FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

[Rocketeer]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Welp.  :dodgy:



You learn something new every day! Today I learned two important things, 1: Before connecting the battery on the aircraft ensure that the throttle is off. 2: When connecting battery, stand over the aircraft from behind, not squatting or kneeling in-front of it!


Otherwise the end result is:
Leg its what props eat for dinner!

In all seriousness I'm glad that it wasn't my fingers in there or otherwise, here's what happened turned on my controller, did not notice that my throttle was all the way forward, plugged in the battery and it started beeping which I didn't pick up on was the ESC telling me that my throttle stick wasn't zero (novice mistake) the prop was not turning at this point. I turned off the controller and turned it back on and at that point she gunned it and tried to fly through me. Unfortunately when it hit me the torque has to go somewhere and it took out that force on the motor mount shearing off two screws, snapped two prop blades and the cooling fins on the FW 190 spinner assembly tore up the plastic cowling. I've always been one of those guys who learns the best from making mistakes. So its needless to say that I'll pay way more attention at start up and not let this every happen again.

I'm pretty miffed at myself for something so stupid, 2 good days of flying for the first time ever only to mess up by missing where the control stick was and messing up the plane on the ground. That said, I am glad however that it was not total destruction of the airplane and is a relatively cheap and what appears to be an easy fix.

I do have a question for anyone that owns the FMS birds, the piece of plastic that the metal motor mount screws into, though intact it has some play in it. It appears there may have been some glue residue on it, looking like it was glued to the foam between it and the motor? Am I correct in assuming that this piece should not have movement in it?

Time to go ahead and order up the replacement parts.

Greetings H64,

Dude, talk about lessons learned.
Hope it heals soon.

On your question, NO on the motor mount movement. Every FMS bird I own from 800mm to 1400mm none of them exhibit any intentional play in relation to where the Motor/mounting plate/motor connect. That being said, the amount of glue used to glue the mounting plate to the fuse bulkhead at the factory is typically minimal at best and it doesn't take much of a bump to bust it loose on some planes. This is quite common on the 800mm A-1 Skyraider.

Get well soon, buddy!!!

Bill L.
in Okla.

[SOB8604]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

On your question, NO on the motor mount movement. Every FMS bird I own from 800mm to 1400mm none of them exhibit any intentional play in relation to where the Motor/mounting plate/motor connect. That being said, the amount of glue used to glue the mounting plate to the fuse bulkhead at the factory is typically minimal at best and it doesn't take much of a bump to bust it loose on some planes. This is quite common on the 800mm A-1 Skyraider.

That's what I figured, The plastic motor board is still intact thought it now has some wiggle as I mentioned, so I will have to glue that back up to the foam (and appears to glue it to the forward section of foam, going towards the front of the plane if that make sense) I believe I read somewhere that the cement that comes with the plane is corrosive to plastic, what in your experience/the rc world is the best bonding agent/glue to use that won't degrade the foam or plastic. I think that it'll be stronger this time around looking, at the residue on the plastic they certainly don't appear to be super generous with the glue at the factory.


EDIT: Grossman I just saw your second half of the reply, gorilla glue vs a two part epoxy, gorilla glue is the nuts and I have a ready supply of it in my basement. That would make it pretty easy.

My main concern really with mounting the motor back in is trying to get the alignment correct to have some of the down and left position to offset the torque.

[Grossman56]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

I'm not sure how much you need, but if you can figure out how it aligned to the fuse in the first place, it should just glue straight on the same way.  I know its pretty obvious with the Waco, but not so much with the P51's.  I think you have the same FW 190 that Brian (Hippie 64) just got, he might be able to tell you if there's much.
Gorrilla glue has saved me many times and its tough as nails with foam, although drying time is a little long, so make a brace or use gravity if you have to.  Worse comes to worse, don't hesitate to ask the guys at MRC in the support section.  Many times they cruise  the forum and might pick up on this post as well.


Grossman56

[SOB8604]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Grossman56,

Yeah that was my hang up, took some searching but was able to get a glimpse of the motor board orientation on a youtube video, and it confirmed what I was thinking. So it's in place with glue and weight applied, just babysitting the glue to wipe off any excess that pops out. Parts have already shipped out from MRC so they should be here by Monday at the latest (working 72hrs anyways this weekend) So that's plenty of time for the glue to have cured completely, so hopefully Monday or Tuesday I'll be ready to re-assemble and if all goes well get back in the air!

[Grossman56]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Not to mention giving the knee a chance to heal!!

