First Solo Maiden!

evranch

Well-known member
That's a box of foam alright! I've fixed a plane in similar condition, but it was EPP which tears very cleanly. Gorilla glue does the job, but only lightly as it will expand. These days I just use hot glue as you don't have to clamp it.

I used to live in BC, now I'm in SK. Snow for 6 months wasn't enough for me.

Outdoor repair tape from Home Hardware is the toughest tape I found. It's UV stabilized and rated down to -20C, I think. It can handle a lot of snow abrasion and really keeps the pieces of your plane contained in a wreck.

I will fly down to about -15C. Plug any air vents, warm up your battery on the heat register before you go outside. Don't bother with a second, you will need to come in to warm your thumbs anyways. Snow flying is great, summer flying is great. It's the muddy seasons in between that suck without a runway. Fortunately in SK that's about one month in the spring.
 

d8veh

Elite member
I use foam-safe cyano for repairs like that. You hold the bits together, squirt in a few drops of the glue, which spread out into the joint by capillary action, then spray with activator, and it sets in seconds ready for the next piece in the jig-saw puzzle.
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
Trouble with CA on foam puzzles is that if you don't get it exactly correct at the first touch you can make a huge mess! The glue I recommended is applied across all mating surfaces and will soak into the cracks. Bring the pieces together and position and hold accurately. as it glues the entire broken surface together it is stronger than most glues. On a second crash if the foam breaks the previously glued seams remain glued and the foam itself breaks.

For extensive repairs a slightly slower acting and firm hold glue is highly recommended. I have half a hanger of reassembled foam crumbs that others discarded. I even now get others asking me to reassemble their planes for them and even though they use the CA they ask for the glue I use as they see, (or rather can't see), the repairs I do with the glue I recommended.

Just what works for me!

Have fun!
 

jross

Well-known member
That's a box of foam alright! I've fixed a plane in similar condition, but it was EPP which tears very cleanly. Gorilla glue does the job, but only lightly as it will expand. These days I just use hot glue as you don't have to clamp it.

I used to live in BC, now I'm in SK. Snow for 6 months wasn't enough for me.

Outdoor repair tape from Home Hardware is the toughest tape I found. It's UV stabilized and rated down to -20C, I think. It can handle a lot of snow abrasion and really keeps the pieces of your plane contained in a wreck.

I will fly down to about -15C. Plug any air vents, warm up your battery on the heat register before you go outside. Don't bother with a second, you will need to come in to warm your thumbs anyways. Snow flying is great, summer flying is great. It's the muddy seasons in between that suck without a runway. Fortunately in SK that's about one month in the spring.
What can I say? I'm a wuss. I stayed in BC. You're gnarly. I flew 9 batteries on the tiny trainer yesterday one after the other at -3. Keen. Could barely feel the steering wheel with my right hand from dusting off the plane and changing batteries with it.

I was thinking gorilla glue more for filling in areas I'm missing and any obvious craters. Hot glue would be an easy option if the fit is nice and easy. I found that tape and Home Hardware today! Eleven dollars and change. Seemed expensive but with 20+ meters of it, I should be good for a bit. Do you just use it on the bottom? Haven't peeled it off the roll to check thickness.
 

Headbang

Master member
I mainly apply the tape to the bottom but in such a way it wraps up a half inch on the sides. I also wrap it into the front an inch if possible on designs with a swappable pod. Home hardware tends to get a weekly truck. If you ask them they can order in anything on the web site for you. Best part is you are supporting a Canadian company, and a local business owner.
 

evranch

Well-known member
That repair tape is definitely expensive but it's tough as nails. It makes a good skid plate but it really shines as a skin over foam, especially EPP. Tape your leading edges of your wings, or dress the entire wings down to your ailerons. Use it as a hinge reinforcement for your control surfaces on the paper side.

I got the idea from Crash Test Hobbies who make nearly indestructible combat planes thanks to a covering of 3M Extreme Tape. The Outdoor Repair Tape is the closest thing I can find around here, but it's good stuff.

On a failed takeoff of a big 6' EPP UAV, fully taped, I clipped the right wing into the side of my combine hard enough to shear the wing bolts and turn the fuselage into a lawn dart. The only damage - new wing bolts and minor fuselage buckling. I expected that wing to be in pieces. It's tough stuff, especially if you wrap it around the edges and then tape again at 90 degrees to hold it all together. Too much tape on a smaller plane will add weight, though.

The key to cold weather flying IMO - neck strap, good gloves, reduced rates, and tons of expo. I have a "winter switch" on the Taranis that goes on when my gloves do. That way I can waggle my clumsy glove thumbs all over without the plane doing the same. A big bonus to my situation is not having to drive anywhere. When the wind is down and the sun is shining, I just walk out to the pasture and toss my planes in the air. If my hands get too cold, I land and run back inside. I probably would not do nearly as much cold weather flying if I had to start the truck and drive to a field.
 

