Brian Sorenson recently brought up the topic of "crashes you remember". Here are a few of mine. Keep in mind... I've only been flying five years!
http://www.wasatchbeers.com/beers.html
Just like Polygamy Porter... why have just one?
Memorable crashes:
* Innumerable while learning on my horrible ParkZone J-3 cub. Fine airplane once you know how to fly, terrible to learn on.
* First Raptor crash in my back yard... low voltage on Rx pack, lockout.
* Second Raptor crash in my front yard, but I was flying it in my back yard: low voltage on Rx pack, lockout.
* T-Rex crash, flying at construction site, started doing multiple subsequent flips and forgot where the ground was.
* T-Rex crash, was hovering when a flying wing zipping along close to 90MPH took off my tail. Funny thing: I successfully auto-rotated, saving what was left of the bird, while his wing ate dirt.
* Stryker 1: Converted to brushless CD-ROM motor, forgot to re-balance CG. Fast dive, elevons couldn't pull it out (not responsive at all), 80MPH dive into the dirt. Salvaged only the receiver; battery, servos, motor, ESC were all destroyed.
* Stryker 2: flying partner said "look out!" when he was flying too close, I glanced to the side and ducked (for good reason!), forgetting that I had a Stryker in a low pass at around 60MPH. Thump.
* Stryker 2 (repaired): Low and inverted over the deck at a flying expo. Pulled up when I should have pushed out.
* Stryker 3: Decided to try and slope-soar in 35MPH winds. Dumb. Broke it into three pieces; repaired it, but it never flew the same. Might have to go buy Stryker 4, I think.
* F-18: Tried to fly on the same windy day as Stryker3. It, too, is in three pieces, but it's a balsa-over-foam wing, and I'm having trouble figuring out how to repair the shattered wing without plans or a wing core.
* Ultrafly Ultimate: Low and inverted over the deck at a flying expo. Pulled up when I should have pushed out.
* Mach Racer: Low and upright over the deck in a harrier at the club field. Punched the throttle and killed the motor. Calling it a "dead stick" is like saying a brick glided like a feather. More like "Oh, crap, zero airspeed and ten feet of alti.... splat."
* Typhoon: Allowed my buddy to strap the battery in. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Went for an outside loop, the little silver LiPo pilot ejected through the canopy. Crazy thing, though: the huge windmilling propeller kept the voltage high enough running backward through the ESC that I had full control in a steep dive down to two feet above the deck; pulled up, lost all voltage, and it plopped the last 24 inches.
* Typhoon: Turned off transmitter before disconnecting receiver. Plane went full-throttle, uncontrolled, into a fence. Was the day I decided to switch to spread-spectrum :)
* Typhoon: Heavy crosswind, gusty. Came in during a heavy gust, the gust went away, and the nose of my plane went straight in.
* Patriot: Too low, too fast, through very tall, tough weeds. Ripped large pieces of the left wing off. Crazy thing, though... it kept flying but needed a LOT of right trim! I still need to fix that bird and fly it again. It was fast, landed like a freakin' tank, blew out retracts like they were popsicle sticks, but looked great in flight.
* Quarter Midget: unplanned low-altitude dead-stick in the weeds. Carb fell off.
* Quarter Midget: Second unplanned low-altitude dead-stick in the weeds due to carb falling off. I really need to figure out a better solution than losing these rare little screws.
* Magic Fun-Fly: Broken elevator clevis pin in flight. Figure-9 into the runway at full-throttle. Aircraft was a total loss.
* E-Flite P-47D: Gave airframe to a buddy after several hundred flights. Was with him when he put it in. He flew over his head, lost orientation, and had a foam-splosion.
* Almost-a-crash: Lanier Predator II, last week. Lockout at around 10 feet on final. It did a brief outside loop at full-throttle, then I regained control and the motor returned to idle where it had been the whole time on my Tx. Voltage regulator was under-sized for the hot weather and servo load. Need to replace; I think the regulator just reset itself.
* E-Flite Blade CX. Ran into myself. Learned respect for helis. Earned small scar on my ankle.
* Air Hogs Aero Ace. Tried to fly in the back yard. Landed in the neighbor's back yard instead. He had two puppies that came out with an inquisitive look and a "Rowr?" Very little left. Gross foam doggie poop, I heard.
What I've learned:
* Avoid "low, over the deck" stuff, upright or inverted.
* Double check those NiCD voltages.
* Spread-spectrum is no guarantee against maintenance stupidity.
* Go for bigger voltage regulators than you plan on needing.
* Turn off your receiver first, transmitter last.
* Don't fly if the wind is crazy fast unless you're willing to turf that bird.
* Plan on donated airframes being destroyed by the person you donate them to.
* Harriers, hovering, and other low-speed maneuvers look great, in part, because they are dangerous to the health of your aircraft. Respect that, and don't do it with an unreliable power plant.
* Dogs and planes don't mix.
I'm sure my next dozen crashes will teach me a lot more!
