The following is offered in the hope it may prevent a repetition:

I lost a jet today, a PST Panther JetCat with JR 28x, on its first flight.

Control throws and C of G had been meticulously checked BUT when an independent control check was done one flap was found to be reversed. T/ O setting was symmetrical. This was corrected on x bus and all looked well. Perhaps I had failed to select SET to store the flap settings on final checks at home.

The model was refuelled, started and taxied out, flaps set at t/o. Take off was normal but when flaps up was selected the model went out of control in roll. I THOUGHT I reselected t/ o flap but MAY have selected full flap, resulting in one flap retracted, the other at landing setting, 45 degrees.

The jet was uncontrollable and crashed, total loss.

My best GUESS . Is that after correcting flap setting I had failed to press SET which STORES the setting.

My BIG mistake , perhaps it will prevent a repeat, because it is a trap for the unwary.

Just another thought.
Looking at the X bus page this morning, I guess I had pressed SET for the neutral , the button for which is just below the reverse box so that when pressing the correct SET button REVERSE is obscured by the finger pressing SET ! The button I should have pressed is the SET button ABOVE reverse.
An expensive human factors error causing my first crash for many years.

Thats aviation, you never stop learning!

Hope this may may just possibly prevent someone else making the same mistake.

David G.

Thanks Guys, yes, 50 years of professional flying taught me about honesty and the “ just culture” , don’t see why we can’t do it in modelling too.

Paul, we HAD done a full control check, with an independent set of eyes, 2 minutes before start, including flap and gyro, yaw damper, which is when the flap error was spotted and corrected. My independent checker was a retired airline captain. The human error, my mistake, was pressing the wrong SET button, ie pressing SET with the “reverse” window still visible.

Further work this this morning with the surviving electronics, receivers, hub and converter harnesses showed that both flap servos were moving in the same direction, when , as the flap servos were “ handed” they should have moved in opposite directions.

The holes in the Swiss cheese all lined up and got me.

I will leave it at that.

Indeed I have relived the flight a dozen times, or more!
When the aircraft rolled, I immediately reselected t/o flap which brought things under control.

I then trimmed the jet, retracted the gear, climbed to a safe height.

I then reselected flaps up to see if the problem recurred (v v bad decision in hindsight) the same roll recurred.

I was was ready to reselect t/ o flap, though, but may have moved the flap switch too far and gone to land flap. I will never know. ( most of my other jets have Weatronic so the recorded data on the Wea. would have told me exactly what happened )

I then fought the jet BUT. Although the ailerons were powerful enough to overcome the assym. Every time I released ail. deflection it rolled inverted, the process continuing till impact!

My bigtime error. That said when correcting the flap travel during preflight, not pressing SET meant that when the tx was switched off after the control check, the corrected data was not stored.

When the tx was switched on very shortly afterwards the flaps assumed the correct position,and all other flight controls responded normally, deluding me to thinking all was well.


Although it would not have helped on Sunday, my more complex model, such as my F4 and Hawks have the checklist on the access hatches for instant access.

As as a matter of interest I have just finished reading John Farley’ s ( ex BAe chief test pilot) superb book “The View from the Hover” a top read for anyone involved in any aspect of aviation. JF relates some of his big mistakes such as slamming a Harrier throttle shut during transition instead of selecting the correct nozzle angle , and shutting down the engine when just trying to select idle power, both occasions nearly causing loss of the jet.

We never stop learning and I do hope that relating my experience may just, possibly , prevent a similar problem.

That said, it was only a model and no one was hurt, or secondary damage caused. One recent book I have read, Harrier Boys, relates that one RAF Harrier pilot, who spent 17 years on the jet, lost no fewer than 21 pilot colleagues in accidents. Puts it all into perspective!

David.

I thought I made it clear that the radio, per se was not the problem, , it was a user, me, error.

However, it is possible on the 28x , as I found out, that the presentation of the X bus servo/ converter harness page needs extra care from the operator, particularly in strong light conditions ! It is a potential “gotcha” rather like the engine presentation on the original B 737-400 which led a crew to shut down the wrong engine after an engine failure, with dreadful results.

I do agree the 28x is a very fine radio indeed, just off to go flying with it !

I won’t make that mistake again and I made these posts in the hope it will reduce the chances of 28x users making my mistake and being extra careful to use the correct SET button.

Many years ago, at an early IJMC meeting I suggested we create an incident reporting scheme, similar to those which are used in full-size ops. I would collate and publish a quarterly review of such incidents, in the interest of promoting flight safety. It was not taken up.

David.

Thank you for your kind comments Craig, you most clearly see my intention.

I was was fortunate in that I was able to pinpoint the exact cause of the crash, so thought it well worth relating it, so many model crashes are unexplained.

Sadly at a small meeting yesterday, just 5 of us, there was a total loss which will never be explained. The jet had been flying normally, then just went out of control and crashed and burned, nothing left. ( My own 8 flights and all others, 28X included, went without incident)

Of course, incident and accident reporting in full-size ops. using various schemes has gone a long way in making aviation safer. I do wish we could have the same in model jet flying, reports could be anonymous as is done on the British human factors scheme, CHIRP. ( Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme) started in aviation but now adopted by the maritime industry.

Its intersting, too, to see that the medical profession are now adopting some of the safety best practices from aviation.

Thank you ( and the other guys) again for your encouraging and supportive comments.

David.

PS Craig, just about to install the Futaba HPs A 700 servos you recommended in my Mig, thanks for the advice!