Topic: "That'l buff out nicely Gromit"

RCMF Lundy Island tour, sunday Aug 22nd 2010, West facing slope, next to the Old lighthouse
 I'l just paint the scene for you before i get into the gory detail.
 It was the first day of the 2010 Lundy tour, The weather was glorious with a light breeze onto the 400 ft high granite cliff next to our accomodation, The old lighthouse .  First persons to gallop out the lighthouse clutching a flailing model each , to the cliff edge in the early morn to get the flying underway were Ian & Andy b, followed closely by Stefan.

 The dawn light hits our accomodation, The old lighthouse.


  View showing the cliffs around the old lighthouse.


 Ian & Andy b, up & running to be the first RCMF on tour, Lundy isle 2010 fliers.


 Ian does the honours, & gets the Tour started with his Wizard compact.


 Andy was very close behind with his Kyril.


 Stefan was next to take to the Lundy skies with his Ceres.

  Stuart.

Looks fine so far!.....

Simon

 Ian & his Wizzard compact


  Ian & Andy return for breakfast

  Stuart

 After a bit of breakfast we walked back down to the slope & began flying again. The breeze was still light but i new my Furio would love it in the smooth lift. Out she went no probs & i enjoyed aprox 10 mins or so enjoying my first ever bit of cliff soaring out over the sea. After some F3f type runs i decided to do some aero's. The Furio loves big aeros. I did a few slow rolls & loops no prob, then rolled inverted for a second or two before diving down vertically intending to level out at horizon level & fly straight & level left to right accross the slope.
 On trying to level out the Furio just didnt want to respond, i had time to flick to high rates but still it wasn't looking good .................. "THUD"

  Stuart.
 

Not sounding so good now!...

Simon

Tension is definitely building...

Here's a few pics of my Furio taken at "Whitesheet" earlier this year. A great model.


 

 

 
 Banana, Blade & Furio

 I bought the Furio from Andy b early last year, its one of the "Famous Furio Five"
I love flying the Furio & have flown it more than any other of my models since buying it. It'l still be performing well when all around have had to land when in light conditions, but when fully ballasted in big air will rip around impressively  too

  Stuart

ooh, ooh, ooh.
 

Love a good "cliffhanger" . . (or should that be "cliffpranger"...ok pun fine here   )

 On reaching the Furio, which had landed at around a 45 degree angle between some lumps of granite, Andy spotted why i was unable to pull out of the dive







 The tip of the reciever aerial had slipped between the elevator surfaces and prevented any up elevator movement.  Totally my fault for not ensuring the wire couldnt do such a thing prior to launch

  Stuart.

2.4?? 

Isn't hindsight the most wonderfull thing, cheers you up no end dont it

  Stuart.

 Well, heres the damage guys,

 This goes well with the pics press play then click straight away onto the flikr link.

Wallace + Gromit Theme Tune xD

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53568953@N02/sets/72157624741684889/show/

 The left wing escaped perfectly as did the tail surfaces, only the nose of the Furio was modified. the spar area on the fuz is fine too.

  Stuart.

It's like watching one of those films of starving kids in a third world country, brings a lump to your throat 

Ouch. If you're thinking about a diy repair have a look at my post that links to a detailed resurrection of a Furio wing. Sadly the original SEAT website is no longer available but the pdfs should help/inspire.

http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php/topic,68646.msg781073.html#msg781073

Deep breaths from me & sympathy from those around. My first experience of cliff flying had ended disasterously . It was my first flight on day 1, my Lundy trip was off to a poor start.  I was looking forward to flying the Furio all week long & putting her through an F3f course for the first time Still, it was a stunning place for it to happen i spose.
Back to the lighthouse for tea & sympathy.
 That evening i arranged the wing on the lounge table to asses the damage. It didnt look good. A quality repair on this was beyond anything i'd tackled before, & everyone else who looked at it
 The bits stayed on the table for a few days & during that time i think everyone came up for a look at the damage. Consensus of opinion was that a quality repair was beyond hope My thoughts turned to a phone call to Mr Breta for a quote for a replacement wing & fainting on getting the cost in his reply
 The wing was packed away in its correx home & hidden behind the wardrobe in my room for a few days so i wasnt reminded of its demise.

  Stuart.

Ouch. If you're thinking about a diy repair have a look at my post that links to a detailed resurrection of a Furio wing. Sadly the original SEAT website is no longer available but the pdfs should help/inspire.

http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php/topic,68646.msg781073.html#msg781073

  Thanks Petes

  Stuart.

 

With the spar gone it does look like that panel is a right-off Stuart.    

And with the fus in that state it also looks like replacement parts will be nearly as expensive as a new model. 

It just goes to show that if it can go wrong, then it will, at the most inconvenient time.

On a positive note you won't be making that mistake again, so it's one thing less to go wrong next time!

Best of luck mate with your new replacement (eventually).   

Am I wrong or doesn't this story have a happy ending? 

Am I wrong or doesn't this story have a happy ending? 

