RatHead

I was once told there are two types of pilots, those that have crashed and those that will. Which are you?

ifixairplanes

My Feedback: (9)

crashing only make you better i am damn good by that theory!!

sean

FunXtra

The only times i crashed powered planes is when i was taking off my beloved trainer, the custom built KE-40, did it twice. another time was an almost crash where i over-rolled my instructor's plane and it entered a snap-roll. he recovered it 10 feet over the swamp weeds that used to surround the old ANAP field in Lima, Peru. the trainer over G'd but only the left aileron came off and was held only by one hinge. The aileron was glued again and i flew 30 minutes later [>:] .
Now that I live in SoCal I constatntly crash my raider on the carlsbad slopes .
sooooo: i can say i either crashed several times or the ultracote looks no better than me on a sunday morning

CrashKid

I haven't crashed.....yet.....[sm=redface.gif]

3D-kid330

My Feedback: (1)

Only I have had are two mid airs, in both the planes survived, and one where I had a flameout in a torkroll 2in. off the grass. No damage. Knock on wood.

boss_blueangels

I've crashed... 1... 2....technically 3 times. I was teaching my brother how to fly in a Big Stik 40ARF... he had a couple hours flying it, and was doing excellent... and I was letting him have the controls alone. Like I said, he was doing excellent, and was very high. But this one time, he was about half the altitude he'd been flying at, and he started turning, and got disorented and kept rolling in more and more aileron, and just about 10 feet above the ground he goes, "HERE!" and handed me the controls just in time to be "in posession" at the time of impact. lol We both laughed... but the coolest thing was that the fuel tank bounced like 30 feet away from the rest of the airplane. That has to be some kind of record! lol Again, total loss of aircraft, the front half of the fuselage was totally crushed, the both wing halfs had top and bottom spar damage, and many crushed ribs. Poor liddle ding. Anyway, my first crash was cool... it was a SIG Kadet Senior kit... that thing absolutly exploded with a cloud of balsa wood! I was doing a loop, was too low, and again, augered it in at 90 degrees. Anyway, I've had my Ultra Sport for a while now, and have flown it in 20 mph winds regularly, and she runs like a dream. I actualy think this one will stick around for a while.

hookedonrc

I lost 4 this summer so I guess mine is "several times."

There is a story that is told in our club that one of the veterans was flying at a fun fly and was approached by a woman who asked: "How many of those have you crashed?" he calmly looked at her and said...."every one of them."

Flak

My Feedback: (1)

I have been flying rc planes for over ten years and yes, I have crashed, but never bothered to count. I am a scratch builder and I love to build and fly Warbirds, althought I have built a few trainers and experimental planes of my own design that have all flown well. I know that all rc planes are destined to crash at some point, except for the fortunate few, so i don't get too attached.
The Great Planes G2 Flight Simulator has really been a terrific boost and assist in my rc flying. I even fly from the cockpit at times. Try it, you'll be surprised at how much it will improve your flying.

Jim C.

that sums it up... no explanation necessary if you dont get it... you are going to crash.

southern_touch9

My Feedback: (3)

To get to a higher level of flying your bound to crash many times. If you havent crashed its only b/c your not pushing yourself hard enough. I crash in between 1-4 times a month. The crashes are usually caused by tail touches on weird objects (chairs, tables, my truck, etc.), waterfalling too close to the ground, harrier rolling too close to the ground or equipment failure (usually an engine failure while inverted 2 ft. off the ground).

invertedpass

I've been flying r/c since 1974. My theory is... if you want to keep a plane hang it on the ceiling; if you fly it, there is a chance you will not keep it long. Always take a picture of the plane before the first flight - that way you will always have a memory of it!

Re-Builder

[:@]I had a crash after the first few flights with my trainer. Then I went almost 3 years with a few tuff landings but always ok. Then I lost 2 planes in two weekends! I hope the run of bad luck is gone![]

Good survey.

Why do you think I took the name Re-Builder. I also repair my friends planes and he is keeping me busy!!

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

I have not crashed once..............since the last time I crashed.

