Went through the same process with my Fliteline F7F, back in the air. My Fliteline Bearcat sat in a box for about 3 years until I bought s steamer and straightened out the nose and rebuilt her as well. Both are flying great now.

@SteffenRC

2 күн бұрын

Its amazing what a little patience and creativity can fix... Congrats on your repairs... Its a great feeling when you remaiden and they fly great....

Great one with the pins and rubber band! Great positive attitude , great skills and a great video , thank you.

@SteffenRC

6 ай бұрын

Thanks Nick. Appreciate the kind words..

Love it! I've been there, done that...many times.🤣 What really helped me is my background in fabrication and it doesn't hurt to have an engineering mind. The new thing for me was the materials being used. It's always good to see how others do their repairs though...you never know when you might learn something. Thanks for taking the time to do these videos. 👍

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

I've always been a tinker. I really enjoy build/repair videos. You always learn a new way to do something. KZread is a great resource for us all. (or a complete time suck....)

This is pretty interesting for me as last summer I also crashed my FMS F7F Tiger Cat. I stupidly flew it way too long on its battery and eventually during downwind to base for a landing I extended the gear which then totally depleted what battery power was left and I lost control of the plane. It augered in with some major damage. I have since rebuilt everything but I use hot glue for all of the places that need to be glued back together and although it took some major effort I managed to get everything back together pretty well. Unfortunately, the club I belong to lost access to the flying field which is the only field we have for such large RC planes. And so I have not been able to do a maiden flight yet after all of my repairing. We have a pretty short flying season up here in Alaska and so now I won't be able to do that until next summer. I learned a heckuva lot here from this video and have ordered some of that E6000 glue to use for my next repair job on foamies. I've used hot glue in a lot of smaller RC planes in repairing them after crashes and have had no issues with anything coming apart during flights so hoping for the same results here with my Tiger Cat. We'll see............... Next summer.

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

Sorry for your Tigercat crash. Bummer when I plane you mess up one of your favorite planes. My plane didn’t require too much work, but it was a fun rebuild. I recently tested a mess of glues on EPO. Hot glue was very strong. I hope you get a chance to get that big Tigercat up in the air soon. My maiden was perfect. Thanks for watching and commenting.

Great job with the rebuild....Foam is an amazing meium for repairing.......Balsa/ply might be good but you can never repair as easy as you can repair foam.......Good luck with the re maiden,

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

You are spot on. I've done many, many total rebuilds of foam planes.. Some mine and some for friends. I really get a kick out of it. its amazing how well you can make them look with a little skill and patience. I have a few balsa planes that required repairs, those are a little tougher for sure... Thanks - Will

Will this is such a great example of the modeling part of model aviation. So many of the newer generation of RC pilots need to grasp this. Very, very well done man. Nice repair. Saved a bunch of money, and she'll fly again. Great teaching tool this one.

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

Thanks Adam. Its funny... Every repair or rebuild is a learning experience and for me, its quite enjoyable. Not that I enjoy the crashing part, that actually frustrates me. Especially when I don't know exactly what happened. But, I was sure proud of the job I did on this wonderful plane. Maiden was perfect.. From take-off to landing... Working on a quick video to recap the story...

Great job thanks for sharing!

@SteffenRC

8 ай бұрын

Appreciate the comments...

Good info I just rebuilt my E-flite 47 just about same damage tail clean break behind the canopy, some wing damage about 8 hrs of work waiting for maiden, check all my electronics still don't know why she drop out the sky great video👍👍

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

I think odd things can happen.. We gotta remember that the electronics that we depend on, aren't manufactured in the best quality environments. Sometimes we will get a mechanical or electrical glitch...

@SlowFlyer85

9 ай бұрын

so true👍👍@@SteffenRC

Great job with the repair . I think a traditional balsa ply aircraft would have had a lot more damage.

@SteffenRC

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching. I think you are right. I've build and crashed balsa planes too. They are a bit more challenging and time consuming to repair from massive damage like this one.. Appreciate the comments - Will

NIIIIIIIIIIIICE job brother! 😁👍

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

Thanks Dave.. Appreciate it.

Oh Will . . . stay away from those 37mm flak sites . . . they are murder! I am sure sorry for your bad luck. Watching the video, I thought it went in going straight down. But at least you had some luck with it getting closer to horizontal. I love that some of the spirit of your old P-51 will get to fly again! I think you can be granted the title of "foam whisperer" or something like that. Great repair! I look forward to your re-maiden and hope that goes well for you!

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

Yep, the TX/RX connection came back at about 10'. Started to level her out, which really saved the fuse from being totally smashed... As you know, I love rebuilds for sure.

What spackel are you using? I mean it has to be light and still flexible would love to get a link

@SteffenRC

8 ай бұрын

Ive been using Ace hardware regular lightweight drywall spackel. Very light coats seem to work so far. I’d like to look at something flexible to test for sure.

Another great video! Question, did you repaint the aluminum fuselage? airbrush, brush or can.

@SteffenRC

8 ай бұрын

Thanks John.. Appreciate it. I actually didn't touch the fuselage. The glued seam was hardly visible. The canopy that I replaced was the Navy Blue color. So, I had to paint that. Used Rustoleum Brilliant Metalic spray paint. Masked off the clear parts and the color was pretty close. Fun repair for sure.

Good job on that stab.

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

Thanks Earl.. Appreciate all the help (picking up pieces and consoling...)

What's the steamer you used? It looks like it produced loads of steam. I recently bought one, but it spits so much water too. Great job on the repair!

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

Its a Pur Steam on Amazon. I'll add a link in the description.

Great job Will. Can I ask about the syringes you use? I’m a great fan of E6000 as you know, but it can be a pig to use straight from the tube so I’m just wondering, do you refill the syringe and also does it set if left a few months, also what cap ends do you use on the syringes? Cheers Dave👍🏻🇬🇧

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

Thanks Dave. The syringes are cheap Amazon ones. I'll add a link in the video description. I usually add a squeeze (4-8ml) from the E6000 into the opening and re-insert the plunger. The tips are pretty small, so I usually cut off a few mm's to get the flow better. I don't keep the glue in them for any length of time. I can open them up and clean out the partially cured E6000 with a metal piano wire. Usually they get tossed after a day or two. They have totally changed the way I apply glues.. Not sure where I got the cap. Maybe from a Starbond CA kit. They don't need to be covered, they tip will harden, so I just chop off a little and I'm back in business.

@cooltube

9 ай бұрын

@@SteffenRC great info Will. Your a star👍🏻🇬🇧

What about using "Great Stuff" as a way to fill in gaps.?

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

I'm sure it would work. That said, I haven't tried it. I've always just used lightweight spackle or scraps of foam.

ive had E6000 sorta soften the foam on some of my planes so i quit using it and went back to hot glue

@SteffenRC

9 ай бұрын

Yep, it will soften EPO, if you use a lot. I started to use it sparingly and use a brush to spread it on the surface, but careful not to apply too much to the outer part of the foam (painted side). Then the exposed seam doesn't melt as much. I found that the melting, welds the foam back together when fully cured. Hot glue is great stuff, but for longer set times, I'll use E6000.