One of My Oldest Planes Crashed Today.
 

It was a little breezy this morning so decided to take out the 3 ch trainer I have. Hadn't had out for quite a while. On the third flight the wing came off. It's held on by rubber bands. Gave no warning that any thing was about to go bad. The wing all of a sudden pop off. It seemed kind of strange the way it happen. Its repairable so when I get time I'll fix it up. The front wing dowel was broke . I guess it's possible that broke before it hit the ground .

Ouch. Well least you can fix! Let's see how it goes!

I know how this feels. Last year I had my Goldberg Eagle 63 that is 35 years old go in due to Spektrum lockout. At least you know the wing saddle failed. Sadly 2 weeks later lost another trainer arf on a different radio do the same. Total loss this time. Sold all Spektrum recievers and stuff after that. Now using jr dmss. Time will tell.

Aw man a 35 year old plane thaaaat suuuuccckkss!!!! Yeah ever since I heard about spectrums brown out or whatever I never trusted those systems (it's got something to do with voltage dropping too low at some ponit). They are sooooo popular I don't quite understand that. I wont touch anything spectrum. There is a mod to prevent that brown out though, personally I'd just not use spectrum.

I've got three Spektrum radios and have had no trouble with any of them. Current plane I'm flying is a Great Planes Giant SuperSporster, Spektrum radio and reciever, no problem what so ever. And it has a gasser for an engine. You sure you're keeping the batteries charged?

Back in the 80's a guy was helping me get back into flying. He had given me a sport pattern .40 size plane.i had installed a K&B .40. It had rubber band mounted wing.
Anyway I had taken off and was flying laps a couple mistakes high. He was standing close by but chatting with a couple other guys. Suddenly the wing popped off at speed. Servo wires from the wing servo apparently pulled the receiver and battery out with them so the motor was at full throttle. The fuselage was now flying like a longbow arrow. LOL

I turned to my buddy and " help, save my plane". Larry turned and grabbed the transmitter and began thumbing the sticks like mad. In a few seconds the fuselage came screaming straight down into a plowed field. The wing continued fluttering around for about a minute before it landed in a small pond.

i really tried to be serious but watching him and the other guys but it was just too much. He was profusely apologizing for the crash and offered another plane. I said I would buy another plane but not to worry about the crash as it was just an accident and not his fault. We did have a laugh as I dug the motor out of the dirt. It was really planted deep.

I bought another ther similar plane from him and we flew again the next week. From here on all of my wings have been bolted on.

So, I've had a rude awakening. Just last Wednesday I'm out with the Super Sporster, DX6i transmitter, doing my run up and just the elevator is doing whacky movements. What the heck? Something is radically wrong, back to the shop to figure this out. Turns out the cause is a dirty potentiometer. A previous flight I did notice an unexpected climb/dive but just thought it to be the wind or maybe myself. Checking on the Internet , this a known problem. There are YouTube videos showing how to fix this problem. I was able to open mine up and clean it with denatured alcohol and a q-tip. Elevator works fine now. Further research I've learned that cleaning and lubing the pot with Deoxit is the best solution. Ordered Deoxit and will be servicing all four potentiometers.

Im shocked because this radio hasn't exhibited any issues until now. Losing a park flier would be bad, but losing a $1000 GP Giant Super Sporster would really "vacuum" (know what I mean?). My original purchase of the DX6i was for park flyers. I'm now debating with myself if it's a good idea using it for a Giant Scale Gasser.

I have my plane fixed up now. Only thing to do before a test flight is run the engine and make the adjustments. For the amount of repair needed seemed like I had to put in a lot of hours on it. The fuse hit on the side of a hill at an angle so it could have been worse. Get the wind to calm down here and I'll get out to the field. Winds been so bad here this year .

Sorry to hear about your plane.

Got a wing for my old eagle 63 at perry swap meet. Found a basket case. The old bird is back in the air and the wing is probably about the same age as the original one I built. flying with jr dmss now.

