PAU 36% Edge 540 Build

[wylieruneyjr]

I did a violent full speed 3-D rates wall up and ripped the right wing off in the air. Pilot error, bad judgement. Was a dam nice flying plane. Tried to do a hemple landing but pulled too much rudder in panic, and the plane rolled over pointed the nose down. I could not get the nose up as this all occurred at 50 feet. Chopped the throttle 10 before it when down. Good news is I have a left wing and horizontal stabs in good condition if anybody wants them. FREE just pay shipping. Some other parts maybe repairable. PM me if you want. When I recovered the airplane the wing root , cardboard tube sleave and carbon tube were intake and still attached to the fuselage. ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT I DID IT! <RUTNBUC>

[Scotte 540]

Did it look like this???? I didn't want to say anything, but this is four times, that I know about, plus one wing that the damage was spotted before it went airboure again........This was from a 1/4 throttle 45 downline snap roll??? Maybe Herve should address this before someone gets hurt? Good people, great service, but unfortunately they have to realize this wing construction/design sucks!! I would like to add that my wing tube & spar were intact with everything else blown off the wing and the tube/spar broke on my Hemple landing........

[jkhorvath]

	Quote: Originally Posted by tkapfer
	Ok everyone......I have put this plane together and am now working on the cowl. I have the DA100 installed and have the DA Compact Mufflers. I have cut out the cowl for the airflow and two holes for the mufflers to hang down. Problem is, the cowling will not fit or slide onto the plane over the motor and mufflers. HOW, did you all get around this problem???? Am I doing something wrong? Thanks Terry

tkapfer;

I cut my cowl as you did, then I installed the cowl, then I inserted the mufflers through the bottom air flow duct and finally installed the mufflers on the engine.

[wylieruneyjr]

Scott 540My damages looked like yours except the wing tube and the sleave were still on the plane. If PAU sent me a new plane I,d gladly take it. But I cannot say that it was abosutely a design flaw. More likely pilot error. PAU has been good to me. I,m no cry baby, shizt happens. They sent me notifcation to check wing tube measurements which I did. My tube was 2mm short, not the 3mm required to justify replacement.Jkhorvath--- This is what I did to solve the problem fitting cowl on. On the bottom of cowl I cut out a huge rectanglar openning. It was aprox 5 or 6 inchs wide and far enough forward to just clear front of the muffler down tubes. The cowl still covers the carb bottom mostly. This was done to increase out flow 4 x incoming air flow. When putting the cowl on I start out with it 45 degrees twisted to get it to clear the plugs, as they go thur at the corners of cowl. The cowl wooden ring waS ALSO HAD A SECTION REMOVED AT BOTTOM. So as soon as the cowl ring clears down tubes rotate the cowl diagonally ---top pointing at 2-3 o clock position, and then once the plugs clear the cowl ring rotate top to 12 o clock position. Hope this helps. SCOTT 540 Remember you were on a down line, which may have increased your airspeed beyond the limits the plane could withstand such a violent manuver. Snaps are hard on planes. I,m sure some other frames could be stronger. This airframe is more of a slow flight 3-D beast. Just wished I had considered that before doing a wall with mine.

[Scotte 540]

I know this wing or any wing has its limits and if the maneuver I did was all it could take I would be running for cover at all IMAC events where a snap roll is part of a sequence,,,,,,,,This is a plane advertised as being IMAC, as well as 3D capable flying,,,,,,,,,I also had a expert look at the construction of this wing and he pointed out many flaws and the important thing that I wanted to put out here is that this is not the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last time someone will have trouble with this wing construction,,,,,,,,,,,,,I would also like to add that PAU gave me what I asked for after this happened, and I would not have said anything about your problem, but it is important that people know that this has happened before and could happen again, and should take nothing away from a company that has a loyal following and gives topnotch customer service.............

[tkapfer]

Sorry to hear that you had the crash with the wing breaking. Maybe I will try to dribble some glue down in around some of the wing struts if that will help at all. I probably won't be quite that hard on it, so hope that never happens on mine.

Yes, if you have some pictures, it may be good to post them and compare them to what I have done so far. Thanks for everyones help.

[wylieruneyjr]

Thanks for the info scott540. I was going to offer you my left wing, but if you got what you need , then alls well.

[Scotte 540]

	Quote: Originally Posted by wylieruneyjr
	Thanks for the info scott540. I was going to offer you my left wing, but if you got what you need , then alls well.

I'm still going to resurrect this aircraft, because I truly loved the way it flew, but I will be cutting into the bottom of the wings and fixing what I think is wrong and making them stronger,,,,,,,,,,believe it or not, I was offered a left wing from a buddy (I watched his right wing blow off) and he also managed a Hempel landing,,,,,,I won't mention names, but he's had a wing blow off of two different Edge 540 36%ers.........we both had failures in front of a group of IMAC contestants & spectators,,,,,not very good advertising, especially when lots of people come to you saying that should of never happened with what you were doing.

