rvd

I got into a debate with a friend who races R/C trucks. He says planes are a waste of money because they always crash!( what a joke that is).. Anyways I told him planes have to be taken seriously (they just don't drive around a track on the ground.. they are up in the sky!!) and have to be always double if not triple checked just to make sure the servos, control horns, clevises, battery, fuel tank, glow plug,engine etc is 100% operational then you are good to go.
After watching his races over the years I Have come to realize that they are crashing up their trucks more than we are our planes..

Anyways i'm just wondering what's the average crash rate for all you folks who fly? Is it that bad or not? I have been lucky up to now but I make sure my planes are 100% ready before they go up.

bob_nj

My Feedback: (62)

There are alot of systems that need to work properly in either full scale, or our scale of flying. If a person is anal and does pre-flight inspections and maintenance, the probablilty of mechanical failure can be kept within reasonable limits. If a flyer routinely keeps the hand/eye skills sharp with lots of flying or simulator therapy, the mental failures can be kept to a minimum. That being said, there is a w i d e personality gap there. As you know, everyone has a different reason for being at the field. Some guys like to show up and talk, some like to build but don't fly well, and some are insistent on being the best they can be. There is a certain amount of pride and accomplishment associated with most any pilot, full or miniature scale. For example, would you be more proud of your drivers license or full scale ticket? Just tell your friend that you have as much fun flying as he does driving and thank him for his opinion.

Barry-RCU

Well put Bob

bob_nj

My Feedback: (62)

GO ON!

R. Carver

It's not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN. It will (and does) happen if you fly enough, and sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. My last major crash was the result of a mid-air, I was just minding my own business when WHAM! along comes another plane and takes half my wing off.
It was just the excuse I needed to get another plane
Hell, it's not a waste of money as long as yer havin' FUN!

Mike Bogh

My Feedback: (14)

Hide ho all,

Heres the deal, Amigos.
Anything driven or sailed on terra firma is ONE DIMENSIONAL.
oooh, round and round, don't hit the curb...how high can you jump that thing...?

Now, put somethin into the air and it becomes 3 dimensional......ahhh, theres the rub....the whole sky is your palett..screamin flybys or the finest s-l-o-w rolls you ever saw.
From mild to wild, theres no comparison between goin' round and round on the ground and tearin' up the sky with your OWN personality.


Gawd, I love this sport.

Roadrunner

Well said Mike. I like your style.

Unstable

well I like to do both.....

I've only been flying for a few months but I am having more luck not crashing in the air than I have on the ground....

I dont think I have ever driven my car without hitting something

and BTW they both are fun ... just because you cant appreciate the skill needed to powerslide a 1/10th buggy through a hairpin doesnt mean its boring...

Dave Bowles

My Feedback: (7)

I have done both for many years and just reciently quit racing Cars,I raced just about every form of R/C car ending with 1/8 scale Gas Offroad, I found I enjoy the freedom of flying just about anytime I want , at several differant locations to be more enjoyable. Racing R/C cars is great fun, just driving in my back yard was not, flying in my back yard (Electric) is fun. Having to wait 90 min between qualifiers is not fun, a 60 min main Event IS FUN. AS with any hobby it is as much of a money pit as you want to make it, R/C Car racing had alot more Manditory Spending to stay compeitive, I am sure Airplane racing is nearly the same depending on your level of competition . I have a dozen places to fly, Only one to race cars and only on one night last I checked. and only during the summer. Simply put R/C race Cars were boring without a track and left very little to do with the imagination. I would love to race Full scale . As for skill, It takes a great deal of talent to be a fast racer both driving a tuning, it takes very little skill to just drive one around in the yard and driveway. Aircraft on the otherhand require some skill even at the beginner Levels, it is considerbly more challenging to learn to fly for most than learning to drive (Not Race) an R/C car.
In actuallity I Spent more on tires and parts then I do on replacement airplanes, I usually have a couple crashes per year of my own fault , some repairable some not, usually happen when goofing off low and slow or low and fast, or just low to the ground.

Gordon Mc

My Feedback: (11)

I think you mean TWO dimensional. ;-)

Gordon

Mike Bogh

My Feedback: (14)

Ahh, thanks Gordon, I stand corrected.

BTW, I was raised in SJ, and I had a Triumph TR 250 OD for 14 years.
Love that car, crusing First st...Hwy 17 from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz...my best time?
13 min 52 seconds to the first light...back in 1973.

My Tr was white also, with the black bumble bee around the bonnet.

Jeese loueese, that was a long time ago.

Blackie

Here are my thoughts on this. I sought out cars before I got into the planes, heck! planes did not even come into play until I got lucky one day and happened up on a flight club. There is a saying what goes up must come down and they do sometimes hard and sometime's soft, most of the time soft. The ones that come down hard are most of the time repairable, but you have those few percentage that aren't. As Unstable, mentioned I bet the rate of repair on cars are higher then planes due to the pounding cars take on the ground not to mention the high maintenance on cars and their engines receive over planes from the rough terrain.


"knock on wood" the 10 months I have been flying I have had only one that went down and a tree broke its fall (no repair needed) as a matter of fact getting it down from the treee did more damage then the actual fall, two small holes in the cover and a few scratches. The rudder fell off of the tail.

All of my engines thus far are purring like a kitten with no maintenance at all. OS 40 LA, TH .75, OS 46 FX and a Saito 100.

Randy

Roadrunner

Mike, Off the original subject but I was interested in the fact that you were in the Bay Area. I retired from the Lockheed Missle Division in Sunnyvale in 1976. Had a beautiful red 1956 Austen Healey 100....louvered hood with leather strap. I had the head ground and high lift cams installed.Varooom!! Sure wish I still had it. Built a kit car after I retired, a 1929 Mercedes Benz SSK roadster on a VW chassis...Dove grey and Maroon. A real eye catcher! God, the memories!!