Grant-KS

Friday afternoon after I had mowed the strip, my friend and I went out to fly our planes. Flew the Ugly stick 2 good long flights, put the RX and TX on Smart Charger, and watched Steven and Marcus fly. After they came in and the lights were blinking on the charger, I took it up again, turned it around, went vertical and did a 4 point roll. The last two points seemed really slow, so I knew something wasn't quite right. The plane finally rolled to level, then immediately cranked the elevator down 90 degrees. I tried to chop the throttle. Instead, it sped up to nearly full power. I pulled back on elevator and nothing happened. So, I yelled WHAT THE F..........and stopped there as I watched it scream into the ground. That's a sickening feeling seeing your plane headed for the ground and not being able to do anything about it. I'm not sure what the deal was. Elevator connections were still secure, and I'm sure it wasn't flutter because I was at about half throttle and nearly stalled. I think it was either the battery or the RX that died. I put the battery on the discharger after charging again to see how many Mahs it had. Right after the crash, it had 5.0 volts on it even. It was the standard JR 600 Mah battery running 4 537s and 1 507 servo. I knew I should have a bigger battery, but I don't fly it more than twice before topping it off on the smart charger. The plane was in the air about 30 seconds before it hit. Now the Rx was drenched in glow fuel after the tank was punctured, so it will have to be either replaced or rebuilt by JR. Anyway, the Ugly Stick is now quite effectively demolished, and the tail is hanging on the wall in the shop along with a UCD foamy tail, a Stinger prop., a 40% Giles 202 canopy, and a trainer wing half. This is just great timing. I hadn't paid the plane off yet, and the engine was Marcus'. The carb needle was broken, and the crankshaft/bearing housing was broken. So, $90 for the engine, and I'm giving my .455 Evo to Steven for his trainer, and I've worked a few hours for them to work off the plane. But, now if I buy their blue plane, that'll be $300, I owe Paul $353 for the air conditioner in my car, and I get to pay $200 or something for insurance in the next couple of weeks. YAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHhh!!!! Not to mention girl problems, but that's another story entirely.

Pilot Chad

My Feedback: (4)

Sorry to hear about that. My uglystick still live i have gotten about 8 flights off it. Man it is a fun flying plane.

ICE_MAN

Thats Sucks!

Sorry TO hear about the plane.. And the girl[:'(]

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

Hang in there, it will all work out! I think it's awesome that you actually work for the money required to enjoy this hobby. I think that should apply to all kids. I know some aren't "old enough" to work, but they could do stuff around the house to earn money. Anyway, it sure gives you a sense of ownership and responsibility. You won't be running to mom and dad and saying "I need....for a new airplane." Anyway, I've read several of your posts, and I think it's cool the responsibility and willingness to work that you have!
Anyway, back to the plane, From the way you describe it, I'd doubt there's much left to re-build. I'd also guess that there is nothing wrong with your battery, since it had 5 volts left in it. You said you had a cycler? Maybe you could cycle it just to see if it has a bad cell, but I bet you'll find nothing wrong with it. Most likely cause--Either receiver failure, some sort of interference (your other buddies aren't on the same channel, are they?), or switch failure. Possibly a connection somewhere was corroded or something like that. It sounds like your receiver stopped working for whatever reason. When you said it actually sounded like it sped up....that was just your engine unloading as it was diving straight for earth, and the incoming wind was making the prop turn faster and faster and faster...
Just sickening. Sorry to hear about it! Hang in there, it'll all work out somehow!

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

You probably already know this but here goes a question/suggestion. When was the last time you cycled the battery on that plane? It may have appeared to be fully charged, however, it may not have had a total capacity. Cycling the battery gives it's full (or almost full) life back, or will detect a bad battery or bad cell. That may have been your problem, especially if you never use it to full capacity (as in flying it twice then putting it back on the charger). It may have set the 'memory' to a point that did not allow for complete re-charging.

Just a suggestion.

DS

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

Real sorry to hear the bad news Grant. You seem like a real nice guy, and I hope things improve for you.
Dennis-

Grant-KS

Ummm........I think we cycled the battery about a month ago when we set up the plane. But.......anyway, my next plane will be getting a new 1100Mah battery, and remanufactured or new receiver, and if by some strange miracle I'm just rolling in dough, a JR 6102 PCM radio.

BTW no, none of us were on the same channel. I'm on 37, and the only channels there were 37, 24, 33, and 16. Oh well, hopefully things will shape up soon. I just got back a while ago from a 13 hour day doing wheat harvest, so that'll help get things back in the air, and there'll be about 11 more days of it too.

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

ahhhh,
wheat harvest. Been there, done that! Good way to earn lots of money in the summer! (well, lots for a young person).

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

2slow,
Mine was bucking hay. I used to make a bunch of money doing that. But since most farms now bale hay in round bales it's really not possible for kids to do that anymore.

Ken

bruce88123

Sorry, but I think I'm glad I missed out on those experiences. Is there a place on TV where I can watch it? Sounds suspiciously like a heck of a lot of dirty work. Not that I mind getting dirty, but that work thing? [:'(][:'(][:@] Be careful, I know you can get hurt bad on a farm. My great grandparents had one.

hookedonrc

I too had the opportunity to enjoy the wheat harvest. Not much of it though since it was my grandfather's farm and my uncle did most of the work with him. I did get to drive a combine looong before I ever got behind the wheel of a car. The farm was in western Kansas and it was great fun to visit on vacation. Long gone now though.

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

Ken
did plenty of that myself as well. Had some "friends" in HS that would always ask me to come and help. I guess I didn't mind the money, except the time they told me it was just native grass, and it turned out to be 120 lb alfalfa bales--then, they hid my keys because they knew I'd leave. That was a LONG day! and it WASN'T worth the money!
Fun times....

Skynyrd Man

I harvested rocks out of the fields in the springtime, then cut pulp during the summer until an easy job like picking pickles started. Shoveled lots of snow in the winter and held onto a paper route. Boy, was I glad when I turned 18 and got out of school and got a real job.
Now my mom can't even find a kid in the neighborhood to do the lawn and snow blow in the winter.[:@] Boy, times have changed.

boatrcr

My Feedback: (1)

Sorry to hear a fellow "jawhawker" having a problem. We have an old radio repairman in our club here in Wichita that warned us to go easy on the field chargers for all the reasons the previous guys have talked about, IE "Battery Memory". His rule of thumb is to field charge no more than 10 times and then cycle the battery's twice on normal overnight rate. I've followed this procedure for about 6 years and (knock wood) no problems. I fly about 20 flights a week with 3 planes and this allows me to have 2 ready at all times.We have a few "EXPERTS" that only fast charge in the back of there trucks while going to the field, that swear they will never have trouble, but I always watch their stuff when they fly and are prepared to dive into my trailer "JUST IN CASE". Get my drift??? Keep your chin up and remember all airplanes will be "re-kitted" if you fly them enough........ Anyone who disputes that statement is a hanger queen or the luckiest pilot on this good earth. Terry