Its true... crashed shortly after take off into a heavy cross wind. As soon as the plane left the ground it banked sharply left (with the wind), i corrected with full right aileron which straightened it out but it soon stalled. the left wing tip clipped the ground and spun it a couple times.

the engine and front wheel broke out with the firewall and the tail snapped just before the elevator and rudder.

this was my first crash on my first plane (only 15 flights on it) so i'm a little disheartened, especially since i did it in front of a bunch of people on my first flight of the day. how embarassing! oh well... build... crash....rebuild...

Nothin to be embarrassed about at all. If the guys there made you feel that way, they don't understand what this hobby is all about.

I crashed my trainer trying to come out from being inverted. The weird thing is, after having rebuilt it, the thing flies 3x better than it did before. I built it from a kit, and most probably built it crooked. It probably crashed just right to straighten itself out. Thats the theory at the club anyway.

In any event, as it sounds like you understand, these things happen and are all part of this addiction. Keep your head up, try and learn something from from the crash, rebuild and get back out there. No harm, no foul.

dont be embarrest it happens to even the most experianced pilots. now you realize like me, that were not bullet proof and it will probably be a matter of time before our next mishap.

Bad things happen to good people. Don't let it get to you. Fie it up and just watch out for crosswinds until you are a little more comfortable, maybe angle your takeoffs across (diagonal) to the runway if you have the width. Anyone that enjoys seeing another flier crash is sick, there is too much time, money and pride involved. A LITTLE kidding might be made but that is about all.

Yes, Don't get discouraged. I crashed mine yesterday. It was the first flight after my solo and my instructer was gone. I was so happy to show my parents i took off and did a tip stall. I am almost done rebiulding. I had to re glue the firewall, and 2 pieces on top of the fuse

All left now is the wing[:@] but it will be quite easy. I am ready to take her back up heres some pics of how mine looks

Nothing to be embarrased about. You can expect a little kidding from it but most everyone feels your pain as most everyone has done it.

So you know and to help you feel a little bit better. Flew most of my training with a LT-40, had it down pat and could do anything I wanted to it. Very soon after solo I have my second plane which is a H9 twist turning an APC 12.25X3.75 prop and the same engine as the LT-40.

Decided that I like the way the 12 inch prop worked on the Twist as I could go vertical immediately and keep on climbing.

Well you guessed it I screwed the 12 inch prop onto the LT-40, fired it up, got what I thought was enough flying speed, pulled it vertical and it promptly tip stalled and cartwheeled down the runway sheading pieces as it went. This was 6 flights after solo and about 20 on the plane.

Decided to fix it and turned in into a taildragger and I flew it about 75 more flights without so much as a hard landing until I sold it to a student who promptly screwed in into the ground on the very next flight after his solo. He fixed it and still flies it to this day.

So if anyone ever says that an LT-40 is not tough enough send them to me.

And after 500+ flights without even so much as having to repair the gear, I flew my nice new Extra 300 straight into a tree at over 100 yards away thinking I was well in front of it. That plane had 2 flights on it.

So see, even after you gain a ton of experience, something will bite you sooner or later. The key is knowing what happened and doing everything you can to not allow it to happen again.

Oh BTW, every plane has an expiration date [&o], they just do not tell you what it is.

NOW the thing to DO is to not let too much time go by to interrupt your learning progress.
So this is what we (hopefully!) WILL DO
you call me ahead of time so we can meet at SCOBEE Sat or SUN
We never did get beyond the VERY BASIC flying lessons.
Next time out you will fly MY TRAINER (Right flyer) and we will concentrate on that famous (from sheer repetition) RUDDER INPUT. Rudder use is ESSENTIAL for crosswind work. We will really concentrate on that and the RIGHTFLYER is just right for that work.
with wind from PORT (left side) you input RIGHT RUDDER and LEFT AILERONS with as much input as necessary to beat the wind and hold the wings parallel to the ground.
We went over that but lightly. Next time we will work on that.
NOT next Saturday, I am taking Jim Colvin (the previous student) to expose him to BigBird FLYIN at Alvin TX with a 1/4 scale CUB
hang in there
don't get discouraged.
BTW I have many TRAINERS, why don't you just adopt one until you get back with yours ?
RICK

yes, rudder is where my weakness is for sure. i keep replaying the scenario in my head thinking of all the things i could have done differently like give rudder to try and correct but my brain just wasn't that fast. the damage is pretty extensive to the fuse that i think i'm just going to replace the whole kit rather than try and rebuild this one. i can keep the older one for parts in case of a future mishap.

