Yeah I can see that point to a certain extent but someone who knows helis should be able to look at the remains of this and get some idea of how it hit. The tail section had no dirt, scratches or dings so it obviously did not hit. The gear was broke and dirty. One blade broke right on the tip, I assume after it took out the boom on impact. The other does not have a scratch.The rest of the heli was clean so you can assume that it hit skids first, straight down, which it did. That, along with the screw the way it is, should be enough to support my claim. Now if it had been damage all down the side(s), front or back, dirt imbedded inside little holes everywhere I would think that someone lost control and came in hard on the side or with some forward, back or sideways momentum. It just so happened here that I was in a hover at an altitude that didn't allow time for autorotation but enough to cause damage.

Of course I guess someone could dumb thumb one straight down but if that had been the case I would not even be attempting to continue with helis.

I do see your point though.

By the way, I had a muffler incident myself on my JR Venture. The engine engine died at about a 10 foot hover right after the muffler halves came apart. I emailed JR, told them what happened, listed what had broke but was only expecting a new muffler because it had only done slightly less than crash kit damage. The send me a new muffler, a crash kit and it didn't take 3 weeks.