Friday, January 10, 2020

Mods for all.

About 18 months ago I was flying my scratch built from plans Pathfinder electric at a contest. On the first maneuver the wing folded. I landed the plane without any more damage. I ordered a new wing kit for it and re built the plane. Since then it just didn't fly like it did before the crash. After making the stab/elev larger on several other planes with great results I began looking at the Pathfinder's tail. I bought and built a second Pathfinder from a kit and made the tail 2 inches longer and it flys very well. With that in mind and after several attempts to make it fly better through trimming and adjustments I started cutting. I had the pieces needed to extend the tail sitting on the bench for a couple weeks now. Yesterday I trimmed the stab and elev. ends, glued the extension pieces on and covered them with Monokote. The weather forecast is not good for several days so I knew I had to get out early to test the changes. Shortly after 0700 I pulled into the park and it started to mist. I got the plane ready and took off as the mist got heavier. The changes worked very well. I put a second battery in for another short flight and the mist turned to light rain but I flew anyway. It still flew very well. I was getting wet and packed up and headed home to dry the plane. I know I made the kit Pathfinder tail 2 inches longer and I ended up making the old one 3 inches longer. The Legacy got it's tail made larger with good results and I ordered another kit to be made electric instead of gas powered. I'll build the tail longer so I don't have to cut it up later on. And building for electric power should make it a bit lighter right off. Now to start on a color scheme.

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