Ian Holme Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 With the poor weather and other (family and motorcyling) comitments, my flying has been rather limited of late. The few opportunites that i have had usually involve an hour or two at the field, usually on an evening, making my small foamie ducted fan models ideal to chuck in the boot and give me my flying "fix". However i recently resurected my old arft (Pheonix I think) Giles 202 of about 56" span which must be 10yrs old plus. Expecting a battle to get the engine running after so long, i was delighted to get it running nicely (SC 46 2 st) in no time at all, so off to the field i went . The first evening was great, it really is nice to be flying IC after hrs of lightweight foamies....dont get me wrong, foamies good fun, but the IC just seems to sit so well in the air. Suitably refreshed, i returned to the field last night, again the motor fired up and away we went. A very satisflying flight ensued, only interrupted by fellow modellers struggling to get their model away. Somewhat distracted, i managed to run out of fuel and was faced with a deadstick landing. No problem, thought I, plenty of height, just keep the nose down and bring it in i have down countless times before. But this time it was different, I rolled it around to the left.......and it kept rolling, right into the ground. Expecting a complete wreck, i was pleased (relatively!) to find it is repairable, basically snapped the fuselage in half just behind the wing. Must say, for all the critisism we give to artf's the damge was surprsingly light geiven the impact. Given the usual post crash analysis, i wish i could point to radio or structural failure, but the fault i think lies entirely with me. Having flown only lightly the loaded leccy models for some time, i think i simply turned too tight in flat calm conditions and tip-stalled it in (cg was all fine) Suppose there is some sort of lesson there, the lightly loaded foamies can be a good deal more forgiving than the ic and even with 30 yrs of rc flying behind me, a degree of relearning is needed when flying different model types. Oh well, best dig out the araldite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Bad luck! I am sure we have done similar and I agree that lightly loaded foamies seem to be very forgiving. The truth is of course that being lightly loaded you are likely to be further away from the stall speed most of the time so you have to be going really slowly before it bites! One reason why commercial pilots have to have a current type certification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cooper Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Sorry to hear about the Giles. Yup, it certainly pays to be familiar with different shapes and sizes and weights of various models. They all handle differently and they require different techniques to get the best out of them. But, of course, this is what makes the hobby such good fun. B.C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Bad luck Ian, yeap certianly sounds like a tip stall - so easy to do if you're a bit out of practice with the heavier ones and as Simon says - we've all done it! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Holme Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 cheers guys! fuz is tacked back together, wil get my dad to finish the repairs.........(well he does enjoy that sort of thing, plus hes had lots of practice!) Onward and upward! ........hopefully..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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