Wet behind the ears.....literally!!!!

[bucknut]

I'm embarassed to even share this, but I believe in full disclosure. Also, the fact I live in the South has nothing to do with my first flight experience other than, "hey y'all.....watch this!"

I received my SC from eBay. I bought one of those planes that is technically not new because it had a problem. The problem with this one was the TX didn't work, but I planned on replacing all the electronics anyway.

I put on 2.5 inch Dave Brown wheels, made battery box modifications for a 11.1v lipo, put on new GWS 10x6 prop, new 30A ESC with Deans, and installed JR 15oz torque servos along with a JR micro receiver.

Well, I took the new and improved SC to a future business park. No trees and roads are installed. Thought this would be the perfect place to practic takeoffs and landings without the worry of grass. So I line up SC, give it full 11.1v throttle and watch it soar into the sky pulling hard to the left and shooting straight up. By the time I could turn it to the right to straighten out I'd already reached the upper atmosphere and stalled. I had maybe 10 seconds before impact and the only thought going through my mind was that I'm still at full throttle. Reduced throttle and lost sight of the plane as it crashed. I did that little move you make when you know something is going to crash and I cringed.....but it taken make a thump...it made a SPLASH!!! I'm like WTF....and I take off running towards what I thought was land. Well, much to my dismay the big piles of dirt were all taken from this hole....or I should say pond. And there floating in the middle was my SC. I could hear the servos chattering and the thought of a $70 lipo being fried.

I did what any real red blooded American male would do....I stripped down to my boxers and started to enter the water. Well the water was a bit cold. As I got 10 feet out in the pond, the mud was up to my ankles, water up to my knees, and my legs were numb from the 50 degree water. I decided hypothermia wasn't how I wanted to die...especially rescueing an RC plane....sorry "cubbers."

Being a primative kind of guy I decided the only way to retrieve this plane would be to throw rocks towards it and splash it to shore. I quickly put my clothes on and found rocks to throw. Didn't take long for my shoulder to realize I'm not throwing baseballs. After 20 minutes, 30 rocks, and one sheered wing later (yes, it seems rocks go through wings) my SC was safely on shore. I put my tail between my legs and took my super modified SC home. The wife shook her head, my daughter called me a dork and I proceeded to use a hair dryer to dry out all my electrical parts. Good news is the next day I stuck a lipo in her and everything works. Bad news, I'm a bit shy about getting it out again after fixing it up.

So, with all this said...I have great respect for anyone who can fly one of these and say, "you are truly a better man than I."

[Ellis]

All I can say is wow. And where was the video camera, lol.
Everything from here on out will be a joy. You got that first crash out of your system, now you can go fly. The flying will become more fun and the crashes less painful - sometimes hilarious. ;D

Ellis

[patmatgal]

Aw shucks... Happens to everyone sooner or later, happens to me sooner and all the time. Good deal that all the electronics are working, I "landed "a plane in the ocean once by mistake and the salt water really ended up doing a number on everything except the bits of foam and plastic. Hey, if you got it again working then go back out and have some more fun...

[Ellis]

I just remembered,

After a second or third flight with ugly landings, I was taxiing back and drove the Cub off the road into a ditch full of nasty water. It was probably the only water for 1/2 mile and there I was floating in it. Doh!

[admiralev]

$70 lipos!!!!!!!!

say hello to my little friends...the zippys!

you can get 3 of these with shipping for about $80. thats 3 batteries for only $10 you paid for your 1. i use these and they work awesome, even though i import them from HK. give them a try!

www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6306&Product_Name=ZIPPY_2200mAh_3S1P_20C

also, welcome to the forum! sorry to hear about your mishap. call me if you ever want to feel good about your flying skills *sulks into shadows*

admiral

[bucknut]

I've read alot about those Zippys. Some made in China, the better ones made in Korea? I guess my first question is, are they waterproof....LOL!!!!! You know with my subaquatic flying skills this is a must. Also, I was thinking of getting those water proof Traxxas servos they put in 4x4 RC Trucks....that should help.....YIKES!!!!

At least I didn't run into a flippin' puddle like some other pilots around here.....I earned my "wings"...er, uh, "flippers" the real way.

