What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

I'm about to build my first plane but I'm getting a little worried about crashing it... This might sound like a stupid question but I've never seen anyone fly one or crash a plane, SO with that in mind can someone tell me what kind of damage we are talking about here... For example, is it easy to repair it or is it trash after it crashes, is the engine able to withstand a crash and so on...

Thankyou!

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

it all depends on the type of crash. some are easily repairable....and some end up as toothpicks. it all depends.....

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

To be honest it all depends in how bad you crash it!!! all i can say is really that if you go to a club and find some one willing to teach you then you are much much more unlikely to crash it within your fist few flights.

P.s I have had a couple of crashes that have only caused damage to the airframe, i think you really need to nail it straight in to damage the engine but you should always do a range check to check the radio gear after a crash or a hard landing!

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

1st thing to understand is 99% of the time a plane is going in engine first, I personally tore the carb of an engine (.074) to fix it was about 1/2 as much as the engine itself.. the next most likely thing to happen if you manage to miss the engine is a nice cartwheel.. usually the wing tips and rudder come off here can be fixed...almost any crash can be fixed,its a matter of it being worth the time or not....Rog

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

Risk
RC is a risk we lost a H9 edge and a P63 king cobra today , its all in the game. Just like lost wages you gamble and you can loose!

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

The best thing is to probably choose a trainer that is sturdy. Get recommendations and get someone at the club to go over possible ideas to beef it up. The landing gear is a very good candidate for heavier duty gear/nylon bolt attachments. Maybe use triangular stock to reinforce the firewall as you build it. Things like that go a long way in keeping your plane flying as you punish it by your learning.

A guy crashed his Kadet 40 today. He soloed only a few days ago and got his left and right mixed up when landing. Since he built it from a kit, he knows exactly how to fix it. It looks like an evening of work, no more. He was confident that he could get it flying again soon and that makes a big difference in how you feel when you crash one. Knowing how you built the plane really helps.

If you buddy box with an instructor, follow his training, and fly within your parameters you will have a big chance in flying a long time before something happens. You will also up your chances that when that something happens it won't be too bad, and may be repaired at the field with fast CA and 5 minute epoxy. For example, I lost my main gear on a hard landing once, and was hit by another guys plane. His prop chewed into the aileron and cut a long rip in the bottom of the wing. I was flying again in less than half an hour.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

Tore my landing gear off today. Was flying in high winds slow and got to low. Engine didn't transition well when I firewalled it, the plane went in a little hard. Lucky to get off with just broken landing gear on this one. Every plane is going to crash. It's a matter of how long..

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

You've already got some good advice. Here's mine.

Before buying anything, find a local club. Most clubs have pools of instructors. You want an instructor's help to choose a plane, engine, and radio. Go out to their field and observe. See what size and types of planes people are flying. There are many choices, even for beginners.

Don't skimp on the quality of the engine and radio. Trying to buy the cheapest parts here increase the odds of crashing. There is little reason for the beginner to go out and buy the latest 9 channel computer radio. I'd suggest buying one of the "starter" radios, from one of the name brand manufacturers. Around here, JR and Futaba are considered to be the most reliable.

If money is a concern, or you think you will like building, I also recommend starting with a kit. By building it yourself, you know how it goes together and what to do when, not if, you need to repair it. ARFs have their place too. Some people don't have the time, patience, or desire to build a kit. Buying an ARF allows you to spend your time at the flying field rather than in the workshop. ARFs have greatly increased the number of people flying.

As has been suggested, there are ways you can improve the survivability of the plane when you build a kit. The suggestions given were good ones. However, don't go overboard. Remember, you want to build a plane that is flyable. If you beef it up too much, it will be too heavy, which will increase the odds of a crash.

A good local hobby shop (LHS) is also an important sucess factor. Buy from someone who knows what they are doing, an R/C pilot, rather than someone who does other things and just happens to have a few planes on the shelf. I was very fortunate to have found a really good shop when I learned. The owner flew Masters class pattern. He taught me a great amount about building and flying. He and one of his friends handled all my early training. I owe it all to him.

