wotan1

Hello folks. I am a beginner with absolutly no experience at radio
control flying. About 50 years ago I did some minor U-control but that
has very little that translates to RC.
Anyway, for better or worse, when I got interested a couple of weeks ago
I bought a Freedom Flyer. I am trying to teach myself to fly as the
advertisments said I could. So far a mixed bag.

I have had one beautiful (for me) flite of about 7 minutes that I believe
I had at least some control of the airplane. It was from a hand launch. I
flew in oblongs in front of me and did up and down altitude changes
always staying over 100 feet (I think). It was lots of fun doing these
simple things. I must add here that this was after several crashes from
hand launches and a crash from an attempted ROG that broke a wing half in
half. We have new wings. Finally I began to lose altitude. I did not
think I was doing anything to cause this but down it came and made a
pretty good landing on its own, rough and bouncy, but definately not a
crash. The forced landing is still a mystery.

After this nice flight it took over 40 minutes to charge the battery and
I got impatient and quit charging at about 46 minutes. I was using my
wifes Toyota as I had discovered that battery pack charger that works in
a car cigarette lighter will not work in a Suburu Forester because of the
recessed hole in the dash. The wind had changed some,a little brisker. I
hand launched again and got to altitude but this time I felt like I was
not in control a lot of the time. After about 3 minutes the plane started
going away from me downwind and I started to make a turn to keep it close.
Then everything went haywire and down came the plane. Nothing I did changed
anything. There was a crash, a BAAAAD crash right on its soft nose and
then a lot of bouncing. Some pieces flew around as it came to rest.
The rubber bands on the cockpit canopy were gone and the canopy had come
off. The flite pack battery had broken loose from the plastic socket in
the plane, however it and its socket seemed to be o.k. The red wire going
into the socket in the plane had pulled out of the socket while the black
wire was still firmly in the socket. The foam thingies were all loose.
The propeller had disappeared. The v-tail was torn to bits and most of
its hardware was gone. I didn't know what to look for anyway. The ACT eye
on the bottom of the fuselage was not flush with the body looking off to
the left side of the plane. I don"t know if this crash caused that or one
of the earlier ones or if it is supposed to be that way. It has a very
small screw that is part way out so I am confidant that I can screw it
back in.

The fix for the propeller is easy!! (I think - don't want to be
overconfident). I bought a new v-tail and parts and think I've got that
fixed. It was not easy as my hands have lost a lot of small motor
ability.

Finally my questions!
Can I just glue the foam pieces inside the nose and when it is time to
fly fix the battery to them with velcro or something.
Now for the loose red wire. I can now manually push it back in
the socket and get it to work, however, if it moves too
much it will cut out. If we did manage to get back in the
air it would be subject to Murphys law and cause a even
worse crash. I have never used a soldering iron and even
if I did know how to use it I have no idea how the wire
and plastic socket would work with all that heat. Is it
possibl to drop some glue in there and adjust it or tape
it or what?????? Any ideas!! I hope I don't have to buy a new fuselage
just because of one red wire!!!

Thank you to those of you who were nice enough to read this through and
thank you in advance to anyone who has any advice.

Sincerely - wotan 0