Headbang

Master member
I don't fly with gloves. I do wear rig pig clothing tho. Good for a 12hr shift @ -60C. Key is to keep your core warm so the warm blood keeps pumping to those digits.
 

jross

Well-known member
I use a local equivalent of the Sullivans craft glue. It dries clear strong is water proof and can make almost invisible repairs to unpainted foam models assuming you have all of the pieces.
https://www.sullivans.net/proddetail.asp?ProdCode=49900

It works for me, and it glues DB equally well and will not melt or soften!

Have fun!
Not sure why but shipping glue and batteries to Canada is a problem. Guessing it's a result of 9/11. Any kits we purchase come minus any glue or batteries included in US purchases. We get no break and pay the full cost of the kit.

A quick search found that glue isn't available in Canada, as far as I can tell. Not sure what our local equivalent would be but I bet weldbond is close. Glue I used to join new concrete walls to old walls as a carpenter. I messed up once and had to remove some concrete I'd weldbonded. You have to leave some of the new wall or take some of the old wall. Won't split on the seam. Slow cure. Drys clear. White glue that's water resistant, basically. If I do this, it'll be a project and cure time means little to me in the end.
 

Headbang

Master member
5min epoxy for quick clean joints. White gorilla glue (still expands 300%, cures in half the time) for breaks that need filling. Mix in some shredded foam to white or original gorilla glue for filling larger gaps. Foam safe CA is handy for tacking, but I just use tape which also contains the expansion of the gorilla glue.
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
On the glue thing? Plain old Elmer's glue worked wonderfully to piece the nose back onto my son's Walmart foam glider (lo, those many years ago). Just pulling on the parts after cure, it seemed like I would have to intentionally break it. First hard landing it came apart. The glue didn't fail. The foam did. It peeled off a layer of foam where it was glued.

Granted that type foam is significantly less dense than what you'll be working with, and knowing what I know now, (since I'm reading this thread) some really good tape should have been involved. If you can find a glue that partially penetrates the foam though, it seems like that might go a long ways towards success. That, and good tape.
 

d8veh

Elite member
Trouble with CA on foam puzzles is that if you don't get it exactly correct at the first touch you can make a huge mess!
I've done it several times. That never happened. The glue doesn't set until you spray it with the activator, so you get plenty of time to adjust if you need to. You end up with a perfect joint that's stronger than original. The glue sets within seconds of spraying the activator, so there's little chance of the parts moving before the glue sets.
 
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Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
We are yet again back to how good you are at things others have had issues with. That you had no issues is GOOD FOR YOU!

I have tried both glues and many others besides! The members of my club have been finally talked into trying alternatives and perhaps surprisingly to some it appears that CA is not the most perfect glue for all foam applications where others do not have the appropriate hand skills..

As mentioned previously the glue aforementioned is great also on FB as well as a Por-UHU replacement albeit at a fraction of the cost. For me and others who build and repair a significant amount, cost is important as is the performance.of the glue.

Have fun!
 

d8veh

Elite member
We are yet again back to how good you are at things others have had issues with. That you had no issues is GOOD FOR YOU!
I don’t believe that my success is because I'm good at it. Instead, it's because it's dead easy to do. I find it difficult to believe that anybody could have a problem with it unless they're some sort of dunderhead.
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I don’t believe that my success is because I'm good at it. Instead, it's because it's dead easy to do. I find it difficult to believe that anybody could have a problem with it unless they're some sort of dunderhead.
Back to the personal insults yet again!
Persons who have infirmities may apparently all be dunderheads according to your definition! We seem to have returned to the point where if someone has problems that you have never experienced there must be something wrong with them! Considering that the forum has a number of disabled vets as active members and statistically some of them will have difficulty doing some of the tasks you refer to as simple, you are quite brave to label them as possible dunderheads! I had hoped you had gained a modicum of maturity and tolerance of others, "I was wrong"!

Trying accepting that not everyone is you, and that all levels of physical capability have a right to fly RC and use this forum without any labels or insults!

Allow others to do what suits them WITHOUT insults, if you can!

Have fun!
 

d8veh

Elite member
Back to the personal insults yet again!
Persons who have infirmities may apparently all be dunderheads according to your definition! We seem to have returned to the point where if someone has problems that you have never experienced there must be something wrong with them! Considering that the forum has a number of disabled vets as active members and statistically some of them will have difficulty doing some of the tasks you refer to as simple, you are quite brave to label them as possible dunderheads! I had hoped you had gained a modicum of maturity and tolerance of others, "I was wrong"!

Trying accepting that not everyone is you, and that all levels of physical capability have a right to fly RC and use this forum without any labels or insults!

Allow others to do what suits them WITHOUT insults, if you can!

