darthdrk

I figured Id start a thread basically for fun and share stories of our LHM mishaps plus to prove that the LMH is a really tough Heli.

My worst mishaps were I was about 50 to 70 feet off the ground. I was in a hover and a really strong gust of wind flipped my heli literally upside down. Well down she went and fast . Hitting the asphalt road hard and upside down. All I think happened was a disconnected z link on the main rotor .

:stupid: When I was learning to fly I was also learning to compensate for the wind. I was in my driveway and I broke ground, at about 4 inches off the ground It flew under my truck. You talk about alot of noise. I just knew I was headed to the LHS for parts(if they had them). Well, I retrieved the Heli. Looking it over I found a little nick in a blade and a M/R z-link was gone.

Near castration (not to long ago) I was in my driveway(again) Just replaced all my worn out parts checking things out. This thing was flying exceptionally great I mean hovering was almost hands off. I was leaning against my minivan rear doors. So i decided to bring it closer to me. well I was about groin high and nose in (concentrate). Well I noticed it was getting awfully close. ( my expression exactly) well, I couldnt back up. Id say it came within 2 inches of causing some extreme pain that i would not wish on my worst enemy . At the last nanosecond Brain sent signal to fingers and a catastrophe was avoided.

I have suffered blade strikes on my fore arm from picking the thing up while ground running not from flying into myself.

patternfly

Ok here's one: this is not scary just funny, I was flying in my living room enjoying my time when I decided to fly up high close to the sealing, well that was a bad idea, once I've got within 10" from the sealing the heli suddenly got sucked right to the top, it made alot of noise and of course I cut the throttle and she dropped like a rock, of course no damage, well, that was interesting so I've tried it again, and just like before about 10" from top the heli get's sucked right to the top, but this time I keep the throttle at full, she was sliding around the sealing until she slammed into the light fixture and cut the cord right off, the light came crashing down with the heli on top of it, it took a while to explain my brother how I broke the chandelier (spelling?) and knocked power in the house
Isn't that a perfect case of sudden dumb attack syndrome?

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, any story that starts off with "what the hell happened" and you start off with "well, I was flyin my helicopter in the living room"..............................is probably not gonna be taken well......."How the hell did you cut the cat in half"?..........Rog

RobertWilliams

My Feedback: (6)

atleast you can fly your LMH in your house, mine is nitro, and my wife wont let me fly it much less start it....bummer it's bites being addicted to nitro.....

patternfly

flyinrog, my cat somehow respects the heli, it just growls when I start flying and it hides in another room. I fly my lmh the most at home, have been doing it since I've converted it to electic, that was the main purpose of the convertion and yes, can only fly around when the girl is Not around

darthdrk

It was a while back I read somewhere there was a guy flying his corona in his garage it was at night and the garage door was closed of course with the light on. He said he was hovering and he flew to high and hit the light buld (the only light in the garage) It blew out and it was just him and a heli flying around in total darkness. I read that and completely lost it. You talking about laughing out loud. I still laugh about this one.

I have a nitro LMH and I have flown it around in my garage with the doors closed (Dont do this!!) It wont take long the exhaust fumes are a killer on the eyes.

Joe K

My Feedback: (1)

The LMH is the only heli that you can crash and then laugh.
One day I am fling at home, I loose it in the sun. It hits the roof rolls off falls to stories on to the cement drive way. Only broke Alton Gyro & cracked canopy.
One of the most amazing crashes do to pilot error I flew in to a big big big oak tree. I slowed it down and was hovering between branches next to the trunk. Trying to get out I hit a branch and she came down about 40+ feet hitting on the end of tail boom. nose strait up. I THOUGHT THE TAIL IS TOAST.
only damage was the fin pop ed off and the boom was shoved forward and had to relined with Crown gear.

raderrustler

Roflmao...
I thought I was the only nut that does stuff like this...you guys are hilarious. Flying in the garage in the dark is way dangerous but the visual and the oh sh** factor is funny. Thanks for the laugh
Randy

imeins

PatternFly: I've got one of those Vectron flying saucer things that I fly in the lounge room. It sticks to the ceiling like glue as well. Really weird the first time. Bit safer for the lights than the heli blades !

patternfly

Cool! I was thinking of getting one, how much fun are these things?

gzmann

My Feedback: (1)

I have a story proving the lmh is almost indestructable!!!