Yeaah that would freak me out alright, the last time I had something similar to this happen to me, I was flying a futaba 6EX 72Mhz radio! switched to airtronics rds8000 not a single issue in years. I liked it so much I bought two of those radios lol
Would hate to hear about loosing such a lovely airplane that would not be a good day at all.

but.... you must have a lot of hours on that radio for your pots to go wonky like that. In which case I'd say try out these watchyoumacallit.. er hall sensor gimbals?
Although I don't know if you can get them for a spectrum but anyway I doubt those will have that kind of issue buuuut I'm no expert. Myself I'm getting them for my new radio soon

I'm trying out the Taranis X9D plus.
I'm loving this radio, you can literally program any switch to any function and put any channel anywhere you like. The radio adjusts to you, matter fact lemme link them. Check it out.

It comes with a RX at $219
https://www.banggood.com/FrSky-2_4G-...16671576201711

or without one at $196
https://www.banggood.com/Original-Fr...16671576201711

The hall sensor gimbals
Jet black
https://www.banggood.com/2-PCS-Frsky...16671576201711

Or sexiiii red heh
https://www.banggood.com/Frsky-M9-R-...16671576201711

Hey it was cheap it is well reviewed and I needed more functionality I figured it couldn't hurt and what can I say, I converted one of my RDS8000's to dual airtronics and FrSky a while back and it's just as reliable as my airtronics stuff so this being an FrSky shouldn't be any different.

Check it out if you like. Don't know if you're in the market for a new radio but hope that helps some.
Good Luck
Cheers.

I forgot to mention you can convert it from mode 2 to mode 1 and back easily, the thing's chuck full of options man and easy to use too. love it love it!

I haven't given up on this radio just yet. After cleaning the potentiometers, it works just fine. Also, I found that I could visually see the actions of the servos by bringing up a "Monitor" page that illustrates the signal going out of the TX. If it's jumping on any channel, that pot is probably faulty. Being out of warranty, Horizon is no help. Moral of the story, do your pre takeoff checks everytime.

Roger on the pre-flight checks! at the club I used to fly the president printed out a pre flight check card for us all I still have it in my wallet never leave home without it ha

I'd be interested in seeing that. Any chance of sharing that? I did write one up for my GP Giant SuperSporster, but always interested in any improvements on it. I should share mine.

Tom Nied's GP Giant SuperSporster Checklist
 

TOM NIED'S CHECKLIST
GREAT PLANES GIANT SUPERSPORSTER
THIS CHECKLIST CAN BE USED FOR PREPARING TO GO TO THE FIELD AS WELL USED AT THE FIELD FOR SETUP AND PREPARING FOR FLIGHT.
1. KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF THE PROP
2. STARTING GLOVE


