Tutor Instant Crash, is it repairable?

[Foamforce]

Awesome! Congrats!

Don’t fix that! Just squish it straight with your fingers as much as possible, this doesn’t need to be exact. Just make sure the motor isn’t at an angle. Add extra hot glue anywhere that it’s coming apart. You’re going to keep crashing, don’t put more time into the repairs that necessary. Fly the crap out of that plane until it looks awful and you stop crashing so much. This is your learning plane and you learn better if you spend more time flying and less time repairing. 😀

 

[Piotrsko]

If it's REALLY awful straighten it with a popsicle stick or skewer glued or taped on. You won't see the repair when flying.

 

[alan0043]

Update, got some things put back together. Flew the plane again, was successful several times. Let it get to speed before pulling up. I still need to practice. Annnddd might need a new power pod and probably a new body. Nose dive into the ground from about 20 feet. Crushed in the nose, Bent the pod and cracked the wood firewall. Think it might be good to build a new tutor and try to do a better job with what I learned on the first one.

nose dive into the ground.. but the hobby store prop held up great

power pod

firewall

I am going to order a whole new airframe and power pod in a couple days/end of the month and give her another go.

Hi smbundy,

I want to throw this idea out to you. If you are going to buy another kit why not use the new kit to make patterns to make a whole new plane. That way if you crash you can go to your patterns and the Dollar Tree store and buy some Adams foam board and make some new parts. Your power pod is repairable. Have any old credit or gift cards ? They work great for repairs. You can use the cards to back up your original fire wall. Who cares if the firewall is double thick. The Tutor is a great first plane to learn to fly. Keep us posted.

 

[smbundy13]

Hi smbundy,

I want to throw this idea out to you. If you are going to buy another kit why not use the new kit to make patterns to make a whole new plane. That way if you crash you can go to your patterns and the Dollar Tree store and buy some Adams foam board and make some new parts. Your power pod is repairable. Have any old credit or gift cards ? They work great for repairs. You can use the cards to back up your original fire wall. Who cares if the firewall is double thick. The Tutor is a great first plane to learn to fly. Keep us posted.

thanks for the information. I was also wondering if hand launching the plane initially will help with getting the plane in the air... right now, im just using a back field thats not super smooth to take off.

 

[Foamforce]

thanks for the information. I was also wondering if hand launching the plane initially will help with getting the plane in the air... right now, im just using a back field thats not super smooth to take off.

YES. Hand launching is way easier than taking off from the ground. You’re guaranteed a certain amount of air speed and you don’t have to fight crooked landing gear. Just keeping straight on the ground long enough to take off is sometimes a challenge. The best trainer airplane, the Tiny Trainer, doesn’t even have landing gear.

 

[smbundy13]

YES. Hand launching is way easier than taking off from the ground. You’re guaranteed a certain amount of air speed and you don’t have to fight crooked landing gear. Just keeping straight on the ground long enough to take off is sometimes a challenge. The best trainer airplane, the Tiny Trainer, doesn’t even have landing gear.

great. I will try that next. thanks alot.

 

[JDSnavely]

Awesome! Congrats!

Don’t fix that! Just squish it straight with your fingers as much as possible, this doesn’t need to be exact. Just make sure the motor isn’t at an angle. Add extra hot glue anywhere that it’s coming apart. You’re going to keep crashing, don’t put more time into the repairs that necessary. Fly the crap out of that plane until it looks awful and you stop crashing so much. This is your learning plane and you learn better if you spend more time flying and less time repairing. 😀

I agree. Keep flying it as much as you can with minimal repairs. A lot of crashes we had were due to stalling because of trying to fly too slow for the plane (Mini Mustang). After what I thought was my last repair, I told my son to give it full throttle and go out in a blaze of glory. Surprising to both of us, it flew great even with all the repairs. So I would suggest flying faster and work on keeping the plane level and not stalling. Do a couple of unpowered tosses to make sure it is ballanced and then go for it. Also work on straight flight as long as possible, very slowly gain altitude, then very small corrections for turns. I waaay over reacted when I first started flying (and still do some times 3 years later.)

 

[Draftman1]

It would help if you could find a local club, Have a experienced me,bet look at your plane and test fly it, Some flying lessons would also help, Most clubs will do that.

