Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

I lost $500 worth of RC plane gear today crashing my Decathlon: new OS engine, new Futaba radio gear, new 2000mah battery, Voltwatch, accessories, etc.

A month ago when I ordered the plane I had my hands full flying my Dolphin. By the time the Decathlon came I was flying in a pattern meet in Hudson and thinking the plane flew like a (low wing) trainer and was easy to fly and the right plane for me, and would be ready to progress to the next level.

I tried to sell the Decathlon after the maiden flight, and was almost successful, but during the second flight I just realized I didn't have the time, money, or space to assemble another (pattern) arf, just as I lost control coming out of an Immelmann and the nose dropped into downward spiral into a huge corn field, 5' high, and covered in 3-4' of water. I looked out and realized I just lost everything, not just the plane, but the electronics, the new engine, everything.

I guess I'm done. I was just starting to have so much fun with pattern flying too. I don't think this hobby is the best idea for me at this point in time[&o] It's hard; I was so into it, and having so much fun, and now I don't even want to think about it anymore.

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Sorry to hear about your loss Joe.

I know how much you were looking forward to Sayre.

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Sorry for your lost.

Don't give up, it happens to all of us. Unfortunately, all planes has an invisible expiration date stamped inside.

If you are passionate about this hobby, and if it gives you enjoyment, stick around. Just take your time.

Adrian

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

If everyone quit after wrecking a plane, there would be nobody flying today! Learn from it and move on.

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Hey gaRCfiled!
Is it still in the flooded cornfield or were you able to retrieve it?
If it's still there try to get a buddy and some kind of inflatible and see if you can find it.
Even if the equipment is totaled a lot of times Hobbico (the OS and radio if it's Futaba) and Horizon (if the radio is JR)
will give you an allowance and make you a deal on replacements...don't know until you try.;)
Pattern is like most other hobbies...lots of ups and downs but the ups make way, way up for the downs!
You'll feel better after you sleep on this a couple nights. Don't ask me how I know this..:eek:
Hang in there!
JLK

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

You can't let losing one airplane get to you. I've been flying since 2000 and lost my first airplane earlier this year from an intermittent bad battery connection. Coincidently it was my first pattern airplane, a PL Prod Partner. I flew that from my first contest all the way to Masters in two years. I actually had an emotional attachment to that airplane, and that made it even tougher on me. One of my best buddies lost two Piedmont Brios this year, not to mention losing a Hydeout and a Focus earlier in his flying career.

However, all you can do is shrug it off. I was pissed, but when I got out to the airplane I realized that nothing I could do could make it all better. Roll with the punches and go on. Now I have a matched pair of Partners, and love both of them. I got every single piece of my first Partner and kept it. It's actually sitting in a closet right now. I will be re-piecing it all back together and displaying it. I know that probably sounds wierd, but I don't care.

And think about it this way, if you had lost a 2m airplane, think of how much more you would have been out. Find out what happened, learn from your mistakes, and move on. I'm sorry for you loss, and as D2 VP, I don't want to lose anyone that is as enthusiastic as you. I realize you are not in my district, however one day or another you seem to cross paths with just about everyone in pattern. We're a tight-knit family.

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Hang in there Joe. If you really like Pattern flying from your experience so far, you should try to stay with it. I have the Northeast Aerodynamics Aquila prototype that I will give you to fly. It needs a cowl, but there's a way around that that we can talk about. If Scott Smith makes it to Sayre, and assuming that I will too (90% sure I will), then maybe we can make arrangements to get the airplane to you soon. Then, you need a OS 120AX or similar, plus some gear to stuff in it. It's a full blown pattern bird, so if you are ready for it, it's yours. Email me and we'll take it from there. [email protected]

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

That is total b.s!:eek: Would you want a full scale pilot telling you and the passengers that before take-off?

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Go get your palne out of the corn field and see what you can salvage. I have to agree that all our maodel planes have expiration dates on them.

