Dietrich Slick suggested wing check.

[BOSSIER_ROB]

I am posting this only to make people aware of this problem and not to bash Dietrich. Both of my wings are broke. They broke where the ailerons begin, in the corner where the wing continues all the way to the trailing edge. The wings cracked all the way through and the wing root rib is all that keeps it together. The crack follows the hinge line from the aileron all the way to the root rib. If your front wing screw should break, back out, or strip out, there is a good chance your wing will rotate or blow off, as the cracked piece is in front of the anti rotation dowel. I caught this crack a few weeks ago and it appeared to be harmless, but with now 11 flights, it's completely broke and I'm lucky the wings stayed together. I will post pics as soon as I can to better explain the problem. It is a design flaw and the same thing happened to my 42% Dietrich 260 a while back. Once again, this is just a heads up for those of you who are flying yours or getting ready to. I have not contacted Kevin but will do so Monday. I am not bashing this plane by any means. In fact, I love it! It's performance is great and I've almost got it dialed in perfectly for IMAC and 3D. I just don't want to see someone's wing blow off or turn sideways and they lose their aircraft and gear. I will also post pics of the fix once I start on it.

Ok a couple pics. This is not just a crack in the covering. The whole piece is only hanging on by the root rib.This section holds the anti rotation dowel and one of the wing bolts.

[wingburner]

Oh great.

[BOSSIER_ROB]

	Quote: Originally Posted by wingburner
	Oh great.

Yeah, I hear ya! Imagine landing after flying a couple sequences and some low to the ground 3D and finding that! At first, I was fing pissed, but then I thought, at least I noticed it before the wings blew off. Chances of getting an airframe, motor, and electronics replaced are probably slim to none. I'm just glad that no harm was done and it's an easy fix. I'm just a little bummed that this has to be done to a brand new airframe.. Oh well. I plan to give Kevin a call Monday and see what he has to say about it. The plane does fly great, though. My girlfriend is jealous of it because it gets more time with me than she does. LOL

[wingburner]

You are very lucky all right that it didn't cost you your equipment or worse yet hurt someone.If it happened on the 260, wonder why it happened now.

Kind of makes a guy wonder how many times this has to happen..It's not just this airframe, there has been many others.

On my Slick I pulled the plastic off the fuse, looked down to see the canopy on the floor

[NoContact]

Same thing happened to my good buddie's Slick over in Lafayette. I was wondering if it would be an isolated incident, guess not. His wingtube also bowed a little on him. Yea, wingburner my canopy was detached as well but also cracked! Suck's I been waiting about 2 weeks for the new canopy just so I can fly it. Oh well, atleast I'm learning about a few things that need attention beforehand.

[Al Lewis]

Hey Rob, were you doing any hard walls with that plane?? If not it sounds like it could be a thrust line issue.

[wingburner]

	Quote: Originally Posted by buttface
	Should have bought a Dalton........

Own a Dalton and 2 Cardens, built by me..

[Al Lewis]

Not side to side but working against a up or down force trying constantly to rotate the wing to align it with the airflow and placing stress on the anti-rotation pin and bolt in the process. Just one possible answer. Pure speculation mind you.

[buttface]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Al Lewis
	Not side to side but working against a up or down force trying constantly to rotate the wing to align it with the airflow and placing stress on the anti-rotation pin and bolt in the process. Just one possible answer.

That makes more sense especially if the ailerons are cut so close to the root and plywood root cap is made from thin light ply and the anti rotation pin is too far aft of the aileron cut out.


I would suggest installing the anti rotation dowel further up from the trailing edge of the wing....posibly in line with the hinge line.
You could take a 1'' Frostner bit ....drill a recess in the wing to receive a 1'' diameter hard point.....glue it in with polyurethane glue......sand flush to the root.......mount the wing and mark the location and drill from the other side of the fuselage with a 18'' long 1/4'' bit into the hard point and glue in a 1/4'' anti rotation dowel.
This will make sure the dowel angle lines up as you push the wing on.

[OnTheEdge]

Rob, just for giggles, attach the wing back on the fuse but this time, tighten the front wing bolt first. Then tighten the rear one and watch the crack. I'll bet you'll see it start to open as you tighten and cinch up the rear wing bolt. Sounds more like the fuse and the root of the wing might not have been mated (sanded) properly.

[ericb]

Even if that broke off, would the wing bolts hold on enough to keep the wing on?

[buttface]

Yes .the anti rotation pins have nothing to do with keeping the wing on...only alignment of wing incidence.

My 42% J-Tec doesn't have any anti rotation dowels. The wing bolts are at the trailing and leading edge of the wing acting as anti rotations.

[BOSSIER_ROB]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Al Lewis
	Hey Rob, were you doing any hard walls with that plane?? If not it sounds like it could be a thrust line issue.

Haven't done a wall at all. Walls look cool but break airframes. I can't afford to break one, when one is all I have/can afford to have. It's not me, it's the wings. Just an oversight in design. There needs to be a wood strip in that spot to keep the foam from breaking. The root rib fit great against the fuse. It still is flush with no bolts in. The wing might not rotate or come off at first, but eventually the front wing bolt or the root rib holding the blind nut is going to give and then, POOF!!! If this part gives, then yes, your wing could slide right off. The chunk that is about to break off from the wing has the anti rotation dowel and the rear wing bolt, leaving you with one 5MM bolt with about 1/4" of engaged threads. You can land with one bolt in place and even slightly loose, but with no bolts, you're brushing up your Hempel approach or ditching an entire plane into the dirt. I'm going to fix it later tonight and post some pics of what I'm going to do just in case anyone else wants to see it. Every big bird flyer at my field looked at it and everyone agreed that it's not built right. It appears that the wing is trying to rotate and is just about to succeed.

[buttface]

	Quote: Originally Posted by BOSSIER_ROB
	Haven't done a wall at all. Walls look cool but break airframes. I can't afford to break one, when one is all I have/can afford to have. It's not me, it's the wings. Just an oversight in design. There needs to be a wood strip in that spot to keep the foam from breaking. The root rib fit great against the fuse. It still is flush with no bolts in. The wing might not rotate or come off at first, but eventually the front wing bolt or the root rib holding the blind nut is going to give and then, POOF!!! I'm going to fix it later tonight and post some pics of what I'm going to do just in case anyone else wants to see it. Every big bird flyer at my field looked at it and everyone agreed that it's not built right. It appears that the wing is trying to rotate and is just about to succeed.

I think the root cap is flexing and not as stiff as it should be. Also the pin is too far back.

[zap]

Hello Rob
Sorry to hear about you wing. We dont think it is a design flaw but we may have to go to thicker tubes. We have only had one other and the plane were the tube bent slightly. This plane is very well built, We used a 49 thousands diameter tube and it may be flexing a liitle to much. We have many planes flying with this design and we have never had any wing failures.

If any one would like to have a 60 thousands diameter tube just give me a call.

Rob please give me a call and we will get you taken care of.

Sincerely
Kevin Dietrich