Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

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johnrcglider
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Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by johnrcglider »

Took my Phoenix 2000 Glider out today for maiden flight after countless hours flying simulator, only to have one good landing then a bad crash,

The model is made of EPA foam for wings but because of the impact they snapped quite badly as can be seen in pictures

What glue is best to stick back together? Anything I can push between two pieces to reinforce?

Or is a write off??

Will upload a link to crash video filmed from iris drone a little later

Thanks JohnImage

Image


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Daedalus66
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Re: Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by Daedalus66 »

Very sorry to hear about the crash.
Just how much flying experience do you have? The Phoenix 2000 is not a good place to start if you are trying to teach yourself to fly. It’s not particularly hard to fly but it is slow to respond and has little or no self-righting tendency. Finally, as you have found, it’s relatively fragile and easily damaged.
Best bet for developing basic flying skills is either a three channel glider like the Radian or a four channel trainer like the Apprentice. Another possibility is the Bixler series from HobbyKing. Or the Tuff Trainer.
johnrcglider
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Re: Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by johnrcglider »

Daedalus66 wrote:Very sorry to hear about the crash.
Just how much flying experience do you have? The Phoenix 2000 is not a good place to start if you are trying to teach yourself to fly. It’s not particularly hard to fly but it is slow to respond and has little or no self-righting tendency. Finally, as you have found, it’s relatively fragile and easily damaged.
Best bet for developing basic flying skills is either a three channel glider like the Radian or a four channel trainer like the Apprentice. Another possibility is the Bixler series from HobbyKing. Or the Tuff Trainer.
Ok I have no flight experience apart from drones and there pretty easy to fly,

The only experience is Phoenix flight sim,

Maybe I get a different model to practice with but have not got flaps connected just everything else

May reason I crashed was it was quite a small area to me and got nervous when it hit the wind and took off then come back towards me too quickly,

That is one main thing in a simulator things happen much slower


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jhsa
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Re: Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by jhsa »

You should get into an RC club and be helped by its members. learning to fly RC models by yourself can be both expensive, and painful if you get hit by them.
Expensive, if you hit someone else, or someone else's property.
And in a club you normally get also insured.

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Re: Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by MikeB »

Join the BMFA, you will get insurance that way. If you are flying multirotors anyway you should have insurance!
If you join a club that is affiliated to the BMFA you will get membership (and hence insurance) that way.

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CatRovacer
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Re: Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by CatRovacer »

i think EPA wing you can glue together with UHU, I bought from this guy
As I see fuse is not damaged. If there are cracks need to clean sandpaper the paint by 1cm on both sides and patch of glassfibre on the epoxy .

Of course strictly required need disassemble and check motor (shaft and magnets).

It is considered that after a good repair the glider flies better. Hands are smoother, eyes are more attentive, glider is more beloved :roll:
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Kilrah
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Re: Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by Kilrah »

johnrcglider wrote: Sat Dec 23, 2017 5:43 pm May reason I crashed was it was quite a small area to me and got nervous when it hit the wind and took off then come back towards me too quickly,

That is one main thing in a simulator things happen much slower
Yup, big difference that nobody thinks about with simulators... in the sim you unconsciously know you don't risk anything so no big deal, but once you get in real life you get the added pressure of not wanting to do actual damage, and it messes with you.

So yeah, training with someone is better, or if you do it in the simu try as many different landscapes/scenarios/obstacles and don't move to the real thing until you're 100% confident there. That will give you the margin to still function when you're only 50% confident IRL. If you're 50% in the simu, then you're only 25% IRL afterwards... that kind of thing.
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jhsa
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Re: Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by jhsa »

Simulators is good to practice when the model is turning, and when it flies towards you. it is also good to learn aerobatics. But it does not give you the feel of a real model.

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Re: Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by mpjf01 »

Getting back to fixing it. The wing is no problem, it will go back together with UHU (best), gorilla glue or anything foam safe. I assume that the wooden joiner is broken so obviously this will need to be replaced. Use aircraft or marine ply from a model shop, not cheap rubbish from the local hardware store. The fuselage on the other hand will be difficult if it's broken. It looks like a crack at the front LH part of the hatch area - or it may be dirt. The fuselage material is very difficult to get anything to stick to. that's why the makers have chosen to bolt the battery tray supports in rather than glue them. Best I can suggest is clean the area with alcohol to make sure there no oily residue from manufacture then rough up the area around the crack with sandpaper - score it really well - then use fibreglass cloth and epoxy to cover the crack area.

You don't say what radio you are using but as you are in this forum it might be something FRSKY. If so, I have found that the aircraft flies quite well with a S8R stabilising receiver. While I personally don't think that using these devices is good practice for a beginner - as you learn to fly in a way that you later have to un-learn - I realise that I am 'fighting a losing battle". If you need a model setup for Taranis - it's a bit complex as I was using the aircraft to familiarise myself with Mike Shellim's E-Soar PLUS system - let me know and I'll send it.
Daedalus66
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Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by Daedalus66 »

I’m an instructor in our club flight school. Even young pilots (who typically learn much faster than adults — especially the 50+ ones) need a few flights on the buddy box if they are not to crash on the first flight.
I strongly recommend getting help by joining a club. That said, I have to admit that in the dim distant past (50 odd years ago) we taught ourselves to fly, but we did so with models that would right themselves if left alone. The equivalent today is a stabilization system like SAFE that provides varying levels of assistance fro Beginner to Experienced.
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Re: Need Help- Maiden Phoenix 2000 Glider Flight - Bad Crash

Post by GoGoMan12 »

Gliders are not as easy to fly as you might think. Get a high wing trainer with plenty of dihedral and put the rudder on the aileron stick. When you let go of the stick to should try and right itself. After you crash that, find a buddy to teach you. Stick with it. You are on the threshold of a great hobby.


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