Well, I had my first crash with my LT-40...

I was up with my instructor, and was doing the pattern right to left. As I was making the first bank to the left of me, I noticed the wing started to bounce. As I came out of my bank and started the other one, I found my sticks had no effect. I said "Hey, I have NO control over this!?!?!" My instructor took over... Nothing. As it was directly across from us, it rolled on its right wing and the throttle went to full, and it dove right into the ground. [:@]

We went out and got it... the first time I have ever had to wade the tall grass for it, and we found it. The fuse, starting at the furthest rearward point the wing touches, had disintagrated. The Engine was alright except for the back plate, and the servos all seemed to be fine, except the plastic thing that encircled the connector on the Aileron servo was gone. Some sheeting was busted on the wing, and one wing rib. The antenna was broken off at the receiver, and the landing gear was completly bent. This was my first crash, and as my Papa said, I didn't do it half way

This was in early July (the start of flying season ) and I was about to get my licence

Oh well, I have it ALMOST all repaired, we are going to put in all the servos this week, and hope to be up next week, or the week after.

Oh, and you can't tell, but those pieces are taped together so that we could get them home; I wanted to get a picture of it, and it wouldn't stay together

[&o] Keep forgetting things:

The result of the crash is still up in the air. When we got it back, all the electronics were still working, although we could not test the range because of the lack of antenna, and we don't know when the thing came off. There are only two things that we could think of. Interference: the usual cry !QUOT!I DIDN!QUOT!T DO IT!!!! IT WAS INTERFERENCE!!!!!QUOT!

Or, maybe the switch. We think that the switch may be slightly sticky at the end and vibed in flight, turning the system on and off. As I said before, neither of us had control.

Oh well...

it sounds like if i read it right that the rx antenna was not on the rx? in that case, thats why it went down since there was no way of controlling it

The antenna was off, but we think that it was crash related. It (the piece that broke off) was under the plane when we found it.

Welcome to the club of crashers. The biggest saying at my old club in PA is "A plane just doesn't fly right without a pound of glue in it." I hope it flies well and you can enjoy the hobby.
David

well..most of us learn through our crashes (but some of us dont learn..we just giggle)...so wont be ur last..but sometimes it's good to know that this marks the start of a new project

Something kinda of like that has happened to me too. Except when my trainer took over he managed to land it in a big bush unscratched.

Well, now you're a real R/C'er! Welcome! It's annoying that you don't know what caused the crash, but at least you managed to salvage the expensive stuff. By the way, I hope you had your radio checked out after that crash! If I were you, I would also throw away that Rx crystal and get a new one. Crystals are very fragile things; don't let an $8 part down another plane.

By the way, did you get your license in the meantime? A student at our club had much the same experience; crashing just before the exam. Luckily our club has a trainer airplane for just this sort of eventuality.

How many flights did you have on it that day, and did you check/recharge the receiver pack? SOunds like low voltage on the pack to me.
Dennis-

holy booty. did you figure out what the problem was???