3. CHECK WEATHER
4. WING BOX
1. RIGHT AND LEFT WING HALVES
2. ALUMINUM WING JOINER TUBE
3. (2 ) 1/4-20 2" NYLON WING BOLTS OR ON FUSELAGE
4. VINYL ELECTRICAL TAPE
5. FUSELAGE
6. GAS CAN
7. (3) HOLD DOWN STAKES
8. TRANSMITTER
9. TOOLS, SCREWDRIVER, FIELD BOX
10. PAPER TOWELS, GLASS CLEANER
1. CLEAN AND WIPE OFF, PAPER TOWELS AND WINDEX
2. BLUE JEWEL BAG
11. A.M.A CARD AND DUPAGE FOREST PRESERVE PERMIT
12. HAT, SUNGLASSES, WALLET, iPAD, PHONE, CAR KEY, WATER, FOOD, SHADE
STARTING PROCEDURE
1. ASSEMBLE AT CAR WITH STAND WHILE CHECKING FOR LOOSE FASTENERS
2. SET UP AT FLIGHT LINE
3. (3) TIE DOWNS, SECURE PLANE TO PREVENT MOVEMENT
4. FILL TANK APPROX. 60 CRANKS
5. START
13. TRANSMITTER ON, RECEIVER ON, ENGINE ON, THROTTLE 1/3
1. CHECK VOLTWATCH
2. CHECK FOR RED ENGINE LED
3. CHOKE WIRE BACK (CHOKED)
4. STARTING GLOVE
5. FLIP PROP UNTIL FIRST POP
6. CHOKE WIRE FORWARD (NOT CHOKED)
7. "SMART" FLIPS (ABOUT 4) UNTIL START
14. RANGE CHECK, ENGINE STOP CHECK
15. START TIMER
16. CHECK CONTROLS DIRECTION.
17. CHECK WIND DIRECTION AND FOR OTHER AIRCRAFT
18. RELEASE PLANE, TAXI MOVE TO RUNWAY
19. WHEN READY, LOUDLY ANOUNCE "TAKING OFF".
20. TAKEOFF WITH AUTHORITY
21. WHEN LANDING, LOUDLY ANOUNCE, "LANDING".
22. LAND AND TAXI BACK TO FLIGHTLINE
1. BE COGNIZANT OF OTHER FLYERS AND PLANES
2. CUT ENGINE
3. TURNOFF ENGINE IGNITION, RECEIVER, TRANSMITTER
23. SECURE PLANE BACK AT STARTING FLIGHTLINE POSITION
1. (3) TIE DOWNS, SECURE TO PREVENT MOVEMENT
2. TOPOFF FUEL TANK, APPROX. 15 CRANKS
3. RE-CHECK ALL THREE SWITCHES ARE OFF

Yikes!!!! Super extensive! Ours were far less detailed..then again we did only fly trainers back then. here's what ours looks like. printed on a credit card size laminated thin card board paper.

Yeah, I kind wrote it with myself in mind. A lot of it is part of the checklist before loading my van. I printed it on a strip of paper so that I could check and recheck myself. The numbering might be confusing, I should have used step numbers and then maybe letters. I copied and pasted from a Word program and you don't easily see the divisions. Thanks for sharing yours.

Hey no problem at all. Happy to share :)
With a list like yours there's no way you're leaving anything behind or to chance for sure, that's a pretty good job man.
We had to have one, can't tell you how many times we get to the field missing a wing or the radio hahahaha

When I was first flying my first trainer a SIG KADET SENIOR that I built, I got to the field and discovered that I left my radio at home. 24 minutes round trip. What a bummer. Now a check of the checklist at home before I leave while packing the van makes a lot of sense.

Exactly right! Live and learn and never do it again ha

The little things can bite you.
 

Had another crash with this plane . Got a new radio (tx) so I decided to use the plane as a test unit for a few flights . This was going to be the last test session. The engine speed went down a couple of times then back up. Then all of a sudden all control was lost and down she went. I thought oh no my new radio is bad. After checking it over I found the end of the receiver antenna was broke off and laying in the bottom of the fuse. I hope that's all it was.

Tried to add photos but it's not working . Damage wasn't to bad . The ground is a little soft from all the rain. It took a couple day to fix it. Now waiting for better weather to test again.

By end of antenna are we talking 2.4? and if so, how much/long is the 'End' that came off?

2.4 can be intolerant of changing antenna lengths while 72 MhZ not so much. You can easily lop 6 inches off a 72 system and never see the difference. While a 2.4 would suffer with 1 inch.

Now I know someone will come on and claim their brand XYZ radio has flown without an antenna. Once! And considering all the variables the odd ball thing can happen. Once!

But who here is willing to offer a model as guinea pig to test the theory?

Yes it is 2.4 a spektrum ar400 rx. The end of the longer antenna. Theres a small circuit board on the antenna. The short piece thats attached at the end of the circuit board broke right at the board. Even has a piece of shrink tubing around the board and antenna. Theirs also another short antenna. I guess it didn't do any good to have it.

Some photos
 

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...de7a98d922.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...4576992faf.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...e398c7cd1a.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...7c252ab143.jpg