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dabigboy -> RE: Lost another one today (9/28/2011 5:23 AM)
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Sorry to hear about your loss....at least you are mostly just out money, vs hundreds of hours in a kit-built plane. Did you range-check before the accident flight?
I've been in the hobby off and on for over 15 years now. I've had exactly one loss-of-control accident related to the electronics, and it was actually a servo, not the radio itself. This was in the mid 90s, I was still fairly new to the hobby. My trainer was acting a little weird on the ailerons, which should have been my sign to land and check things out. Just as I was about to start a landing pattern, the plane just rolled full left from level flight, and didn't stop spinning until it hit the ground. I was able to throttle back, so I knew I had at least partial control. This was on an old Futaba AM radio, which then sat in a cornfield for about 3 months. It was later found, the suspect servo was discarded, and the radio was used for many years thereafter....in fact, it still works!!!
Since then, the biggest problem I've had was two different servos in my glow helicopter went out, one during flight (yaw). Fortunately I was low enough on that one I was able to bring it in without incident. The yaw servo also only exhibited its untoward behavior when the heli was spooled up to almost hover RPM, which made the problem particularly hard to diagnose.
I did have the elevator channel on my old Futaba 4ch FM go out after sitting for a while, but that is what control checks are for. :)
There are many things that can bring a plane down, but nearly all of them can be virtually eradicated with proper installation, maintenance, and pre-flight inspection. If you're truly serious about safety and are not willing to accept that things "just happen" for no discernible reason sometimes, here are some good personal rules:
1. Keep a battery checker (not just a volt meter, but one that can optionally put a load on the battery) and use it RELIGIOUSLY at the field. Check when you unload your gear, check after your control check (those few moments of use may bring a failing battery down, so watch for unexpected voltage drops between readings), and check between flights. I usually check right after I land, and again before firing up the plane. It's important to know the battery's trends, and to develop an understanding of how much it should drop right after use, as well as how much it will "recover" after being off for a while.
2. Check for proper control surface movement before starting the engine.
3. Do a proper range check before your first flight of the day: collapse the TX antenna, walk away from the plane with its tail pointed towards you, go to about 100ft, and hold the TX vertical. You may need a helper at the model for smaller planes. Do a full control surface check again. TIP: only collapse your antenna when you're at full distance, and extend it again when you're done, as you're walking back....it's hard on the TX to transmit with a "short" antenna (obviously this procedure is quite a bit different for 2.4ghz radios, since the antenna is fixed).
4. Check control surfaces *again* once the engine is running/motor is spinning.
5. Be proactive when installing and setting up radio gear. Think about all details of your installation, and try to imagine how anything could cause a problem. Examples: RX antenna being stretched or pulled across a sharp surface (like the hard edge of a plywood piece), control rods binding even a little, metal-to-metal contact (ergo, don't ever allow this if at all possible), servo leads getting tangled up in aileron torque rod ends, etc.
About those control checks...don't just wiggle the sticks and look for movement, consciously move one control at a time and look for the correct reaction on the plane. Know what you are looking for before you do something. I crashed a Butterfly once because I moved the stick in circles and noted tail feather movement...turns out my elevator channel was reversed. I also ALMOST flew my Cub with ailerons reversed, even after a thorough pre-flight. There happened to be a cross-wind as I taxied out, and I rolled opposite ailerons into the wind (a scale Cub will force you to do things right). They went the opposite direction of what I was expecting to see. Too close for comfort!!!
There's still always the chance that something could happen (interference, for instance), but at least you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did everything in your power to minimize the chance of a problem. And if you do crash, the most important thing is to learn from it. Figure out what happened, and take measures to ensure it won't happen again.
I know it sounds like a lot of stuff to do/remember, but once you start making safety a priority, it truly becomes second nature, part of the way you do everything related to the hobby. Just be vigilant.....when it comes to safe and professional flying, accept NO compromises.
Matt
PS: I won't get into an analog vs 2.4ghz debate here, but suffice to say I have not gone 2.4ghz yet simply because analog has never let me down. I've never been shot down or had any interference issues with analog (even including my old AM radio), so I see no need to change. Why change something that has a 100% success rate?
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