Sunday, June 03, 2007

Pipers can't do acrobatics.

After all my work getting my Piper ready to fly and trying to fly her in the wind yesterday today it proved to be a nice quite day with no wind.

So this morning we go to the park and try to fly her. Got one good circuit in and then it start pouring down with rain so run back to the car.

Later on I take a drive to the field by myself as I want to get her to fly. After a frustrating first session of her just wanting to take off from the ground and not getting there I decided that her battery must be flat. So I charge it.

10 min later she is charged and ready to go. Yippee. After the second attempt to take off with the new propeller she lifts and sores into the sky.

Start turning her and relise she is getting a bit close to the tennis grounds so I decide time to make a shaper turn. Opps she start diving. Not a problem Level out open throttle and nose a bit down ok she is entering a steep dive pull up... pull up... pull up.... she just goes faster... Thud crunch cartwheel, I just hear the kids and parents in the parks that were watching go AAWWWWWWWWWWW..

Long story short the Piper Cub is no more. The starboard wing was ripped off the tail was ripped off, I also suspect the airframe has been twisted and beyond repair. Or lets put it this way I don't think I will trust her airframe with all the cracks I see in it. The new propeller I bought her finally broke after all the nose dives and cartwheels she has had in the past few days. The ironic part is the Undercarriage which usually just falls apart on landing was perfectly fine.

So all the internals will be used in a new model I will build to replace her. A nice pylon racer I think. Something like a Red Bull air racer.

Anyway here are the pictures of the sad end to a proud Piper Cub.

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