DH 91 Albatross

That did did not go well!
First the video did not work so I only have pictures of the result.
For the first 15 seconds it flew quite well and I concentrated of trimming, leaving the U/C down until it was flying nicely. Before it was flying smoothly all hell broke loose and it effectively "spun in" with the inevitable results.
Fairly serious this time.

The wing spar is broken in two places.

The U/C is completely deranged!

You may notice a prop and its nut is missing. I think this was the cause of the crash as it came off in flight (so lost) and with limited fin area the Albatross does not like asymmetric thrust!
Why did it come off with a conventional nut on a normal prop?
For some reason the ESC's have their 'brake' on. I don't know why but during the flight there appeared to be a momentary loss of signal causing the props to stop almost instantly. If not really tight the inertia of the prop can cause it to simply "spin off". Of course it had to happen on an outboard motor!
Had I realised what had happened I could have probably saved things better by cutting the throttle but when in a determined spin and certainly not 3 mistakes high the temptation is try to gain airspeed by adding power which in this case just made the situation worse.

Oh well never mind!
Gives me something to do.

I feel sickened for you Simon

Your not having much luck with this one Simon, sometimes thats the way it go's

A start on the repairs.
The fuselage needed a bit of TLC as the fuselage/wing mounting had taken quite a jolt and the fuselage nose hold on was completely broken requiring a replacement of a fuselage former.

I suspect I will have to get 'creative' with the wing spar repair. I might try some carbon tow simply laid over the top of the breaks.
The U/C is not actually such a problem but simply the amount of wing skin that will have to be cut away to remount the retracts units.

The other 'rebuild' I am considering has nothing to do with the crash but the tail plane needs significantly more dihederal both for scale appearance and to aid fin ground clearance. Still thinking about it.

Had to do same to full size TP

Slowly restoring the undercarriage.

It has a new printed 'part' rib to hold each retract unit. While I was at it I printed 2 spares just in case.

The spar has been repaired with carbon tow.

First the spar flange was sanded down to bare wood and then the tow 'flooded' in place with PVA glue.
It will take a day or two to dry out to full strength but should be almost invisible when filled and painted.

With the structural repairs complete it is now just a case of restoring the skin.

Great progress, just shows - you can't keep a good man down. I suspect many of us would have given up.

Don't forget that tailplane. I think it'll pay off

Getting there. The wing upper surface repaired and painted.

The other task today, apart from installing my daughters big new cooker, was to repair her 3 year old daughters' remote control dog.
Its eyes glow, it walks and 'yaps' in a very realistic and exceptionally annoying manner!

Much more serious is my 3D printer has failed - after just over 800 hours printing.
It looks like its the mother board (power is still ok) and judging by the number available on Ebay it almost certainly is!

I can't think of anything constructive to say, you've got everything covered. I will say, it's great to see someone with your tenacity & determination when it comes to model building. ..... Well done that man!

Pol.

Just for completeness the wing underside repairs finished & painted.

The repairs are visible but you have to look carefully.
Now I have to wait for the new prop - two complete sets this time! and for the new mother board for my Anet A8 to make another spinner (lost with the prop) and to make the 3? new fuselage formers that will create the increased dihedral on the tail plane.

Klippy
Reprogramming the ESC could be a problem.
1. No programming info came with the ESCs
2. All the ESCs are coupled together and built in. I really don't fancy trying to count beeps on 4 ESC all at the same time.
The danger is I could end up with different characteristics on each ESC.
For now it will just have to be "do it up a bit tighter". After all 3 stayed on no problem.

Can't you get programming cards for those ESCs. So much simpler if you can. Sometimes cards from other makes will work.