i am a new pilot just learning to fly. i purchased my lmh 110 off of ebay and was ready to learn!!! after much practice in my garage , i was ready to take it out and practice hovering in the front yard. well things didnt go quite as planned!!! as i was hovering, i had a hard ground impact which apparently turned the radio switch to the off position, and i had put the heli to full power just before it hit the ground. well the heli took off the ground and went strait up at a slight angle with a full tank of gas. the rate of climb was incredible and didnt stop until it went out of gas, and so high that i couldnt see it anymore. Being a pilot i would think it went about 2000 feet high ( I COULDNT SEE IT ANYMORE)

well i have a house on the waterfront on a lake and the heli took off at a slight angle and headed acroos a bay to the other side---hoping that the heli would stall and go into the water==so as not to hit anyone/thing === this did not happen as i went to far and eventually didnt see it. i heard the engine stop in the air but could not see anything fall from the sky waiting for sev mins to see a splash or someone scream==NOTHING

i decided to drive over to this area--more to see someone coming out of their house screaming at someone- or the police called- as something fell from the sky and ruined their car etc etc

well i found the heli at the side of a raod having hit a bunch of rocks. i presume it must have come straight down as the location was perfectly aligned to the flight path. it was about 1.5 miles away!!!! AMAZING I EVER SAW IT AGAIN!!!!!

damage---broken main blades and a stripped tail servo----back up the next day

NOT FLYING IN MY YARD AGAIN----THE LMH IS INDESTRUCTABLE

IT FELL 2000 FEET AND DIDNT GO INTO THE GARBAGE CAN

astronut30

My Feedback: (5)

Man, I don't think anything will compare to that one!

Here's my worse mishaps...

Hovering my heli at my in law's back yard, it was a little windy that day, the wind picked me up to about 15 feet or so and drifted me left, right where the big tree was, it came like a foot from one of the branches, I let off the throttle and it came down pretty fast, I had my stock Fusion at the time and I full throttled it to try and stop it and it was headed right for a 10 gallon propane tank, I cut the throttle right before it hit and it was loud, I for sure thought I was out of commission, come to find out, the only damage was a broken tail fin a lost m/r z link and a chip in each of the blades.

My second worse was the other day at my Mom's, hovering it in her front patio, caught a bit of wind which pulled me into the wall in front of me, I skimmed the wall, I thought I was done for sure (very loud). Gave some back cyclic and gave a little more throttle and almost regained control but caught more wind from the side and I lost control and had to let off the throttle and went down on it's side into the shoe shelf and ground. Absolutely no damage at all, just had to retighten the boom mount a bit. Set it back down, continue hovering. That was until my g/f and daughter came out which were awaken from their nap. I got the evil eye. That's the only weak spot of my Corona. I was done for the day at that point.

Pud

My Feedback: (3)

Man, I haven' t laughed so hard in a long while!

Darthdrk--while reading your original post, I got a case of the giggles you wouldn't believe!
My home computer sets in my daughters room, right next to it is the parrot's cage.
I am reading this story, started laughing, then my parrot starts laughing because I'M laughing!! Talk about funny sounds!

I actually think I was crying from laughing so hard!

Great thread guys---like to hear some more!!
Pud

Joe K

My Feedback: (1)

Got to close to an oak tree. Came down nose first into the ground.
It is possible to crack a EP Concept Canopy!
A friend saw it and now he wants a Corona. He seen how tough the LMH ARE.

u8at711

My Feedback: (1)

Not a crash, My two dogs trying to steal my safety balls

Mini Boy

WELL ...

It was midnite. Finished the tail rotor pushrod install & adjustment and all else was checked & re-checked. First spool-up, and it sounded AWESOME. Let it "idle" on the bench for a couple minutes. Went to get a cocktail and gloated in my success. Hadn't gotten to Wally World yet for the training gear whiffle balls, but "I DON'T NEED THAT NOW!!". Put it on the floor (carpet), don't slide around too well, have to get it lighter, a little right cyclic trim, a little aft trim, startin' to slide around now. (keep in mind I'm operationg in a 6 X 10 ft. area) Maybe I'll lighten it up a bit more ... WHAT THE ... WHERE THE ... OOOPS ... It's in the fireplace!!

Broken subrotor, 2 stripped servos, a few scratches on the mains.

Not bad for a rookie?

Good thing my Darth Industries canopy wasn't on!!

Russ

darthdrk

Why do we find ourselves doing things with our LMHs that we know we shouldnt really do. I myself have been very guilty of that myself. My Garage is very cluttered with all kinda wood and rc stuff. Well, the bug bit and I just had to fire my LMH up(this happened in my earlier days when I was new to Helis) well, got it sliding around a bit and got, well dumb thumbed and it was time to run. I tore up my MR blades lost z links. I said I wouldnt do that again. Well, got it fixed and running again. To windy outside. Got bored sittin around the house headed toward the garage and I looked for something to do. I set My eyes on my Heli and I remembered what happened the last time. well, I couldnt fight the temptation any longer. Same thing happened again. bent up tailboom, chipped blade. I eventually waited until the weather was straight and took it out side. Less stuff to bump into. Well its been a while and now, I have no problems hovering in a confined space. Practice does make perfect. Glad this wasnt a .30 size heli .

