MD500 Tow Defender Repair Page 12
During what was going to be the last flight of the 2011 season I heard the horible sound of the ESC blowing up. I then saw the smoke coming out while the heli was falling down. I froze and just stared at it while it fell to earth. Luckily it came down flat and landed in a somewhat soft field :-( So below is the repair process of my poor baby. I am glad I have not painted it yet.
Here you can see the how the front of the mechanics have smashed down into the fuselage support structure.
A shot from the bottom side. It's really not that bad, but it is my first scale heli crash repair, so to me it's bad.
Here the rear of the fuse is being repaired with hysol glue. I thought about fiberglassing, but I am afraid it would
add too much weight, and it's already too tail heavy.
The bottom structure was also broken loose from the fuselage.
The worst part of the damage is the front section. I am attaching new plywood over the damaged wood.
The mechanics will screw into and through the new and old wood. Should be secure enough.
Here you can see my little helper working to tighten the C-clamp.
The turnbuckles I first used have changed. I like the new style as they will be easier
to adjust with a normal size hex tool.
