Cracked Chubanga fuselage

[direnc]

Hi,

A friends Chubanga foil has a crack on the fuselage where it meets the stab. The crack extends to a small portion of the stab too. The crack is where two halves of the mold join together. We twisted the stab so that the crack is easier to see and take a photo of.

Is this repairable? If so, what is the proper way to do it? Would just pouring epoxy in the crack and clamping it be enough?

[Dave_H]

It looks repairable to me based on the one photo and my experience recently fixing a Moses mast that split along the parting line. Before you do the repair you will want to make sure that the crack is clean and dry. This means also means no salt residue. You probably want to do some experimenting to see if the crack closes when clamps are applied. If not, there may be debris or displaced fibers that you want to remove from inside the crack. Then see if the crack can be propped open a bit more with some straight pins. Mask off areas next to the crack to prevent unnecessary clean up. Find a syringe with a needle that will fit in the crack. Fill the syringe with a high strength fairly low viscosity epoxy. Then with the crack positioned upwards, use the needle of the syringe to inject the epoxy as deep into the crack as you can get it. Allow it to completely fill the crack and keep topping it off if the level goes down. After the epoxy starts getting a little more viscous, pull out the pins holding the crack open and apply clamps to close up the crack. Allow the epoxy to fully cure and sand or scrape off the excess then remove the masking. It looks like there may be some loose ends of fibers in the transition between the stab and fuselage. You might be able to stick these back down by wetting with epoxy and taping down tightly with tape. Best of luck
Dave H

[Dave_H]

Here is a link to a post that has some picture of the crack I repaired in the Moses mast.
viewtopic.php?f=196&t=2412700

[direnc]

Thank you so much Dave! The crack closes completely if not twisted. I'll proceed as you described. Did the Moses mast you repaired hold up during use?

[darippah]

How did this happen? I was considering getting a Chubanga, but I don't know much about their durability. I boost a lot so am very concerned about boosting damage. I go through too many Moses Masts...

[direnc]

Friend says he fell onto the stab during a crash. It's a fragile piece of gear imo, and I would not buy it for boosting. He also says he was instructed by the builder not to let half of the front wing breach the surface, because this causes harm to the mast/fuselage joint, and it was indeed damaged a bit as a result of that too...

[Dave_H]

Thank you so much Dave! The crack closes completely if not twisted. I'll proceed as you described. Did the Moses mast you repaired hold up during use?

I rode the repaired Moses mast several times and it is as solid feeling as original and appears to be holding up fine.
Dave H