ouch...I feel so sad for the builder of this magnificent Zero.

Have you seen this video ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9w00A6e478

gee lets hoarse the warbird into the air before flying speed is attained

There was something not so magnificent about that thing, maybe many things! Underpowered! I would also not be stupid enough to stand that close to the runway when Joe builder is trying out his ridiculously over-sized Zero. People are crazy...

What a beautiful low speed tip stall. I am with Dion, you can almost never go wrong with more power, almost and there is NO way I would stand that close to a plane that weighs over 300lbs, but thats just me. They should have added a little methanol injection if they wanted it more scale.

I have to agree with Dion in that I think having a bunch of folks out on the runway (or anywhere near it) while trying to fly that thing was tremendously dangerous and shows a real lack of respect for the potential danger. You would think that somebody with the skills to build such an airplane would know better. Of course, maybe Mr. Pilot and Mr. Builder were not the same guy. I don't think the airplane was horsed off too early myself and, though a bit underpowered, I think it would have flown just fine. What I see, and what others have pointed out elsewhere on the net, is what appears to be a case of reversed ailerons. If you look closely at the right aileron it appears to be deflected way down during the final moments. Another bit of carelesness by the pilot if that is the case.

Gotta love the "hitech" wind sock.

what?????!!!!???? why is the plane ridiculous. if the company who put the plane together "nakajima co. paid to have the zero built from what i have read by enginers" saw nothing wrong with this. i only wish i had have the funds to do a plane of this size. now yes mabe standing so close to an unproven plane is not the brightest think to do, but when have you not stood to close to your buddys plane at the field he is putting up for the first time. i am guessing from reading your post you have never heard of something that is called a scale flight. the take off was very scale looked to have had plenty of power. the pilot did not correct with enough rudder to keep her from rolling over. so if you are envious of the plane this size and the bank roll to do it join the crowd. but never calling something like this ridiclous. it was only a few years ago that some were calling these people flying turbins ridiculous..... mainly beacause they did not have the money to do it themselves.
it was a sad loss for the pilot a that great looking big ***** plane my heart goes out to them both.

i like chads thinking here. if was not checked and rechecked it will bite you ever time.

Having a "buddy" standing next to you at the field and having an entire entourage are two different things. Especially considering the size of this airplane and the lack of any barricades to prevent it from careening into the spectators.

unless it is a great big barricade if it were to go off the side it would have still hit someone. i never said it was smart to stand that close to the plane i was just making a point to the earlier post. most people dont think about thing like that coming after them. i dont think that they are governed by ama in japan either. so my guessing is that the pilot did not care about the other peoples safety or the spectators did not care about there own. most people you would think would be smart enough on there own not to need guidence from someone in redards to life and limb.

I agree with Chad as well. I too have now watched this a few times. I dont necessarily think it was "horsed"
off the ground. it looks good as it is rotating and and even climb out.

what I think, is exactly what Chad said, reversed ailerons. it had good wings on climb out, it rolled slightly
left from "P" factor. pilot attempted to correct, and it rolled out into the ground. it does appear to be pilot
error, and not checking controls

I said the SIZE is ridiculous, not the plane. Personally I love the Zero. Anyway your kind of new here, so just remember if I say it's ridiculous then it is, it's a thing we like to call an opinion around here![8D] (get your own!)

I think I see the aileron deflection, it probably would have lumbered around the pattern just above stall. It's only $22,000.00, at least no one was killed.

Dion

Clearly reversed ailerons. You can see right one going down clear as day.

How could someone make that mistake on that size of a plane. A plane of that size should require a full checklist for the planes safety and that of the crowd.

definitely reversed ailerons.........

I hate to see loss. I've had plenty myself. But, I like to see pioneering modelers pushing the rc envelope.

Fortunaletly no one was hurt. Money can't fix that.

Steve

Some one has to sort out a way to stop reversed ailerons on test flights and pulling up to recover when inverted for Noobs.
Been there,, done both,, wont go there again.

Sorry for the loss. I think the Zero was magnificent!

Brad

ah......can you say "reversed ailerons"!!!

how can you head out to the field with a plane of this magnatude and not do a thorough pre-flight....

unreal...

Spence Maze

Believe it or not some people get confused when checking ailerons ...they don`t know which way it moves to go right or left....and for those that are confused ...RIGHT..RIGHT AILERON UP...LEFT..LEFT AILERON UP.....

As a builder and flyer of ridiculous sized airplanes, I see that it had plenty of power. After all, they are designed to fly on the wing, not the prop. For it's size, it was a very nice Zero....lots of sweat went in to that one. Hard to imagine if a total pre-flight had not been made. My corsair was ground tested for about an hour before its first flight. Altho ridiculous in size, it is in it's 4th year of flying, 50 flights, one gear up landing and no structural damage. HAve only broken 2 props. My point...unless you have flown an airplane of this magnitude, I don't think you should cast judgement on the scope of the project or the ability of the plane and pilot. Especially if you were not there. Danger is not directly correlated to the size of the model, as I often see and hear referred to. I've heard it a hundred times. All of these models are dangerous...even the .40 size. That's my opinion. For all we know, the radio went schitzo. I see the reversed aileron as it went in, but ?..... Suffice it to say, it was a nice model and too bad it was lost. Fortunately, only the airplane was hurt, and no individuals...the wallet, notwithstanding.