There could be issues with your plane that you wouldn’t know how to deal with when trying to fly it.

Crashing gets old, Getting help certainly helps make flying more enjoyable

 

[dylanbeaudette]

Update, got some things put back together. Flew the plane again, was successful several times. Let it get to speed before pulling up. I still need to practice. Annnddd might need a new power pod and probably a new body. Nose dive into the ground from about 20 feet. Crushed in the nose, Bent the pod and cracked the wood firewall. Think it might be good to build a new tutor and try to do a better job with what I learned on the first one.

nose dive into the ground.. but the hobby store prop held up great

power pod

firewall

I am going to order a whole new airframe and power pod in a couple days/end of the month and give her another go.

Keep trying! This is part of the initiation process. Build-Fly-Crash-Repeat!

 

[Burnhard]

thanks everyone, was just a bit discouraging. I will try to repair the fuselage by welding back together.. might as well cut the ailerons in to have that bit more "control" lol.. i might also try to melt some of the hot glue in the elevator so it moves more free. if that doesnt work, i might try to pull the tail off and turn it the right way round..

if all that doesnt work, a full new build kit is $40... since i have all the electronics already.

I would recommend to xerox the kit when its new. That way you have plans to do replacement parts.

 

[Shurik-1960]

This model was for flight training for all willing beginners. The screw stands on the propeller saver ( https://aliexpress.ru/item/10050027...w.productlist.search_results.0.2323735bDExHgv ) and remains intact upon impact. The main impact falls on the part of the fuselage made from a bottle of sparkling water. In more severe accidents, the motor simply breaks away from the 2 lines on the sides of the fuselage and goes inside, pushing the battery. It took 5-10 minutes to repair and restore and fly.

 

[DaveM]

thanks everyone, was just a bit discouraging. I will try to repair the fuselage by welding back together.. might as well cut the ailerons in to have that bit more "control" lol.. i might also try to melt some of the hot glue in the elevator so it moves more free. if that doesnt work, i might try to pull the tail off and turn it the right way round..

if all that doesnt work, a full new build kit is $40... since i have all the electronics already.

In addition to the great recommendations on how to repair the Tutor, do you have a simulator? If you have a reasonably well powered PC, a simulator can be installed and used with most transmitters (controller). We, Flite Test offer the Wings simulator. I’m not sure what the most popular simulator is among the Flite Test community.
A flight simulator helps your muscle memory so when you need to respond to something quickly, your hands just move in the correct direction. Also, a simulator helps you learn the challenge of some of the controls reversingnwhen the aircraft is coming back toward you.

 

[alan0043]

In addition to the great recommendations on how to repair the Tutor, do you have a simulator? If you have a reasonably well powered PC, a simulator can be installed and used with most transmitters (controller). We, Flite Test offer the Wings simulator. I’m not sure what the most popular simulator is among the Flite Test community.
A flight simulator helps your muscle memory so when you need to respond to something quickly, your hands just move in the correct direction. Also, a simulator helps you learn the challenge of some of the controls reversingnwhen the aircraft is coming back toward you.

Hi Dave,

Do you have a link to the Flite Test Wings simulator ? It would be fun to fly Edgewater Air Park.

 

[luvmy40]

Wings Simulator

Dive into an immersive RC plane experience with the Wings Simulator that bridges real and simulated flights. Essential for honing flight dynamics, beyond just a build kit.

store.flitetest.com

 

[skymaster]

Update, got some things put back together. Flew the plane again, was successful several times. Let it get to speed before pulling up. I still need to practice. Annnddd might need a new power pod and probably a new body. Nose dive into the ground from about 20 feet. Crushed in the nose, Bent the pod and cracked the wood firewall. Think it might be good to build a new tutor and try to do a better job with what I learned on the first one.

nose dive into the ground.. but the hobby store prop held up great

power pod

firewall

I am going to order a whole new airframe and power pod in a couple days/end of the month and give her another go.

put some popsicle sticks on the power pod to make it straight and you are good to go.

 

[Crazed Scout Pilot]

Hey everyone,
I would just put my 2 cents in. I’m a pretty experienced pilot and I had a good amount of trouble with the Tutor. It had real trouble taking off it would constantly nose over. Not an airplane I would recommend as a first.