tips on fixing crashed ST Cessna.

[Bomberboy92]

hey daddyhobby'ers.
crashed my cessna yesterday at Sengkang field.. tracked the problem (after the damage had been done) to one of the wing bolts not properly locked in place
now i'm rather new to planes and this being my first major crash, have no idea how to work with foam
the main things that broke are
1. everything forward of the wing (cockpit, nose cowl) detached from the rest of the plane
2. the motor firewall is cracked. it was pushed in from the impact and i've pushed it out, but not sure how to glue it, or replace it

any help will be appreciated!!
thanks!

[Nicholas]

hey daddyhobby'ers.
crashed my cessna yesterday at Sengkang field.. tracked the problem (after the damage had been done) to one of the wing bolts not properly locked in place
now i'm rather new to planes and this being my first major crash, have no idea how to work with foam
the main things that broke are
1. everything forward of the wing (cockpit, nose cowl) detached from the rest of the plane
2. the motor firewall is cracked. it was pushed in from the impact and i've pushed it out, but not sure how to glue it, or replace it

any help will be appreciated!!
thanks!

im assuming that ST cessena is that cessena from jet hobby

okay , i'll just type it down like a answering booklet according to the numbers above

1.) go down to jet hobby or any LHS and purchase a 15/20 or was it 30 ... minute epoxy ( if youre not sure how to use this , just ask the LHS store person ) and then apply and fix the pieces together and fix it back onto the plane , much like lego/jig-zaw puzzles.

for the cockpit plastic screen , if it came out / is deformed , just push it back into shape and it would do just fine , place it back into its original location.

The cowling , you can just put it back into place as the prop will just push the cowling in place when in flight. However i would suggest double-sided taping the cowling onto the nose .

* remember to use some form of not really sticky tape to hold the pieces together! how to do this is basically use some tape , and tape your pants/shirt afew times before placing the tape on the places where you wanna hold the pieces together , it will make the removal of the tape with the epoxy later much easier*

2. okay this is the intresting part about this cessena , notice that that motor mount is made of metal and really heavy? this is actually a balast for the plane as once its removed , the CG will be screwed.

IF its the motor mount problem only:

First up , get some ply wood! and self tapping screws from Jet hobby , would cost you around 15 SGD .. not too thick , not too thin ... not sure , i go by feel for the wood but i suggest a thin ply wood as it is much easier to cut. So trace out the metal motor mount onto the ply wood twice and cut both of them out using some form of cutting tool ( dont throw away the metal motor mount! ) then epoxy these 2 pieces of wood together, be sure that the pieces of wood are already bonded together firmly before going on to the next step!

next , place the metal motor mount onto the wood copy of the motor mount and make markings on the hole that was on the metal motor mount , use a pen knife and make a small indentation on the marked points and place your motor there using the self tapping screws

* please force the screws in slowly as the ply wood might break *

and repairs should be completed!

[blueangel]

Some pictures of the damages will help..

[Bomberboy92]

im assuming that ST cessena is that cessena from jet hobby

okay , i'll just type it down.............................................. ....................................
* please force the screws in slowly as the ply wood might break *

and repairs should be completed!

hi Nicholas!,
thanks alot for the in depth coverage.. but i already started on the repairs
yes it is indeed the Jet Hobby ST cessna.
i forgot to mention that the cowling is fine, and i use velcro to hold it on so no fix needed.
i did some researrch and they say CA glue works on Elapor Foam, and sure enough the front has been stuck back on, and is quite well fit. from far you cant even see the difference . a little glass tape will be added just to make sure it stays.
the firewall was changed to a wooden one to accomadate a new motor, by the previous owner. i have pushed it back out and glued the crack with white glue. it seems to be OK.
On with the BAD NEWS
i just plugged in the radio and found out that one of the aileron control rods has disengaged or broken.. one aileron doesnt move.
all the control rods are embedded in the wing, so i may have to cut the wing open to fix it.

[Bomberboy92]

Some pictures of the damages will help..

yeah i wanted to but cant reduce the pics to size.. sorry man

[maxyeo]

guys any idea how to removed the ST cessna nose gear ???

[Bomberboy92]

guys any idea how to removed the ST cessna nose gear ???

yeah i just learnt how.. the hard way

anyway if you want to remove the entire thing, just pull it out. its help on there by friction between the "gear" on the top of the nose gear shaft and the "servo arm". to fit it back, just line it up and push it back in.

