-tab

I hooked a nacelle into a mound of grass when landing with 2 wheels (nose and one main) on turf due to a main gear failure to deploy. This snapped the nacelle and motor mount completely off the wing and generated damage very similar to what you are showing with the additional problem that the area you show the crack in completely broke in two under the stress. Bottom line, I ended up with 2 separate pieces...motor housing with 1/2 the mount on it and the other 1/2 of the motor mount. Here are my comments, for what they are worth...

Easiest fix = Go to the spare parts tab and purchase a new wing and nacelle

More complex fix = Please read on (I took this route because the nacelles were out of stock at the time of my failed landing)....

The success of a repair like this to a cantilever structure depends upon the modeling skills of the person doing the repair and the ability to determine how to make repairs that can handle the stress/loads + consider repair materials you may have to order.

My repair involved carbon fiber sheeting, JB Weld epoxy (strong epoxy), and a carbon fiber tube + several hours of work estimating how the work would be stress worthy, alignment and fit. A suggestion....go with the easiest fix. You will have the comfort of knowing that your first loop or hard landing post repair won't take an engine off (because the repair wasn't strong enough). These types of repairs can be tricky due to the loads imposed on the repaired cantilever structure.

-GG

[Scale Freak]

GliderGuy, I appreciate your reply, but I can't do 150 US, ( almost 200 CDN) for this repair. I may just use the two remaining screws and glue the nacelle in permanently. The structure is fine, its just that one mount hole. Its not due to landing damage, but probably tightened that one screw too much and it split the mount.

[GliderGuy]

Good point S.F / I probably should have stated the following: Easiest fix = glue the mount permanently to the wing. In doing my complex repair, I kept the mount where I could remove it.
-GG

[Scale Freak]

Glued the sucker in permanently and added a third screw in the mount arm for added security. Should hold nicely.

[Tonydoright]

Has there been any discussions on the safe clear coat for the AL37 over the factory white? Spraying clear over Callie decals. Thanks.

[Alpha]

Has there been any discussions on the safe clear coat for the AL37 over the factory white? Spraying clear over Callie decals. Thanks.

If you choose to apply a clear coat, I recommend a UV resistant formulation to reduce the risk of yellowing. On a white surface, UV yellowing will be more apparent than on a gray surface or other typical airplane color. Many products like Varathane Spar Urethane have UV blockers and UV stabilizers in them, that make them less resistant to elastomer degradation.

[Johnnyrabuse]

Guy at my field was flying this today it's impressive

[Johnnyrabuse]

My AL37 (new in December 2019) has a very large number of flights/flight hours and is beginning to show her flight-time age (over 1000 flights). In the area behind the engine mounts on top of the wings, several very fine, chord-wise, foam-cell boundary stress cracks are beginning to develop. I attempted to repair these with some UV-curing glue sparingly squeezed into each crack, UV cured and sanded smoothed then painted over. This wasn't successful. The cracks quickly re-appeared.

Anybody have a suggestion how to "seal' these tiny stress cracks so they don't re-appear after my next loop? I may just have to live with them...sigh.😩

Thanks,
-GG

Let's see if you fly ,60 mph for 4 minutes and you have 1000 flights that's 4000 minutes dived by 60 equals about 66 hrs x 60 equals 3960 miles .....

That's a long way ....

And all you got was stress cracks ...

Nah can't be

[Tonydoright]

Alpha, thanks I was hoping to get a trade name of clear coat paint. My fear with the AL37 foam is selecting a clear coat with wrong propellant and gone goes the airplane.

[mshagg]

Alpha, thanks I was hoping to get a trade name of clear coat paint. My fear with the AL37 foam is selecting a clear coat with wrong propellant and gone goes the airplane.

Go with something water based that's applied with a brush.

[xviper]

Alpha, thanks I was hoping to get a trade name of clear coat paint. My fear with the AL37 foam is selecting a clear coat with wrong propellant and gone goes the airplane.

I think, typically, most people who do clear coating of some kind, don't use spray. At least for me, I brush it on. You just never know about spray paint propellant. If you must spray, keep the nozzle at least 18" away and do very thin, multiple coats.

[Wild Man]

Mine is going to be a TRUMP Campaign Plane !!!!! Just received the graphics for it. Trump Pence 2020. Go Red White and Blue Photo's coming Soon LOL!!!!