Sig Kadet Seniorita

[Frank v B]

Guy,

Your last post is:
- self-explanatory
- an NTSB crash report identifying cause and solutions
- a full Mayday TV episode in 6 seconds.


Wonderful!

Frank

[GuyOReilly]

Fuselage too far gone for a decent repair.
Many stringers went missing and re-gluing those available would not be structurally sound. 
It appears that I will need to re-build from scratch.
I will keep the parts that are salvageable, toss the rest.
May modifications will be made along the way.

[GuyOReilly]

Repair almost complete.
Modified the fuselage, but retained the proportions and distance from the wing trailing edge to the tail.
Tested the motor only to discover that I have a bent shaft....
Let me clarify before all the comments start flying around.
The E-Flite Power 25 suffered an unscheduled nose-first spiralling descent to meet Mother Earth (and the only sizable rock in a 10 meter diameter of the impact site) which resulted in the MOTOR have a bent shaft.
Any suggestion on repair?  Sledge hammer and gentle application of brute force?
Or perhaps fly it as is until the next "event"?

[Frank v B]

A non-judgemental reply to Bent Motor Shaft issue.

That is a very sizeable shaft (diameter-wise) but worth a try.

The way I have successfully straightened shafts:
- determine where the bend is located- usually at the top of the bell.
- place the motor shaft in a drill press up to the bend.  If you don't have a drill press, use a regular drill.  With the drill press I use regular speed.  With the regular drill, use low speed.
Now for the interesting part- grab the motor before you turn on the press/drill so it stops it from spinning wildly.
- spin the shaft/bell and determine where the bend is when it stops.
- grab the bell and bend it slightly in the opposite direction. (with a drill press you can grab the motor with two hands.  With a regular drill you are probably limited to one hand).
- keep testing it and bend it in small amounts until you are satisfied.  5 minor adjustments are better than one or two major ones... potentially in the wrong direction.  You'll get the hang of it quickly.


To test the motor, power it up horizontally while resting a small slotted screwdriver on top of the shaft.  If it bounces, you have work to do.  If it does not bounce, look skyward and yell "Eureka".  You will be surprised how accurate the screwdriver test is.

Frank

ps: Guy, how do you do it?  You used your Avro Arrow to find (dowse?) two broken chairs in the hand-launch area.  With your Seniorita you can locate rocks.
Now if you can teach your planes to find water you can make a fortune in California. 

[GuyOReilly]

Ready for Re-Maiden flight.
Fixed (almost) the vibration of the motor using the suggested gentle application of brute force repair method.