I lost a KAOS on it's first flight after putting a new ROssi with a pipe in it because I didn't take into account the higher fuel useage and was making a low pass and ran out of fuel 3/4 of the way down the runway.

I stuck my Conquest VII in due to a flame out that I still I no idea what caused. That plane was repaired and flown quite a bit more.

Then there was my Prophecy that I saved for.....bad switch went open on climb out...no control all I could do is watch it yaw over and go in. I really couldn't afford everything I had in that plane at that point in my life.

They all die sooner or later. Figure out what plane you want next and start saving. I'm sure there are a few guys on this forum that might have something "pattern like" in a smaller size that might work for you at a good price.

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

I've had airplanes last over 5,000 flights then get retired and I've had them last one flight and retire themselves. They all have a date at which point they'll no longer be flyable. This hobby isn't for everyone, if you can't afford the mental or monetary cost of a crash then maybe this hobby isn't for you. I used to let a crash bother me, no longer, now I look at every crash as a door opening to something better. Losing the first one is normally the hardest, it gets easier as you go. :)

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

I agree. I have a 24 year old and a 15 year old airplane. Both airframes have many thousands of flights on them and still fly well. It's not inevitable. That being said, it does happen from time to time.

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

May yours last forever. [8D]

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

After trying to fly RC on my own, with mixed success/failure, I was lucky enough to find an older RCer as a mentor. One of the first things he told me (and said it often) is..."If you are gonna fly these things, you are gonna have crashes." He also told me and demonstrated several times that if you can build the kit, you can repair the plane after a crash. This was back in the day of balsa planes made from boxes of sticks and planks. Might not hold true for the composit types these days.

He was right. I have some 30 year old airplanes and some fond memories of others.

Terry in LP

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

You pattern guys really are the best. Thanks for all your support, and for the many offers I've received to help make up for my losses.

But guess what? There are no losses!!! I posted about the miracle in the beginner's forum, but long story short I found the plane sitting between the rows of corn, wings attached, only minor damage to one leading edge. Not even a broken prop. Its a real miracle - it was in a strange place, still clean, somehow not wet, on its gear, waiting for me for 2 days.

I've decided to still not go to Sayre. I've been rushing this hobby way too much. I was rushing to get this plane together, learn how to fly it, and compete with in in just over one week. I can afford what I've spent on the plane, but spending money on fuel, camping, competing, etc. is beyond my finances for this summer. I need to slow down and have fun flying, and just practice and burn fuel. I just started flying and soloed two and a half months ago.

Unfortunately the plane flies like a red school bus. The 55AX is still not enough power, so I don't have something too great to practice pattern with, but I do have 2 planes to fly. I plane on picking up a .40 -.50 pattern plane over the winter and transferring the 55AX from the Decathlon, and hoping to get a big 4 stroke for that plane - it's what it needs and deserves.

This was a good lesson for me. I learned how obsessed I've become with trying to get everything out of RC flying in one summer. I have years and years to fly if I don't try to stuff it all into one summer and get discouraged after a crash.

Jackson NJ is not totally out of the picture. I've got family 1.25 hours from there in NJ, so that justifies the gas $$ and gives me a free place to stay. If I don't blow any more money on RC stuff this summer it's a possibility.

Again, thank you all for your support - I really find the pattern fliers to be so kind and generous, and I hope to become part of your family in the near future. I'm hoping it will start with the acquisition of a Nitromodels Quest over this off-season - what do you guys think? It's a hot plane!

http://www.nitroplanes.com/qu54nigasarf.html

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Excellent news Joe.

Was the "crash" a simple case of being disoriented? i am not sure of the color scheme on the plane you have but I have seen a couple of Decathlons that were quite hard to read from a distance. With the plane being away from where you thought it was, it is a possibility. When you do the repair, it might be worth considering putting some bright patches under the wings. - heck why not make it into a "pattern plane color scheme".

