My first crash was with my Donald 4 Seaplane. First flight with it. I just had to get it flying I was practicing with my Aeorbird just before that so I said, no problem, piece of cake. Famous last words. I took off from the frozen lake, didn't know the rudder got bounced loose in the take off (very uneven ice). Anyway I was flying it for about 3 minutes, and the on a slow left turn, it did its death spiral, and bam, one of the worst sounds I ever heard. A guy accross the lake was watching because after it crashed I heard an AW Sh&t all the way from accross the lake. I attribute the crash to the loose rudder, not enough experience and not enough speed into the turn. Of course it had to crash in the middle of the lake, 8' of solid ice. On the sides of the lake there was about 4' of snow. Actually there was less damage than I thought ther would be. It has a fiberglass fuse, which was really beaten up, the motor mount was bent in half, but the wings actually came out OK. All electronics, and servos seemed to have survived. Still haven't repaired it yet (since last winter), but I still plan to.
Joe