Red B.

Lesson learned: Ground communication is important.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSHYpM1JDKE&sns[/youtube]

Edit: Replaced dead link with a live one

foodstick

Man thats awful ....
Was that the 50 cc CMP Zero? sure looks like it.

I wonder if that heli had gone thru the prop if the plane would have been able to land? Sometimes the prop will do so much damage to the other bird it lessens the damage of at least one of the two air frames.

STUKA BARRY

It looked like the World Models Zeke. What a shame. Nose dive into the paved runway, must be a total loss of engine, receiver as well as airframe. Fixed and rotorywings just dont mix.

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

That just sucks. Nice looking plane, and I typically don't like warbirds.

blvdbuzzard

That was the helicopter pilots fault. The fixed wing pilot called out "low pass" Heli should have cleared the area or called out he was over the runway.

Has nothing to do with rotatory wing or fixed wing, all about letting each other know what you are doing and going to do.

Does not help now, but watching that hurts!!!


Buzz.

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

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jester_s1

No, the helicopter pilot had no business being where he was at all. That looked like a 450, which can take off and land just fine from the grass away from the runway. Anybody who would hover a helicopter over the middle of the runway while a plane is flying is just a flat out moron and should be paying every cent that that crash cost.

countilaw

Iagree......

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Great video Mr. Cameraman! And so sorry for your loss.

KRASHKOPTER

My Feedback: (1)

Saw it on tv today...it was on a show called *right this minute*
Although it was a spectacular collision, would suck to lose a nice aircraft like that.
Luckily nobody was hurt (as far as I know)...lot of debris flying around.

K

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

I think the comments about the helicopter being wrong are completely ignorant and ridiculous. I truthfully don't like being around helicopters, and I don't like them hovering over the landing strip. However they are flying models just like our planes, and have to abide by club rules. All of the clubs I've belonged to have heli-flying members, and all have had general guidelines for where to fly. These typically include a 'racetrack' for sport flying and an area across the runway for 3D and helicopter flying.

If you are going to do a low pass over the runway, you need to call it out. If there are other people flying, you need to listen for approval. Just because you say it doesn't mean it's heard. Communication takes two people, not one.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Sorry for the guys loss, but it did make one epic video! Kudos to the cameraman!

flycatch

My Feedback: (26)

Something strange that a modeler from Sweden makes the video post. This field is in the US and it has been shown in the past for other crashes. The helicopter pilot was at fault and should be held liable for all damages.

macdona

My Feedback: (3)

Our Reno club has a pad away from the runway. choppers are not allowed in the plane area. Works great.

avidflyguy

My Feedback: (48)

that sucks to lose a nice bird like that, at our field we have a rule, 1 aircraft at a time in the air for the larger nitro/gas powered birds, however for small electrics and park flyers its a free for all. haven't had any issues losing the bigger expensive birds that way

thepamster

That was painful to watch. I also don't think that helis and planes don't mix well. Helis these days can climb and change directions so fast it is an accident waiting to happen.
Having said that, with flying sites getting fewer and fewer all the time I think we almost have to exist together. We just need to communicate.

Gixxy

My Feedback: (18)

I was pretty much thinking the same thing. Just because you say something doesn't mean that it was heard or that its smart to do

How about we blame the airplane pilot, he was the one hauling ass through the sky and slammed into what was a nearly fixed object

But honestly I truly believe 99% of the time there's no one to blame In a midair. Sometimes bad things just happen.

No one is to blame. It's just lessons that are learned. You can minimize your chance of a mid air collision with good communicatio, spotter, and first and foremost trying to be aware of more then just your aircraft. In the end the person that's really keeping a eye out for your plane is you !

jester_s1

Yes, someone is to blame. The airplane runway is for planes flying in a pattern in a fairly predictable way. That's a reasonable expectation. There are hardly ever midairs even when 4-5 planes are flying together because they all move in the same basic pattern. The heli guy put a stationary object in the direct flight path of a plane where there shouldn't have been one. The crash is 100% his fault.