The weather here isn't the greatest, we're supposed to get up into the 40's by the weekend, but still residual snow on the fields.  If it isn't the snow, its the wind GRRR!!!

Grossman56

[Hippie 64]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Every time I look at that picture I gringe !! 




Bryan 

[SOB8604]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Every time I look at that picture I gringe !! 

Bryan 

Yeah well up until this morning every time I took a shower It'd sting and I'd cringe! :dodgy: Certainly won't repeat those mistakes again!


To the gluing the gorilla glue has set and the motor board is super secure! Looking forward to getting out of work Monday morning and getting the motor put in and ready to go. Did a little customizing this afternoon with some paint and added the yellow recognition "striping" for lack of a better word to the underside of the cowling area, wings and tail. Should look good in the air.

[Rocketeer]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Greetings SOB (I just love typing that),

Best of luck on the next flight!!!

Keep us in the loop.

Bill L.
in Okla.

[Grossman56]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Same from me SOB! This has become on of my 'go to' posts just to see how you're doing!  I'm so jealous, the weather here is either nice but windy, snowing or just plain cold, The first day of winter means 4 months 'til Spring!!!!

Grossman56

[Hippie 64]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Gman hoping for mid 50s n little to no wind tomorrow !!!! Gonna try the F9F again . All fingers crossed


Bryan

[Rocketeer]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Greetings Guy's,

Its been overcast here for the past 6 days, but today no wind at least.
Hoping to be allowed out after my chores are completed.

Hippie, I'll be really interested in the F9F flight.
I so, want to grab another one of these birds but I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger.

Bill L.
in Okla.

[Loneflier]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Merry Christmas everyone,

I too am looking forward to the F9F report. I hope all goes well with it. Like Rocketeer, it was cloudy and overcast here most all day, but light winds. Would love to have flown, but had to do the Holiday family thing with my wife's folks today, so I am hoping for a repeat tomorrow! I've got several I want to get out and fly again, including my new C-188. Maiden flights are always an adventure, so I will be sure to bring along a few "old faithfuls" as well. Always love flying my Horizon T-28 to warm up.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week ahead, and enjoys the time off!

Rich

[Hippie 64]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Sorry guys but will have to til tomorrow or Monday been wet here all day . That is not what I told Santa   I wanted . 



Bryan 

[SOB8604]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Got home from work this morning, got the new motor, prop and cowling on today, tightened up one of the landing gear. Fired up the motor and did some engine run ups at the house today to make sure that everything worked and there were no issues.

Took her down to the field and man she looked good!



Flew a bunch of circuits and she was flying fantastic, tried an Admiral 4S 4000mah battery, but seemed a bit nose heavy more so than usual requiring some back stick on take off once the tail got up she appeared that she wanted to nose down a bit, which I fixed with trim. Got up a little altitude and did a gentle barrel roll and then an immelman which she handled like a champ. Few lower fly bys fast and slow and man she looked the balls!

Quick vid of a go around and a nice landing at :30.

http://youtu.be/8GFLgf2oV-4?list=UUZGeUYKCqX7a9iEvupPVnKg

Came in and changed out batteries, took off another flight which was uneventful got some altitude and was going to basically just practice touch and goes while on my downwind leg, I don't know what happened, if there was a sudden gust of wind or what but she rolled over to her left, happened so fast I had no time to recover, probably from about 75 feet or so and went down hard, thankfully into soft mud in the infield of a baseball diamond.





But she took some damage, as you can see the fuselage is cracked on the right hand side. Prop disintegrated, however the spinner is intact (and I have an extra which I ordered by mistake anyways) the landing gear was up at the time of impact and the retracts still work. The motor still works fine, and a props to the screws and the gorilla glue I used the motor, motor mount and motor board came out of the plane in one piece. However when the board came out it cleaned out the Styrofoam in-front of it. Wings are intact just cracked two control horns and one tab on the flap came undone, all easy to fix. At this point I think the only thing that I have to replace is the fuselage and the prop.

So the flights were great, the crash sucked, but it could have been worse, this plane is a friggin' warhorse and took the impact for the most part like a champ.

I guess some of this can be blamed on beginner lack of experience with not being able to recover in time, but I mean she snapped over fast so not sure if anyone would have had time to react. A bit of a set back and I'm certainly bummed as I was hoping to get in some flights tomorrow also but I am still hooked and looking forward to the next time I can fly. Any suggestions or see any fixes that I may have missed?

