The rudder horns are ok checked them out fitted then into the rudder and they workout to be 3 1/2 inches wide just need a little trimming on the bottom and they will work perfectly.. it’s the horn size for the elevators that I am not sure about.

Well, this isn’t the plane for this setup but I’m going to make it work. After I sort this out, the plane is basically done. Hoping to maiden this weekend. Can’t wait!!

Maiden day today!!

It’s been a while since I had a 40% aircraft. Wow, I had forgotten how awesome they are. Hats off to AJ Aircraft as well. What an unbelievably good-flying aircraft. Right from takeoff, it felt solid as a rock and it was as if I’ve been flying the plane for years. Outstanding aircraft. That DA-215 is an absolute powerhouse engine as well. So glad I bought that.

Just about 4 minutes into the maiden, I completely destroyed it. But those 4 minutes were amazing and I’ll remember them for months to come!!!

OMG ! Of course we have to ask the inevitable question.....

Sorry to hear it crashed.

What??? Those AJ's fly to good to crash! What happened?

Can’t even express how disappointed I am in myself over this one. It was all on me. And though I say it myself, I would put my setups against the toughest standard of functionality. I don’t penny-pinch. I don’t cut corners. And I have a high attention to detail. That said……..

This is a long story with many nuances best explained in person, but I will do my best and keep it short :

When I routed the tank vent line down through the fuselage, I considered several options but decided on my usual setup, which is basically retention on both ends and pulled tight. When the MTW-130 cans arrived last week, they swallowed the canister tunnel. As I eluded to in one of my last posts, at one point, I almost considered they were not going to work on this particular plane. Nevertheless, I carefully adapted them to work with non-conventional methods of can support. In the end, both cans ended up crowding the vent line as routed. I stayed up late Friday night before the maiden finishing up last details and said to myself multiple times I needed to reroute the vent line, replace the down tube with carbon rod, or other. But I decided on an easier option of sleeving it with canister mount tubing which is impervious to canister temps. Knowing Tygon is not, I figured worst case, if the sleeve did not hold its place or deteriorated for whatever reason, the Tygon would melt and I’d make a mess on the first refuel after. But I was willing to accept that risk and keep an eye on it while I shook down the plane.

What I didn’t consider was the possibility of the sleeve not staying in position and the Tygon melting completely and perfectly closed, preventing fuel draw……which is exactly what happened. Engine died at the worst time over a densely wooded area on the southeast corner of our field, resulting in a 43-pound projectile thrashing through the canopy on its way to a resting place.

So, the takeaway is - listen to your gut. On one hand, this was a consequence of a poor setup and not taking the time to make something better. The rest of it was just intentional alignment of all the holes of the Swiss cheese because the RC Gods hate me. I mean, you couldn’t hardly make up this scenario. Still, I take the blame and know exactly what I didn’t do to make this happen.

It will be gutted today and I’m already looking for a replacement airframe. 40%’ers are special. Very unique. If you’ve ever owned / flown one, you know. I had forgotten how awesome they are. It won’t be long and I will have a replacement. 4 minutes just got me frustrated!

That is absolutely crazy.....Sorry to see that.

Man sorry to hear that! That is one 40% I haven’t owned and always wanted. I haven’t seen any in stock on AJs site in a long time.

Originally Posted by Capt Kurt

That is absolutely crazy.....Sorry to see that.

Thanks man. Isn’t it, though? So avoidable. I thought several times about changing it out with a carbon tube. But thought I had it covered with the sleeve. I didn’t. Oh well. It was just my turn in the saddle.

Originally Posted by Lozak

Man sorry to hear that! That is one 40% I haven’t owned and always wanted. I haven’t seen any in stock on AJs site in a long time.

Thank you. Well, I can tell you from 4 minutes of quality experience, it’s amazing! 😂

How to kill a DA-215 at the worst time…..

https://youtube.com/shorts/16YRMiLoS5A?feature=share

This won’t do much good for anyone unless they are local or local’ish - But I have two canopies (one slightly deformed due to the sun, one in good condition), the IMAC rudder, the 3D rudder, the short cowling (NIB), the long cowling (minimal damage, cut for airflow and canister exhaust), the wings (right wing pretty bad off, left wing almost undamaged), wing tube, and what’s left of the fuselage. I’m going to post this all in the Classifieds for $250. Just don’t have the heart to throw it all away. If you’re interested, shoot me a PM.

Originally Posted by Motomazzo

How to kill a DA-215 at the worst time…..

https://youtube.com/shorts/16YRMiLoS5A?feature=share

What fuel tank is that?

That sucker is strong!

Originally Posted by ben_beyer

What fuel tank is that?

That sucker is strong!

Indeed!! FlowMaster from EF.

https://extremeflightrc.com/FlowMast...nks_c_610.html