Fly away model

[Jon H]

A customer has had a flyaway of his majestic major and is unable to locate it. He is doing all of the things he needs to do but if anyone between Maidenhead and High Wycombe and/or any surrounding sort of area hears of a model being found please post details as we might be able to reunite him with it. It was last seen heading north from the Pinkneys Green area near Maidenhead with about 15-20 minutes of fuel aboard so it could be a long way away. 

[David Davis]

I once had the same problem with the Majestic Major's Little Brother, the Junior 60.

 

I had converted it to electric power and had just given it to a bloke who was learning at the time, having too many models cluttering up my workshop. He was flying it about on the buddy box when he cl aimed he had no control. Thinking that it was just beginner's nerves I took over control but sure enough, there was nothing I could do. We just had to stand there and watch it glide down into a cornfield where, despite several search parties and despite the model being orange overall, we could not find it. I suspect there was a fault between the LiPo and the receiver. At harvest time it went through the front end of a combined harvester.

 

The same will not happen to your friend's model and as it's a pretty big model, someone is sure to find it.

[GrumpyGnome]

1 hour ago, Jon - Laser Engines said:

A customer has had a flyaway of his majestic major and is unable to locate it. He is doing all of the things he needs to do but if anyone between Maidenhead and High Wycombe and/or any surrounding sort of area hears of a model being found please post details as we might be able to reunite him with it. It was last seen heading north from the Pinkneys Green area near Maidenhead with about 15-20 minutes of fuel aboard so it could be a long way away. 

If he gets it back, hopefully he'll then set the failsafe, so it will come to earth before the fuel is all used in the event of another fly away... 

 

But I do hope he gets it back.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

I suspect that the majority of flyaways are caused by battery issues so this wise (and almost universally legally required) precaution wouldn’t help. 

[Jon H]

I am not aware of all the details but the basic impression is that the model flew off under power and would continue until it ran out of fuel. Switch failure is being offered as a possible cause so i assume a failsafe was set but did not activate. 

 

If the switch did fail or battery disconnect the fail safe would not have had time to function. 

 

If the model can be recovered it might shed some light on the failure mode. The chap in question is quite distressed by the event and its potential consequences and questioning his continued participation in the hobby. Finding the model is as much to give him peace of mind it didnt hurt someone as it is about actually getting it back. 

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

As (I assume) it would have its OP ID attached, you should be able to reassure him that no news is good news on that front.