The preflight check of your model is a very important step that needs to be done. You can read about the crash of Suitcase's USL 120 in the crash forum under " Another US 12O Lite Bites the Dust" I was flying it over the runway and started turning right to enter a downwind for a righthand pattern to land. As the plane turned 90 deg to the runway it started heading nose down very quick. I pulled up elevator and it didn't respond. It went into some trees accross from the field. When we looked at it later the screw that held the servo arm on the servo was loose and the arm was off the splines. This model has the elev and rudder servos mounted in the tail and the elevator servo is mounted on the left side of the fuselage. This plane had a g-26 and it did vibrate so one little loose screw cause a crash. So don't forget to check even the smallest things because it will bite you when you lest expect it.

Amen Brother!

Ya know, my take is that the new guys are the ones who tend to do the better preflight checks. They're more nervous, they haven't gotten complacent and they're usually more likely to catch small stupid stuff before it gets big. They don't have that sense of what's "right", and ask about stuff that "WE" the more experienced guys would just overlook.
I'll personally admit to flying with stuff wrong with my airplane now that I would never have put up with six months ago. As you gain confidence in your flying abilities you can get a little bit bulletproof. I've got more deadsticks under my belt now than I can count, at least one on every airplane I fly. They're not the big deal they used to be. I remember the first time I deadsticked a warbird, albiet a .40 sized one, my knees were knocking together so loudly you'd think the engine was still running. I said "deadstick" in a nice even calm voice that guys at the other end of the pits heard. Now, here five or so months and numerous flights later, a deadstick, while still an uncommon event, is much less traumatic.

This is just an example. But I do think the new guys tend to look at stuff more carefully.

Andy

It might be helpful to include a standard list of things to check pre-flight when posting something like this. Just a suggestion...

speeking of loose screws....
i have also learned that muffler screws come loose, i have found this out the hard way 2 flights, back half of it came off (found everything on the runway) next flight the entire muffler came off
use some sort of thread locker any where you can. it might save you a few bucks! or a plane[&o]

I agree A6. I've only been doing this for a short 7 months and find myself skipping some very important steps like ground range check etc... UR right, it's easy to get complacent.