 
 It does indeed Mr Ed, Thanks to "King Knewt" I'l continue the story later today, but for the moment i'd better get some ******work done

  Stuart

To compliment the help from knewt here's another link
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1184527

And knewt's own 5th June
http://kevin-newton.blogspot.com/

To compliment the help from knewt here's another link
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1184527

And knewt's own 5th June
http://kevin-newton.blogspot.com/

  Thanks for your post Pete's, appreciated

  Stuart

On thursday afternnon Kevin asked me to take along the Furio to the Marisco tavern that evening so he could have a good look over it. My hopes were rekindled & i took the Furio along & it was laid out on one of the table's amongst all of the RCMF Lundy crew. Cries of Ooooh that looks terminal & no chance, were silenced after a few minuits when Kevin offered to take it away with him & see what he could do, but felt confident he could do something with it .
  Stunned silence developed in the Marisco tavern. Kevin said he'd work on it that very night with help from Aj & Vic, saying he liked a challenge & it would be interesting to repair & FUN  Despite my pleedings for him to take it back home with him & repair at his leisure, & not while on holiday, he was insistent that he'd do it over a glass or two of wine.
 We arranged to meet up in the Marisco the following evening.

 I arrived last of all at the tavern the following evening & spotted my Furio correx box leaning against the wall.  Kevin, Aj & Vic were all smiling so my hopes were lifted. Stiff drink in hand (diet coke) i opened the box, pulled out the wrong wing to hoots of laughter with Kevin saying, yep thats the right one LOL  The right wing was then layed on the table to be greeted by a stunned silence.................................
Overnight, while on their holiday, in a property where the electric is off between 12pm & 6 am, Kevin, Aj & vic performed a miracle


 

 Stunning full moon over the Marisco tavern.


 The head on Adams Guiness looked slightly different after i'd had  1 or 2 drinks !


  Ian looked longingly at Adams Guiness!

  Stuart.

  

 Andy liked a small white wine with his starter !.....


 All our meals were excellent.]


 No alcohol was drunk you undersand


 The wine flowed too


 Kev, Aj & Mike,  Jack in the background.

  Stuart.

 

This is a lovely story and so nice of you to take one of the local tramps out for a meal, too.

 Darts was part of the evening entertainment.


 Adam eyes up the "Talent" on show !.........


 So then, who's on my team ?....

  Stuart.

 You can be on my team love


 Mike did some scoring, but Ian wishes he could have too


 Andy needed cooling down regularly throughout the game

  Stuart.

 After the game, Ian & Andy discussed where they went wrong
Frustrated as they were, i became concerned for the safety of the Lundy wildlife, when i noticed the title of the folder on the table

  Stuart.

This is a lovely story and so nice of you to take one of the local tramps out for a meal, too.

 Sorry Mark g but thats uncalled for  Thats Mr Treble jr your referring too, who thoroughly enjoyed his week with the rest of us. He's a really nice guy. He flew well in what were very challenging conditions at times.  I look forward to meeting him again soon

 

  Stuart.

Sorry Mark g but thats uncalled for

Sorry, no real offence meant.

 My sea-sickness precautions worked well (above) Wrist bands, travel tabs, light breakfast & lots of fluids stopped me needing one of these (below)




  My Mike evans model box was excellent, Lots of bubble wrap & foam kept everything safe all the way to Lundy   Many thanks for posting your design Mike. It meant i could make one fairly quickly following your construction methods & materials.
I was concerned over the weight of the box when fully packed. Right up to the moment i met Mike on the quayside at Ilfracombe. We were told we could put our boxes in a store room beside the office for safe keeping, untill it was time to load the "Oldenberg"
 When i tried to lift it, my knees buckled under the strain & his box remained firmly on the ground
 I think Mike Shelim was stowed away inside it, to dodge the ferry crossing charge

  Stuart.

 

Great thread Gromit !

But don't stretch our patience beyond it's limits....

Great thread Gromit !

But don't stretch our patience beyond it's limits....

 I've e-mailed Kevin to let him know this threads up & running at last, and asked him to reveal some of the repair secrets that he used to fix my Furio wing overnight. Hopefully he'l find the time to post a few words soon. He told me, Andy & Ian how he'd done it, but i think i was too stunned to take it all in
 I've taken pics of |Kevin's finished work which i'l post as soon as he's revealed all. (so to speak) This will keep the continuity  .  I dont know if Kevin took any pics during the repair that he might be happy to post, but i think he may have been too busy to do so at the time
 Aj & vic worked along with Kevin but i'm not sure who did what. Together the 3 of them achieved what i & everyone on the Tour thought impossible. Thanks again guys.
 
 There's still a lot of work to be done by me on the wing, but its back in one peice, straight & true, & Kevin assures me that when i've finished the repair it will be very strong. If its strong enough for Kevin to wiz around an F3f course confidently, i dont think i need worry somehow !...
 The work thats left to do i'm confident enough to tackle myself.
 
  Stuart.

Best of luck mate with your new replacement (eventually).   

Spoofed. 

how many never-ending cheesy chips went into it?  

Phil.

how many never-ending cheesy chips went into it?  

Phil.

 Despite there popularity, cheesy chips werent on the menu. They were  considered a delicacy & needed a special request to the chef to get them


The Marisco tavern bar.

  Stuart.

  

10 oo 10 for the thread.

Big fat 0 oo 10 for the landing! 

 Right i'm worn out from making so many posts today, i'm off down "The Hampshire Arms" for a while, to see & listen to Elvis live in concert   I'm not kidding either  
 I intend to request the following song to remind me of how Kevin fixed my Furio
 When asked how he did it, he said he did it "MY WAY"

Elvis Presley-My way

 "Thankyou very much Kevin"

 Gromit has now left the building


  Stuart.

 

 

Oh I just can't help believing...

Phil. Elvis.