Ozzy37

Two weeks ago I put my 4 * in on a botched take-off, my fault. First thought was, "Man, why didn't I have my buddy filming this!" Turned around to my buddy and said something to the effect of, "If you're gonna fly 'em, you're gonna crash 'em." Went out picked up the pieces said to self, self two hours of work max to fix it. Fired up another one and flew some more.

iflynething

These are intereesting stories.....thanks for sharing....thought that I might bring this back to the top so others can reply......

I can't believe I haven't seen this thread lately.....last time I looked, it only had like 20 somethin' posts......

nute12

My Feedback: (14)

hmmmm I just think about what new one i have been wanting to replace it with.....it's all good.

Fly-guy

When my dad crashsed our Boomerang trainer in to the runway we all walked over for a look and Mike one of our mates said that divet looks my golf playing! I laughed but diddn't really think it was that funny at the time coz it was our only plane, but now that i think about it it is pretty funny.
Marcus

grumpE

My Feedback: (6)

Well having just augered in my freshly recovered four star 3 hours ago it is pretty fresh in my head.

Turned, looked at the quiet faces in the pits. And just started laughing. Broke the ice and the questions came. An officer of the club who had just soloed another memeber asked a few. I sat down and next to him and scratched his dog behind the ears. Dogs are pretty cool. He knew I just crushed my baby and laid his head right down on my lap.

The pattern pilot who is always a big help in the pits had some too. The newy soloed pilot just shook his head and said "man that stinks".

After a few minutes I wandered over to survey the debris field. Nice spread if I do say so myself.

Lost the entire right wing and snapped the fuse in half. Imediately started to think of how to rebuild it. Some said, it was a shame, a total loss. I saw it as the chance to rotate the engine, build a cowl and other mods.

Its all good fun. If you can't laugh and have fun what's the point?

Eric

thewrap

First I go To the crash and examine then go home take out electronics and motor if i have one to take out the i nock the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ out of the plane

nitro bear

My Feedback: (12)

What I say depends on what the circumstances were at the time. If it was a dumb thumb, probably nothing. If it was someone turning on a TX without the pin, it cannot be mentioned here. No mater how good you are, you are going to loose a plane here and there. So accept the fact stuff happens and enjoy the time you get to spend at the field with your friends.

CJ32769

I nosed in a SPAD Debonair, my first "real" crash. When I got to it the wing was in one place the fuse in another. I washed it down with some carb cleaner, replaced the prop and rubber bands and flew it over. I feel so confident with this plane that I even loaned it to a guy who had crashed his plane earlier in the day so he could fly. I left to take my son to soccer practice and when I got back to the field we flew it till empty again and again.
Spad is the energizer plane, it keeps going and going.......

jhermoso

If you are in the hobby, sooner or later you will crash...more or less seriously but you will....

Yesterday i was flying at an exibition and we crashed twice...........First crash occured in front of close to 200 expectators at almost 50MPH 24inch low pass when getting up and to the left we found two traffic signals we never saw, hit the first post with left wing turning the plane and received the second hit in the middle of the fuselage the debris flew for 100 meters...i Hugged the pilot and we started to smile, then sudden silence in the public and when we turned around and they found we were smiling they gave us an standing ovation, we showed we were there to entertain them at any cost even losing a plane and averybody talked about it the rest of the day

Second plane i was flying my funtana and after an agressive flight with plane inverted after takeoff at 2 meters, i gave him some serious shaking blenders waterfalls inverted passes, torq rolls, close to the pole where we crashed at final approach flying inverted at 3 meters from the ground i tried to put the airplane upright but no response found i let it go and landed inverted loosing my rudder, scratching the canopy and the pilot was inserted into the radio compartment...the engine needle was broken lossed my prop, firewall loose and other scratches. i always joke with my fellow club members about trying to land inverted...well i did it...
Reason...my Y conector to the aileron servos was loose and after an agresive flight it get disconnected in the final approach so i wasnt able to turn upright..

Another standing ovation for me i walked smiling to the runway got my plane and took my second backup plane airborne..

saludos Juan

Mhale71

i have been suckered out of so much money in my life, $140-$200 for a new plane isnt much

Spaceclam

depends on what plane i crash. usually i kick the wreckage and break off a tailfin or something if it it not worth fixing. if it is worth fixing i joke about it. if it is a vmar i mulch it up with my lawnmower.

