Insanemoondoggie

I don't believe there is any difference. If you can afford to fly a high dollar jet, then you have the means to support it. The guy with a $300.00 dollar plane, barley making ends meet, feels just as much loss if not more. For some, $300.00 might as well be $3000.00
Getting the first crash out of the way, helped me to advance much faster by taking the edge off the fear of crashing, not to mention improving my rebuilding skills. Crashing is part of the hobby, the trick is try to make them few and far between . And if you let it get to you, it well take a lot of fun away from the hobby.

Steve Landron

Pick up the pieces, assess the damage, refer to the plans for any questions, rebuild. Get over the carnage. Repeat as necessary.

koastrc

Never say after a day of flying, " I think I will make one more flight" because it may just be the LAST ONE. Only say, "going to fly again" That is just a bit of flight line superstition, but practiced just about everywhere. Like some will not fly without their favorite hat

pmerritt

My Feedback: (118)

Agreed 100%! If one has the money to own $2,000/$3,000 aircraft, then they must be able to withstand the loss. The average cost of my collection is about $250.00 a plane. No, Ican't afford to go out flying every weekend and feed one of them to a gopher but Ibet I get just as much enjoyement out of getting them up and down as that guy that has two house payments in a plane. Hehas no more guaranty of staying in the air than does my beater from what Isee all the time on the RCUthreads! Difference IS, Ican bury 10 planes to his one and still stay married. The wife always knows that I've had a bad day when Icome home with the Glad Bag.

Pete737

The only plane of mine that has ever "crashed" was my Sig Cap 231. I was at the field and came home to discover the harness it was hanging in let go. It fell 5 ft or so.. That was 3 years ago.

nute12

My Feedback: (14)

If ya fly you are going to dump one in sooner or later......It is written LOL
whether its dumb thumbs, equipment failure or someone else running into your plane.
I'm thinking 90% of the crashes are dumb thumbs so be self forgiving.
seen it in this thread earlier, Two types of pilots, those that have crashed and those that WILL.
Dont get attached to a plane. If you have to save up 2 years to build your dream plane.....maybe yer getting in a little over your head. back it down a notch or two.
unexpected air/ground interfaces happen, pick up the pieces and move on. If you can't kick the depression, a new hobby is probably in order.
This hobby is supposed to be fun, not worry a guy to death because he might dent his pride and joy.
to be honest with ya the most fun i seem to have and the best flying i do are done with my old beater trash-around planes that i could care less if they crash or not. Makes me more confident and that really is the key.

Oberst

Here's my take on it all.

Crashing in our hobby isn't a if, it's when. It's normal to question yourself after a crash and start thinking too much about what your hands are doing on the controller. But with a little work and encouragement by your friends your self confidence will return in do time. Don't let anyone tell you different! Screw em!

We all have different ways how to cope with our crashes and if you aren't made of money like I am, every crash is painful. (Unless if one of my planes was a pain in the rear since the beginning- then there were times I said, "GOOD" after I crashed so I could get rid of the darn thing)

Once I pulled out the engine and electronics and decided to do the Native American Indian Dance on the plane. I think that happened twice since I've been in this hobby and both were ARF aircraft. Then I'd get one smart a** come up and tell me," I would have given you good money for that!"

And of coarse this is after I've been complaining about the plane for weeks before I smashed it- of coarse I had no cash offers then. [:@]

After I crashed my Extra 260 last year I did have a hard time getting my confidence back. Some members of my OLD club weren't very helpful. That's one of the reasons why I joined another club. Too much personality clashes going on rather than just showing up to enjoy flying, talk about airplanes and supporting each other. But that's another issue for some other topic.

Sometimes it's hard not to become depressed and very attached to some planes. I've seen grown men cry crashing $5,000 warbirds. Believe me, I would be the last guy to go up to them and tell them to get over it.

I don't like getting my wagon painted.