Consider buying an inexpensive R/C car or boat. These will allow you to learn how to handle turning the right way when the model is coming toward you.

When you start flying, do not try to rush things. Listen to your instructor and take the time to learn how to do things right. You want to build the skills that will make you a good and safe pilot.

One final thought, be prepared to spend lots of $$$. This hobby can be addictive, and it's a huge amount of fun. If you take the time to do things right, the engine, or motor if you choose to go electric, and radio you buy should get you through many planes. Even if you never crash, there will always be new planes to spend your money on.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

All good info, and I'll add a "PS"...

It's GOOD that you are afraid of crashing, because it's a very real fear.

Without proper instruction, your chances of NOT crashing are VERY SLIM.

So find your local club, and get someone who knows what they're doing to teach you.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

Most "crashes" are minor mishaps that are easy to fix eg. broke landing gear, broke leading edge and a few ribs, cracked firewall. It takes a pretty good lick to completely destroy one. I crashed a trainer so many times I started writing "ouch" or "oops" on the patches. That thing looked like a patchwork quilt but it flew just as good as ever. It's all part of the learning experience. So fly and have fun and if you crack it up go home and fix it and fly it again.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

Lots of GOOD advise here.. As always!!

As my trainer and members has said.... You fly long enough, One
things for sure.. You WILL have a mishap, Be it your mistake or some
other problem... Just the nature of this hobby!! But then again that's
what makes it SO good for me... Gets the blood pumping.. Just got to
keep it controlled!! And when it does happen, dust it off, try to find the
problem..work on not doing that again... AND GET BACK UP!!!

On clubs etc..... Though the price may/may not be high... You'll get
far more than your money's worth in help, tips and advise!!! You can
never get too much help!!! And the "been there, done that" sure makes
the trip to where ever you want to go in this hobby a lot faster, better
and cheaper!

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

Crashing is very real, only way to minimise it is to go slow and always fly by the book. As if we all will!!! Hahahaaaa ... be prepared ... always go to the field with a big bin bag!!!

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

While I agree with heavy reinforcements of any plane, I do disagree with minor things that make sense on lightweight ARF trainers. I've seen 4 or 5 at the club and they all need the same things to survive routine beginner bashings. If you don't have nylon bolts for the main gear you could run into trouble ripping out the fuselage bottom. Triangular stock on the firewall corners doesn't add significant weight, nor does a little somewhere in the middle at potential breaking points. It is just a little insurance. I'm surprised at the corners being cut on the trainers that I've seen so far.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

If you have a local flying field, it might not take more than a few hours sitting at the field to see both flying and crashing, and it would be well worth your time. We could probably answer your question a lot better if we knew what you were building, and whether you've figured out how you're going to learn to fly. Since we don't know, we're assuming you're talking about a .40 size glow-fuel powered balsa trainer. The typical crash of such a plane (that I've seen, anyway) is for the engine and firewall to break away, usually doing a lot of damage to the fuse up to the leading edge. The wings are usually in good shape, as is the back of the fuse.

It's hard to generalize, but most of the damage I've seen look like a lot of work to repair (it's going to take more than duct tape). If you're building from a kit or from scratch, you probably have the skills to repair the usual damage, but if you're building an ARF, you might find the damage beyond your building skills. If you hit soft dirt, or shubbery, you probably won't damage the engine, but hard packed dirt or cement can pretty easily destroy an engine. If the plane is built well, the radio equipment will almost certainly survive any crash, although occassionally you'll strip the gears on a servo.

You should know that there are "durable" planes. The U.S. Aircore is almost impossible to damage, and it does a good job protecting the engine as well. The SPADs are also quite durable, but most important they cost little to build in time and money. So if you crack a fuse in half, you just build a new one.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

check out the crash forum! =D ive crashed 2, 1st one go demoloshied and the 2nd destroyed the fuse. so there gone. my dads nexstar went twice 1st one cracked the fuse and 2nd ripped out a main whell both were fixed and shes ready to go =D

~Matt

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

The nylon bolts I've looked at seemed tough enough to tear out part of your fuse anyways? The smaller bolts made me nervous that they would fail sometime when I least wanted it. You could design your landing gear block to tear out without to much damage to the plane. Mine usually does anyways! :D

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

The 1/4 x 20 bolts have worked on several hard landings that I did. I read where some people drill a hole in the middle to weaken them some. Ideally, the bolts should snap before any other damage is done to the airframe.

