I bought an Electrajet electric ARF last week-end. I put it together in about 3 hours. I was really anxious to fly this plane. We had a pretty good day for flying yesterday and I packed the planes in the van and headed for my favorite flying field. I flew my glow plane(LT-40) during the day. By late afternoon, the wind had died enough for me to fly the Electrajet. I went to the van, pulled out the Electrajet and rushed to get it in the air. The key word here is RUSHED. I quickly checked controls and then hand launched the plane. It was pulling out very nicely when I noticed something was wrong. The aileron controls on the radio were reversed, right was left and left was right. The plane immediately went upside down and naturally I pulled up(which was really down) and I flew it straight into the ground. The plane literally exploded, foam pieces and carnage all over. Now, at this point, I'm trying to retain my maturity and composure because there was a small crowd of fellow flyers and guests watching. I wanted to either cry or shout several choice obsenities but I could do neither. I quietly walked to the crash scene with several on-lookers in tow. No one said a word, they helped me gather the pieces and put them back in my van. The moral of this story---always check your radio, make sure the control surfaces are set correctly.

I can relate. One day I was flying my FMA Razor and after a couple of flights I decided to fly my Wattage Impress. My handlaunch pretty much put it into the ground. I had forgotten to change model memories in my Flash 5. The Razor used elevons and the Impress didn't. Luckily I only had a split cowling and a broken motor mount.

I'm reminded of another crash I witnessed. I met someone at the local flying field that has been very instrumental in helping start the sport. One day while we were all flying, my friend was looking at someones new Magic. The guy with the Magic was nervous about the first flight and wanted Buddy to fly it. Now, Buddy is a very good Pilot, the best I've ever seen. He started the plane, took the guys radio and quickly twitched the control surfaces and began an aggressive take-off. Instead of taking off and climbing steeply, the plane nosed over and did a couple of flops and landed on the gear. At that point, Buddy had a look on his face that was priceless. Believe it or not, the plane wasn't hurt. MrMulligan, we haven't had many decent flying days recently, can you fly often in NJ?

The weather has been frigid. Going in the morning with my flying buddy, Soarrich. If it hasn't been cold, it's been raining or snowing. Tough winter. Supposed to be in the 40's in the morning, a veritable heat wave.