Pete

tony0707

hi
when you crashIF YOU CAN FIX THE AIRFRAME IT DOES NOT COUNT
if the airframe is a totaland you walk away with the engine and radio equipment -you can use it in your next project
if you fly for many years you will have aircraft that will only crash -very few times in a year-
leaning good shop maintenance is the key
almost always you will -get a sign-the something needs immediate attentiona noise in the air-etc when you learn to identify that warning sign you prevent a lot of damage from happening
when you do not have it-pull back the throttle and hit up elevator close to the ground
you will not believe how many times that has saved more damage-MANY TIMES the plane has been sitting on it wheels
flying for 26 yearsmore than most less than few
BEST REGARDS TONY LENTINI

Oberst

That all depends if it's worth it or not? My ARF Extra 260 is about $180 and still being produced, and if I were to rebuild it? $220+ time. Now if my ARF was discontinued and almost impossible to get, then yes- I'd keep rebuilding it until the glue was so heavy on it I'd have to get a FAA registration for it!

All kits and scratch built aircraft I think differently, and agree with you 100% Steve. But that's only my opinion on the matter. Depending on our own personal building and repair skills determines if a plane is worth rebulding. Emotional attachment kind of makes our planes live almost forever because some of us refuse to let them die unless it caught fire.


Pete

ES CONTROL

O.P. here,

pilotchute

My Feedback: (29)

Uh-huh. This is why God created ARF's. Even they can get expensive and the proud papa paranoid about it going in harm's way. Guess the answer is building paper airplanes...

dasquirrelisme

My Feedback: (81)

Crashing forces you to be a better flyer. I crashed my Kadet that I built as a 3 channel because I didnt know better. It taught me to be a better builder and better flyer. I rebuilt it with ailerons and as a taildragger. Took awhile to rebuild but glad I did because I still wouldnt know how to use a rudder.

armyguy466

My Feedback: (2)

normaly when i crash which has only been 4 times in the last 2 years i really wasn't depressed. i was more mad then anything bcause all my crashes were my fault my most resent crash was my trainer plane which i loved that plane but i was pulling a loop and my aieleron servo fail due to load the gears and links and mount all broke which made the plane act like it had dual elevators so it kept pulling tight loops until it hit the ground i was mad because i was pushing it to hard and mad that there was nothing i could do but watch.

KitBuilder

My opinion is the ARF crowd has this depression issue much more than the build crowd. Builders who have spent 3 to 6 mos on something in my opinion don't mind as much if dings or substantial destruction occurs. What I do is pick it all up.. put it aside for a week or two... then take a look and go about fixing. If your not versed in building this can take longer.

flyalot

My Feedback: (63)

A crash is an acceptable reason to buy another airplane ( Bigger & Better) that your other half will accept without discussion!
Joe

jpjamie

Back in the day before ARF's and RTF, we bought kits, basically boxes full of sticks with a neatly folder large complex plan.

Over one cold North Dakota winter, my brother along with my father and I build a Graupner Kwik Fly. After many suppers, the three of us would sit discussing the next steps in construction. We had the wonderful assistance of a WWII (Iwo Jima) veteran machinist who built us aluminum "knee action" spring loaded main landing gear. We spent a lot of time that winter detailing the model, it was beautiful.

Early that spring as soon as the snow melted, we headed out to the field. We had the 27Mhz O.S. Cougar proportional radio system, advanced for that time. My brother the better RC pilot, got the Kwik Fly off the ground easily. After watching him fly for only a few minutes, I begged my brother let me fly, so eventually he handed me the transmitter. This was before buddy boxes and flight simulators. After only a few seconds I got the model inverted, pulled "up" on the stick and the Kwik Fly slammed into the ground, totally destroyed. No reset button.

Back then there were only kits, but even kits are not building from scratch. When you build from scratch or from a kit, you get attached...it's what you worked on, what you did. You can describe the details of construction and how you overcame problems. When you purchase an ARF or an RTF the construction process is totally abstracted. Instead you bolt and fit major parts together in a matter of hours. Crashing is not the same.

The aluminum landing gear from the Kwik Fly hang in my workshop as a reminder of that day and how I felt.

WRM

If you fly them, YOU will crash them.

