Remby

My Feedback: (3)

The plane (Hat Trick) just got a engine swap, so went out to give it a trial. Fueled it and tossed her into the blue yonder. Running good and went for a fast flyby. As it rocked past ,I gave a touch of up elevator, WHUMP! "What the ##$# was that"? Awh, nuthing, just a "flight noise". Now got it a bit higher over the trees, pull up for a loop, and WHUMP, PIFF !! . Puzzled, I input a turn, nada! I just lost the alerons. So, grab the rudder and hang on! It won't fly good this way, but it is posable if you take it easy. Coax her back around, tring to figure out how to land after the engine dies, I hear" GRIND " !!
Now, this was a BAD sound, heard it from the ground with the engine getting it, so now I,m thinking about her last rights .Keep on trying to fly her higher, and keep control, when the the lightbulb brightens. I forgot to properly add the rubber bands to the wing!
The wing had pulled up off the fuse and disconnected the aleron's conector !!
Now, all thats left is to walk up to the farm field (1/5th of a mile) on the path, and keep the plane under gentle control until she runs dry for a landing. As I get on twards the field, I notice a minor loss of elevator control. So, gently get her up as high as possable, and finally the engine dies.
I glide around, lower and lower, and set up for the landing. It is coming in just as I get to the field and it "lands" in the grass, cartwheels, and throws the now unneeded wing off.
So, not the best landing, but as I look it over I see the elevator's servo has stripped the gears, must of been the aleron's loose connector jammed the servo arm.
The only other damage was a crack in the rudder.

I guess the moral is to always do a basic , good preflight check.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Nice job with saving the airplane ! I had a .40 sized DURAPLANE with the same deficiency completely shed the wing at 300 feet up, the fuselage looked just like a MINUTEMAN MISSILE at this point, the wing took for ever to flutter back down.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

Nice save. My first plane was the only one I've ever had that used rubber bands. Your story is the reason my instructor taught me to NEVER temporarily fasten the wing with just 2 rubber bands. He told me to either put the correct number on there or none at all.

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

COMBATPIGG,
I have seen the same thing from about 100 feet, it was a old Lanier Comet 35 with a O.S. max 60, it was my dad's plane. Funny how fast the stuff comes down when it seperates in flight!

PIPER CHUCK;

Your instructor was wise, that is good advice. I usally do a "full" check but just missed this , even did a radio check.

A update, the planes next flight (it's 60th, last night) was it's last, the engine sagged just as it went over the treeline, then dipped below them. It almost got above them again, but sadly hit the trees. The wing is fine, but the body is now rekitted. I will probally rebuild the body, but make it lighter this time.

Funny how I was able to save it, just to have it lost on it's next flight, makes you wonder..

Remby

Bipe Flyer

Good save, but it appears that the plane was trying to tell you something.

I've had a couple of similar experiences, but not with my own planes. One was a Herr Cloud Ranger and the owner said it was flying funny and handed me the transmitter. No sooner had he done that when the 2 elastics let go and the wing came off - RIP. The other time someone was flying a .40 size Cub and lost control. He gave me the transmitter and I soon realized that there was no aileron control, so I flew it on rudder. The problem was that when it kept wanting to roll left and then right for no apparent reason. I managed to land it safely and upon inspection we found that the aileron servo had only been secured with a couple of screws and had come loose and was swinging like a pendulum on the torque rods.

Raymond LeFlyr

My Feedback: (2)

One bright and sunny Sunday last year a guy showed up at our club with a trainer he said he had been flying over his farm for a couple of weeks. He said he was having trouble with it and asked me for some help trimming it out. It was fully assembled in the back of his pickup and since he said he had flown it that morning I didn't ask for the wing to be removed for a pre-flight (yes, I know).

Well, it looked like it had plenty of rubber bands on the wing and the surfaces all did the right thing and the CG felt OK. So he started the engine and I took it off. First turn away from the runway was good then it picked up a little airspeed and the first 'whoop-de-do' took place followed by a noise. I throttled back and landed (whew). The owner said, "yep, that's what she does".

Well, I picked up the plane by the wings and gave it a jerk (yeah me too) and the wing flexed away from the fuselage and snapped back with the same noise I heard in the air. Turns out the rubber bands were some synthetic things he had bought at the office supply store AND they had never been removed of replaced for however many weeks he had been flying the plane. Woo hoo.

The good news is that there was no crash, the plane flew well with new rubbers on it - and I never saw him again (I wonder why). The other good news is that I ... well, you know.

jessiej

Nice save, but another reminder that better lucky than good anyday

Neat looking model and obviously a good flyer.. Glad you saved it!

jess

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

BIPE FLYER ,&

RAYMOND LeFlyr,

Nothing is more nerve wracking to me as flying someone,s model, even though I always enjoy someone else having a go at it. I make enough mistakes with my own stuff & can never feel comfort with another's aircraft. Your ease that you can do that, I hope to improve to the point that this would not cause nightmares.

JESSIEJ,

Thanks for your comments, I like the way it looked and will probally rebuild the body. It flew quite well and would do better with a bit of weight removed. Not sure about my flying skills, I was just hanging on most of that flight. Nothing can compare to this type of problem in a non throttled aircraft. Thanks for your kind post..

Remby