freebird1

Hi All,

As the old saying goes there are those who have crashed and those who are crashing, so with that, I totally destroyed a Spectrum plane with a MVVS 49 on board today. Crashes always bother me, but I try to learn from them as well. Todays crash has got me puzzled; this is what happened, I took off and fought the plane from the ground. The Al. were working fine, but the problem was the elevators. I had a delay as long as two to 3 seconds seconds before the controls moved. I also noticed that the throttle had a two second delay as well. I tried to bring the plane in after fighting it for about five minutes just to get an approach on the field. The plane started down fast, and I pulled full elevator and throttle. The spectrum went out of site down behind some trees, then we heard the engine go full throttle before a loud crack as it hit the ground. My MVVS was turning 17K with a APC 8.8x9 pylon prop on 15%, so you can imagine the damage. My friends were all standing beside me asking if there was anything they could do while I fought the plane, but there was nothing anyone could do not even me. Everyone saw and heard me fighting the plane. So everyones questions were the same, What the H*?? happened? When I picked up my plane this is what I could see

Temperature was 47F
Battery was still fully charged (not the battery)
Elevator servo had two to three teeth stripped (could be caused from crash or was it)
Shrink wrap from elevator dow was missing (caused by crash or caused crash)
Servo tray was outside of the plane (caused by crash or caused crash)

My question is this, Has anyone in the past experienced this delay in throttle and elevator, and which of the above is most likely the root of the problem if known so that I can possibly prevent this from happening in the future?

I really loved her and had a short service for her as I placed the tail in the ground in the clubs grave yard . I got over it and went to my Ultra Stick for support.[&o]

All jokes a side, I really would like to know what happened. A 20 year vet and I think it was a broke servos tray considering the throttle and elevators were both having a delay while the AL. where fine.

Thanks for any info or opinion.

Freebird

Rudeboy

That's the first thing that came to my mind too, even before reading your conclusion...

RVBlack

My Feedback: (27)

I don't know what happened to your spectrum but I do feel for you. May she rest in piece's. RV

AirGar

My Feedback: (7)

Sorry to hear about your loss. It also could of been some kind of "mixing" function overlooked. I know, I have some newer computer radios and I'm totally intimidated by the complexity.

Gary

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

One of my buddys has the GSP 72" Corsair. He had been flying it for a few months with no problems. One day he needed to trim it and couldnt get it to stay. After landing we found the servo tray was loose

Crazy4Flight

My Feedback: (540)

aileron servo mounted in the wing right?

? how was the rudder responding ?

me thinks servo tray came loose, ARFs hot melt glue used sparingly wont hold up over time and vibration

freebird1

aileron servos where mounted in the wing, and I did a full check on the bench (did I over look something). The rudder seemed to work OK, but only tried it once because it was a fight just to keep her in the air. I am going to check close to see if I can see any smooth places in the servo trey from sliding. If I had to guess I would say it was the trey too, but I could pull elavator and nothing, then in 2 seconds see would go straight up (no throttle change). It just seems to me if it where the trey when I pulled elavator the throttle would respond as well because of the trey movement. sure has me guessing. I will not rest untill I can be at peace why my Spectrum had to go to that runway in the sky.[&o]We all ask ourself when we have a plane we love to go down was it me, building, or gear that was the cause, but this was the first time I have ever seen or had something like this happen. Well at least it will make me more careful in the future.

Thanks for all the info and opinions.

Freebird

bob27s

My Feedback: (19)

I agree........ servo tray came loose.

Sorry to hear about the crash.

Never underestimate the power and vibration energy that can come from a high-output engine.

If a prop is off-balance just a tiny bit, you can litterally shake a plane to bits in seconds.

freebird1

Well after a week of investigation, I have to say it was the striped servo that caused the crash. The servo trey had alot of balsa pulled away from the plane, therefore it was not it. The dow also had no signs of failure. it still had the pushrods installed and was CA in. Not it either. So with all things given I am concluding it was the servo with the 3 stripped teeth. A friend emailed me today with the subject R.I.P. The day this photo was taken he had a plane to go down. I help him retrive it. As you can see from my muddy shoes. I gave him a 30 min. talk about checking his plane over better. I forgot that he took this photo. Now I am witing on my 30 min. talk on checking my planes better