Thanks, I have been wanting to call him!

Originally Posted by FW3DFLYER

Darklogicstar aka Danny Looper, AMA number 496711 expired 12-31-13, phone number 817-629-4781.

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https://www.flyinggiants.com/forums/...ad.php?t=89739

I got a point for the other thread. Watch out!

Just read that other thread, and watched the video. He's flying right down the street from my house, on an old airport that's being developed. Surrounded by houses, and about 2 miles north of runway 16 at Meacham airport.
Sure hope he stops flying there, that could have been BAD if that wing decided to break over someone's house!

Originally Posted by rotortrash

Just read that other thread, and watched the video. He's flying right down the street from my house, on an old airport that's being developed. Surrounded by houses, and about 2 miles north of runway 16 at Meacham airport.
Sure hope he stops flying there, that could have been BAD if that wing decided to break over someone's house!

And he is flying with no AMA, if that plane would have hit a house he would have just left the scene.

Wow……….interesting weekend regarding this ARF, the maiden flight by the new owner, the speculation regarding what condition(s) lead to the aileron flutter resulting in the catastrophic failure of the right wing and the multiple threads bashing OMP and their products. Certainly not the right approach to take if you are looking for help.

Seeing an ARF model crash is always a sickening feeling, especially when it’s “your baby” that is lost. I’ve had my share but it’s always been pilot error; can’t blame the ARF manufacturer when the wing bolts back out because you forgot to tighten them or you dumb thumb pull when it should have been a push. You pick up the pieces and move on. If you’re unclear as to what happened there is a wealth of knowledge and information available online or in your local club if you happen to be a member of one. Most likely someone has “been there – done that” before.

I want to address some of the speculation regarding the 88” OMP Extra 300 ARF. Since I built it and flew it for a year I have the first hand knowledge.

1. The ailerons and elevators were factory glued; in addition the outboard and inboard hinges in the elevators and ailerons were factory pinned. In my opinion it was a quality assembly; hinges were cut at the bevel, glue bond was strong (no play in the tug test), hinge line was straight, and the hinge gap was 0.0625” or less along the length of the hinge line.

2. No “all-thread” for the push rods, they were 4-40 turnbuckles threaded into the ball links a minimum of 0.375”. I don’t remember if I used the supplied rods or installed titanium rods.

3. All control horns were rough sanded on the bonding surfaces; Hysol 1C epoxy was used for the adhesive.

4. 3mm bolts, dual washers and nylon locking nuts were used to secure ball links/push rods to the control horns and servo arms. The 3mm bolts were fully threaded through the locking nut.


This airframe was strong, not abused in flight and in excellent condition. In addition to the two brief shake out flights mentioned in my build thread, this plane had 22 flights on it with 4:48:53 run time on the engine. I sold this Extra (airframe only) because I saw very little flight time for it this year as my plans are to try some Basic IMAC here in the South Central Region.

BTW, I’ll be flying my 102" OMP Yak SP-55M. There is no underlying concern (not saying it can’t happen) about it coming apart in the air because I know that OMP makes a quality product and the assembly/components are solid. If I thought I needed another 50/60cc ARF I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase, build and fly another OMP ARF.

Lots of talk regarding hinge gap and sealing the hinge line with blenderm , packing tape or covering. If there is minimal gap I’m in the camp of it not being necessary to have a great performing plane. If there is an excessive gap it probably is a good thing to do. I’m not sure what an excessive gap would be; maybe 0.125” or greater? Anyone have a rule they follow other than seal everything? If anyone knows of a study with published testing data (wind tunnel measurement, for example airflow, stress, turbulence) that shows a clear advantage of a sealed versus non-sealed hinge line I’d sure like to read it.

Two pictures to close. One is a pretty good view of both wings, ailerons and hinge line/gap. That is the factory install; pretty tight fit. The second shows the Extra after my last flight with in on 3/28/14 at Texas Wings RC flying site; although not a good close-in shot, no change in the structure.

It seems the OMP and PRC air frames are very much the same plane? I have over 200 flights on a PRC 30% Edge and it shows no signs for the worse. It is as you described. It now leads me to believe it may as well ben a control horn or servo failure. I am leaning control horn. The cavity that was in my plane for the horns would allow epoxy to spill out on either side. This was in the wings aileron and not the elevator or rudder. I actually dremel tooled and installed balsa plates to both sides of the cavity as to hold the epoxy in. I also added small diameter carbon rods to form a cross section to help the fiberglass horn from wanting to pull out. If I see something I do not like I am going to make it better. Building has taught me this. I do not build any more and the ARF planes are so good these days but still require close scrutiny on vital structures and assemblies. Flutter due to gaps is generally due to 1/8 inch or worse and is more prone to non air foiled control surfaces in my experience. I have no definitive data. Just speaking from experience.

OMP and Pilot are 2 different airframes. Looks can be deceiving......

Hmmmmm

2 totally different factories.

Originally Posted by FW3DFLYER

Darklogicstar aka Danny Looper, AMA number 496711 expired 12-31-13, phone number 817-629-4781.

you know, when i 1st read this, i thought you meant the poor dude passed away. then i was seeing what he had done, thinking, better not say anything about a dead guy. then i kept reading this post, and realized, he did not "expire", but his AMA expired....

in which case, i must say, he should never be AMA again. HE SHOULD NEVER fly his model airplane over people's homes. this is outright negligence. Very very dangerous. And especially an airplane that has not proven to be airworthy (NOT ARF problem, but setup problem).

there is so much more i want to say, but just not going to do it. He needs to get his mind together and before he ever flies another model airplane, he needs to use his head, and think

SAFETY FIRST!!!!

ALWAYS!!!!


just plain old stupid move on his part.

Originally Posted by orthobird

you know, when i 1st read this, i thought you meant the poor dude passed away but his AMA expired....

LOL....it's very obvious you are a doctor