[a.c]

Bro I crash my cessna too. The nose is gone, motor gone, prop can't find. Wing strip out and broken into many pieces, can't restore. I am looking for a wing.. 2 wing servo gone too. But o got about 5mins of flight and then it happen

[Bomberboy92]

Bro I crash my cessna too. The nose is gone, motor gone, prop can't find. Wing strip out and broken into many pieces, can't restore. I am looking for a wing.. 2 wing servo gone too. But o got about 5mins of flight and then it happen

dangggggg...
so you really hit the groound hard eh?
just do what i did.. spam the glue on and hope for the best
my cessna is almost ready to go again.. luckily i gave this bird a second chance, cuz it wasnt that hard to fix. just looks hard.
i;m sure yours will be flying too man!!

[jansonfinn]

dangggggg...
so you really hit the groound hard eh?
just do what i did.. spam the glue on and hope for the best
my cessna is almost ready to go again.. luckily i gave this bird a second chance, cuz it wasnt that hard to fix. just looks hard.
i;m sure yours will be flying too man!!

I'm sure this plane will fly better now

[Bomberboy92]

I'm sure this plane will fly better now

like they say.. once bitten twice shy

[a.c]

dangggggg...
so you really hit the groound hard eh?
just do what i did.. spam the glue on and hope for the best
my cessna is almost ready to go again.. luckily i gave this bird a second chance, cuz it wasnt that hard to fix. just looks hard.
i;m sure yours will be flying too man!!

Bro I m sure, will be flying soon. It is really not that bad.

[Nicholas]

haha , yea , i had this cessena before , and i helped 2 of my friends fix it up and with repairs , so im quite familiar with this little plane

the spare parts of this plane are sold at jet hobby ( heres the list ) :
-Wing ( without the supports to the fuse )
-Vertical Stab
-Horizontal Stab
-Fuselage , only saw this once though
-Main landing gear
-Nose landing gear

oh btw guys , please do this modification and checks for this cessena after a crash :
- check the parts where the wing meets the fuselage , its very important that theres no cracks there ( witnessed the wing fold in flight -.- scary stuff!)
-reinforce the whole span of the wing with a CF plate or CF rod , this is to prevent the flexing of the wing , and to substitute and/or support the supports attaching the wing to the fuse via screws ( these things break too easily so becareful guys! as theres no spare part support for this! )

guys any idea how to removed the ST cessna nose gear ???

the cessena nose gear is actually a piece of balsa support factory-attached to the whole nose gear system.

first way ( complete removal )

The actual way of removing the nose landing gear is that you have to use a penknife or soime cutting tool and cut along the balsa support above nose gear , after that , just yanking it out ...

Second way ( removal of only the oleo and the wheel )

Okay , if you look below or into battery holding place ( front portions of the plane ) through the hatch below the plane where you would place your battery and secure it with the valcro , theres actually a part of the nose gear held there by a C-ring , just break or undo the c-ring , then unscrew the screw holding the nose gear to the fuselage after that , just pull the gear out , shount be too much of a hassle as theres actually a spring inside there which will come out with all of the nose gear.

the main landing gear is just an issue of removing the 2 self tapping screws attached to the fuselage

and these things fly better after epoxy

i just plugged in the radio and found out that one of the aileron control rods has disengaged or broken.. one aileron doesnt move.
all the control rods are embedded in the wing, so i may have to cut the wing open to fix it.

cutting up the wing to fix that isnt really worth the time >< but i did do it before to see whats inside , and i'll tell you this first , it isnt easy to repair that , especially with the navigation wiring inside spanning across the wing which is only insulated by the foam ... id suggest you buy a wing from jet , its much easier.

heh , dont have pics for these cause i didnt think anyone would need them

[Bomberboy92]

hi Nicholas,
thanks again for the whole walkthrough.. you should write a book "ST MODEL CESSNA FOR DUMMIES"
anyway.. for some reason i always seem to do the repairs before getting the answers here
so what i did for the aileron control rod was to try opening the wing.
when that failed, i just used a hobby knife with a chisel tip and cut a piece out where i though the linkage will lie. fortunately the cut was dead on, and i found one of the arms were broken. some CA glue and Voila. working again
put the foam piece back in and white glued it.
looking good
now the plane is almost ready to go, just gonna tape it up and get some parts from Jet

[Nicholas]

hi Nicholas,
thanks again for the whole walkthrough.. you should write a book "ST MODEL CESSNA FOR DUMMIES"
anyway.. for some reason i always seem to do the repairs before getting the answers here
so what i did for the aileron control rod was to try opening the wing.
when that failed, i just used a hobby knife with a chisel tip and cut a piece out where i though the linkage will lie. fortunately the cut was dead on, and i found one of the arms were broken. some CA glue and Voila. working again
put the foam piece back in and white glued it.
looking good
now the plane is almost ready to go, just gonna tape it up and get some parts from Jet

haha , naa , planes are like that , repairs are more practical knowledge based than heli as heli is just the issue of replacing parts

now go to the field and throw the plane again once the glue and dust sets XD