RE: Hangar 9 Twist 3D
Yeah, Waldo, the wind is your friend--and that's a hard lesson for newbies to learn. If nothing else, Twisting teaches a sensitivity to wind and its often quirky and capricious behaviors. In higher winds at the Ponds, we discovered a fairly consistent roil when the wind is at our backs, going over the road, over the 4 foot drop to the pond surface. It's slammed me down more than once. We have a drainage ditch at our other site that produces those same roils and updrafts.
Boy, you mention that Sig Kadet.... Down and I immediately recall HIS Kadet Senior, beautiful blue and white bird, which Down wanted to use for a camera platform, so we could take digital pix of the Twists (to stay on topic) IN THE AIR, flying cheek by jowl, like a chase plane. Down took his time building that bird and wouldn't maiden it until the weather was just right. Put a high-powered RX bat in it, too, just to be safe for long flights. He checked it out in three or four flying sessions, flew well, lazy, graceful, gentle, unlike his Twist. He was ready to put his camera aboard, but decided on one more flying session.
Understand, Down is the paragonic example of "control" in RC flying. When I first saw him fly, I couldn't believe his control. Soooo, as he's up in the air with the Kadet Senior, making lazy loops and rolls, I prepared my Twist for a flight. Then I heard him say: "Heads up! I have no control." That startled the heck outta me and I looked up to see that big bird making a fast circle back toward the field. The starboard wing kept dropping, the bird gaining speed all the while, going down. When it was 5 yards over the field, it was vertical, just a blue/white blur, the monokote on the wings flapping like you wouldn't believe. 90 mph? Then the wings came off, a yard above the ground, and he augured in, planting balsa.
An on the scene autopsy made us suspect the on/off switch, maybe battery connection... but with that beautiful bird in such a mess, it was hard to tell. A week later, Down brought that expensive NiMH bat to the field and showed me a pinhole in it, showing some heat. Evidently, that expensive, new bat had gone sour, and though it showed a good charge initially, it was losing it fast as he preflighted then put her up. In the air, the battery crapped out. No control, the kinda flight nightmares are made of, hm?
The good thing about flying with Down is he takes those kinda days in stride. If you fly, you're gonna crash. Me? I don't crash any more.... I don't crash any less, either.
Jack