BigD

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Back in the islands we decided to launch the whiplash in spite of a good 25 mph breeze this morning. After a flawless takeoff I executed a downind turn and promptly lost most of my up elevator. Buffeted by the wind, the whiplash got closer and closer to the steep hill on our north side and finally went in at full throttle!. Keep in mind that this is the Caribbean, and the growth is very, very thick. Nevertheless, volunteer members of the St. Thomas East End R/C Assoc. hiked into the brush complete with thorns and cactus. Aided by the bright markings on the wings, they successfully recovered the whiplash which sadly, has made its last flight. Time to build the next one! The photo below is of the recovery team that sucessfully recovered the lash! Thanks guys!

BigD

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Closeup of damage caused by high speed collision with a tree on the side of a mountain in St. Thomas. Suprisingly still intact, all things considered. Plane being held by a member of the recovery team, Jens.

Daryl Lane

Just got back from the field today.First flight with my whiplash using jet traps 193.8 with 5 mph tail wind.engine jet 45R with apc 8.8-8.9 on 20/20 fuel,does this sound about right.

jlong34016

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with full tank and downwind turn its hard to keep nose up. Especially with these deltas that lose lift when you give full up elevator.That wind just pushes you down with the aoa going negative.
WRT wind in virgin islands...does it ever stop?

Sorry about your plane. The lifespan of these things seems pretty short. I have 10 flights and nearly two crashes. Just been lucky so far just like the Bucks.

BigD

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No doubt the stiff breeze played a big part in my crash. Inspection of the plane showed no failure on the part of the elevons, servos, etc. They just lost effectiveness after the downwind turn. I have flown the Whiplash down here before, but never in the stiff wind we had yesterday. Live and learn!...

jlong34016

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do you have spiderman down there?

I dont see z-bends on those elevon servos do I?

BigD

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Yes, those ARE Z bends. This was the first Whiplash I built and since I didnt have access to the parts down here I had to use Z bends on this one early last summer. Looking at the plane post crash, elevator authority or movement wasn't the problem. Looks like too much tail wind relative to forward speed....everything went very mushy....toooo mushy....that plus the effect of the hill with the wind just swallowed the plane! We were all standing there with our mouths open, not believing what we were seeing. If it wasn't for the red trim on the wing, we would have NEVER found it.

The Spidey Whiplash is alive and well in Rhode Island. I have an American Flag II which will be the next one out of the box. All in all, a great, fun plane for the money.

jlong34016

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I use z bends all the time. I was sort of talked down to on here because of it. I was just kidding.

visioneer_one

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yr.fthfl.authr. is @ far-left, in the bush hat

So! I was getting the heli dialed (back) in after fitting a new set of blades. Buncha vibration due to the tracking being out, but not too bad. It was pretty windy, and I was concentrating on keeping the heli in one spot.

<indistinct shouting>
<guys start landing planes>

Uh-oh. Who crashed?

I set the heli down and glance up the flightline. BigD is the only person not working his TX . . .

A half-hour scramble ensued. The brush on that hillside is very thick, and consists solely of stuff with thorns, its very steep, and there's no breeze under the tree canopy. Nasty stuff.

Its our tradition, though - if someone's plane goes into the hillside every man-jack wearing long pants goes up to assist in the SAR.

And we all need the exercise anyway.

BTW I like the club name! Interesting Acronym, too. "S.T.E.E.R.C.A.C."?

ChuckAuger

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Get some shorts!

Cactus.

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ok, the LE's munched... whats else is wrong with it? looks repairable.
just go's back to sommit i said ages ago about Dusts being more durable/rebuildable

Mike Connor

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My Dust after a high speed crash.

RSands

True classic british humor?

Cactus.

