wblacker

How about a bad week! Last Sunday I had the canopy come off my Brio, lost control and crashed!, then had the rudder cable come off my Gee Bee and resulted in a crash...then had a servo go bad on my F4U and dived it into the deck! Wow, what a week! Ordered new Brio body from a NIB sale here on Wattflyer, had a new Gee Bee sitting in the box. Had a back up F4U. So, let's try this again! If you fly, you will crash...every airplane has an limited number of flights...this is fun

groundrushesup

LOL you got that right. I am just putting the finishing touches on my second PZ F4U - decided to take the old bird out for one or two farewell packs before I do a tear-down and swap the electronics to the new airframe - Took it up, flew a few circuits - and the ENTIRE VERTICAL STAB CAME OFF in MID FLIGHT!! LMAO!! Sheared right off at the fuse, and because it was still connect to the control rod, it flapped about like a haddock. The landing was much more of a controlled faceplant.

When this bird decided to give up it did it in spectacular fashion!

Lessons Learned: Vertical stabs are important to stable flight (I guess the name says it all)



josh

floorunner

Last week I took my brand new plane out to the field for it's maiden flight. After the take off, I instantly fell in love with this plane. It (was) so much fun to fly. After flying for about 5 minutes and deciding I was in love, I decided I was going to bring it in for a landing. I was getting a bit low too quick, so I pulled up on the elevator just a little...and...*BAM* the elevator goes 100% up and the plane sky rockets into the ground. Note to self: Make sure the receiver can't be unplugged by moving servos.

Huffy01

I'm having the worst day. I maidened my EDF Rafale today.
A nice afternoon for flying, overcast ,a couple of knots of wind.
Tossed it out on half throttle ,got the power to full and it flew straight into the ground like a dart.
The plastic nose cone was destroyed and the foam was broken off under the canopy.
Well I had thought I couldn't break it any more so I pulled off all the foam and threw it up again .
This time with full throttle ,well it went further. My plan was to try to keep it more level to the ground but it just went nose down again .
This time I had enough time to let go off the stick's , It tucked under and came in inverted and smashed the tail fin.
Well it didn't stop there. I then bought my Parkzone Radian out ,thinking I should have better luck. I've had it for about 6 month's with little problem's.
I had to bind it to the DX7 again because I accidently removed it .
I did a range check and was ready. 1/2 throttle and gave it a gentle push.
Throttled up to gain so altitude and it went straight into a loop . I can the motor but ended up flying inverted. Not the best position to be when flying the Radian when you about 5 metre's off the ground.
It flew straight onto the roof of the house and I saw it explode. I walked around the house to see what part flew off . I could hear a beeping coming from somewhere.
Soon enough I found the front of the Radian ,it broke off just before the wing and the motor ,ESC and battery had come with it .
Got onto the roof to get the rest of the Radian. Rudder snapped , the canopy is in several piece's and there is little bit's of foam covering the roof.
I haven't checked the electrics yet .
All I've got too fly is the Eflite blade MCX S300. Next week I get my Great planes spirit elite kit.

CHELLIE

Oh No, I hate it when that happens yea, its tight in the fuselage, and its hard to make room for everything, get another one Quick, and secure everything so that does not happen again, Take care, Chellie

CHELLIE

Bummer, it sounds like your having radio problems, if your on 2.4, maybe a brown out, use a UBEC if your not already using one, low voltage from your esc/bec may be causing you problems, or if you were using the same transmitter for both planes, your transmitter may have a problem with it, get it checked out, get a cheapy foamy profile plane, put your electronics in it, and fly it, you will know in a hurry if your radio system is at Fault, before destroying a expensive plane, take care, Chellie

CHELLIE

I learned the hard way, to do a full inspection of the control linkages before any flying, I pined the ailerons on my giant foamy, during storage, so they dont twist out of shape from heat, well at the Western States electric fly, i forgot to remove the pins on the lower wing aileron, 2 1/2 mins of shear terror trying to save the plane after take off, resulted in a hard landing, broke off a wing tip and broke a prop, I was lucky, now i really check all of my linkages and control surfaces Take care, Chellie

Huffy01

Now I've inspected it all I think it could be part my fault because I forgot to reverse servo's. I did find a piece of velcro stuck to the narcelle which was rubbing against the fan and the Rx is blind so I think this means "brownout".
I also forgot to reverse a servo on the Radian.
There both "setting" at the moment. I need a new canopy and propeller blade's for the Radian.
The Rafale really need a new fusealge but the glue job will do for the moment.
The plastic nose cone looks like a squashed lemon so I need another or maybe a balsa replacement.

