stevekott

Oh Oh "had" doesn't sound good. Hope you sold it! And not .....

dubd

No, it didn't crash. I'm considering getting another, but this time with thrust vectoring.

Here's my old MIG:
http://youtu.be/bfZK-30KM-8

raptureboy

My flying buddy threw his transmitter across the field after crashing a $300 arf. He still fly's with the transmitter. Now he is into jets and I can't imagine what he will do if it crash's. You must be some kind of super dude to destroy $8500 and order another one, I almost quit flying after wreaking one of my gassers, almost

WacoNut

Bummer, Always hate to see it happen.
I lost my 33% WACO due to a stall on final. Stupid mistakes will make you pay. Not as many $$$$ as you but 2 years worth of work on a scale build down the tubes. I was sick to say the least and lost all confidence. I set the wreckage in the back corner of the basement for about 6 months before pulling it out and surveying the damage. I had to build a whole new fuselage and repair all the flying surfaces. Complete new fabric covering job and detail and paint. Turned out better the 2nd time around.

Good Luck with your next project!!
Anthony

Randy M.

My Feedback: (38)

I lost a 1/7 fej F18 on the maiden about 2 years ago. Really bummed out for a few days. Certainly could not afford to replace it right away. Still building on the replacement. Hopefully will have it flying before jok this summer. Can't really cry about the money because it's already spent. It does suck to watch it burn though.

rhklenke

My Feedback: (24)

Mine was a brand new FB F-4 at Kentucy Jets four years or so ago. Second flight, I couldn't get the gear up, so I decided to just tool around the pattern. That got boaring, so I decided to do a loop, Just as I'm ready to come over the top, I hear the guy in the flight station beside me come around the pattern under me. I decided to roll out at the top of the loop to avoid coming down into him.

Unfortunately, I had pulled the power back and the gear was still down. To make matters worse, I don't think I pulled all the way over the top. So I was slow, inverted with the gear down and with the nose still above the horizon. I got about half way around the roll when the airplane departed. I was well over 500' up, but in about 2 seconds and 2 turns in the spin it was in the ground. Fireball, total destruction. It had a brand new Jetcat P-160 in it to boot. I still have the hulk of that engine.

Its a bummer, but you just got to pick up the pieces and move forward...

The only way not to crash is not to fly. I just *had* to have another F-4 after that though, just to prove that I could fly one. Its actually become one of my favorite planes ever, but I keep it *fast* and the G's low!

Bob

Springbok Flyer

Bummer, it really sucks. ...

Jan

dubd

IMHO, it's much easier to suck up a loss when it was pilot or builder error. At the very least you learn from your mistake and don't repeat it on the next plane. That's the silver lining.

stevekott

Great Flying bird, Dantley. Well Flown!

Great stories guys. I think it's comforting to all of us who have lost a 'loved one' to know that just about everybody on here has felt that pain and had to recover in their own way. No better way to recover than getting back on the sticks with a new love interest.

And about the money, well I'm almost 60. I spent the last 40 years working pretty hard to make money so I think I should spend the next 40 (if I'm that lucky), enjoying it. As a younger man I had a lot of time and not much money but now time has become the most valuable of the two. And time with a smile on my face, well that's just priceless!

And we all know that incredible feeling after a great flight. Palms are sweaty, adrenaline is pumping and then you jet comes over the threshold to a perfect greased landing. An awful lot goes into making it all happen. I guess that's why it always feels like such a great reward.

stevekott

Amen! The worst is when you just don't know what happened!

rhklenke

My Feedback: (24)

Well said! My son, who also flys jets, understands completely. My wife, not so much (but she does put up with it...)

Bob

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

I hesitate to even add this pic, in so far as the value of this was so far less than the one you lost OP, but the sudden kick in the nads feeling when it went in was probably similar. This was my first 3D plane and was purchased used from a local guy. I flew it for a couple months and knew the elevator servo was chirping and glitchy but just figured it was a temp thing and kept flying. Came out of a loop and was full open throttle coming out of it and was about 20 feet off the ground flying straight when the elevator servo froze and the plane went straight in in a second. I couldn't even throttle back. Lawndarted so hard it crumpled up in an S shape. Battery slammed forward into the motor mount and was starting to puff, but no fire.

Your plane looked great, sorry this happened.

