Hi Guys and gals, is there any general concensus as to when an airframe should be retired or do you just fly 'em until they're small enough to fit into a bucket? I realize that all planes are different, from the ARF to the scratch built made from the wood of a special tree located on the far side of one of Jupiter's moons but is there a point when I should become nervous? I assumed 3d planes lived a short life (as compared to a showcase WWII bomber) but I have a 7 year old, 3d arf airframe that can still cut a rug with the best of 'em. Thoughts?

Fly it until it shows signs of failure . Fire wall delaminating , gear plate coming away , hinges starting to break off .

Inspect fly. inspect fly . Sell before crash. I always screw up the sell before crash thingy

An airframe is concidered retired when it is sacrificed to the great turf god........

just inspect it good before each outing.....when it shows failures starting decide if it is worth repairing or if ya wanna trash it. If you are just tired of it give it to a guy new to giant scale with the understanding it's a fixer upper.

Mine all die young!

When this happens:

http://www.yourepeat.com/watch/?v=UN...=youtube_gdata

Originally Posted by jms5599

Mine all die young!

Same here..none have reached retirement age yet

Originally Posted by kwilson

When this happens:

http://www.yourepeat.com/watch/?v=UN...=youtube_gdata

Wow never seen a motor come off like that

Originally Posted by Mikeq

Wow never seen a motor come off like that

You missed a chance at the last Mena,AR fly in. Chad had a complete firewall forward ejection that would beat Kyle's distance record. I did a wing tube forward rebuild on it. She'll be in better shape than he got it. I don't retire one until there's too many pieces to justify putting it back together.

I start think about retiring mine when basically every rib in the wing has been re-glued and when the wood just kinda starts to break down. If i really like the plane i will uncover and basically go thru everything and redo any bad areas. If not hang it from the roof or sell it to someone learning to fly for cheap.

i fly'em till they crash , or i buy new one's and hang them in the garage. or donate them.

If you still like to fly it,then fly it.
If you have moved onto other airplanes and don't fly
it often,then sell it or donate it to someone who would enjoy it.

When it ends up as more glue than wood.....


Off she goes!!!

Originally Posted by BOSSIER_ROB

You missed a chance at the last Mena,AR fly in. Chad had a complete firewall forward ejection that would beat Kyle's distance record. I did a wing tube forward rebuild on it. She'll be in better shape than he got it. I don't retire one until there's too many pieces to justify putting it back together.

You rebuilt that thing?? That bad boy was nuked from the wingtube forward. I have pictures somewhere of it.