dmmalish

Well my great planes synapse edf met its fate today was flying pretty good decided to go for a high speed pass ( crowd pleaser ) maybe going to the airshow all day yesterday and watching the thunderbirds and the f18 hornet and the f15 flying had something to do with it took her up about 400 feet and started on a downward high speed pass but the speed must have been to great because when i pulled back on the stick to bring it out of the dive there was no response it continued to nose in at full throttle for a pretty spectacular crash and explosion of dirt,grass and foam at least i was not by myself there were about 8 others who were able to witness the carnage and enjoy a good laugh along with me, as the saying goes " not if but when " i tested the controls and they appeared to be ok after the crash so i'm thinking that the speed was to great for the little servos and they could not function at that speed ??? thats my story and i'm sticking to it.
Dave

groundrushesup

Tough break, Dave.

But hey, even the Thunderbirds have a bad day once in awhile.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ3aF1K_RzM[/media]

dmmalish

hey that looked real close but no black smoke with mine

zoldar

I had a dozen or so flight on my Edge 540 BP. Was feeling over confident one day and decided to try some hovering in the front yard. About 30 seconds later I dorked it inverted into the dirt - braking the stick mount and rudder in the process. I bit of epoxy on the stick mount and I was ready to fly again.

I failed to notice that the screw holding the motor to the stick mount was loose. On my next flight everything seemed ok. I buzzed around the field a few times and then gave her the coals and went vertical....as soon as the nose pointed up - the motor flew right off the end of the plane . I managed to land without further damage - but the prop did a nice job chopping up the front of the plane. It took 2 days (with my wifes help) to find the motor in the field where I fly.

Lessons learned:

I will pre-flight and check EVERYTHING before I fly - especially the motor mount - LOL

No flying at the house (unless its the Vapor) no matter how good I feel about my flying "skills" (and I use the term skills loosley!)

unidaddy

Thanks, Chellie....I'm hoping that Lily does take to it like a duck to water. I need a flying buddy that's on the same schedule as me.

I did have a much more damaging crash the other day. I was flying to the LVC on my battery (I'm going to get a timer so that I don't have to do that anymore). I reset the throttle and got spooked about using too much power and having it cut out a second time and stalled it 15 feet in the air and pow, the nose sheared off the plane, and we picked up all the pieces we could find. I have done some jigsaw puzzle work, but think that a new fuse is in order (and on order).

Lily has a birthday coming up on the 15th and I've bought her a HZ SC. I think I'm going to take advantage of take-off and landing opportunities with it before I put together my J-3 and put it in the air. Here's hoping that she loves this as much as I do.

iscreamsunday

Flying my 3dx 450 (trex copy from cnchelicopter.com). Lost a cyclic servo (locked low), and was quite happy I got it to the ground(holding full left cyclic), but as I set it down, it drifted right, caught grass and tipped right. Lost one cf blade, feathering shaft and servo. Pretty good all things concerned. Better than the Trex 600 I dumped in in the dark last week. Bought some lights for next time

Catalina

Well, finally completed building my first ever rc plane today (foam Catalina). All looked good.
Decided it would be a great idea to toss the plane just to see how it glides without power. NOT VERY WELL. Dived into the ground and broke off both wings including wooden pieces that hold both wings together. Dont know how Im gunna fix that. So does this count? Still waiting for my first powered flight. Have to wait longer now. Darn

Fly Time

Bummer!

I should point out that fragile planes make bad trainers. You will crash. Get yourself something sturdy with easy to find and cheap spare parts like a HobbyZone Super Cub.