Joe

Kurt P

Well, I'm flying about 16 years now and crashed so many times that I can not count it anymore. I only counted my midairs; that must be around 9 or 10.
The worst crashes are radio failure, most of the time a cable that came off, interuptor broken, servo or batteries. But this has improved so much last years.

H. Wayne S

My Feedback: (18)

I only crash after I take off. I think there calling me "one-a-day". week before last- Crashed my Stearman bipe and an Edge 540 on Saturday, then lost my Christen Eagle on Sunday. the week before Christmas lost my H9-330S and a Giant Stinger. Like I said, I only crash after I take off.

wagas

Ah Wayne. Look at it this way. It's not that you crash after every take off it's the fact that the guys don't understand that when you fly EVERY SINGLE DAY of the WEEK your odds of loosing an airplane go up. So feel good to know that at LEAST YOU GET GOOD USAGE out of your airplanes! Besides I thought we just called you CRASH! he he

See ya at the field...

By the way you must have a stack crashed planes built up by now, what ya gonna do with them? Anything? He He....

Tank

My Feedback: (1)

Well DUH!!!! If you fly, you crash!!! Or lie! LOL

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

If you don't crash your either lying or not flying.

reaper329

I HAVE CRASHED ALMOST ALL OF MY PLANES BUT I ALSO FLY ON THE EDGE OF THE ABILITY OF THE AIRCRAFT AND THAT IS WHAT I LOVE I DIDN"T BUILD THEM TO LOOK AT THEM I BUILD THEM TO FLY YE HA!

YOU DO SNAP ROLLS 6 INCHES OFF THE DECK(MADE IT 5 TIMES on the 6th I ate it) AND TELL ME YOUR NOT GOING TO CRASH

I SUFFER FROM WHAT I LIKE TO CALL (I KNOW CAN DO IT)

Flydenfeld

Was this some sort of pick-up line?

So, I'm wondering, is it possible to fly for 50 years and not crash? I mean, if you did a maticulous preflight everytime, and always eased into tricky maneuvers - meaning learning them and perfecting them at high altitudes, then gradually moving them near the ground - couldn't someone never have an accident? Full scale pilots, even the aerobatic ones, go their entire flight careers w/o ever crashing, so why not in r/c flying? Hmmm. I think this is my goal. Wish me luck!

H. Wayne S

My Feedback: (18)

Wagas, thanks for the kind words, I had not factored in the flight time to crash ratio. True I fly almost every day, and I fly the whole time I'm at the field. Compared to a lot of the guys that go out once a week, assemble there planes, fly it ONCE,set down and socialize the rest of the day, I reckon my flight to crash ratio is better than 90% of the others. But, it still makes me mad when I do crash. By the way, crashed my RAZOR Sunday, so "another one bites the dirt".

Ducted Fan Dan

My Feedback: (2)

Flydenfeld,

You can hit a fly on a dart board once in a while, but it's not likely.

Skeletor

To be more specific... If crashing is defined as "the plane was a total loss", then I have crashed once.
If crashing is defined as "a rough landing that only bent the wire mains, a rough landing that bounced the plane at least ten feet high, sticking the plane in a barbed wire fence, doing the do-see-do around a fence pole, fighting to stay flying all the way to the ground after a linkage broke", then I've crashed many times.
Total loss=1
Totally embarassed=many

juvatwad

My Feedback: (8)

Real airplanes don't rely solely on small battery packs, servos, receivers, and small mass produced motors to maintain flight. They also aren't flown from a third-person perspective. Anyone who progresses beyond a trainer in R/C is going to crash....

Flak

My Feedback: (1)

A real airplane is easier to fly than an r/c airplane. You are in the real airplane and you are always aware of its attitued by your instruments and your senses. R/C airplanes are more fun to fly, because you can do all of the crazy maneuvers you wouldn't dare try in your real airplane. Furthermore, you can easily walk away from an R/C airplane crash. You also don't have to fill out a portfollio of reports to the FAA if you crash your R/C airplane.
"Keep 'Em Flying!"
Flak