MadDriver

I've had a trainer that my dad built for about... 10 years now. It's, we think an Eagle, not sure though. I went to go fly it at a local elementary school last night where they have a HUGE (four soccer fields in one). There were already guys there flying so I went to talk to one of them, and asked for some help. They were really nice and started my engine... all that good stuff. Well, my wings were already on, and the guy asked if I wanted to fly it or if I wanted him to get it up and trim it out a bit for me. I was really happy at this because I definately would rather have him fly it first than me. And earlier, I was watching him fly, and it was awesome, so I had to questions about his skill.

Well, the guy checked all the surfaces... made sure everything was working correctly, and put full throttle, and headed down the field. The plane couldn't get fast enough on the bumpy field, so we moved to the paved parking lot right next to it. That did the trick, although it did take him the whole length of the parking lot to get it up. As he got it up and was flying around, he said that he had no up elevator basically, that it was barely moving the plane. He decided that he had to come in for a quick landing. The plane actually did get fairly high up where he could fly around a little, and try and come back to the field.

Well, there's a strip of trees next to this field, about 100 ft. wide, and it spans the whole field. He was making his decent parallel to the field over the trees, when he said he had no elevator at all. The plane just kept going down at about a 10-20 degree angle. There was the sound of balsa hitting trees... and that was it. I got to see my plane fly, so I actually wasn't to sad about it. The man flying kept apologizing, but I knew by letting him fly, there was a risk, and I just kept telling him that it was ok, and to laugh about it. I had a couple friends of mine with me, and we heading to the forest to look for it. After about a hour walking up and down the tree line, we finally gave up. We just couldn't find it. We looked everywhere. We were heading back to the field when one of my friends looked over and saw a tiny sliver of balsa..... then another... and another. We looked up, and about 30-35 ft in a tree, was my plane. The wings were ripped off and one side there was nothing left... but the body looked pretty good. My friend climbed up the tree and it took him about another 20 minutes to shake the body and wings down.

We got back to the flyers, and they checked it out. Turns out the screw in the servo came off... and the servo was loose in the servo tray. I really enjoyed watching my plane fly, even though it was only for a couple minutes. And I really appreciated the guy giving it a try, and willing to try and trim it out for me. It was definately not his fault that it crashed, and he did everything he could to try and save it. I've got before and after pictures comine. My friend took them... maybe later today or tomorrow I'll post them! It's funy to see him way up in the tree trying to get my plane down!

avistar181

I actually had a a similar problem happen to my trainer. Brand new avistar 40 I had about 2 years ago and I had flown it with a buddy who talked me through my first 3-4 flights. I was feeling pretty confident in my abilities so I decided to go out to a middle school right down the street and try my luck. I had about 3 flights on it that night and decided to go for 1 more. ( Bad IDea!) Anyway, I get flying around and suddenly my ailerons are not responding. IM thinking to myself "just get it down so i doesnt hit anybody". As it flew farther away from me, I knew my time was running out. I collected myself, and thought to use the rudder to turn the plane. It felt like 5 minutes had passed and it was only 10 seconds. The plane took a good 15 to 20 secondsto make its way back to where it took off and i was soo ecstatic to have the plane back in one peice that I just nosedived it into the groud to end the fated journey. Only broken part was the firewall dislodged. A crap load of epoxy fixed that one. So it lived to fly another day. I eneded up losing batter pack power about a year later and it dove into a construction site where it got plastered along the side of a bulldozer. Big debris field to say the least! Make sure all screws are tight before taking off. Its cool to make mistakes, just learn from them!!! it makes for a more enjoyable flying experience. I promise.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Are you saying that someone that did not know you flew your plane without checking the radio installation, servo mounts, control linkage, engine installation, fuel system, balance, radio range check, etc, etc?

MadDriver

He checked everything, except the servos. I take full responsibility for it, because I told him it was all fine. Everything was fine, from a first inspection from me, before I put the wing on. I understand that I am a beginner, but I did double... and triple check that all the servos were securely fastened to the servo tray that I had in the plane. He was about to take the wings off and inspect the radio equipment, but it was my fault because I just wanted to see if fly...! I know it sounds pretty... reckless, but I definately did learn my lesson through this whole ordeal. I realize how you could put the blame on him, but I do take full responsibility for the crash. I'll say again, it was a good lesson learned, and I believe we both learned a big lesson here. I really don't want anyone blaming him, and I know that this will happen... because of what I usually read in these forums... but I'd rather have the blame on me, than this man who was nice enough to work on my plane and attempt to teach me to fly!!

8178

My Feedback: (17)

If there had been an injury accident with the crash I believe in the eyes of the insurance company (AMA or what ever) the pilot of the aircraft is always the person responsible. He should have carefully inspected your aircraft before taking on the responsibility of the pilot. I expect he will next time though. Hope you can rebuild it and find a RC club to join.