JIMESTES

My Feedback: (8)

I have twice once because of to much engine the plane torqued over right after lift off.
And once I had a elevator horn break off.


Later Jim

skypupmut

Eaa biplane Balsa USA kit .78 MDS
only one gallon through engine was running nice but just in case made it a little more rich. it took off real nice and kwick and 10 feet off the ground engine started four stroking it stopped accelerating and got very mushy, turned it with rudder away from trees, and dumped it into tall grass limited damage engine mount,cowl,muffler and mostly pride

hattend

My Feedback: (20)

Midwest Strikemaster. Holloman AFB, NM. About 1979 or 80.

First Flight... my friend's plane. Took off, made a turn, reached down with my right thumb to trim some up and turned the radio off. Bye Bye airplane. Crashed into a light pole at a softball field. Got a standing ovation from the people watching the game.

Note: The old Hobby Shack (?) Cirrus radios used almost the same style switch on the power switch as a trim slider. Only difference was the width.

Don

skypupmut

2 years ago ist flight of a realy outstading DC3
2- fx 46 too much power ! after taxiing and controls check
took off at 3/4 throtle climbed like a homesick angel
2 clicks down and 1 clic ail. flying like dream
low pass for the camera, cycled the l/g stalls real nice drops right wing slightly lower the nose flying again , made an aproch real nice power back on for fly around one engine stays at 1/4 and other goes to full power, corrected with rudder turned around for landing then nomore aileron control. rudder and aelevator ok on final while flying ok on one engile lost elevator control and rudder watched it fly by and slowly rolling ver on it,s back and come straight down. sad sad
but owner said will just have to build on other one and did
the trbl was a new battery pack 1200 went south one cell shorted
and wire melted to other one 2 cell pack does not wort too good

Jim_McIntyre

Yep, check out the latest:

Maiden flight of my DR1

2 weeks before team trials. Repaired and I made the team.

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

Ive even got most of it on video! Still dont know what happened on that one

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Here was mine...

It was around '92. A Royal Cessna Skymaster that I decked out as an Air Force O-2a complete with lights. It had twin OS 90's and it took me 2 years to build and about 2 minutes after this pic was taken, there was nothing left but splinters. (Radio Failure)

skypupmut

My Eaa bipla went down the same way ( your triplane) but without the hairy moments was smooth flying but power too low could not keep it flying
repaired and flying again

Dzlstunter

Gee, and I thought I was the only one! Ultimate Bipe straight in on my first "landing." Dumb thumbs.

Tattoo

Lost 3 Spitfires in one day. Not maidens (each had one test flight on them), but two of them were on their first competition combat sortee...the last one lasted 4 sortees.

dmcmike

My Feedback: (14)

yup, but only 1, an RV-4 from about '84. Concept models? not sure who made it, but it weighed a ton, snapped in on take off. I was so pi*****, i probably could've repaired it. but dropped the flight box on top of it anyway.... glad we've mellowed out over the years!

beepee

Confession time:

Once, about 5 years ago
Nosen 40 Sized Citabria
Taxi test cleared
Rotated with good air speed
Started rolling left and continued into the ground, about 5 seconds later

Post crash analysis: reversed ailerons!
No matter how many times I claimed I had checked all controls, it didn't change the facts.

Pretty much totaled, but the undamaged tail was grafted into a mixed bird-of-parts that was a blast to fly ... until I sold it.

Ain't it fun!

Bedford

visioneer_one

My Feedback: (506)

My very first r/c plane - a scratch-built Olympic 650 sailplane. That thing was sooo heavy. (I used 1/8" balsa instead of 1/16" balsa 'cause the thicker wood was stronger.)

My instructor checked everything over. We did a test-toss... nice flat glideslope, just a couple clicks of rudder needed. Excellent.

I'd been flying his Sophisticated Lady off of a hi-start, and I was so anxious to fly *my* new plane, so I hooked up *my* new plane, pulled it back a billion feet and let it rip.

It went straight up, flipped over and popped off the line inverted! Doom! I froze, not knowing what to do... my instructor shouted "push! PUSH!"

I pushed... the plane nosed down hard and dove straight into the swamp.

** SPLUT **

Fearing the worst, we carefully made out way to the wreck site...

The fuselage was stuck a good 8" into the soft earth. The wing had sprung off and was lying a short distance away. Apart from the mud on the nose and the wing's LE the plane was 100% undamaged!

The reason for the crash? Reversed elevator. You see, when launching a sailplane off a hi-start you have to hold a little *down* so as to maximize your launch speed...

I still have that wing.

KCFlyBoy

My Feedback: (12)

I bought a Sig Cougar from a friend I put an OS60FSR on it with a pipe. I was not a careful about the balance as I should have been and the motor was not broken in well. I lined it up in the center of the runway. It took off like a jet straight as could be at about ten feet high and just past the end of the runway it flamed out! I held the nose up to much and it snapped. A little tail heavy. Fortunately just damage to the fire wall and wing saddle and minor dent in the pipe. I rebuilt it over the week end. I was more careful about balance after that and I was able to fly that plane for the next three years until I lost it in 1990.

