Reaction ARF Airworthiness Directives from PST
Bruce's Comments - The following Airworthiness Directives were posted by PST in an effort to
maintain the impressive safety record of the Reaction ARF. If you purchased an ARF prior to June 2009, I
strongly recommend you inspect your model as described below before your next flying session. Actually,
very few ARFs in the field have required corrective action, but it's still worth a look. To my
knowledge, only one model has been lost due to the issues addressed here.
I applaud PST's proactive approach to safety. They truly care about their customers and their products.
Airworthiness Directive #1 - Issued March 2009
One of the factory flown reaction exhibited a portion of the bottom of the elevator skin breaking off
when flown aggressively. As a result, we would like all the owners of the RARF to inspect "ALL" the
flying surfaces and perform the following:
Gently deflect the control surface (elevator, rudder, aileron, flap) and run a thin line of quality
medium CA along the NON hinged line. This is where the composite skin contacts the wood, and let the
glue run along the length of the joint. DO NOT use kicker, it will weaken the glue and generate unneeded
heat. Make sure the glue is fully dried and check again for smooth deflection and proper glue flow.
Perform this procedure to all the control surfaces.
Although we have not seen any problems at the wings or tail group, we recommend that you do the same
thing at the flying surface side where the skin contacts the wood on the wing aileron, wing flap, fin
and stab area.
Regards,
PST Jets
LINK
Click here for official AD#1 posting on RCUniverse with photos.
Airworthiness Directive #2 - Issued May 2009
One of customer flown Reaction ARF exhibited a warping of one wing panel upper skin above the landing gear
area. The warping did not make any noticable change in flight performance and was noticed after landing.
After inspection of the failed wing panel, we found separation between the W3 rib and upper skin surface
due to poor glue bonding. As a result, we would like all owners of the Reaction ARF to inspect the bonding
and perform the following:
1. Remove the wing panel and turn it upside down on a flat surface. Extend the landing gear and check the
glue bonding between the W2, W3, W4 ribs and the upper wing skin. If the bonding is poor, use epoxy or Hysol
to rebond the area. Please note that the W4 rib is not be easily reached from this position but some glue
can be applied with long stick. However, W4 rib can be reached from the aileron servo access hatch. Please
see attached pictures.
2. Remove the aileron servo access hatch and inspect the W4 and W5 rib and wing skin bonding. If the bonding
is poor, use epoxy or Hysol to rebond the area. Please see attached pictures.
Regards,
PST Jets
LINK
Click here for official AD#2 posting on RCUniverse with photos.
Airworthiness Directive #3 - Issued June 2009
One of customer flown Reaction ARF exhibited a left wing leading edge split. The jet was flown for more
than 35 flights with 16kgs thrust turbine. The wing leading edge may not have been bonded strong enough
to handle this large turbine. Affected Reaction ARF will be those produced before 2009 with serial number
100 and below. As a precuation, we would like all owners of the Reaction ARF to inspect the wing leading
edge bonding and perform the following:
1. If weak spot or splitting is found, seal the leading edge with Hysol or similar epoxy.
2. Place 2" wide tape or stickers along the wing leading edge.
The above procedures will prevent leading edge from splitting in flight.
Thank you for your attention and regards,
PST Jets Thailand
LINK
Click here for official AD#3 posting on RCUniverse (no photos)
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