Repairs . . .

My old 60 sized Stik is in constant need of minor repairs.  It is really showing its age now.

When I took it out of my car, I noticed a large tear in the underneath Monokote of the wing.  Not unusual kind of thing but irritating none-the-less.  I found a scrap of red Monokote big enough to do the job, fired up my sealing iron (that is the tool of choice for installing MonoKote) and went to work.  It did not take long.

Then I notice over by the switch which is located on the left side of the fuselage, a crack that had been repaired before.    The switch is always located on the left side of the fuselage around the wing area to avoid the oily engine exhaust.  Putting in a switch weakens the structure and that is a prime location for a crack to develop and grow.  While wood is generally tolerant to vibrations even it gives up after a long period of vibration.  So I added a doubler inside the structure to bolster the strength and to stop the crack from causing problems.

I had so much problems with the tail feathers (the rudder and elevator) that I finally covered the cracks with fibre glass and left it clear to see if it failed again.  I found just adding plywood (yes, I have some really very fine, pliable plywood that is  about one thirty second of inch thick) does not do the trick.  So I cover all of it with epoxy/fibre glass coating.  That has held up.  The tail takes a lot of punishment and has holes structure for control rods.  This weakens the structure and leads to cracks and sometimes out and out failures.  Combine that with the fact that I convert my airplanes to "tail draggers" meaning tail wheels instead of nose tricycle arrangements, puts further stress on the tail area.  In Stiks especially, they suffer from tail failures due to the weakness and the way we fly.

I think with all the repairs over time, and several crashes to boot, the plane is probably a pound heavier than when it was newly built.  As long as the weight is balanced correctly, it will fly.  Stiks are not fast, that is they have big fat wings and tend to be draggy, so speed is not their ilk.  So a little more weight does not seem to effect their flying ability at all.  They will not go any faster nor will they go any slower.  The just keep on flying.

The 60 size refers to the two cycle engine displacement usually used to power the model.  60 means 0.60 cubic inches in displacement.  I substitute a 0.90 four cycle engine, roughly equivalent amount of power, for it.  I like four cycle engines, they do not turn over as fast but sound much better and use a tad less fuel.  I use the same kind of fuel in both my two cycle and four cycle engines.  That leads to raging arguments but it does not seem to matter and I am not going to get fussy about it.  The engines run just fine.

So the old Stik is showing its age but I will keep flying it until it falls apart.  I have had this plane now for more than two years - that is a record for me.  I find the newer radio equipment and bigger batteries make life easier.  Not as many radio gliches and that is a big issue.

Today the winds are off the charts - again.  And the temperature is dropping, We are in for a cold snap, a record one to boot.  So hunker down and fix airplanes.