BobbyMcGee

I suffered through a few dumb-a$s mistakes too; forgetting to tighten the wing bolts, attempting low-altitude 4-point rolls when I'm not ready for them, zigging when I should have zagged, forgetting which way is up while inverted, running out of fuel, going for just "one more flight" before packing up, and entering a loop too low to the ground. Then there are crashes that can be attributed to other factors, but each one of them always gets me sick to my stomach. I've lost thousands of dollars worth of these toys.

The trick is to build or buy one with at least a 10 year expiration date. But how can we figure that out? Where's the expiration date found on these planes/jets?

While I consider myself lucky to have a few jets and planes that have lasted more than 10 years, I still don't know where to look to find the expiration date!

BobbyMcGee

Hence, the reason I NEVER buy anything used!

Jannica

This one hurt. I got things mixed up when I edited flight modes and exponentials i my radio. I did not detect it when I did my usual preflight check either. I never counted the money and now I´m building a new one.

Jannica

This one hurt. I got things mixed up when I edited flight modes and exponentials i my radio. I did not detect it when I did my usual preflight check either. I never counted the money and now I´m building a new one.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

THIS! I should know that this point that saying that is the kiss of death.

tylers600rr

My Feedback: (10)

Sorry for your loss. I know how it feels... My jet crash is still the most watched on YouTube to this date. It was an extreme jets Rafale. Bad thing about that incident is I wasn't flying it. I had a friend test flying it for me. Last time I ever did that! That was a long drive from Brooklyn but I shook it off about a month later I bought a lightning and made a show plane out of it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Aajp-A43glA

"LT"

husafreak

My Feedback: (3)

I lost my second jet (an UF) on its 17th flight. It did some kind of funky snap roll 10' off the runway in a descending turn all by itself. Went right in at 150+ and pretty much totaled. I remember it being very quiet, and taking a long time to pick up all the little pieces. And of course the whole thing does kind of haunt you for a few days. Now, crashing was nothing new to me as a lifetime modeler, but with a jet the cash value of the thing adds a new and uncool dimension! Well, if we can afford them then we can afford them, wether they are flying, sitting in the hangar, or just a memory. Luckily I have my first jet to fly and just yesterday DHL delivered my new SM Cougar. Beaten but not broken.
BTW, I wouldn't be too quick to write off that JetCat. The Cheetah in my UF looked like a crumpled ball of aluminum, but my buddy Jack persuaded me to send it in anyway, which I thought was a waste of time and money. After a month's wait and 615$, I am flying it.

Selcuk

Sorry about your loss.
I usually treat my planes as

and never forget they will LEAVE me by my little fault.

mikes68charger

My Feedback: (34)

Lots of response here, while I have crashed some really nice planes that was my fault that made me question my flying ability, its another thing all together when you crash doing 3D as you know the risk are high and that is what adds to the fun and the rush

I put my Carf Rookie 2 into the lake, in full thrust vector pulled hard back and did some really sick back flips that turned into a inverted flat spin. No drama but I was some how flying over the dam wall ( its a huge lake /water resavor and people walk on it) scared to nose down towards people I tried to fly out of the inverted flat spin but it somehow pur it self in a nose up hover. At full power I saw my jet slowly fall down behind the dam as the only way out would of been to nose down but I didn't have the elevation. If I had more thrust maybe I could of flown stight up but my p80 was not able

I was lucky it went into the fresh water lake everything was saved, turbine servos etc. Throw away the lipos just to be safe

But I was not made or questions my ability as I new I was putting the edge.

I have since be flying a 2 axis jet on my simulator, to help my brain react better to get out of tge odd poshion you can find yourself in with a 3d jet that most poilts will never find them selfs in

Good luck on your next 3d jet I will still be a lot a fun after you get over your loss

David Jackson

My Feedback: (15)

I flew a large Skymaster F-4 well beyond the expiration, and a tree came out of nowhere to collect it. Took me a couple of years to get over my costly mistake.

basimpsn

My Feedback: (5)

I learned a valuable lesson at WOD about over banking a T-33 . All I could say is wow!! ..snap all the way to the ground.

FalconWings

My Feedback: (57)

If you dont know the feeling, you're not having enough fun!

stevekott

Well said!

Thanks guys for all the great input and insight.

Misery loves company and seeing that just about everyone in this hobby has had their heart broken a time or two, or maybe three or four or .... has certainly helped me get past it.

You only have one choice. Put on your big boy pants and get back on the sticks. No risk, no reward. You hope you learn something but you know in a high risk hobby chances are you are going to learn something new .. the hard way.

But I don't know anyone who has ever been physically hurt in a model jet crash. There's not a lot of other adrenaline rush hobbies that have that same track record.

Happy Flying!

SteveK