Pilot Sbach 342

Well didn't have the best maiden .. saying that it was great right up until I hit the tree..oops.  

Had a little ring around only to find that IAD models are no longer dealing with PILOT RC due to poor delivery times and poor customer service from them, so no spares available from there,he also recommended that I didn't try to order direct from china as they would happily invoice me for the wings and I might not see them for months and that the cost would be about £400  .

So I thought about the possibility of repairing them as most at the field thought they would be ok to fix, here are a few pics of the damage:








Looks a bit worse than it is so started stripping the wings and if you wonder if all models are perfect from the factory the next couple of pics should answer that .. looks like a quick repair has been done already  






well after a bit more stripping the damage was looking less fatal so I will have a go at repairing ... just a few ribs some sheeting a leading edge and a few metres of covering and as good as new it will be  

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Not going to be a quick job as got the acrowot, harmony and nano all on the go as well but im looking forward to having a go at it

 

Good for you Steve. Have the ribs been repaired before? it looks as if the wing was crushed at some time. It's definitely worth a go at repairing especially if the spare wings are so expensive and hard to get. Best of luck with it mate.

Cheers Gary I look forward to seeing what I can do with it , it's about time I became a proper modeller and done some balsa bashing lets hope it turns out ok...

Yeah Adrian does look crushed the ribs were repaired/bodged at the factory even the scrap bits used for the repair have got part numbers written on them  I'll see if I can do a better job than that on the other bits...

 

And then!

Smash

 

Well I was thinking of repairing myself but after seeing an ad on the BMFA for model repairs I thought as its such a nice plane it would probably be better to send it away to someone who knows what their doing.

Got an email today with a few pics ... looks like the repairs are going well the ribs and major repairs are done ready for sheeting..

Here are the pics he sent me , I think its looking good so far!!

Looks like a pucker repair in progress mate     
Expensive   

Not cheap but worth it if the first 5 mins of flying is anything to go by...

Dont blame you mate, good luck      

Got a few more pics of the repairs today .. looking good ready for covering, I cant wait to get her back in the air again now   

Looking good Steve, shame he has removed those wonderfull factory modifcations though

He's done a wonderful job of repairing those!

Look forward to seeing it fly again

Christ was it ever damaged...Superb at his job     

Heard from Adrian the plane mender today he's still waiting for the right covering to do the SBACH wings, but he did send me a couple of pics of the retracts fitted to the NANO that he is also doing ... so I thought I would share..






So just covering on both and they should be back soon and ready to go again   ... just hope the field dries up soon  

Steve
Why was the covering removed from the bottom of the Nano.....Was it damaged?
I thought he was just fitting the retracts?

Hello mate,

No there was no damage to the NANO he removed the covering because where the original builder had glued the plastic wheel wells onto the old covering it ripped it when they were taken out as the wells had to be rebuilt with a bit of an angle to allow for the trailing links, he thought it would look better to recover the whole underside with one piece and not just around the retracts...

Really looking forward to flying it, had that new turbine sat in the box for too long now!!....

Fair comment and I fully understand the predicament now.
Obviously a very conscientious builder,  not a "that'll do'er"!
Nose wheel aperture looks very neat and snug!

Just got an email from Adrian and the NANO is done , should have them both back in a couple of weeks    .... im sure the weather will be much nicer by then   









should have some pics of the SBACH wings next week...

It won't look that good when it's plastered in mud  great job Steve

Well it went a bit quiet on the repair front for a while as Adrian(the fix it man) was taken ill for a few weeks, emailed for a progress report last night and got a reply saying that he will be delivering the wings and nano back to me on the 20th March    and he will send a few more pics before then... hopefully will be just in time for when the good weather arrives..     

hi steve the plane looks really good, theres gonna be a lot of new planes to see in the warmer weather
looks like it gonna be a great season when it starts!   

Nice one, Steve. I love this plane. We're definitely going to have some nice machines come spring!

Have you been for a cruise around the patch with the one I had?

https://youtu.be/ME2OiRBZ6nQ

Let us know when you take it out again Steve. Hope to see you put it through its paces!!

Will also get a tree surgeon out