Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 As we all know its been a bad summer for wind - well unless you're into chucking things off the side of mountains! Tonight though was magic. Hardly a breath of wind - perhaps just enough to help you decide which way to take off - no more. I'd chucked the PZ extra in the back of the car this morning along with my Tranny and a handful of batteries. So, as I actually almost drive past the club field on the way home from work, it would have been daft not to "call in" wouldn't it. No one there - the whole place to myself! Not even any walkers, no one. Battery in off we go! Well had 4 smashing flights in quite rapid sucession. By now its about 6:15 and I'm thinking about wneding my way home - ah, what the heck, one more flight. Now the little Extra is a joy to fly. It does just about everything well and can certainly do more than I can! But if there's one manoeuvre I love doing with it, then its a spin. It spins really well and it exits almost instantly. Now the key word in that last sentence is "almost". Can you see were this is going? I'm flying round doing spin after spin - great fun. She exits spot on into wind everytime - really crisp. Then I go for one more, 1, 2, 3 and exit,....exit,... OMG! Splat!!! What happened was I was really pushing the limit. That final 3rd turn was very low. I centred the controls, out she came as usual into a vertical dive - urgent need for up elevator now to pull out. The problem was there just wasn't space to build up any real speed, immediate (TBH rather desperate) up-elevator simply stalled the wing again! So now I'm about 15 feet off the ground with a deeply stalled aeroplane This is only going to end one way isn't it? Damage? Well it certainly didn't do the little Extra any good! Prop's broken (I have a spare), cowling split (a job for the CA), fuselage cracked behind the trailing edge (its what zap was invented for), one wing mount broken (zap again), canopy off (canopy glue). So, a bit extensive - I don't do things by halves - but all mendable. Cause of Incident? One hundred percent pilot error. The moral of the tale being: don't get carried away by a model that flies really well and think you can get away with murder - cos you can't - and sooner or later reality is going to step in and bite you on the bum! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Doh, bad luck BEB, still, sounds as though its a relatively easy fix, and after the first incident, they usually fly even better - and with less pilot anxiety Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob2341 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Done exactly the same thing with an ultryfly extra last year, just muckin about with spins and tumbles and stuff and got a bit low, paniced a bit and fed in up elvator too quick, plane was at about 45 degrees nose down,but just falling like a stone, full throttle and about 4 foot off the deck it went completly flat and belly flopped into some nice tall barley, no damage at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Binnie Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Thanks for sharing BEB, I did the same with an E-Flite Ultimate FX a couple of years ago, not too badly damaged and fixed (but never been quite the same since!) The foamies do encourage you to do this stuff lower than normal, what they get up to indoors is beyond me. Have we got any Met Office stats on the wind this year? Virtually every flying evening we've had this year has been tricky. Good for sloping though eh Tim! Airline pilot friends say that the normal Atlantic jetstream has moved south. They are noting record ground speeds on easterly routes with tailwinds. I have competed in 'how many turns of a spin can you do' challenges but always chicken out. Seem to remember the guy who taught me to fly RC power doing 33 turns with a Wot 4, also launched it vertically out of his hand with a '90' on the front. Never had a Wot 4, one day! Cheers Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Never had a WOT4 ?You really should get one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Binnie Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I know!! I keep looking at the original plans on eBay. Although the blurb claims that they are 'cosher' I would rather get a set direct from Chris. Have half a plan to put a 'screamer' with a tuned pipe in my Wots-Wot but it would probably break the lacky bands that hold the top wing on!! I've just discovered flat spinning, not sure what is going on but it does look mental!! Better calm down and slide a floaty glider up the bungee! GB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Hmm BEB, could be a timely prompt for me. We have a row of trees facing us when we re flying at my club's field, so spins in front of the pilot tend to be over the top of them. I've been getting quite a bit lower recovering from spins lately . I'll try and remember your experience next time I feel daring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ashby - Moderator Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 They can lead you astray these pretty models BEB As you say, sounds like a cyano job...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plummet Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Posted by Gary Binnie on 24/08/2011 00:36:36: I know!! I keep looking at the original plans on eBay. Although the blurb claims that they are 'cosher' I would rather get a set direct from Chris. Have half a plan to put a 'screamer' with a tuned pipe in my Wots-Wot but it would probably break the lacky bands that hold the top wing on!! I've just discovered flat spinning, not sure what is going on but it does look mental!! Better calm down and slide a floaty glider up the bungee! GB I have built one from that plan. The fuselage is, I think, by Chris, the built up wings replace the original foam cores. It flew very well....until gross pilot error. But having the plans means that a rebuild is more than possible. Plummet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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