Bub Steve

Took the BRIO-10 to my Little field for her maid'in (bad Idea), I set the CG nose-heavy,(not much I thought,) I had the elevator throws to low and the aileron To High!, she did hadle well on the runway so I squared her on the runway and did my take-off, she wasn't lift'in and I mowed a little tall grass on the side but got her up anyway,,,, I knew I was in for a wild time as she was WAY outt'a trim, to much down, (nose-heavy stuff) Left dipp'in Bad and no room or time to trim I brought her around fight'in her all the way ( Way touchie on the ailerons ) cranked around a Fig-8 to get back to the run-way and I knew she weren't gonna hit the aspalt all pretty-like so I put her in the highist patch o-grass I could get to but pan cake like I planned??? NOT!! she stalled two feet off and bent the LG just a little and tugged a wing screw loose,:o Try'in at the club in Tallahassee next time at lease I know where to set the trim closer next time bubsteve

CHELLIE

Nice plane Steve no thats not a crash, thats a MULIGAN, you get one more try and set the elevator to 45 Degrees up and down, like you normally Do full Rudder movement and mild on the ailerons for now Take care and have fun, Chellie

Catalina

Thanks Fly Time,
Looked at the Super Cub but its only 3 channel. I really want a 4 channel plane. Have done many hours on a good sim and am very confident of flying with 4 channels (lets wait and see if thats what real life will be like). What do you recommend for a beginner wanting 4 channels. Want something that has spares readily available. I am interested with this one:
SKYARTEC 5CH 4 Servos Cessna 182 RC Airplane RTF w/ Brushless Motor + ESC + Li-Po

See link: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....:X:RTQ:AU:1123

Bub Steve

Not bad at all,,,
trike LG's harder to learn on as they don't hold-up as well as Tail-draggers, land'in on grass will be a hassle unless it's a Golf-green,,, If your set on this one and you've got a place to fly it with a smooth runway,,Go for it,!, bubsteve

This 4ch Skyartec Cessna 182 is different from others. This Cessna is equipped with 4 servos not 3
servos as common. It includes everything the beginner needs. Servos and steering levers are mounted
and the airplane could be ready for flight within 20 minutes. Furthermore, the plane uses EPS technique
for the airframe in order to achieve both smooth surface and best dynamic material properties. The model
has a steerable front wheel and uses two servos mounted directly to the main wing roll rudders and the tail
wing.

Moxus

8, for my cap 232.
luckily, its an arf so im not to blame.

was in a spinning dive, and the wing snapped, just like that.
it wasnt even a powered dive. motor idling.
this surprises me, because i have done breathtaking manouvers with it before, and all previous experience has been that this plane stallflicks a long time before wings will snap.
but not this time. maybe it was negative g's from the spin in the dive.
i havent pulled any big negative g's on it before.
still not an excause though, for kyosho.
its an aerobatic aircraft. if it cant do unpowered dives, its rubbish.

Bub Steve

if it snaped at the fuse,, bigger washers on the wing set screws may have helped,, I noticed their not much bigger than the bolthead!! just my think'in (and what I've done to my BRIO-10 & SU 31) bubsteve

Moxus

snapped mid-wing. about where the ailerons start, wich is quite far out on this cap.
washers on the wingbolts is definetly a good idea though, on any plane with wingbolts. especially if its steel botls. they have a funny way of tearing straight through the wood in the wing.

Numbthumbs

I had a pretty frustrating day as well. Howling winds and rain until 16:00, finally get a break in the weather so I take out the Trojan and the motor is shot before I can even take off. The casing had cracked on a previous crash and now it is warped and won't turn the prop without lots of friction inside. New motor just ordered. This crash in the video is what started the crack on the casing which grew and grew until today the runners were just rubbing on metal it was so warped. I got another fifteen flights out of the motor though before it gave up the ghost.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DToMFlbW0kY[/media]


This is probably old news for most of you experienced flyers, but I got some advice from RCBarta over at RC groups which made a world of difference while hand-launching.

On my DX6i I program +10-15% Elevator under the FLAPS menu and flip the flap switch when I hand launch it. When it is up in the air safely I flip it off again. Even 15% really ensures a non-nose-dive-crash-and-burn hand launch. 50% will loop her back around on you so start at 10% and find what works for you.

I am grounded now because it is too windy for the SuperCub and the Trojan is motorless. GRRR. The Blade CX3 is still on the way too. That will help curb the itch when the weather is not cooperating.

Simpsonboy77

I flew solo on Saturday. I got my SC off the ground just fine, maybe one of my best ROG to date. I stayed high, and did maybe 3-4 ovals. I decided to bring her lower for a low pass, so on my right turn in, I throttled back, and she came down. I ran the length of the field maybe 30 feet off the ground. I throttled back up, and I was about to climb again to start my next turn my brain said go up, and my thumb went up... on the elevator stick. She smashed nose first into the ground, cracking the motor mount and the cowling. Fixed her that night, then flew here, with the help of a instructor, (successfully) on Sunday.