Just so you know I'm not biased, I fly both planes and helis. I have a 450 that's a lot of fun and a Blade MCX for indoors, and I have 6 airplanes, both nitro and electric park flyers. I would never take my 450 out over the runway when a plane is flying for exactly the reason I stated- plane flyers aren't used to having to dodge stationary objects in their flight path.

ZAGNUT

My Feedback: (1)

look at any discussion on midairs and you'll see the same outcome every time: the pilot flying the cheaper/smaller/uglier aircraft is ALWAYS at fault

thailazer

Midairs are going to happen as pilots like to fly past their main visual scope which is right in front of them over the runway. Placing blame is pointless, and much better to laugh it off. Depth perception is very difficult at any distance. If you can't accept the possibility of something happening, you probably shouldn't be flying at a public field or at least with anyone else in the air. It is just a hobby after all.

With that said, that was a rather spectacular coming together!

CRockVet

Why didn't any of the spotters say the heli had not cleared?

Jeremy300

My Feedback: (6)

From the slow motion part of the video, it appears that the heli is in the pattern as the attitude of the heli indicates. It looks like inverted forward flight and not hovering. In our club, slower aircraft have the right of way. If in fact the heli was in the pattern in forward flight and flying slower, it was the faster Zero that should have changed its flight path to avoid the heli. The spotter was not doing his job. The spotter was watching the Zero and not the other aircraft.

Of course it is hard to tell...the video could have caught the heli mid flip which in this case is totally the heli pilots fault.

DeferredDefect

In the full scale world, the machine with lesser maneuverability or speed always has the right of way. Because of this, for instance, a hot air balloon has full legal right of way over a 747. It makes sense too, but I bet those balloon pilots are smug about it! 

init4fun

[8D] The club I belong to has , like some have already mentioned here , a separate area for the hovering of helis or for any other traffic that isn't following the conventional circle pattern . If you fly your heli or anything else in the pattern you'd darned best be "goin with the flow" . If your flyin a plane in the hovering area you'd best be doing 3D acrobatics (I usually call this "prophanging" for lack of a better term) . Of course , common sense and reason is applied as well in the mix and so far , except during combat , no one has hit anyone else .......


Now , as to this "Big vehicle / Little vehicle" stuff ;

.... Yes , the letter of the law is almost universally that the smaller , less powered craft has "right of way" . This , of course , applies to Man carrying craft . I've never seen in print such statute with regards to RC aircraft . But anyway , beyond the legalities of such right of way laws come the REAL "rules of the road" and the fact that those lil smart cars are NO match for an 18 wheel truck come smashup time . I see it all the time on the highways , the little car's driver thinks he's got some kind of RIGHT to cut the big truck off and ends up within inches of CRUNCH! ... Even if the car's driver was dead right he'd be right dead if the truck couldn't stop in time and ran his butt over flat . The moral of this story is the concept of right and wrong matters little when the sparks n metal start flyin , everybody's gonna loose something in the "exchange" ........

PS , they oughta be tryin to sell that footage to the next hollyweird producer makin a WW 2 film

Rob2160

Sorry, I have to disagree with you..

From position of the pilots in relation to the flying area it seems the Heli pilot was flying exactly where he should be.. He was also inverted which means he was probably practicing 3d or at least a loopor roll. In a relatively small area of the sky

The fixed wing aircraft came into that airpsace. It was an unfortunate accident but the fixed wing pilot is just as responsible because he also should be aware of other aircraft in the sky and avoid them..

Perhaps we don't know the full story.. IE how long the heli had been flying and other factors, but just based on the video, claiming it was the Helicopter Pilots fault is just impossible.

The comments about the Helicopter Pilot "is a moron and should be paying every cent of that crash cost." Is the EXACT reason I will never fly at a club..

What happened to the good old days, (30 years ago) at my club if you had a mid air.. there was NEVER any hint that ONE pilot should pay for both aircraft... that is crazy.. we were all in the SAME hobby and flying when there are other aircraft in the sky always carries an inherent risk of mid air.. I now only fly alone or with one or two fellow pilots and we take turns flying.. rareley if ever in the air at the same time..

Remember, both pilots lost an aircraft if this video.. both are out of pocket.. thats the name of the game...