Thanks for the offer rick, we should definitely work on rudder control when you have time. I appreciate the offer for the trainer but i wouldn't want to risk crashing yours too. i should be able to get a new plane up and built in a few weeks.

where is the big bird in alvin? i might go for a bit since thats on my side of town.

John

Just now got off the phone with the CD for the BIGBIRD next Saturday. The driving instructions (longhand) took two pages. One HALACIOUS itinerary, but Jim and I will go.
I am thinking of just HOW to tell you how to get there........I think but NOTHING happens !
maybe this is better:
call the CD Mr. Ken Kimbrough and let HIM give the directions.
His description of the site and the event sound GOOD. ALSO, there will be a SWAP MEET on site so maybe you can get/find a better way to replace the AVISTAR.
dial this phone number :
281-814-3860 Ken Kimbrough
if nothing else goes right, at least you get to see NICE BIG PLANES FLOWN. We may even let you fly the BIG CUB

Oh man!! I just loooked at the pics and I see the prop is broke too!! [8D]

yea, it got broken, But, I had asked my instructor for one of his and he gave me one that day. I wasn't planning on needing it that quick. I am almost done with the rebiuld.

J3FAN- just get a Lat-Long and let him plot it out himself on a map or he may even have GPS in his car/fishing gear.

GPS? ha! i prefer dead reckoning. hehe

Well, he said it is in Alvin. That should be close enough. When you get there, just ask Nolan Ryan. Does he still live there? Anyway, it is a relatively small town, just listen for the motors.

HEy the wasy i see it. Your lucky, you know how it feels to crash your plane. Now you will be able to fly with confidence and hopefully learn from your mistake. I have flown my tower trainer 4 times and nothing yet, but im sure its coming, i just gotta know my boundaries.

Good luck with it

Samolot

SAMOLOT

You are ONE PRICELESS GUY

that is REVERSED OPTIMISM.......! Hard to find such a GOOD example

Good Job !

ps............come down to Houston and we can go FLY in the FUNFLY in Alvin, TX

I am now R.....O.....F.....L.....M......A.....O

Embarassed?

My instructor just nosed a 2K Pattern ship into the ground after hooking up the Ailerons backwards... [:@]

I banged up my wing from landing on an electric fence post... Don't ask...

Fix it and get back up there...

Matt

Hey , I started in January and because of work, rainy days and three crashes I only soloed this past saturday ( after seven lessons with my instructor). Today I flew with crosswinds ( com,pletely solo) being a little more wiser since the second crash was almost identical to the one you had today.

Dont worry, like everything in life persistence, patience and learning from mistakes DOES PAY.

Good Luck

My day of my first landing and the solo day we had small crosswinds.

Science, I was just thinkin about it. I did the VERY exact same thing as you....

your lucky ! thats a easy fix

Hey science...it goes with the territory. Maybe we (Rick and I) will see you Saturday.

Sorry about your loss. Keep 'ing

Jim C

I like to look at it this way: Now you got a reason to buy a new plane ^_^

repairing will work to offcourse, but trainers are made to crash (low costs to purchase one) so you might want to consider buying a new '2nd plane' and fly that one. You can always repair this one and maby do a modification on it like dual engines or something ...

i will purchase a new kit and just put my radio and engine in that one and get up and going again but the problem is i dont exactly have the money right now ($100). student loans, car insurance, bills bills bills....

maybe i should play the lottery...

Have you let any of the old-timers look at it, it may not be that hard to fix. Haven't seen any pictures of it here have we? New guy at our field bought an Avistar by mail, it arrived with the tail broken off just in front of the stabilizer. It was ready to fly less than an hour later. Don't give up too easy.I know I don't know how bad your plane is but BE SURE before you give up on it.

where the tail is broken in front of the rear stabilizers it splintered the wood so if i were to try to put it back in place i would do more damage than i would solve. I'll post some pics this evening after work... meant to do it yesterday but was busy.