1st and only Bonanza flight
04-15-2003, 02:52 AM
#1
Thread Starter
1st and only Bonanza flight
Hi guys.
This is the sad story of my Bonanza.
A few years ago i was given a kit for a Bonanza (E33) made by sig.
This was to be my pride and joy. My dad and i put it together complete with air retracts, flaps and a new enya 80 4 stroke.
Quite a while was spent putting this together and we were both very happy with the result. Not long after that I took a break from model building and flying for study reasons. During this time the Bonanza sat in the shed begging to be flown. After quite some time i could not take it any more (plus all the teasing from my friends about building a hanger queen). The Bonanza had to fly. With some help from a fellow flyer we got the engine run in and gave the model a good once over.
We waited for a nice day and when it came we were off. Everyone that saw the model was impressed (not many scale GA planes down here). After some ground test my test pilot lined her up and gave her full power. She accelerated quickly and was soon flying. After liftoff it started a gently turn to the left. I looked at my test pilot and his reaction didn't fill me with confidence, something was wrong. I watched as my plane did a nice turn to the left with the angle of bank increasing all the time. Not long after completing a full turn it dived into the ground at about 70 degrees left bank and 45 nose down. The result was one dead plane. The diagnoses was loss of aieleron controll. The only thing we found was the control horn for the aieleron was busted. We were not sure if this happed before or after the crash.
Oh well back to the drawing board.
Come on guys tell me your stories of first flight disaster.
This is the sad story of my Bonanza.
A few years ago i was given a kit for a Bonanza (E33) made by sig.
This was to be my pride and joy. My dad and i put it together complete with air retracts, flaps and a new enya 80 4 stroke.
Quite a while was spent putting this together and we were both very happy with the result. Not long after that I took a break from model building and flying for study reasons. During this time the Bonanza sat in the shed begging to be flown. After quite some time i could not take it any more (plus all the teasing from my friends about building a hanger queen). The Bonanza had to fly. With some help from a fellow flyer we got the engine run in and gave the model a good once over.
We waited for a nice day and when it came we were off. Everyone that saw the model was impressed (not many scale GA planes down here). After some ground test my test pilot lined her up and gave her full power. She accelerated quickly and was soon flying. After liftoff it started a gently turn to the left. I looked at my test pilot and his reaction didn't fill me with confidence, something was wrong. I watched as my plane did a nice turn to the left with the angle of bank increasing all the time. Not long after completing a full turn it dived into the ground at about 70 degrees left bank and 45 nose down. The result was one dead plane. The diagnoses was loss of aieleron controll. The only thing we found was the control horn for the aieleron was busted. We were not sure if this happed before or after the crash.
Oh well back to the drawing board.
Come on guys tell me your stories of first flight disaster.
04-16-2003, 01:33 PM
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1st and only Bonanza flight
I lost my giant scale Extra 230 due to an aileron control horn failure.. .The plane was about 12 years old, and I guess the horns were just brittle with age. The Sig Bonanza is an old kit... wonder if age had anything to do with the crash.. Sorry to hear about it...
04-16-2003, 08:06 PM
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1st and only Bonanza flight
About 6 or 7 years ago, I spent months on a Yellow Aircraft F4. This was the second one I owned, the other one was a great flyer and was sold. This one I took my time on...the building was quick, but I put so much time into the finishing and painting.
I recreated the 500th Phantom paint job.
When I was done, it was like a mirror, not a flaw anywhere, I was so proud.
On it's maiden flight it ran smoothly down the runway and took off perfectly. I was slowly climbing and making a gentle left hand turn, when out of nowhere, the very tip of a tree, which to me appeared to be much further away, reached out and hit the tail. It caused the phantom to dip nose down and plow right into another tree. I think it hit every branch on the way down. Thank god the ground was there to break the fall
All that work for about 15-20 seconds of flight. I still have part of the outboard wing (largest part left) in my garage.
I recreated the 500th Phantom paint job.
When I was done, it was like a mirror, not a flaw anywhere, I was so proud.
On it's maiden flight it ran smoothly down the runway and took off perfectly. I was slowly climbing and making a gentle left hand turn, when out of nowhere, the very tip of a tree, which to me appeared to be much further away, reached out and hit the tail. It caused the phantom to dip nose down and plow right into another tree. I think it hit every branch on the way down. Thank god the ground was there to break the fall
All that work for about 15-20 seconds of flight. I still have part of the outboard wing (largest part left) in my garage.
04-16-2003, 08:19 PM
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1st and only Bonanza flight
Midwest Strikemaster, Holloman AFB, NM around 1981
It was a friend's plane that I had built for him. Lined it up and took off. It needed just a couple of clicks of up trim so I started a right hand turn, straightened it out to bring it back and reached down for the elevator trim.
Well, we were using the old Hobby Shack Cirrus radio back then and the on/off switch felt just like the trim slider and was located just perfectly betrween the throttle and elevator trim. You guessed it...I accidently turned the radio off.