Henrik_Rosen

I usually laugh except when I crashed my P-47. It was the first flight. Accelerated, took off really smooth and nice and then it turned straight down and gave full throttle. I had forgotten to but the antenna on my transmitter out. �. Angry and sad I collected all my stuff and took a flight with my trainer that I brought with me. Came in for landing when I hit a pole. Two planes crashed at the same day. That’s bad. Later that day I took my new Saab 9-3 Aero through one of these car wash machines and figured out to late that I forgot to but the antenna down. Well, didn’t sleep for two days. Didn’t fly anymore that season but I bought Real flight G2.

Falcon Jet

Once I realize it's going in I get a little mad at myself for a nano second, but realize it's pointless and just watch it impact the ground, trees or whatever. Once it's done, my first reaction is "I can fix that"! The real concern of mine though is the engine and radio gear, if all of that is ok then I feel a little better about it. Then I pick up all the pieces, take it home and formulate my plan for repairs, have repaired more than I care to admit! []

By the way, why is it people run out to the crash scene? Who are they trying to save?

Chris.

althepal

I suppose every obe has his way of dealing with grief or pain
I have been in this hobby for a very long time, even if on and off, always kept in touch with it.
Started with dad, around 1971, I was 9 years old.
You have to remember that in those days..-there was no ARF, radios were somehow reliable but, the digital-proportinal was getting there, the most common largest engine was a 61 with maybe 1.3 HP... You did spent countless hours building a plane with slow drying glues, covering with paper and dope, for a ncer model, we did use silk and dope...monokote started coming on the market...and everything was very expensive!
BUT, if you did not want to build your plane, you could go in Hobby shops and ask if the models on display were for sale...
One guy in that club was a guy like that...He was always coming with what we used to call "a bomb"..His favourite model was a "Jumbo", fiberglass fuse and foam wings ( ARF of those days????) Anyway...did not miss a bit...One plane per week end. And since his wife (that we never saw!!) did not allow him to come home with a broken plane...after the crash, it was slavage of the still usable parts like wheels, hinges, kwick links...the rest was copiously sprayed with fuel and lit in a joy fire!...Almost a riyual..until one day, a man came with his young boy, an asked a few questions about the hobby... so the modeler in question obliged and went on to present his plane, describing how it works and so on. In the process, he did also mention the cost of each part, radio, engine... Comes the flight ...as usual, it ended up in a loud noise followed by a death silence. And our visitor start to talk with other modelers....Here comes the crispy part of the story...The modeler brings all the remains of his Jumbo, removes all the parts he could save and brings all the broken parts in a pile. The visitor did not know that the radio, engine, tank and so on were already removd, and he sees the modeler pouring some fuel on the junk, and lite it up....Then the visitors turns to his son and say "let's go, son, this is not for us" I guess he was thinking that the $1000 woth of airplane and equipement was going in smoke!

Chris-B-chips

i turn around, smile and take a bow. go out and get my plane and then go home and cry in my bedroom for a couple of days

Kripto

I laugh my ***** off along with everyone else, change prop and do it again. I fly SPADS.... Life is great!

Ed

REVgst

Been flying a Sig somethin Extra for awhile, mostly inverted for the whole flight,lol.
Havnt crashed any planes yet..and I fly that sucka right on the edge...I'm sure ill smash it up soon, just cuz I have it real overpowered, I bet it'll be from airframe fatigue.
Ever notice when you hear some one else crash..the noise it makes..that kinda "errrrrret" followd by a hollow thud, then
dead silence?lol. Boy I hope I NEVER crash my $1000+ models soon to come.lol.