Oberst

Eventually. For me a regular ARF that's still in production isn't so much a big deal. Why? I can just go out and buy another one. That's what is so nice about the RTF and ARF, it gives us all a choice. I'm so glad we have ARF and RTF aircraft. Without them this hobby wouldn't have expanded like it did through the years. I like to fly more than build, but there are occasions I want to go all out and build- then I buy a kit and or scratch build.

I build ARFs to fly, and I "Bash" ARFs and kits to build and show my skills to other people. To me smacking up a Bashed ARF and or kit gives me the same type of depression, but a regular ARF or RTF that I did nothing too doesn't hurt as much. I kind of get the attitude S*** happens. What I can't stand is when someone crashes, that person has to be pissy with everyone. My last old club president did that, he let someone fly his kit airplane and the guy lost control and crashed. Nothing left! At the end of the day when I was leaving, I looked back at him and told him that I was sad for him and he became snappy. No need for that, we're grown men aren't we?

Really we can't say that the ARF assemblers are more depressed when they crash. If you don't believe me- search Youtube. I've seen many kit and scratch builders shed real tears. A guy who spends $2,000- $10,000 on a airplane is no pocket change. My heart sinks when I see a plane catch fire and see all that $$ go up in flames. It's cool to watch as a spectator- but then the thought goes in my head, " how would I feel if it was my plane?"

Show me one guy who is happy when he crashes and I'll tell you that he's a member of the Lollipop Guild.

Pete

Tommygun

My Feedback: (2)

That's why I've never really understood the "$2000 R/C airplane." Wow, that is just too much to risk totally losing, I'm with Pmerrit, stay around $300/plane and it's a much more enjoyable hobby. But whenever I've lost one, I found another hobby for a while, or focused on work that needed to be done until I felt comfortable going back to flying. Nowadays I mostly fly Z-foam electrics which are very crash resistant and easy to repair, so not a lot of crash depression happening anymore.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

Pmerritt, I heartily disagree! I NEVER take a trash bag to the field, I feel it's tempting fate, bad mojo, etc....

GerKonig: LOL ! (Imagining Insp. Jaques Custeau...) We know you meant Clouseau.

Steve, that Cub rebuild is amazing!

jaav

I can have a bad run on crashed planes, a few weeks ago I had one destoyed every weekend, 4 in a row. 2 of them was done by our FI showing off.
I usualy just laugh and think about the next one..
The only one that upset me was my P47, it was my pride and joy as I spent some time getting it perfect. I destroyed it a few months later by not extending the antenna after I was using a 2.4 radio. Its slowly getting back together.

I find If I have a bad run of crashes like now I get out the SPADs as they will take a pounding.
Like I say to the newbys if you cry or get Pied off, find another hobby.

If some one has a vid cam recording there will be a crash.

ES CONTROL

Ha ha,  If someone compliments you on how good a pilot you are...   LAND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE !!!!

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

+1 ...... I like to collect kits but fly 'em once they're built

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

ONLY IF IT WAS YOURS

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

Hi,
Yeah it happens but pick up ALL the pieces right off. You can (should?) decide to rebuild or not LATER.
Get the battery disconected as quick as you can. Contain any fuel leak issues.
Do a post mortem as you collect the parts ( this is part of the learning curve)
Put the pieces in a baggy once you get home and label it or stuff it in the fuse. This way if you do decide to rebuild the pieces are handy.
Most crashes CAN be rebuilt, you just have to decide if you wanna do it. I kept a nice crashed 60 size Ultra Stick under the bench for a couple of years. It flies great now. Some planes after a few BONKS are harder to fix and you may prefer to replace it.
Personally most of my crashes come from hurrying through some part of the preflight process.
My next most frequent cause is Pilot Error. Don't fly if your tired or don't feel well. I have gone out to the field and had a fine time and never unloaded a plane.
Relax take your time enjoy the hobby.

My old LT 40, now in its 3rd rebuild has a fuse from one plane and the wing/tail group from another, is a favorite to fly as there are no worries. Some of my longer builds still make me worry a little 'bout crashing.

My wife often teases me as I head out to the field by asking if I have my trash bag. [:@]