Several of the trainer ARFs at the field have wire main gears, and those bend/sag within the few week or so. I have wire gears on a low wing and those are sometimes hard to keep from bending a little, especially with all of the deadsticks that I have been getting with that plane.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

Thankyou for the good advice, I'm curious is the Telemaster 40 a good trainer?

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

one more piece of crash advice. never fly more then you are willing to lose, because there is always a chance the only thing you will come back with is your transmitter. flyaways do happen, or crashes so horrific there is nothing salvageable.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

Dan,

After reading the posts above I find I agree with most of them. After a very long time in the hobby I've found that the most important things in R/C are these:

1. An instructor is priceless and will save you much rebuilding time. If you don't have one, start with a powered glider.
2. Don't "reinforce" a darn thing... R/C planes are not designed to be crash survivable, they are designed to fly. With the exception of a couple of the Spad designs I have had students build, most "crashable" airplanes are not suitable as trainers...especially the US Aircore planes. Crashing is the only thing they do well.
3. Buy the best equipment you can. If you don't like the hobby it will be easy to sell, if you do like the hobby it will serve you well and with no problems.
4. Don't concern yourself with crashing. Fly, and keep flying.... with models as with full scale, only with practice do you improve. If you are concerned about crashing, you are in the wrong hobby. R/C has never been inexpensive and it isn't at this point in time. Don't underfund the hobby. If money is an issue, fly some control line planes.. great fun at 1/10th the cost!!
5. The only stupid question is one you don't ask. As you have seen by this forum, advice is very easy to get. Back up your sources of information and duplicate them if possible. There is bad info out here as well as good.. so compare before you follow the advice.

Hope this helps and I want to offer my help on any topic you need. Good Luck, it's a great hobby!!


Deadstik...[8D]

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

There are other opinions on this. I absolutely LOVED my Aircore. Remember, it's a trainer. All it has to do is take off, fly lazy figure eights, and land. Trust me on this one, the Aircore can do this. I believe that most folks that don't like the Aircore are unclear as to what beginners are really learning. They are not learning barrel rolls or inverted flight, which the Aircore is certainly not suited for. They are learning where the airplane is in relation to the runway, they are learning the effects of wind on turns, they are learning how the controls are reversed when the plane is coming toward them, and a lot of what they are learning is just the mechanics of starting the engine safely, tuning their engines, setting trim, making sure they control the frequency, etc. All of these things can be learned very well on an Aircore.

Again, your opinion, and you have a right to it. But as you can see from some other threads on RCU (for example [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/are_any_of_you_scared_to_fly%3F/m_1926796/tm.htm]Are any of you scared to fly[/link]), there are plenty of folks who are enjoying this hobby despite being "concerned about crashing". I'm really glad I didn't listen to your advice! But it's always been my way to find ways around fear. For me (and others I've talked to), the way around the fear was a durable plane. I would like to hold that out to other beginners who might let fear deprive them of the enjoyment of this hobby.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

Dan, yes the Telemaster is a splendid trainer. Often overlooked, but one of the best out there.

Mark Shuman

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

My suggestions about reinforcing wasn't so much to make any trainer crashworthy, rather to survive harder than normal landings...which most ARF trainers won't do more than once or twice. All beginners are going to land hard and often. I saw a Sig Kadet ARF take a nosewheel landing that cracked the firewall a couple of weekends ago. It should have survived that one. I'm only suggesting common sense things that should have been done in the ARF factory in the first place. Sometimes, it's sad to see cheap ARF trainers break from a beginners landing when it should have held together.

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

You risk getting addicted to flying RC planes. You risk losing sleep wonder what plane to buy next. You risk your wife finding out how much money you are spending on "toy airplanes". You risk wasting time on the internet in forums like this. :D Life is a risk! Enjoy it while you can. [8D]

Kerry

RE: What Are the Risks!?!?!?!
 

LOL True :D