Sonic

Here is a dum story !!


I hate reading so i basically build my helicopter by looking @ the diagrams from the construction manual ..

On my test flight i took off and crashed right into a tree i broke one main blade and lost a rod so i put it away .. but the hard part was that i had to climb the tree , it was about 20 feet high and really really thin. i was really scared but the cost of the heli got me up there.

After a year or so i went over the construction book and found out that i was supposed to level a few things .

and yes that was dum of me i just found out that i was supposed to follow the check mark feater the book has .

Spiro

I often find myself flying with too little light. You know how it is, it’s late/early but this is the only chance you are going to get. I have even flown in the middle of the night a handful of times under some deserted parking lot lights.

One night under the bright lights I was flying into the steady wind. It was just like I was in forward flight, but I could observe how the heli reacted close up. While “hovering” in forward flight I moved the LMH in front of me, to the sides, and pretty much got a good look from all around. Then I took it high to see what she looked like from underneath. I managed to fly directly above the nearest high output mercury vapor (or whatever) light, which had two immediate effects. The first was suddenly no light was falling on the helicopter, as all of the parking lot lights point down. Second, I was completely blinded by staring briefly into the light and then back at the empty black night sky.

At this point I could hear the helicopter but I could not see it. All I knew for sure was I had been at least 50 feet up to clear the light and that the whirling mass had turned and was moving down wind, fast. I never really saw the impact, I couldn’t see much of anything, but I heard the small explosion as rotor blades met concrete. I think it must have come down nose first. The body had been shattered into several large pieces and some unrecoverable small ones. The front 1/3 of the crutch had broken off and the tail boom was badly bent. I was done for the night.

The next day I glued the crutch back together with some extra ply scraps and patched together a canopy from the original trim material I still had. One more straightening and the tail boom was back in action. Amazingly the cost of this crash was 0$. Eventually I replaced both that crutch and the canopy, they had been getting ridiculously heavy with all the added scraps and glue. My night flying, however, was over.

Spiro

sachin998

Man!! We need to meet up. I laughed for a solid half hour. My eyes are so sore I can still hardly read/type properly. Darth, The way you said it as well, tore me to shreds!!!

Just wanted to say I'm glad to see there are so many nutballs out there. I don't feel so alone anymore!

As for my story:

My heli thinks he's James Bond at times. It thinks the quickest exits out of my 11th floor apartment is through the window!

How did I do such A stupid thing.........wife was busy putting her key into the door. The fright alone of what she would do if she caught me flying a nitro in the house was too overwhelming. Panic struck, Bodily hairs rose, left thumb went forward. She was supposed to be home at 8, not 6.45.


Damage to heli: $0. (Beleive it or not, I flew it right back in after regaining altitude.)

New window: +/- $120 = +/- R900-00 (South Africa,

Cape Town) + three nights in the spare room.


It is surprising how we take chances with this heli. Something we wouldnt dare do with other aircraft........ But the dude who wacked his light bulb deserves to be knighted in the LMH forums.

DrMyke

My Feedback: (-1)

Heres one for ya,

It was nothig i really did but waht happend. Ever got attacked by a mocking bird? i had one attack my 117 from underneath before figuring out that the wings were moving pretty f***ing fast it crapped and bolted out of site, .. i was laughing so hard i flew it right into the side of my house nose first.

cost:

New Canopy $13.49
Main Rotor Blades $ 10.99
Fuel $ $10

watching a bird crap itself after attacking a LMH .. Priceless

Smokin Cap

My Feedback: (49)

This might take the cake....I was flying my first 110 I had about 3 years ago at a local street where a local truck driving company takes their students to practice parking, stopping, etc.....So im out there flying around and as usual I get a bright idea to further challenge my flying skills and land on the top of the tractor trailer as it goes by (they were only driving about 5-7 mph). I get her lined up and over the center of the trailer, get a little wobbly from the turbulence, lookin good and S**T!!!... outta gas. my little copter drops about 2 feet and lands on her side while being drivin away on an 18 wheeler.....needless to say I ran faster than I had in the 13 years since I graduated from highschool. Flagged them to a stop, explained what happened, appoligized profusely and got my baby back!

darthdrk

yep, thats funny, I can see ya running behind the truck and the guy looking in his rear view mirror wondering "what is this nut up to". At least I would.

Smokin Cap

My Feedback: (49)

Hey there Darthdrk....I love your mods that you are doing for the LMH's. Is there a good # to contact you at? I have some questions for you about buying one of your canopies. just gotta have one or more.

Ken

darthdrk

go to my website and look on the ordering info page. I think my number is on there somewhere. Http://darthdrk.4t.com