Have fun!
I never insulted anybody, neither did I call anybody a dunderhead. It's a simple fact that there are dunderheads in the world that can't even feed themselves let alone hold two pieces of foam together. What I said, to change the words slightly, is that I can't believe that an average or average to useless person couldn't hold two pieces of foam together while they drop in a bit of cyano and spray with activator. You check that the parts are properly fitting before applying the glue, so there's no chance that the glue can set with the parts in the wrong place. A dunderhead, wouldn't have the wherewithal to check that the two parts are properly fitted together before applying the glue. A normal person might not think about fitting the parts together first. he/she might well try applying the cyano to the parts before bringing them together because he/she didn't know any better, but that could result in parts not getting glued with the correct fit, which is what I suspect happened with the guys you're talking about. That's unless you know them to be dunderheads.
 

davidkdk

Member
I was skeptical of what a flight sim would do for my flying but after just a few hours, I was flying circuits in the sim and landing. At first I was yank and bank but after some time, I started incorporating the rudder into turns. The first version of this plane I built never flew. I was unhappy with the build. Things out of square and alignment. My push rods bent too much under compression. With all the mistakes I made on the first plane, I learned the "gotchas" in the build. I lengthened the the coffee stirrers all the way to the back of the plane and this solved any slop in the push rods. Instead of taping the finished parts, I taped them once roughly cut out and still flat. I knew I'd be flying in snow and wanted it as waterproof as possible. The tape is cheap from HobbyKing. I'm going to stick with the trainer/glider style aircraft for a bit. I'll probably fly my Explorer next but the Spear I built will probably sit in the shop for a bit while I learn on more docile planes like this one.

It's been a two year haul to my first successful maiden and finding Flitetest is what pushed me towards it. Far less apprehension and nervousness when flying a plane you can rebuild easily and cheaply. Flying $150 - $300 planes (plus shipping) always left me shaky on the sticks. I made sure I bought a pile of appropriate props which is good as I broke a prop yesterday and expect I'll break more. Also nice to start with the smaller planes as they cartwheel almost without issue on rough landings. If you cut the power before cartwheeling, the props are usually fine.

Once you start building these planes, you'll want to fly them so hammer the simulator early. Radio/control setup is a skill unto itself and I found many helpful videos and articles to get me though that. As you build and practice on the sim, you can start acquiring all the parts.
When you toss your plane and it flies for the first time, you'll be hooked. Scrap foam will start piling up. Don't cheap out on build tools. Buy the nice adtech 200 on sale at Flitetest, nice knives like the Olfa and Xacto #11 and some self healing cutting boards. Before you know it, you'll be in the air.
Thanks for all the advice. It was FliteTest, as well, that pushed me back into RC because their planes are stunning. I was looking forward to both RealFlight and Phoenix once I get down to Florida... but I'll only be using RealFlight. I can only get the 22-in-1 stuff via mail, and I don't have access to regular mail in Florida... only deliveries like Amazon and UPS. There are lots of FT Models available from Rick (big thumbs up) for RealFlight... so that's all good. Once I get to Florida I'll be ordering plane kits and tools from FliteTest.

Warmth and planes... can't wait.
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I never insulted anybody, neither did I call anybody a dunderhead. It's a simple fact that there are dunderheads in the world that can't even feed themselves let alone hold two pieces of foam together. What I said, to change the words slightly, is that I can't believe that an average or average to useless person couldn't hold two pieces of foam together while they drop in a bit of cyano and spray with activator. You check that the parts are properly fitting before applying the glue, so there's no chance that the glue can set with the parts in the wrong place. A dunderhead, wouldn't have the wherewithal to check that the two parts are properly fitted together before applying the glue. A normal person might not think about fitting the parts together first. he/she might well try applying the cyano to the parts before bringing them together because he/she didn't know any better, but that could result in parts not getting glued with the correct fit, which is what I suspect happened with the guys you're talking about. That's unless you know them to be dunderheads.
The "Guys" you refer to have had many years of experience with repairing Foam models and still use CA for some of their repairs, (quite successfully I might add). They have just made the choice to use something different with different properties for an increasing number or their repairs and it does not mean that they are dunderheads or somehow a sub-human but rather they are open-minded and willing ot evaluate things that they come across from time to time.

I do take offence to anyone who feels he/she has the right to denigrate any other person for any reason. Resorting to labels and insults is not the way intelligent people should respond or have discussions, but then at least you did not resort to profanities this time! I believe there is room in this hobby for a wide variety of techniques, abilities, ideas, views, technologies, and people. Again we stand at the point where you have taken offence about something you have not tried or otherwise evaluated and have formed a strong adverse opinion against it! I recommend you try it for yourself!

have fun!
 

Terranoid Labs

New member
Congrats on your maiden jross, I'm new to this whole thing and can relate to how great it feels. As far as that re-build all I can say is good luck - I'd have to start from scratch at that point, but we all pick our own challenges. I'd love to see you get that pile to fly again.

And as a newbie to the forums, I'd just like to say that I appreciate the contributions from Hai-Lee and d8veh, but come on guys you're sucking the life out of what should be a celebratory thread.