I had 2 distinct periods of 'learning' with R/C. First was with 2 channel gliders, then with glow engined planes.

I remember the first crash of my first glider (an Aeroflyte Brolga), which pretty much demolished it[sm=angry.gif]. I had a friend towing it up for me by running full tilt across the local football field with a length of nylon line attached to the tow hook. Worked great, except that I had the switch in the worst possible position......right under where my thumb went when I was holding onto it before takeoff. I also had it around the wrong way, so 'back' was 'off'[sm=bananahead.gif]I got set up, gave him the 'thumbs up' to start running, but as the plane left my hand, my thumb ran across the switch and turned it off[sm=frown.gif]. When I realised it wasn't responding to my inputs on the way up, I yelled at him to stop, but he thought I was trying to tell him to run faster[sm=frown.gif]. When he finally got the message, it was already just about at the top of the line anyway, so when it came off the hook, it went into a series of larger and larger stalls, eventually lawn darting into the field nose first[sm=angry.gif]. Buried the nose about 6 inches into the field, broke the nose off just in front of the LE, ripped the wing joining wire and tubes out of the wing roots and demolished the tip LE's, *and* broke the fuse in half about an inch behind the TE of the wing. Broke the tail in several places too.

My first glow engined crash was with the Royal Air 40 trainer I used as a step into powered flight. The Magnum.40GP engine that I had on it was impossible to keep running for more than a few minutes at a time. No-one at the club could get it to keep going. I learned dead-stick landings before proper ones! Anyway, my luck finally ran out and I strained the model through the fence at the end of the field after the engine died on a go-around attempt. Came in too hot, tried to throttle up, engine died, I put the plane through the 3-wire barbed wire fence and demolished it. I've still got the Magnum.40GP actually.....runs like a top now.......turns out all it wanted a little nitro.....[sm=rolleyes.gif].