I would also like to say that I used one ounce of thin CA on each wing, going as far back as the third rib, running CA around both top & bottom of the rib/sheeting and it still let go.......although I had more balsa stuck to the root, than the first blown off wing I inspected-----there are other issues............

[JohnVH]

	Quote: Originally Posted by tkapfer
	I'm actually wondering if they cut off 1/2 inch or so of the mufflers to make them shorter and fit within the cowling. The problem is just getting the cowling over the mufflers so they can stick down through the holes that I cut for them. With the size of the DA100, you can't really turn or adjust the cowling because it rubs against the sides of the motor.

I cut about 3/4" off my mufflers

	Quote: Originally Posted by jkhorvath
	tkapfer; I cut my cowl as you did, then I installed the cowl, then I inserted the mufflers through the bottom air flow duct and finally installed the mufflers on the engine.

Thats a good idea, and I think if I ever need another cowl Ill go that route for a cleaner cowl cutting setup..


Flew mine a bunch this weeked, as did Astrohog, and Ken, this is my new favorite, we were all doing snaps, blenders, walls, parachutes without incedent.. If you understand and respect the plane itll last forever.

Glad your going to fix yours Scott, btw, who was the 'expert' you had look it over?

[astrohog]

I have to concur with JohnVH on this one! I have been flying mine (almost exclusively) for a year and a half now with zero issues.

I know there was an issue with wing tube length from the factory that PAU addressed by contacting every customer and having them measure their wing tubes to identify the incorrect (short) ones, and if anyone had a short one, it was replaced with a correct one.

PAU has stepped up to the plate on EVERY single issue they have been made aware of, and that is very refreshing these days!

When I assembled mine over a year ago, I did cut 1" off my compact DA 100 mufflers and had to cut into the bottom of the plywood cowl ring to get the cowl to slide on to my liking. It was easy to do and have had no problems in a year-and-a-half.

Go out and enjoy your plane, as this is one awesome aircraft!

Regards,

Astrohog

[Scotte 540]

	Quote: Originally Posted by JohnVH
	Flew mine a bunch this weeked, as did Astrohog, and Ken, this is my new favorite, we were all doing snaps, blenders, walls, parachutes without incedent.. If you understand and respect the plane itll last forever. Glad your going to fix yours Scott, btw, who was the 'expert' you had look it over?

Not sure what you mean by understand & respect the plane, sounds like you were putting this plane thru way more stress than I ever did?? Are your planes from the first run/shipment? All the wing failures that I know about are from the second run of planes............The expert will remain nameless for now,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I was totally surprised that the PAU didn't want to inspect the damage themselves, I think I would be a lot more concerned about what caused these failures and had their "experts" look over the guts of the wings, instead of coming up with cockamamie stories that the wing tube was too short or we are flying the plane beyond its limits------believe me when I say, that there was nothing I did to this plane in the air that should of been over stressing or caused this to happen...................This fall when I redo the wings I will show everyone the changes that I'll be doing.........I would like to hear the owners comments publicly, so when this happens again, we will have it as reference..............................Or if it was me running a quality sensitive business such as this, I would recall all the wings to be safe. IMO

[harv]

i should just mention scotte that i had a 1st gen wings on my 2nd edge.

[Scotte 540]

	Quote: Originally Posted by harv
	i should just mention scotte that i had a 1st gen wings on my 2nd edge.

My thoughts: because guys are having sucsess and flying them with no troubles is,,,poor quality control.......Was my plane, when being built, the last one on the table on Friday night and the workers didn't do a proper job gluing??? I think it is a combination of that, with some building techniques/materials for lightness that make some of these wings ready to blow..............It would be nice to hear comments from people other than the PAU groupies who would never say any bad about this manufacturing.........Sorry Jeff/John, take nothing personal please, you are nice people...

[tkapfer]

Were the 1st and 2nd gen of this plane last year?
I just bought mine this year about a month or so ago and it is numbered 006.
Hopefully they have gotten better.

Maybe I'll drop a little thin CA down around some joints as well.

How long was the wing tube supposed to be?

Thanks

[astrohog]

	Quote:
	It would be nice to hear comments from people other than the PAU groupies who would never say any bad about this manufacturing

I am sorry that you had issues with your plane Scott but I have an issue with the comment that is quoted above. If you (or any others reading this) look closely, I have NEVER made any claims about this plane, PAU, or any other PAU plane that was not first-hand, personal experience. If I thought PAU planes were crap, I would not fly them. I work hard for my money just as I am sure you and all others here do and I spend it judiciously and without regards to "peer pressure".

That is just how I roll, FWIW!

Regards,

Astrohog
(Jeff)