Technically, the sun's not any bigger when it rises and sets. It just appears bigger because you see it in close proximity to objects on the ground (or at least that's what i've heard).

Sorry to hear about the crash. Sounds like otherwise everything was going great. I've had problems with the sun before. I usually am able to just let go of the sticks and let it fly out of the sun. It's when we panic that we get into trouble. Sound's like that wasn't really an option in your case.

-Scott