chazdraves
Posts: 370
Joined: 9/28/2006
From: Fergus Falls,
MN, USA
Status: offline
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Just a warning: This is a long post!
Many of you are familiar with my buddy who has a number of large and expensive helicopters that he doesn't always know enough about. Not surprisingly, this story revolves around him.
Every Saturday for the last month or so I've been driving 30 mintues to see him and do a fair bit of flying. We take up everything from Shoguns and REX 450's to Bergen Twin Industrials and a JR Voyager GS with extended boom and 800mm carbon fiber blades. You'll notice I gave the most information on the last helicopter mentioned - perhaps it's involved in this story, eh?
For the first time since I've known him, he had time enough to drive toward my home town and meet me for a full day of flying. I still have my REX in the repair shop, but I happen to have his Venture 30CP and Nexus 30 in my garage to fly on. To supplement, he drug along a Shogun, 450SA, TREX600CF (sweet, sweet bird!), Benzin Trainer (Gas), and Voyager GS (Gas) along with one TX for each helo. We had spent from 1PM to 6PM giving each one of them a work out at a local baseball field, and it was about time for him to be leaving. It was (wait for it...) the last flight of the day, and we had decided to grab the Voyager GS and REX 600CF to leave on a good note. Both had been flying excellently all day long. We logged about 30 minutes on the REX that day (only one battery) and about 60 minutes on the Voyager (all by myself, actually).
Well, we had to relocate to the nearest ice rink (errr... grass at this point) as a softball game had formed at the diamond, but the conditions were perfect. I spooled up the Voyager and gave it just enough to get it off the ground. There wasn't a ton of room in the rink, so I was taking it slow with some nose-in and the random "bump the throttle, throw it way up there" maneuver. One of these times, however, I noticed that the helicopter seemed to stop responding... I brough it down from about 20-30ft immediately and spun it down. We spent a couple minutes investigating the control surfaces to ensure everything was working properly before I decided it must have been the wind or something. We felt it best to play it safe, but the thing had been so solid that we figured it safe to give another go. I took it a mere couple feet off the ground and everything felt real good. I knew that such a large helicopter was pretty dangerous if it got out of hand, so I kept it real close to the ground and tail in while we ensured it was working. For just a quick second, the receiver cut out again. I dropped throttle immediately and it came down rough but in tact.
At that point I told my friend it was simply too unsafe to fly. I recommended we pack it up and I passed it over the fence to him. He wasn't satisfied with that (of course) and suggested I run the 600CF dry (which I did not mind doing  ) while he gave it a quick check on his side of the fence. I watched him as he fired it up and tested the control surfaces hoping to relieve myself that I must have been imagining things. I was almost convinced too as it seemed just fine (again). I moved about 8 feet from the wall to the 600 on the side away from the wall in question. I engaged the BEC only to find that it wasn't plugged in. I was fiddling with the power connector as it wouldn't quite reach when I heard him scream, "LOOK OUT!". With my hands wrapped around the 600, I dove straight over it and rolled smack into the fence. I kept my face to the fence and hands over my head as I felt the wash of the Voyager go over top of me. I picked up my head just as the Voyager smashed into the exact spot I had been sitting...
Now, I understand that this is a rare occurence, but I think it makes some strong points. Firstly: if you plan on owning a large helicopter, it is your DUTY - there is NO QUESTION - to keep it very well maintained. There should never be any of this, "Well, I haven't flow it for three years, but..." crap - PERIOD. Secondly, if something doesn't seem to be working (especially TX/RX signal) stop NOW! Kill the engine and find the safest method you can think of to test it out. By safest, I'm hinting at "engine off".
Secondly, I'd like to ask how many folks have experienced something like this? I don't mean a crash, I mean someone nearly being severly injured or killed because of a crash. After the event I told him that I never want to see something like this happen again; he said that if I plan on staying in the hobby, I should expect it someday as he's already had it happen twice in three years (with two years' inactivity inbetween, I should mention). I will not believe this is normal. Unfortunately, I believe it's a poor statement against my friend...
Now, I imagine that most of you would like to know what we belive the problem is. I do not think it was a PCM lockout. We had flown it for about one hour at that point and had drained the first receiver pack. We grabbed the second pack (a 2400mah) which was freshly-charged but hadn't been used in three years (I didn't know) to get it going again. I believe that the connectors were damaged or corroded and the vibration was causing power interruptions to the receiver. This would explain why it was so brief and would make sense given the lack of maintenance his helicopters enjoy.
On a side note: he has vowed at this point that he will scrap every electronic piece off of that bird and re-equip it with new parts, but I'll be darned if I trust his gas helicopters ever again. I think the point I'm making is: if you cannot take the time to maintain and properly repair something so large and so dangerous you do not deserve to own it.
Anyhow, I wanted to get that out there. Thanks for hearing me out, guys! I appreciate your comments/responses.
- Chaz
P.S. I know he took some pictures of it when he got home. If I can get a hold of those, I'll try and post them here.
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"If it moves when it shouldn't use duct tape. If it doesn't move when it should use WD-40!" - firemanbill
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All Forums >> RC Helicopters >> RC Helicopter General Discussions >> So I was nearly killed yesterday (5/9)... (Long read) 
So I was nearly killed yesterday (5/9)... (Long read) - 
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. Many of your other "complacent activities" are much more dangerous.. You just haven't fixated on them as hard... for example driving your car (probably with a phone stuck to your face), smoking or second hand smoke, taking prescription drugs, having unprotected sex, eating processed high fat fast food, driving under the influence etc....... the list goes on and on. (And I think these activities kill way more people than RC