I'll allow it.

At the end of this post I described crashing the MX-Bach, and this was the result. Over a few weeks I worked on the repairs.

I fiberglassed the inside of the plastic canopy and filled in the gaping hole on the front starboard side of the top. There is still a dip on the port side front that has been there forever, but I wasn't willing to try to melt it back into shape. The paint and cote stripes came out pretty nice.

Is it perfect? Not even close. But yeah, I will allow it. 

I put a smaller prop on it as I think it's actually a 30cc engine. My blog says it came off the Sbach, the first gasser I ever owned, and that it's a 30cc. That's the plane the MX-Bach's wings come from. It's an OG RCGF engine (though when I asked RCGF-USA about it, sending pics and the serial number, they claim it's not theirs). It's stamped RCGF, but no size. It was made before the RCGF/VVRC-RCGF debacle, so it is definitely theirs. An 18x8 works well on a 30cc. Will fly it at some point and see, but on static testing it seems great.

The airframe is old and getting tired ... I suspect it will die soon and not be resurrected. I will probably replace the bent muffler when I can. I am also getting concerned that the prop screw plate is stripping. That would be expensive to replace.

I LOVE HELICOPTERS! I HATE HELICOPTERS....

Hovered the freshly set up Frankenhelis 500. A bit twitchy, but seemed fine. Landing it tipped and a blade touched. Hit the battery pack and blew it right out of its outer shrink wrap casing. That one piece of blad on the right was found about 75ft away.

I don't have the patience or money for this right now. Set aside. I suspect I need more expo... 

Tht Morane Saulnier Type N is done! Other updates!

 And ready to maiden! Installed the cowl mounts and then the cowl.

Tapped M2 blind (T) nuts into drilled holes and then CA'd them. Only needed 4.

I adjusted the cowl pulling it back a bit on the port side centering it a bit better. I painted the scuff marks on the prop. I removed the bullet spinner as I go a reversible silicone cup for the starter that allows me to keep the prop centered. Read that this can make it possible to use the starter without a spinner.

Very exciting! Given the skill level and tools I have it's not bad. 

I have always thought this is a RCGF 35cc, not sure why. It's branded but not stamped with the size. I sent pics and the serial number to Joe Nelson at RCGFUSA. It's an older engine, but hoping they can tell me.

In the crash the exhaust pipe bent back. I ran the engine today and it runs fine. I did find one for about $21, at Motion RC I think. May get it and replace it, but right now no real reason. I had a 20x8 on it, which is fine for a 35cc. On a whim I changed it to an 18x8, as I have a couple of those 

I also worked on the cowl and the canopy a bit. I probably should have put some balsa behind the large patch, it's been difficult to get smooth. I don't think it's going to be totally smooth. Primed it yesterday which helped illuminate the bumps, and worked those a bit today. The canopy has always been bumpy as it's a thin plastic and is old and likely sun melted, and it still is. I tried to fill in the hole, but it's still quite present. I have been using wood filler like bondo and it's worked pretty well. I filled that hole with it, but it's outline is still visible. I may paint some design over it to help obscure it 

It will be some time before I can fly again.

It is a good day to fly.

Saturday's are always busy, and one with perfect weather, very. I was there for almost 4 hrs and got maybe 4-5 flights. I took the Pulse XT60 and the Ultrastick out. I just flew and didn't bother with pics or video.

As I was getting ready for the first flight of the Pulse XT60 I warmed up the engine and thought the cowl was really shaking (I think I saw the muffler jiggly too). Had a nice flight. As I was setting up for a second flight I realized I didn't have two US 4-40 screws (I think that's the size) and that's why the cowl was loose. I taped the loose side and taxied out to the runway. As I turned to take off I saw the muffler was really dancing so taxied back and saw it had come lose. I taxied back to the bench. A flying buddy, Larry, gave me two screws for the cowl (he has a small hardware store in the back of his car). I removed the cowl to fix the muffler and being rear mounted I would need to remove the engine. I really wasn't in the mood to do this at the field, I came to fly, so I set the Pulse aside for the day. 

Flew 2-3 flights on the Ultrastick over the next 2-1/2 hrs (a lot of waiting my turn). I had it dialed in. At the end of my last flight I realized I was getting tired and my vision unreliable (cataracts, need good lighting and cloud clover was moving in). I wisely called it a day.

You can see the muffler hanging loose. One bolt still attached. Thought the other lost but it fell out of the cowl when I removed it. Pulled the engine, reinstalled the bolts with a friction lock washer and some thread lock. This one always shakes loose. This is an real RCGF 20cc (which Joe Nelson told me is actually a 26cc). The muffler has come loose on this engine a few times 

One thing I later noticed as I worked on the firewall for the MX-Bach, is that the exhaust tube got bent back. It's straight back, no cracks. I forgot to look but I think this 35cc is a DLE. It doesn't need replacing, which is good as I can't afford one right now.