The plane did the most beautiful slow roll I had ever seen into the softball field's center field light stanchion. The engine broke through the back of one of the lights and came to rest inside the glass. The rest of the plane stayed up in the light bank except for the wings which came to rest in the middle of center field.
Everything would have been cool except a game was in progress. After they halted the game, I did manage to get a standing ovation as I picked up the wing pieces. We had the Air Force Civil Engineering guys come out the next day to get the pieces of the plane out of the lights. Needless to say, we had to fly elsewhere after that.
As of 1992 (last time I was down there for a visit) there is one light in the center field light stand that points up and away from the field. LOL!!! I have no idea if they got around to fixing it.
Don
It was a friend's plane that I had built for him. Lined it up and took off. It needed just a couple of clicks of up trim so I started a right hand turn, straightened it out to bring it back and reached down for the elevator trim.
Well, we were using the old Hobby Shack Cirrus radio back then and the on/off switch felt just like the trim slider and was located just perfectly betrween the throttle and elevator trim. You guessed it...I accidently turned the radio off.
The plane did the most beautiful slow roll I had ever seen into the softball field's center field light stanchion. The engine broke through the back of one of the lights and came to rest inside the glass. The rest of the plane stayed up in the light bank except for the wings which came to rest in the middle of center field.
Everything would have been cool except a game was in progress. After they halted the game, I did manage to get a standing ovation as I picked up the wing pieces. We had the Air Force Civil Engineering guys come out the next day to get the pieces of the plane out of the lights. Needless to say, we had to fly elsewhere after that.
As of 1992 (last time I was down there for a visit) there is one light in the center field light stand that points up and away from the field. LOL!!! I have no idea if they got around to fixing it.
Don
04-19-2003, 01:58 AM
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An old friends sinorita trainer
Befor I moved down to Glendale Az I lived in Sedona and flew out at CAM field about 8 miles outside of sedona with a big group of old friends. At the time i was about 11 to 13 years old, I dont quite remember soo... now im 18.
Well my old friend named Bob needed to give some of his stuff away to make space and he knew I didnt have that much money and I was a little new at this sport, and he was getting to the point where he could no longer fly his airplanes, so he gave me a few of them and some of his stuff.
One day I took one of the planes that he gave to me out to the CAM field to fly and see how it handeled. It was an old plane and the radio and the gear seemed a little to old for my handling. anyway I proceeded to the box and began to take of the plane.
About 3/4 the way through the flight I decided to come around the field about 2 more times and them land, because I was not shure how long it would stay in the air. so on the last turn to line up with the runway along west side of the runway about 100 feet in the air it first began to make swaying and fluttering moves by it self. it seemed like somone turned on there transmitter. The plane did it again and this time even worse and i had no controle of it. This time it took a huge dive banking to the right and straight into the ground about as fast as i could see. and bamb gone!!!!
It landed farther out than i thought and when i got there it was in peices and almost took out all of the radio gear too. only some of the servos to save!
well hope this doesnt happen again!
good luck with your flying!
BigB (Brian)
10 years of model airplanes
Well my old friend named Bob needed to give some of his stuff away to make space and he knew I didnt have that much money and I was a little new at this sport, and he was getting to the point where he could no longer fly his airplanes, so he gave me a few of them and some of his stuff.
One day I took one of the planes that he gave to me out to the CAM field to fly and see how it handeled. It was an old plane and the radio and the gear seemed a little to old for my handling. anyway I proceeded to the box and began to take of the plane.
About 3/4 the way through the flight I decided to come around the field about 2 more times and them land, because I was not shure how long it would stay in the air. so on the last turn to line up with the runway along west side of the runway about 100 feet in the air it first began to make swaying and fluttering moves by it self. it seemed like somone turned on there transmitter. The plane did it again and this time even worse and i had no controle of it. This time it took a huge dive banking to the right and straight into the ground about as fast as i could see. and bamb gone!!!!
It landed farther out than i thought and when i got there it was in peices and almost took out all of the radio gear too. only some of the servos to save!
well hope this doesnt happen again!
good luck with your flying!
BigB (Brian)
10 years of model airplanes
04-19-2003, 10:48 AM
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1st and only Bonanza flight
I still have to fly my skybolt. It has been sitting for a couple of years. It is starting to get hanger rash. I will say it is better to fly the damm thing and have it crash then to never fly it at all.
04-21-2003, 02:46 AM
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1st and only Bonanza flight
This is a sad thread! This story isn't as sad as the new aircraft going in but... Many years ago, I decided to convert to retractable gear on a TF P-47(redbox) complete with working inner doors. On the first flight after installing the retracts I took off, climbed out and hit what I thought was the retract switch but was the trainer switch. The trainer switch stuck on and broke off, turning my radio off with no way to turn it back on. I watched helplessly as it made a graceful turn and dive into the ground at full thottle and was destroyed.