Have you never been to the feild with a plane and every time you fire it up its totaly surrounded by People? Theres two or three looking right down the ark of the prop. so you ask them to move. Then two more fill in the spot they vacate. So finally I say lets fire it up and move it out of the crowd to run up, we set the plane down 20ft closer to the runway and as I run the plane up those people move round the plane again? Finally forcing carrying the plane out to the runway for the run up. Some times I get very frustrated because these are not high school kid that have never seen a plane before, these are all experienced modelers that know better!

While that cluge of people are mulling around me they are all asking the same questions over and over. Whats the WS?, Power, ETC. Trying to stay on task is almost imposible! I usually bring the destructions and hand it to a friend to verify everything at the field (thanks Bill) because if anyone bothers him he'll point them to me and has a better chance of staying on task than I.

These people mean well so How would you handle them? I hope every one of you gets a chance to experience this because it means you have done something special. I hope every one of you remembers these people are your freinds, and I hope you chose to keep them.

Joe

Jeff, I'm not going to spar with you even though that's what you like to do behind your monitor but you don't have a fighter with a 20' wingspan, your Corsair has a 13' wingspan if I remember correctly. My opinion is that it's a ridiculous waste of money, that's my opinion I'll also pass judgment on anything I feel I'd like to pass judgment on, it is your right to tell everyone to keep their mouth shut because that is your opinion. Could I build a 20' foot model or a 13' Corsair if I wanted? Your damn right I could! I don't see the point though, I'm already 6' 8" and 320 lbs myself.

Everyone, keep the opinions coming!!!!

After watching the video, I'm of the opinion that the plane probably had the ailerons reversed and secondly, the plane looked to be way under powered. I am of the opinion, that it looked like, he barely had enough power to raise the tail.

You all are right, even the smallest RC model, can be potentially deadly! However, I feel that some of these monsters could inflict multiple injuries to multiple people. My opinion here, is that there gets to be a size point, where a model stops being a model, but a accident waiting to happen. It only takes one of these monsters to wipe out a couple of people, and get it brought to the attention to the of media, that our nice little hobby, gets a black eye. I agree with our 50 pound weight limitation imposed by the A.MA., then requiring a waiver. Correct me if I'm wrong

Dino, at 6'8" 320 i'm on your side! Plus I love to see and learn what you've been doing with the scale details on your warbirds!

well i guess we need to stop driving cars. there are so big and deadly. at last count i think great big suv's have killed more people than an oversized model. i dont feel the 50lb limit is fine being that there are lost of people with lots of talent out there who can build and fly a very large plane. the physics all work the same what goes up will come down. it just depends upon how you bring it down. the media will cast a shadow on what ever it wants to go or bad people just have to read between the lines and judge for themselves. oh by the way before someone gets on me about the suv comment i do drive one of these great big gas guzzlers and i like it. dont like the gas bill [:@] but need the size to carry the trailor around.

Yeah, I think Jeff says it well above. To me everything looked pretty well regarding the plane until the ailerons.

The other stuff, probably it could be done better, so probably it should be....people too close (though I agree that a .40 sized plane is as harmful in many ways)....what are all those people running around on the tarmac itself while the plane is taxiiing on it? Not a good scenario there. To me, I would want conditions absolutely perfect for a maiden.....and you saw the conditions.....coats and hats, nice stiff breeze blowing the wind sock to straight out, etc....certainly less than ideal. Why rush it? No need to get in a hurry at that point. Keeping it on the ground another day would have given it at least one more day of life.

Dion, I'm not looking to spar with you...not worth my time. Don't take it so personal. I took your advice and put down MY opinion. Deal with it. But, I can say I do respect your artistic talent you offer. It's not the size that matters. For me, I'll continue to build these monsters because that's what I like to do. We all should do what we like to do, as long as it is of the legal variety. As for danger, picture a Great Planes Pitts going, inadvertantly, into a crowd. Does it really matter if it is a 68 inch wingspan or 20 feet? Both are a tragic accident, and the size would not really be a factor on the fact that it would be a horrible accident. What I see, is that, every time a model over 55 pounds goes in, the first thing that tends to happen is to put blame on the size of the plane. As long as it is under 55 pounds, we can discuss it. Go over 55 pounds, and it automatically gets labeld as dangerous, ridiculous, waste of time/money, etc. Let's be more democratic than that. I hate the 55 pound rule, but I live with it. If not, I would be building a 15-20 foot model, myself. But, ya can't keep these under 100 pounds. Has anyone checked out Phil's 15 foot Spad he is building, over in the UK, on RCSB? Another nice masterpiece, but yet he started taking flak on the scale, size and scope of the project, and it is not even completed yet. I wish them the best of luck on the test flights.