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nope, not laughing. i see all the rods in that Dust are fine.. correct me if i'm wrong, but isnt that all a Dust is? lol
Bit of new ply and you've got a OK dust again, all fixed for what, $40 ready to fly again?
Ding the LE of a Whipp and thats a new one please.
Wheres that slighty tatty Whip now? i know people at our club that would fly it with just tape over that little dent
looks a bit bigger dent in that other close pic. might need some gaffer tape
So it was flying too slow to control, but caused that much dammage when it hit a tree. whats inside those things? looked like solid blue foam in a old thread ages ago

BigD

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Well Philly,

I don't have any experience with the DD, but having looked at photos of its construction, I can assure you that if one hit the tree that I hit, at the speed that I hit it, nothing would be left to repair. Having said that, the Whip is also unrepairable given that there is a nasty crack most of the way through the body and the motor mount is also cracked badly. (not seen in photo). Trust, me this plane was moving when it went in, not anywhere near top speed but fast enough to hurt any plane. Good news is I have a new one sitting on the shelf which I can have ready in about 2.5 hours, given that I now have experience building two of them!

We should sponsor a fly-in down here for those who want to learn how to fly off a cricket pitch and avoid the stands, the scoreboard, the goats, the mountain and the immovable gym at the east end of the field, not to mention the odd cricketeer.

Greetings from the islands, Mon !

Mike Connor

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Both spars were undamaged but the leading edge broke on both sides. Most everything else was also broken. Maybe it could have been fixed but I did not see anyone digging it out of the trash. Dust #2 was waithing for this day.

ChuckAuger

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When my Dust went if full throttle down wind, I could literally put it in a cigar box. In a tribute, I took the small FG tubes from the end of the main spar and made pushrods for the Whiplash.

Oh, BigD..you have the funfly..I'd almost swim to fly in the cricket patch in about a month! LOL I hate winter, mon.

Cactus.

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Thats coz i don't fly at your field Engine mount looks ok, and i wonder what a Dust with a better section would go like, i would of had that. Maybe thats just the local attitude here, then again, if you where here, you would have thought the same

Dusts break up, snap at the joints, you just have to fix them again. Maybe a new GF rod or two

I'm still surprised you crashed at all, right after take off you where above stall speed, that downwind turn just added to the speed after a few seconds as your plane is moving within that air, what does change is the reaction time over a ground distance, not air mass distance, it might seam a soggy plane, but its still doing it's own speed, unless you where on idle, it shouldn't have gone in, unless you missed the tree to late

I'm not trying to re-write physics, or the crash, but i would be shocked unless i was gliding/deadstick if i had this happen.
May i reccomend the Correx Dust in another thread

Anyway, now you've got one in two bits, cut it open, get the wing section and lets all have lighter Dust'lash'up's

visioneer_one

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I didn't see the crash, as I was concentrating on my eggbeater , but knowing the area and the amount of wind we had that day + the wind direction I'm not surprised.

You see, the spot that BigD hit is EVIL.

In that area hillside curves in then back out again. When the wing blows from the right direction (ESE) its aimed right at the leading edge of the "in" curve. At certain altitiudes the air follows the hillside fairly closely - creating an area with strong gusts blowing into the curve, then a (somewhat) calm spot, then an area of turbulence. You hit the gusty area and your control authority goes soft (so of course you pull more elevator and juggle the throttle) . . . by the time you get stabilized you're headed square at the "up" side of the curve, panic, and smesh. Hiking trip.

Hell, the turbulence in that area will rock your wings even if you're flying straight downwind. Taking off and turning right into it on a windy day can spell disaster - and in this case, it did.

Cactus.

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oooh, nasty. we get rotors comming off the cliffs at the end of the field. can change your attitude by +- 15' also sucks unsuspecting planes right off the ground. Makes for interesting prophangs lol

BAGOSTIX

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Hey D, sorry to hear about your whiplash, looks like it can be repaired : )..
Looking at the diamond dusts on these posts, they dont seem to fare as well on impact as a whiplash.

D, get your flag up....

BigD

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Well, I've already stripped the plane of all the gear....it really looks like a major repair and I don't have any experience with this material. So, time to get American Flag II ready for the flightline!....Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family Bags, it's been a pleasure doing business with you this year!....Don