DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Well, yesterday i totalled the decathlon due to a glitch which i believe is caused by a faulty reciever switch....At full throttle, the vibrations are so intense, i think its the cause of the nasty evil glitches that happen on ALL the servos.....
Believe me, i checked EVERYTHING from metal to metal contacts, reciever antenna wires, isolations for the reciever and nothing....I even swapped crystals...
So the glitch started and put the poor decathlon into a graveyard spin where i had no control and WHAM!!!!!!! It hit the ground from about 100 feet....To my great luck, everything (but the plane) survived so the replacemet shall be on its way shortly...
As for the fuselage of the evil glitch master, it took a match and some 89 octane to perform the exorcism....
Click on the photos and enjoy...

Dave

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Want me to send you some real gas next time... (100 Octane)

I thought you yanks would have the best gas in the world...

Still burned you wreck though which was pretty cool...

:D

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Would have taken about 6 hours to rebuild.

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Looks like the Seagull Models Decathlon...? Well I had one and I will tell you you probably did not have a glitch. These birds fly like cow dung. As soon as your airspeed drops to low, make a sudden manauver that changes airflow over/under the wing these things go to death spiral mode and splat like the $#!^ they are. I saved mine a few times but alas her destiny was dirt. Funny how the wing is so strong though, I still have mine and it seams yours is intact as well. I think you have inspired me to go ahead and burn my wing to so I don't do anything stupid like buy another one.

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Next time one is cracked up like that, send it to me UPS ..I'll pay postage ...It really didnt look to bad..but burning it is cool to :D

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

MR67Stang,
Believe me, i know how critical the airspeed is in this model....U know, i'm surprized all these r/c genious minds out there don't invent some kind of airspeed indicator with a stall horn for better airspeed control!
In my case it was a compounded problem due to a GLITCH....I had the same glitch on the ground and then it went away so i took off thinking it was gone and what do you know..There it was again....In desperate attempts to regain control it entered the spiral o death...What did u buy after you spilled your SD all over the place?
I think you should burn your wing....Mine going of in a blaze this weekend.

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

I bought a Great Planes Dazzler. Wow what a plane. It has a weak spot in the design as there is only about a 1/4 in thick area conecting the front end to the fuse. I would build it different next time to reinforce that area as it did eventually crack and ultimately destroy the plane but it sure was a lot more fun to fly than the Decathlon. Less work to fly too. Hmm think I'll order another... we'll see so many planes I want to try out. But I am undoubtably soured on the Seagull Decathlon. Was yours hard to keep straight on take off? Mine was squirelly as all get out; a problem I have not had in any of my other tail draggers including a Goldberg CUB.

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

We need more of that kind of funeral in this hobby, that was AWESOME<<< :D

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

nice,... i did the same thing to a 25 size extra i had years ago. i enjoyed it.

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

EXACTLY mr67stang! The SD was a royal pain in the butt to get off the ground....ALL of the repairs i had to do to it in the past were takeoff related....It was all over the place! Too much right rudder, it would start wheelie'n on the right, not enough right rudder, it would climb and bank to the left....All those scenarios were the NIGHTMARE of the seagull SD....
I am seriously considering the phoenix SD but i'm afraid it might be just as bad leading me to a firing rage of inferno madness! hahaha!
I read about adding a gyro to keep the tail straight on takeoff, but 120-150 for a gyro on a 130 buck plane it too much for me to swing...I had a 1/5th scale sig cub that was a JOY to fly and takeoff. Its fuselage was as long as the wingspan of the SD and its wingspan was 81"..Yes, it was severely underpowered, but was as scale as they get.

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Hmmm, just happened by here ... been flying R/C since 1973 and never once have I heard the words "good-flying Decathlon." Makes you wonder why the manufacturers keep pushing them. A friend of mine even made a profile electric park-flyer version out of Depron -- it looked great, weighed nothing, still flew terrible. The tails on them are just too small and too close to the wing.

My .02: Paint stars on a Cub. :eek:

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Manufacturers keep pushing planes like that cause they're a great revenue! Planes like the spacewalker which fly great get discontinued due to the dependability and easy flying characteristics..Its all about money....We crash um, we buy new ones with the illusion of making it better the next time and the wheel keeps turning...I luv this hobby! Just my 2 cents...hahaha

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

great! all this talk and i just put in an order for a decathlon.... [&o]

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

just curious...why is it that they [link=http://www.amerchampionaircraft.com/newac/decath/sdspecs.htm]DECATHLONS[/link] are used to teach real pilots how to do aerobatics..jus curious?

aren;t these models exentially based on the real model specs????


SC

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

In full scale they are nice little aerobatic training aircraft and not too expensive to fly. I had a few hours in one before advancing to a Pitts. Full scale version handled pretty nicely.

Because they are cheaper and less expensive to fly and also because they react slower than a plane such as a Pitts they are a good first step into aerobatics. It is easier for the biginning aerobat to keep up with the plane which can be real important considering flying upside down and other "unusual attitudes" isn't normal and must be adapted to. Try to imagine driving your car down the street through traffic while hanging upside down from the seatbelts.

