I recently moved, and after I changed my mind from using a U-Haul truck to using PODS transport and storage, I packed all my boxes in the container, then strung a wire across the container to support some planes. I just attached the leadouts to the wire going across and hoped nothing would shift in transport. So, my PODS container arrived this morning at 0730. When I opened it up, everything was pretty much as I packed it.
The only casualty was a Smoothie ARF that I had bought a swap meet a few years ago and never flew. It was on the floor, and I figured that I just hadn’t done a good job of attaching the leadouts to the wire.
I picked it up and examined it for damage. Luckily, no damage to the covering and no discernible damage to the wing/fuse, since it fell on the excess folds of a moving blanket. But when I looked at the left wingtip, no leadouts. Hmmm…. A second look at the wire showed the leadouts were still attached to the wire to the left of the Ringmaster, just not the Smoothie. Examining the bellcrank end of the leadouts showed that the sleeve had never even been crimped!?!
What would have happened if I had actually
flown the plane??? *SIGH* Now I have to do surgery and redo the bellcrank. Anyone else ever done this surgery before on a Smoothie ARF? Maybe a pic of the manual showing the location/attachment of the bellcrank? The plane was completed when I bought it and had no manual.
Mark