Broken

A report from the "Radio Controlled Safety Board" Me.... Pictures at the bottom
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// //
// RCSB Report //
// January 12, 2009 //
// CASE # 12.10.2009-1A //
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-On January 10, 2009, at 1301 mountain standard time, a CMP F6F Hellcat,

operated by broken as flight #4, experienced a loss of control resulting in a

fatal crash. Prior to the incident the pilot reported that a "glitch" had

occurred resulting in an un-commanded 180 degree aileron roll. The pilot

declared an in flight emergency and requested clearance to land on any

available runway. Witness statements report that the aircraft was

attempting to line up with runway 1A when it rolled over and impacted the

ground.

Further investigation into the incident was possible due to recovered cockpit

audio of the final moments of flight. Statements recovered include the pilot

reporting that there was a vibration while in level flight through 300 feet

msl and .004 nm from the departure end of runway 1A. At the time Turbulent air

was thought to have been the source of the disturbance. Approximately 120

seconds after the initial pilots report of turbulence a complete system

lockout occurred and the aircraft made several un-commanded maneuvers. The

pilot can be heard struggling to control the violent maneuvers before

regaining control for a short time. The final moments of audio indicate

that the pilot realized that the ability to control the aircraft had

deteriorated in such a significant manor as to force the pilot to divert to

open area and attempt to raise the gear in preparation of a crash landing.




RCSB Probable Cause for case 12.10.2009-1A
Further witness statements and evidence at the scene of the crash indicate

that the source of the interference was caused by the movement of equipment

in the plane to shift the Center of Gravity "CG" forward. Witness statements

indicate that the pilot moved a battery associated with the engine ignition

near the main power source for the on board electronics after a previous flight

indicated to the pilot that forward movement of the CG would make the

aircraft "fly better". All power sources were checked and tested for faults

other then placement, none were found. Main system communication was provided

via DX7 SM2 link. Pilot error is found in that it is estimated that the

pilot thought it would be "OK" to place the power source in close proximity to

the main power system.


This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors.

Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been

completed.

outdoorhunting

Ouch !!! That was a nice plane,sorry for your loss. However,- the report was top-notch!! I know it hurts when we "loose one", but a good sense of humor sure does help.!!

qldviking

the isues you had sound exactly the same as several I had resulting in 2 damaged and one totalled. I would be looking strongly at your tx rx, the totaled was my fave glider, fresh from a toal refit with al new electrics, etc and I had bought the DX7 specificaly for my gliders. after a thourouh inspection of the remains the only conclusion we could come up with was tx/rx fault, there were 7 of us there when the incident occured with over 100 yrs rc experience, and 2 of the others were also electronic technicians who checked everything they could and gave all connections and battery the thumbs up. I lost all control about 45 seconds into the flight, yet the glider was making its own imputs, full rudder swings and full elevator as well. It was a big (174"ws) glider, and had been cleanly bungy launched.

foodstick

I would say the cause of the crash was a mud impaction in the cowl, must have been sucked up by the prop on takeoff,
But seriously WOW, I have never seen a plane take a bigger bite of mud in the cowl, I hope you can salvage the motor...

Broken

A second note about the crash- I was using digital servos in all places except for ailerons and throttle as far as I can tell the analog channels were the only channels going crazy. At no time did I detect the plane go into failsafe!

Losing a plane is one thing but not being sure EXACTLY what brought it down is another. I hope that it was my dumb mistake of putting the batteries to close to each other. I have a replacement on order- so I am putting the radio gear in my old trainer/fun fly to make sure it is ok.

Up to this point I have had nothing but success with my DX7- In any case extensive range checks will hopefully reveal any issues...

basman

AHHHHH the 2.4 issue raises it's head again. That was a nice looking bird sorry for your loss.

cdaubs

My Feedback: (6)

OMG! [X(] How about we edit the pictures!! Do we need to see the deceased pilot, still trapped in the cockpit? Where are the sensabilities toward the family of the deceased? Come on people, have a heart! []

cdaubs

My Feedback: (6)

Johnnie Red

It smells like a shortcirquit servo malfunction. It sucks all the power from the batteries instantly without letin' any power for the rest of the servos to operate. This is more strong argument by the time that you state that you didn't have failsafe lock in your system when this tragedy stroke. Any kind of interference on the frequency itself would bring the system in failsafe mode and things would stroll in a diferent way than this.
Regards
J.R.

qldviking

the failsafe on spectrum rx's does not always work, that we found out with some experimneting

Broken

I am still going over the electronics inch by inch to attempt to discover the source of the fault. Engine ignition noise is being heavily considered but I won't rule out anything at this point.
I am mounting the engine on a my test stand with the approximate positions of the batteries and receiver +servos so see if I can recreate the faults.




cdaubs-
The RCSB hereby offers a formal apology to the family of the pilot pictured in the photo. We here at the RCSB strive to protect the privacy and honor the families of accident victims at all times. An internal investigation will be conducted and policies will be updated to ensure oversights like this do not happen in the future.

Sincerly
Broken
Self Appointed (Radio Controlled Saftey Board) RCSB

qldviking

was the pilot given a full military funeral? [sm=stupid.gif]

Broken

Yes-

The impact hole provided the burial plot and a shredded flap was the headstone! Long live our brave plastic warriors of the sky!

RegFlyer

If only the hellcat was ugraded to use ejector seats a fellow sailor and serviceman might still be alive today.

Korps

For interest sake - has this been done on a model plane yet? A ejector seat that works? I know it's probably a dumb question but you never know. My buddy made his bombs on his E-Flite Thunderbolt deployable from the air. It kind of fun too see - he tested it this weekend - it still needs a few tweaks here and there but it works.

RegFlyer

i dont see thy you couldnt do it, all you would need is a 12g C02 cartige, a seat and a GI Joe. maybe use Pneumatic landing gear retracks as a way to control the air.

RegFlyer

LOL watching youtube and found this, a B-29 with working X1 and yes ejector seats.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-UW7D_R2rQ[/youtube]

superflea

some nice flying, and a cool X1 but I would rather see the -29 flying in a more scale-like manner. eh maybe just me though.

qldviking

Having seen some old film clips from the 40's that clip didnt show anything that hasnt been done with a full size B29, including the inverted run. Overal I was quite impressed with the piloting

mudmarine

I don't think the CMP F6F is cleared for arctic operations. Love the mud inside the cowl... Amazing...