Continuing the theme from the previous epistle, it’s an opportune moment to reflect on fixings and their failures. A while back I was spending a rare balmy day, enjoying a low-impact lazy day flying, when the calm was rent by a thrashed sport model intent on using as much sky and speed as possible. True, the propeller driven plaything was spectacular, but the howling of an overstressed engine, the buzzing ‘fart’ of control surface flutter, then the sudden ‘WHUMP’ and following expostulation of ‘Oh bu---r!’ told the tale of yet another high-speed impact and the total dismemberment of a model through means unintended.
So, what went wrong?
BRASSED OFF
The crumpled components were picked over, assessed, and once the usual ribald comments were made, checked for obvious failure. Our pilot,…