[Loneflier]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Sorry to hear about the crash SOB8604, but we have all been there at one point or another. It is hard to tell from just the one picture, but if the crack in the fuselage was the only damage there, you should be able to fix that with some epoxy or other adhesive such as Gorilla Glue. It didn't appear that the horizontal or vertical stabilizer was damaged. If you can get the motor back in, and mounted correctly, you could probably keep on flying her. Won't be as pretty, but first planes rarely look like new once you start flying much! I've fixed some that looked worse, and they are still flying well today. It is amazing the kind of damage that this EPO foam can take and still be repaired. If that had been a balsa plane, it would be matchwood now.

Keep us informed on your progress!

[SOB8604]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Loneflier,

No doubt! was going to happen and won't be the last crash. That crack is indeed the only issue to the fuselage, after I got home I hooked it up to a battery and all the control surfaces work, etc.

My only concern is the front end, It would be a real cheap fix but as you can see in the photo the foam where the motor board its in is pretty much cleaned out not sure what I could stick in there to one hold the motor board, or alternatively maybe cut out the top and slide in and glue a piece of light ply and mount the motor directly to that. Would probably have to add some weight aft to counter the weight but not really sure what else I could get in there that will be secure. If I could manage that then this could be a really cheap fix.




Any ideas?

And if I thought this one sucks, can only imagine how the guys with the gas jobs and huge scale planes feel when something goes wrong.

[Lon]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Hey SOB,(chuckle)

when she rolled over on you.  Was you going pretty slow, and then gave it significant throttle?? I know one time I was doing some slow passes and throttled hard.  Made it roll hard, but I recovered.

Lon

[Loneflier]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Loneflier,

No doubt! was going to happen and won't be the last crash. That crack is indeed the only issue to the fuselage, after I got home I hooked it up to a battery and all the control surfaces work, etc.

My only concern is the front end, It would be a real cheap fix but as you can see in the photo the foam where the motor board its in is pretty much cleaned out not sure what I could stick in there to one hold the motor board, or alternatively maybe cut out the top and slide in and glue a piece of light ply and mount the motor directly to that. Would probably have to add some weight aft to counter the weight but not really sure what else I could get in there that will be secure. If I could manage that then this could be a really cheap fix.




Any ideas?

And if I thought this one sucks, can only imagine how the guys with the gas jobs and huge scale planes feel when something goes wrong.

I think you are the right track with some light ply slotted into the remaining foam, and epoxied in. (Or Gorilla Glue. I have always used epoxy, and had good results.) Once the new "firewall" is installed, you could attach the motor board to it with both adhesive and screws. You might need to add a shim to achieve the right angle to counter the torque thrust, but it does look do-able. Heck, can't hurt, and what do you have to lose? If it doesn't work, you can always go the route of a new fuselage, and if it does work, you are only out a bit time and you get more experience in fixing crash damage.

[Hippie 64]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

I would attempt to fix what's there . If that turns out not to be any good I then would order the fuse ,$70.00 and the cowl $7.00 .
If you order be sure to contact MRC and make sure the motor board or mount , not sure which it has , was included with the fuse . Some are there as part of the fuse already installed so that the angle is in it and only add motor .

Bryan 

[SOB8604]

RE: FMS FW 190 Maiden (first ever RC flight!)

Hey SOB,(chuckle)

when she rolled over on you. Was you going pretty slow, and then gave it significant throttle?? I know one time I was doing some slow passes and throttled hard. Made it roll hard, but I recovered.

Lon

Nope, I was about mid throttle and crusing at a decent speed, which is pretty much where I've been flying, when it rolled I don't believe I touched the throttle, but it took all of about 3 seconds for it to happen, when it was imminent that impact was going to occur I cut the throttle but don't recall where it was positioned. Better get the RC-NTSB out here!

Loneflier, I think that's the route I'm going to go with it, gonna start by gluing up the fuselage tomorrow and will go get some ply and do some surgery. The motor mount itself is irregularly shaped as it is to give me the right thrust so I think I'll be ok in that regard, I took a strait down photo of it today when I mounted it so I can replicate it, use a drill and my jig saw to cut the wood out for the wiring and air cooling.

I have seen some videos on you-tube of guys cutting off the fan blades, sanding down and re-balancing the spinner assembly. (those fan blades have now 2x chewed the living **** out of the cowling, certainly cool and scale but once your flying you can't even notice em, and I gotta imagine that there is enough air flowing without them) I think when I get the blades (2 sets for sure!) I'll order a prop balancer too.

Still miffed that I crashed, but looking forward to seeing if I can get this thing airborne again I'm gonna name it Phönix!