IFMT

Anybody ever use vinyl for adding stripes over fabric? My tail and wing letters are made out of vinyl and sure do stick. I don't think I could pull them off without tearing them. Might be easier than painting on stripes.

I have went from being a happy avid flyer to a not so happy avid rebuilder. Here is the warning. It is not one thing that got me into trouble. It's a combination. Perfect flying conditions. Needing more experience. Listening to BS about what this plane should be able to do. Getting over confident with slow speed flight with flapperons applied. 
 I was up for an hour and a half having a ball. Cruising all over the valley checking out the countryside. That morning I had tightened my bungees one wrap as they were sagging slightly. When I hooked the bungee on the seat truss I started on the front post ending on the rear. This allowed (even though I have the limit bolt in place at 18ish degrees-TOO MUCH) me to actually pull the flap lever up till the stop. Something I had not used for landing. I went up to 3000 agl and experiment with some slow flight. This plane is heavy with the soob. Good performance in terms of climb and speed and economy. Not good for slow flight. I found 40 to 45 indicated as being stable with flaps applied. Now the trouble starts. I decided to make a couple of precautionary approaches to a really short strip with trees and equipment on each side. Good glide slope though. Being that it was dead calm I decided I could use the full flapperon approach mushing down at 45. Went through twice and everything felt good powering up 15 feet above the ground. On the third time through I decided things looked good so I would land. Problem is I got slowed up just that little bit more. 40-45. Nose up to control speed. Full flaps. Mushing down. Then things go bad. Slight up pitch on the nose and plane moves to the left. I know you are all thinking stall. I put the nose down and applied power along with right aileron. NO RESPONSE. By now I am below the tree level and the only way out is straight ahead. Left wing didn't fall out of the sky but dropped so now I am banked left. You have 3 seconds to figure this out. Next I am heading straight for some 50 foot pine trees. Thats when the left wing clipped the vent stack of a large storage tank in a line of machinery parked over to the side. Spun me around and down. Nose kind of hit taking the prop blades off and coming to a rest backwards with tail resting above some parked junk. Considering I got out without a single scratch I'm extra lucky. So here is what I already knew: Keep the speed up. 1.2-1.3 above the stall (for your airplane). Not some number somebody thinks an avid should fly at. Flapperons applied for take off do help but are being released as you build speed immediately(smoothly) on take off. Trying to lift a semi stalled wing with aileron and full flapperon is impossible. You are actually aggravating the situation with more aileron. Don't put yourself in a questionable situation. Everything to tight in terms of experience, performance, landing area, etc. Having a great day flying sets up some false confidence as well. The plane is pretty bent and I still have to asses the total situation. Definitely a fuselage and lots of wing work. The message is to not get cocky with those flapperons.