At first a simple loop or snap roll may seem dis-orientating but after enough proper training and practice a 10 turn inverted flat spin becomes fun to fly. Yee-haa!

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

wow bruce...wered you get your aerobatic traingin?

I shall find out soon too "first hand" as Im takin a aerobatic ride for "****s and giggles"..lets hope I don't puke all over the cockpit!


Im in the ol Cessna 172 trainging program currently...flight number 3 this SUnday!

CHeers!

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

LaPorte,Tx outside Houston in the early 80's. Some serious aerobatic instruction AFTER you know your basics will make you a safer pilot in many ways. Oh, and it's fun too. :)

Eat lightly before you fly but not for about an hour before but stay hydrated. Give the food a chance to leave your stomach (in the right direction). If you have a good pilot it shouldn't be a big deal though as aerobatics that are done properly are not that stressful, if you don't mind a few G's that is. I pulled 7 one day in the Pitts.

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

thats funny..thats where Im going ( i think) [link=http://www.harveyrihn.com/index.html]HARVEY RIHN AVAIATION[/link]

thasnks for the pre flight tips!

SC

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

She wasn't my principle instructor but she definitely knows her stuff. It was her plane that I flew with a member of her staff. You can tell her that Bruce from Spaceland said "Hi".

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Man o man, I think that plane was repairable. I have fixed much worse and flown them again. Next time, and there will be a next time, put the plane away for a time. Maybe days or weeks or even months. Then take another look; you may find that maybe repairing is not as big a problem as it looked immediately after the crash.

DaveB

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

I did notice ..he did NOT burn the wing..and he took all the guts out...which was the right move IMO...I think you can just pick up another [link=http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SEA2076]FUSE[/link] only....

I understand his sentiment....when something like that happens ...Id probably do the same thing!


that fire was incredible , was it not???

:D

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Hey Guys,

Yeah, the fire was glorious, but everything from the leading edge of the wing foward was detached and just hanging by monocote....Fixing it would have added yet more weight and the possibility of having a dangerous flying decathlon....I opted to write it off and yes i did save the wing and the guts cause it was in good shape....

BRUCE88123 :
You said you were from spaceland? Is that the skydiving place in houston?? Flying the otter???? I'm trying to get hooked up flying skydivers around the houston area, but its going slow...Just curious...

Aerobatic flying is too fun...The closest i've ever been to aerobatic flight was spin training for my CFI....We did it in a 172 where we nearly went into a spiral peging the airspeed to redline before pulling out of it...Scary but fun as hell to do! Some day i'll have the funds to get some real aerobatics done...

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Yeah, I flew at the old Houston Gulf airport (SPX) (now closed) for many years. There is a new place in Rosharon that's calling itself Spaceland but it isn't the original. Flew the Cessna jump planes and then the Otter for several years. Flew as co-pilot for a couple of years before switching to Captain and then got @1500 hrs there. Left Houston area in @ 1986. Don't have any contacts to help you down there any more. Just start flying, get some hrs logged, get commercial SEL and go to one of the Drop Zones. Maybe even get involved with the skydiving, I did that for many years before I started flying and have made @2000 jumps also. It takes time, time and a little more time to get where you want to in life. Ask Debbie about having to "pay your dues" to get anywhere in aviation. But remember that it can be done. BTW - back when I rented her Pitts ( an S-2A) it was only $100/hr so you can see where the costs have gone.

I see you've changed your address to Spring. Yeah, there's a club out your way too but I'm not sure exactly where. It formed after I left. There are some of my old friends still jumping/flying there I understand.

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

That's the way to do it!! :D[sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif]

RE: DECATHLON crash and BURNED
 

Awsome Bruce!
Yeah, i just moved here about 6 months ago from NY and was looking to getting my feet wet with something other than flight instruction...I have almost 500 hours and all my ratings except ATP but its super hard especially in turf you are not familiar with or with people you don't know....
So who do you fly for (if you still fly) now? I need my 1000 TT and 200 multi to get hooked up with a commuter, but being a skydive pilot would be sweeeeeet....
I think although getting a job at a commuter might be easier than it was years ago (where people couldn't even land an interview with 2500 hours), its still a tough ball park due to these schools that fabricate pilots in a year and have them in the right seat of an ERJ or CRJ after a few months of flight instruction.....
Flight instructing isn't for everyone! I put lots of everything into everything i do and don't like things done half a** (as you can see from the pics....If it burns IT BURNS!) so i don't feel keen on flight instructing since i would like a new pilot to be as good as he can be with the help of someone devoted to their job.....These 19 year old CFI's milk their students for the hours just to get to that right seat in a jet and i don't want any part of it...It just starts a vicious cycle of undertrained pilots flying the skys depending on the backup of a GPS to know where they are most of the time (believe me, i've seen it!).hahaha! But hey, thanks for the advice and its great to know!