I put together the UHP Geiseke Nobler and installed a Saito 40 with a Bob Reeves manifold. The plane has light silkspan over the SLC film applied with Polycrylic and painted with automotive basecoat and clearcoat.
I made a new elevator joiner and horn with 3 holes to adjust flap-elevator ratio if needed and made an access hatch to allow adjustment.
Now to get to the "woes" portion of the program........
I maidened the plane yesterday morning and the first thing I did was to speed the engine up a bit as the first flight was a bit slow. A couple of more flights and it was feeling pretty good, if not a tiny bit more sensitive than my ARF Nobler,which is OK with me.
Today, the first flight was good, but I thought a bit of nose weight would help so I installed a Higley nose weight (1 oz.) I took off and it was feeling pretty good and I did wingovers, 3 loops, inverted, 3 outsides and one more lap and on the upwind side, from level flight, it went in. It was a weird feeling and I knew I didnt give it any down, and as it sat there where it smacked the ground, I wiggled the handle and saw the controls were not responding. The plane was not flown in any violent maneuvers as I was too scared with it being new so it was smooth and steady all the way. There is very little vibration as the Saito purrs like a kitten and everything was balanced. This is the damage (so far):
Also the engine is loose and I suspect that the mounting bolts have sheared in the blind nuts(that I installed with Loctite!!!). I was trying to think what may have come loose in the controls but remember checking them carfully before installing as there is no access so it was now or never. A little bit of surgery revealed the culprit:
The ball link at the flap horn broke. I still don't know why. I know if you screw the rod in too far they may break, but if the photos are clear,the break has not uncovered the end of the rod or even the threaded hole in the ball link. There is plenty of rod outside the ball link and I remember checking lenght when I installed it. Also, as you can see in the pictures, I put JB Weld on the end of the threads of the bolts through the horn so it wouldn't come loose. At this point I am trying to devise a method with the least amount of intrusion to replace this link. I have to unscrew it off the front rod and get the bolt out of the horn. The good ideas aren't exactly flowing right now as I am thinking how I am going to fix the motor mount bolts also...Has anyone had this happen with these ball links? Anyone know what brand they are? They were included in the UHP kit. I've had better days................