The firewall is coming along nicely. Had to Dremel and hack saw the notch flanges at the four sides. Tomorrow I will drill it for mounting the engine, the center hole for the fuel lines and a small hole for the throttle control rod. I had to cut the original one to get the engine free of the firewall, so I'll be making a new one. I noticed that the flange holes on the engine box to which the fire wall gets attached did not appear to have epoxy in them... I am not sure why, though I see this on landing gear hard points that are also installed using flanges so that it can break out clean. Is this what they had done with the firewall? I am not sure I will, I think I will epoxy all the way around. If this plane crashes again I don't expect it to survive, and I would just as soon the engine breaking free in flight not be the reason it crashes

I knew I had a large set of aluminum landing gear. They were not drilled so I was able to custom drill them. Here they are installed. They are curved, which I don't think I have ever had on a plane before. Terribly upset the carbon fiber ones were broken in the crash.  These I'll work great!

Tomorrow I will install the firewall and the engine. Then I will need to repair the under cowl and the canopy. I got some metal L brackets I may use to repair the cowl mounting tabs, but that's an idea still in the works. This hasn't been too difficult a repair so far.

The Good and the.... Not so good.

This morning I finished up the wiring on the Morane Saulnier Type N. It came out great and looks awesome! All it needs is the cowl (awaiting M2 blind (T) nuts, and I'd like to matte epoxy the cowl and plastic top, but that may come later.

Scotch taped the cowl for pics.

And then I went to fly. I had been delaying because storm clouds were moving in and while winds weren't bad there were some gusts. For the big planes, the 26cc Pulse XT60 and the 35cc MX-Bach these shouldn't be a problem, but something just felt off. I went anyway, because if it was good to fly there would likely be no one there and I could fly the whole time instead of standing around waiting (tomorrow is going to be excellent but crowded). So, I went.

The crash is, of course, at the end. This was the first time I had flown it in over a year, as I didn't fly last summer.

On approach It got wobbly in a tip stall, started to recover enough I crashed nose down wings level. Initial butchers bill looks like the landing gear are toast, the firewall and forward motor box, a hole in the plastic canopy, the under cowl. All fixable though I am not sure how I am going to fix the plastic canopy.... Maybe fiberglass it?  Wings and the rest of the fuse are fine. Prop, of course, is toothpicked. A deconstruction will follow and I will have a better idea. This was a save, could have been a lot worse. Crash clock is nevertheless reset.

PM UPDATE: I removed the under cowl and the engine. The under cowl will need to be repaired and re-fiberglassed. The cowl mounts will need replacing as 3 out of four are broken. The canopy hole (rather curious) will need fixing and I suspect that will be fiberglass work as well, though I am not so sure how that will work. The engine is fine as far as I can tell, the 20x8 prop will be replaced with a 19x8 I have on hand. I changed how the throttle servo was mounted as it was in a tray I had made that wrenched loose and I don't like it. The firewall got broke-out attached to the standoffs. The wood is old and frequently drilled from the conversion from electric, so I am rebuilding it. I don't have my jigsaw anymore so will need to hack saw the edge notches. It looks like the firewall sprung out pretty cleanly. I will very much reinforce it, it will be sturdy. The plywood I have is a bit thicker than the stock so it will be stronger. I haven't looked into what I have for landing gear. Nothing as nice as those sweet carbon fiber ones. Such a shame. Glad they gave way and didn't rip out the landing gear hardpoint from the fuse. That would be a mess. All in all not so bad after all. 

Lots More Progress on the Morane Saulnier Type N

Had some time to work on the Morane as I wasn't feeling well and took the day off. I painted the dowel ends, applied the rondels, and bound the Morane to my iX12 using the Spektrum AR620. and programmed it. 

The rondels went on easy! I learned a lot along the way and was able to reduce air trapping after the first one. There was none in the side rondels 

Starboard rondel and my Pirate Guy (by RadDezigns). The port side is identical.

The first one applied to top of wing. 

Completed top wing. Front is at the top.

Really like how the bottom came out! Wanted the stripes to break up the gray.

I think the rondels came out great!

After a long nap, I came back and set up the throttle and the transmitter. the engine started up pretty briskly but the low needle was too lean. Enriched it and ran it a second time for quite a while, checking the idle and throttle cut. I did not touch the high needle and given the power with a Master Airscrew Scimitar 11x6, I don't think I need to. The pressure line off the exhaust kept kinking. It has to run this way to pass the cowl, and there is a bit of a sharp turn. As the engine warmed a kink formed as the viton line softened, killing the engine as it starved for fuel. I changed the end of the line to a thicker Tygon line, joining it to a shortened end of the Viton line off the tank. To change the whole line would necessitate removing the engine, and this was a simpler solution. Very happy! Thank you John Hayes, for this nice gift!

The wing attached. I went with hardpoints instead of rubber ands.

The plastic top in place.

I installed the long aft wing wires. Here's what they look like at the wire tower. The brass turnbuckles are from a Hangar 9 Sopwith Camel I murdered several years ago ... There will be three wires on top, two on the bottom.

Here you can see the outer end. A brass plate with holes at each end is attached to a M2 bolt that goes thru the wing, and on the underside also attached to the bolt is a metal loop for the aft bottom wire. Note there is little tension, just from the rubber band as these are cosmetic and not functional. The real MSTN has no ailerons and uses wing warping for roll; I believe the wires support and warp the wing. You can also see the black dots marking where the other two shorter wires will go. I will be using short servo screws unless I find I have something better to attach the brass plates to the wing. 

Front top view.

Back view 

I stopped there. It was a fruitful day of rest.

Oh, don't forget to check CG.