Good to see you back on board. - Never give up, they win if you do that and they are never allowed to win - that's why suppliers exist :)

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Steve,
I was totally disgusted with the way the plane flew, so out of frustration I started testing it before learning it's slow speed/stall tendencies. I did an immelmann and had no power at the top, so when I went to roll over it stalled and went into a spiral, which I don't know how to recover from. Totally my fault from a bad decision. I learned that 'even if a pilot is bored, he doesn't take chances.' This is one of the MANY lessons I've learned here. I did put huge wide stripes on the bottom of the wings, so orientation's no problem. The lack of power in this plane IS a problem though, even with a 55AX. I'm going to put that engine in a 50 pattern plane over the winter (meaning probably October).

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

No worries Mate
Like I said, I'm not familiar with that particular airframe. It sure does sound like it needs more "Grunt" on the nose.

Just remember this. for ANY stalled situation, (which is what a death spiral is) the recovery is to get the air flowing cleanly back over the wing. - it often involves pointing the nose down (to increase airspeed and to be certain of laminar flow over the wing) - using RUDDER to correct any turn and increasing the airspeed over the wing with throttle as required. A lot of people try to correct a wing drop (due to a stall) with ailerons - this often results in simply making the stalled wing more stalled ( a bit of physics to explain that fully) . So, without seeing the actual spiral you got, the recovery probably should have been - Nose down, neutralise ailerons, correct with rudder and apply power as required. (Nothing to it really :D).

Remember - a recovery 3" above the potential impact point is still a recovery (albeit an adrenaline charged one). I never stop fighting them until they impact - except when it is an obvious structural or similar failure or if the plane is heading to somewhere that it may endanger others - then I shut the engine down early to minimise the risk and the damage and try to bring it down into a safe area.

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Don't stop flying till the last controllable piece of airplane arrives at the scene of the crash!


Edit: BTW, if you are inclined to reading, I would recommend strongly you pick up a copy of Wolfgang Langewiesche's "Stick and Rudder". Now this isn't an R/C book specifically, but it is *the* definitive guide to really understanding aircraft, why they fly, how they fly. All this goodness applies to R/C planes just as it does to Cessna's and X-15's. That stall/spin recovery you struggled with will come much more intuitively once you get a complete picture of what is keeping the aircraft flying in the first place!

Good luck!

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

The aileron makes the wing you're trying to raise more stalled because the lowered aileron increases the AOA on that wing half. This means that trying to correct a dipping wing could cause the wing to dip even more. For spins, remember the acronym PARE:

Power off
Ailerons neutral
Rudder applied in opposite direction of spin
Elevator used to slowly pull the airplane out of the dive

Respectfully,
Nathan King

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

If I were lookng for a 50 sized plane I would look at this http://ecsvr.com/abm/shopexd.asp?id=2418 since the Cermark Javelin II is no longer available.

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

The Spot On is a really nice flying plane. I'd definitely recommend it for a small .50 plane,

Arch

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Joe,
Sorry to hear about the Decathlon but I told you take your time - rememebr? This hobby isn't about rushing and short cuts. It's a hobby. It's supposed to keep you busy and challenge you. Take a little break if you need to. No rush. Think about what happened and try not to let it happen again. No harm done.

When you get ready to fly again, I have a brand new in-the-box Kyosho Oxalys 50. The OS 50 will fly that just fine and it's a REAL Pattern plane.

I probably won't make it to Sayre either due to some recent family issues but maybe I'll be at Jackson. Ed can hook you up with the Aquila there too. Hang in there buddy.

John Pavlick
Team Black Magic

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Joe,
If you do decide to go to Jackson, I would be happy to lend out my OS 1.20 for the Aquila.
I saw Ed fly it last year and it looked good.

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

Thanks guys. Even though I'm trying to take a breather I'm still psyched to get into a pattern plane, and do plan on making it to Jackson (will it be huge or not too overwhelming? NJ is so populated!)

RE: Discouraged and not going to Sayre.
 

[sm=thumbs_up.gif] Ive have wanted to quit many times , but im glad i didnt, because it just keeps making me a better pilot... You'll get over it