Falcon Jet

A friend of mine told me years ago that there's a date written somewhere in the tail of every aircraft in invisible ink when it's going to crash, you just don't know when it's going to be!!!!!

bobo_54501

My Feedback: (19)

When I crash I always ask my wife if she got that on video ?? Its pretty cool to watch in slow motion ..I took a bunch of our crashs and edited them all on to one video tape then put in Queen (( Another one bites the dust )) sound track to it .. Its pretty cool .
I fly mostly SPADS now so I welcome a GOOD CRASH > It gives us some cool video and opens up a flight pack and motor for another build .Only problem with SPADS is theres very little debrees pile like balsa gives you . I do have one SPAD on video . It was 20 something below zero in the dead of winter in (( Northern Wisconsin GO PACK GO )))
I was in a Full throttle dive and pulled up hard on her about 75 foot off the deck .At that temp pluss wind chill factor either the coro was brittle or the glue in the wing let louse but it did the coolest death spiral youll ever see .Unfortunatly my little Norvel motor hit the ice hard and got busted up beyond repair .
I suppose if I was flying a 1/4 scale P-40 ild feel different about it .My buddys Dad crashed a plane that he had forever and a week . For no ryme or reason as far as we could figure out it just decided to comitt suicide one day and go into a spiral .As he was standing over the wreckage of a plane it took him along time to build and loved to death I think I felt worse for him than he did .But then he looked up, smiled ,and said ((( Anybody got some Duct tape ??? )) We all laughted so hard we about died .
So hey its about fun !!! And a bad day crashing is alot better than a Good day at work .

beldraak

Usually I start laughing when I crash, mostly since I haven't crashed yet when it wasen't my fault!

Somebody said something about the silence after a crash and that reminded me of my coolest crash. I had just finished my first attempt at a scratch build, it was a delta wing out of pink foam. I had no idea at all where the CG should be, turns out I had to add about a half pound of weight to the tail just to get it off the ground. I made 3/4 of a lap around the field and on the final turn pointed into the wind it got stuck in a dive, I didn't have the presence of mind to cut the throttle so from about 200' up WOT dive into the ground. The whole dive we here the engine screaming louder and louder as the plane reaches extreme speed, then see the plane hit and bounce directly bakward about 6' and about a second later all is abruptly silent... Fortunately the engine was only burried about a foot and a half in the ground so we didn't need a shovel

twister

My Feedback: (12)

I usually go into a week long depression!![&o]

funflyerke

When it happens, I go look at everybody and hope someone will come and help to pick up the pieces.
Underway I can explain what might have happened, usually a pilot error ( but it's so easy to make something up)..

When we get back I kick the good pieces in my car the rest in the trash can and then... when reality strikes me and I realize I've dumped another plane, I make it to the clubhouse and order a cold beer... and another..


Which makes sometimes even harder the day after, seems like I crash that plane again...


That's what flying is for me. You know it can happen even when you take really good care about your plane, If you can't live with this,
better go playing cards in the weekends..


HAVE FUN ALL PILOTS OUT THERE, I KNOW I HAVE WHEN I'M FLYING.....

Carolina Raptor

My Feedback: (1)

How true, this reminds me of some good advice, don't fly an aircraft you are not willing to accept the loss of. I have 3 helos I have not really flown since first of the year since my job loss. Darn boom strikes can cost and easy $100 or more to repair. I have had 2 such accidents in as many years so I feel rather lucky. Been flying slope for the past few months, slow and cheap and investing what I have been able to in electric power stuff and such when the cashflow is better.

Anyway, 20+ years ago when I have flyings on 27 mhz I got use to crashing alot. During the mid 70s the CB craze just about wiped out that band, you would get alot of hits and plus the radio gear was not built as well. With todays gear, I know things still can happen, but if you use some thought and take care of your stuff and watch for the warning signs (yes, your aircraft will talk to you if you just listen) should catch most things ahead of time during preflight checks.

Getting off the soapbox.... anyway, its hard sometimes the first few seconds during an event... but you have to accept it and move on. And folks, don't distract from the fun by a rush to point liability at someone, afterall they are all toys.

collision-course

i just look around and try to think what went wrong, never really got pissed, i learned to fly alone in my brothers 50 acre field so i have crashed a few planes but if you cant laugh then its no fun

jruss79

I always get pissed becuase I never crash right on the runway where everyone (including myself can see it). If I am gonna destroy a perfectly good airplane then D@mmit I wanna see it! LOL I have yet to crash any of my balsa planes but sure have busted up my share of SPADS. I usually just laugh at these crashes, fuel up another and get going again.