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My crash

Old 05-07-2007, 11:01 PM
  #1  
jester_s1
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Default My crash

Want to see if anybody can shed some light here. I had three successful flights on my SPAD Debonair using Futaba gear- R127 Rx and a 6EXA Tx. Then I broke the dowel on the stabilizer that the antenna was mounted to so I redid it on the rudder coming from the side. We range checked it then took it up and lost radio contact just as my trainer turned it away from us. The whole flight was 30 seconds tops.
The only change was in the routing of my antenna, but it did pass the range test. It was bent some when I put the wing on- could that be a factor? Does the antenna need to be pulled straight outside the plane or does it really matter? Maybe there is something else you guys know about that I haven't thought of yet.
Old 05-07-2007, 11:29 PM
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Campgems
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Default RE: My crash

Is it possible you damaged the connection where the antenna wire attaches to the receiver board? I would suggest sending your receiver to Futaba for a checkout. I just sent in a 149DP that crashed from about 700 ft up, straight down and then sat in the creek bed for about four months before being found. They replaced two ceramic filters and the GWS crystal I had put in, and which I'm now blaming for the crash. It cost me less than $50 and the piece of mind alone was worth that.

I run my antenna through a piece of antenna tubing that I burry in the fuselage as best I can. It gives you a sort of straight wire. One of the guys at the field is an ex ham and he makes an antenna out of copper foil for leaded glass and builds it into the wing of his planes. He has a plug on it for removing the wing. That seems to work quite well also.

One thing to keep in mind is that when the plane is going straight away from you, the antenna is at it's worst for signal gathering. If you point your transmitter at the plane, you are doubling the problem. Keep the transmitter atenna vertical as best you can to reduce this problem. All that said and done, you shouldn't have lost signal anyway. Assuming a 20MPH flying speed, your 30 seconds would have put you out less than 900 ft, way less than the expected range. I'll bet though that your flight was less than 15 seconds, so that would have halfed the distance.

Get your receiver checked out.

Don
Old 05-08-2007, 09:20 AM
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jester_s1
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Default RE: My crash

It's going to be hard to get the reciever checked out since it's in about 30 feet of water at the bottom of a lake. Guys at the club say there's no point in even trying to find it. They've lost lots of planes out there and hardly anybody ever finds one. One guy even hired a scuba diver once to find a high end helicopter with no luck.

Antenna tubing- I haven't seen that before. I used a piece of fuel tubing to come out of the fuselage and then had the wire secured with a rubber band tied at the tail.

Any advice from you guys on routing the antenna for best reception on my next attempt?
Old 05-08-2007, 11:57 AM
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Campgems
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Default RE: My crash

You just never know on finding your plane. I lost a plane last fall into a very densely overgrown creek bed behind our field. You needed a machattee to get into the stuff and the creek is in a very deep gulley. Conventional wisdom was that the plane was lost forever, along with a number of other ones. A couple weeks back, an ex member of the club came out ans was doing hi-how-are-you's with some of the guys and the subject of my lost plane came up. He flatly stated, "I'll find it for you" and the next day, he did. It was a mess, but I got back about 80% of the salvagable stuff. Radio, three of the five servos, engine, fuel tank. Lost was the wing and the landing gear. Turns out this guy has a real knack for finding lost planes. We have a couple stock ponds adjacent to our field and they swollow a plane or heli on a regular basis. He seems to be able to pull them out of the pond also. By the way, the pond is a good 30 ft deep at its center. Zero visibility in the water.

Who knows, you may have a "finder" like him around also.

Don

PS, the antenna tube is a thin, hard walled plastic tube, like a push rod tube, but just big enough for the wire to fit through. I keep the antennas inside the fuselage. I have a quickee 500 that I aquired already built that has the antenna wire running to the top of the vertical stab. I'm always catching it on something. I like them low in the fuse and if they need more length, I exit as far back as possible and just let the excess flutter behind the plane. Just make sure it doesn't fowl any of the linkages.

Don


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