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

Several yrs ago****** A Goldberg cub on test flight. Reversed ailerons, Yea, I know, I heard it all before. Upon inspection worse damage was one wing tip busted off so I took out the trusty exacto knife and sliced the opposite one off also. A little Jet here and there and she flew great the rest of the day. Flew so well that I decided to leave the tips off. It was much more aerobatic that way than a fellow club members.

Shortman

My Feedback: (21)

So far I haven't crashed on maiden... and i hope I never get to experience that

OnTheEdge

60 size Global Raven Kit. OS61 quit and the left wing dropped very fast as I was setting up to land. I rebuiilt the plane but have not gotten around to recovering it yet.

......Mark

rockmon

My 60 size Super Kraft Extra 300 came in way to slow on final and stalled it. Took me two weeks to repair it and then flew the heck out of it for two years. Wouldn't you know it that day I think every guy in the club was there.

flyingfever

Funny you should ask.....

Maiden flight for the plane AND the pilot.

Way back in about 1980, I scratch built a trainer with the help of an experienced modeler/instructor down in Florida. The very first flight, (buddy box) he took it up several mistakes high and let me have a try at it. I did "O.K." for a circuit or two and then he had to take it from me when I confused up for down on the elevator. He gave it back to me and I only had it briefly when I had to ask if he had taken it from me again 'cause it didn't seem to be listening to my inputs. He took it then and quickly realized it was out of range, (dead receiver battery). He pulled the buddy cord and took off running to try to get it back. I ran along after him feeling like a sick pup. We got good and winded but never regained control. After just a few minutes of flight, several weeks of work was reduced to a splintered mess in a palmetto bush. I never got up enough enthusiasm to make the repairs. Never flew again until just this past summer. Hope I handle my next, (inevitable) crash better than that first one. I sure don't want to waste another twenty-plus years away from this hobby again.

Fever

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

I crashed my Lanier 25% Laser 200 on maiden flight.

I had an MDS 148 on the plane. I broke the engine in on a test stand with 1 gallon of fuel. This was before Horizon released the new carb. I had no idea that these engines had carb problems at the time. I thought that I was doing the right thing by spending so much time with break-in.

I spent about 4 months building the plane. I had somewhere in the neighborhood of $1200-1300 in the plane. Brand new servos and motor. Kit cost me $150 and all Rocket City hardware.

I taxied out and did a few slow taxi runs up and down the runway. Two good buddies standing right next to me. Chuck Hobart on the left and Howard Seibenrock on my right.

I checked all the controls again and said a quick little prayer. Wiggled my toes and took a few deep breaths.

Rolled onto the throttle and had a perfectly straight take-off roll. About 250' down the runway and it lifted off gently with just a slight pull on the elevator. Plane climbed to about 50' and then the engine goes lean and flames out.

I pointed the nose down to keep airspeed. When it came time to flair for a landing- I didn't have enough elevator to flatten the plane and flair. I was on low rates. I didn't have time to think or react and flip to high rates on the elevator.

The plane went in hard on the nose at about a 45 degree angle. The engine was broken. The plane was basically destroyed. The wing tube looked like a banana. The fuselage was totally destroyed. Nothing left but the tail surfaces. Broke the right wing and the left one was undamaged.

I turned to Howard and handed my TX to him. I was so mad- that I almost threw my TX on the concrete runway- so I figured that I better get rid of it fast.

Crash analysis revelaed a leaky O-ring at the base of the carb. This caused the engine to lean out and quit.

Still got the wings and plans in the shop. Maybe someday I'll build a new fuselage.

JIMESTES

My Feedback: (8)

I finished my scratch built eight foot Styrofoam delta wing this weekend.
On the maiden flight I discovered that the JR 517's I had on the 40x4 inch elevons do not have enough torque to pull it out of a full throttle vertical dive I slammed it in to the concrete at about a 45 degree angle and destroyed the MDS 40 I had on the front.

The plane is fine now I put on a OS 46 and replaced the JR's with some Hitec 422's. I was more gentle with it on it's second maiden flight in the same day and it flys awesome.
Later Jim

adrian-RCU

422's might not do it either!!!

JIMESTES

My Feedback: (8)

I am pretty sure that if it goes in to a dive or any thing real fast the surfaces will stall the servos I am thinking of pairing them up so I have two 422's on each do you think that will do it or do I need to go for some 1/4 scale servo's?

I don't know how to calculate required tourqe for such large surfaces.

hilleyja

My Feedback: (3)

2 Times:

1975: I didn't know how to fly yet, lost control and airplane dived at full-power into the asphalt. I missed an Air Force staff car by inches. I don't have to describe the damage -- use your own immagination.

2002: Ultra Stick -w- OS FX 1.60 (reversed airlons and, yes, I did preflight it but my brain was working backwards and told me the airlon should be deflected down for the direction I wanted to go.) Since that was my 3rd 120-size Ultra Stick I figured faith was telling me to not to go for a 4th -- I already had it in a box but sold it. I did, however, go for the 60-size and put a Saito FA-100 on it -- it has been my longest running airplane to date.

SgtMitchell

My Feedback: (5)

about two weeks ago I had the first and last flight on my new 3d freedom. I took off, and only needed a little right trim. Made a few pases around the field and all of a sudden, NOSE DIVE. Looked like I tried to kill it. Radio failed. Everything was bought brand new just for that plane. Oh, well.....I ordered everything all over again. Even got a new 9c radio too........
Chris