Hi All,

I looked through the headers on this forum and didn't see what I was looking for so here goes:

I have a 9CAP which is my primary (and only) RC radio. This past weekend, I experienced a problem with a known and reliable plane, on it's 4th flight of the day.

After a long take-off roll, and during the climb out, I hit the switch to retract the pneumatic gear and lost all control of the aircraft. The gear did not retract and the plane began a moderately fast (for this plane) roll to the right. I had no control over any function, as I tried to correct the roll and climb to give myself some altitude. The plane did not respond and did a full throttle cartwheel. It was spectacular, but a total loss of the airframe.

After disassembling the wreckage at home, I hooked the radio gear up and ran it through some bench-testing in the exact configuration as it was in the plane, with the throttle servo being replaced as the one from the plane did not survive the crash. Everything worked fine. I had complete control over each channel and I adjusted the trims and endpoints to be sure. The battery checked out with 4.7v still in it.

There is another member of the club I belong to who also experienced problems with his 9CAP which caused him to lose a plane in a very similar manner. His plane also just stopped responding. The servicing diagnosis was an intermittent faulty ground connection within the transmitter, which he has had serviced and repaired. Is this a problem with the 9CAP? Has this happened to anyone else?

Thanx in advance for any insight or advice.

Ed

Attached is a photo in memorium. Requiescat in Pace

Hi,

I have been using the 9CAP for over 3 years now and haven't experienced any weirdness after the use of any switch.

The only switches I don't use are the ones on the side and the knobs on the top, I use all other switches frequently.

I hope this helps,

Wouter

The battery voltage could dip below 4.7V with a load applied. It is not safe to fly below 4.8V. Do you check your battery with a loaded voltmeter, or with an on-board voltage indicator, before flying ?

We're sorry, but from your note, it's not really possible to determine what caused your model to crash. If the retract or throttle servo "hung up", a lot of current could be drawn from the battery pack, causing low voltage. The receiver would quit working as a result. You mention that the throttle servo was DOA. It could have failed prior to the crash. A shorted servo could pull enough current to cause enough of a voltage drop to make the receiver quit.

It's possible that you got some kind of interference. It's possible something in the receiver was intermittent. And so on.

If your transmitter has a difficulty, then it's possible that it contributed to the crash.

We can examine a system after a crash and say what's wrong with the system as we see it, but cannot always state what the cause of a crash might have been. We would suggest that the system come into the service center for checkout.