And thank you the encouragement. I've been reading this forum for a month before joining and have seen all the great suggetions and help. Now if you can fill my ADD prescription too we'll be in great shape

AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

[Ellis]

Dec 13, 2008 14:13:24 GMT 1 bucknut said:

At least I didn't run into a flippin' puddle like some other pilots around here.....I earned my "wings"...er, uh, "flippers" the real way.

OUCH! that hurts comming from "Mr. runs around in his underwear throwing rocks at his plane".

From,
Mr. drives into ditch

[bucknut]

Not only was I running around in boxers and throwing cinder blocks at styrofoam.....I was next to a busy two lane road across from a high school. Do the words "restraining order" mean anything to you???

Hey today was even better. My flight lasted 5 minutes and I was doing great except the trim for both my rudder and elevator are like a semi truck with a flat front tire. Take my hand off the right stick and I'm pulling left like Tiger Woods and a tee shot into the woods. Need to zone in on that a bit because I did a perfect three point landing.....in the top of a 50 ft. tree!!!! But alas, the local volunteer fire department is going to meet me tomorrow to climb the tree for me and fetch my plane. I told them to write up a report that they were resonding to a "downed" aircraft. Do I need to notify the Federal Authorities? Man, I really picked a bad week to stop doing Meth....LOL!!!!

[ginginho]

Teehee, you certainly seem to be getting maximum thrill factor out of your SC. I'm impressed you can call up your fire Dept to get it back. There's a SC planted in a tree way out of reach here in the UK that's been there for over a month now.

Not mine honestly, a flying buddy. The sort of thing that happens when you fly as it gets dark and facing the very low Sun!

[bucknut]

I watched and learned the trick that rescue workers use to get ropes up into trees that are 60 feet high. That's where I decided to "park" my SC for the weekend. This trick will be useful for everyone who has a plane stuck in a tree or wants to borrow someone elses plane while they figure out how to get it down....LOL!!!

Ok, so this guy shows up.....along with 4 other buddies because apparently this is funny. I'm guessing there aren't any cats to be rescued and the burning buildings can just wait. So he brings out this duffle bag with climbing ropes and harnesses. He takes out this thin nylon rope. It's about the diameter of a pencil and tied to the end of it is a leather sack like a beanbag about 4 inches long filled with what felt like lead buck shot. It weighed about a half pound...not sure of what these metric conversions are for you UK folks. He held the rope so that the leather sack would swing without touching the ground, and he swung and back and fourth a few times to get momentum and then with a big underhand throw it goes up......quickly....along with the attached rope. The goal is to get the rope over the tree and let it land on the other side. There you tie a real climbing rope to it and then pull it back. Now you have a rope on both sides of the tree.

Well, this guy was such a good aim with this that he basically hit the plane on his fourth try. Again, about 60 feet up. He yanked on the rope and the rope cut into the wing and then the leather bag grabbed. A few tugs later and he lowered the plane down like it was on a pulley. It was very impressive. So the official name for this device is a "throw-weight." I'm going to go buy one from the local tree trimmer supply store. Can't imagine it costing more than $30. They are only about 150' long and made of nylon, hardly high-tech, but very effective.

[duck9191]

another useful "recovery" tool is a rope-saw. all it is a piece of rope tied to one end of some chain from a chainsaw with another piece of rope on the other end. get it over the branch and pull the two sides of the chain back and forth and down comes your plane.

[bucknut]

I like the chain saw/rope idea. How does this work when your plane is up so high and the tree has a wide canopy? I'm trying to envision the situation I was in and the plane was literally sitting inside the top of the tree about 10 feet in....nose down. It was surrounded by a lot of branches that look like they would run interference with anything that you were trying to "go over."

[admiralev]

you're limited by how high the plane is. they only have so much reach. you could pick one up at any hardware store. as for your rope thing, you could save yourself a lot of money by attatching a bag of rocks to the end of some rope. much cheaper

admiral

[ginginho]

Dec 17, 2008 23:00:34 GMT 1 @admiralev said:

.. as for your rope thing, you could save yourself a lot of money by attatching a bag of rocks to the end of some rope. much cheaper

admiral

Alternatively you could make a "Monkey's Fist" with some thicker rope that's attached to your thin stuff.
This is an old Royal Naval knot used for when a line would be thrown from ship to shore or ship to ship. An overview of what it is can be found at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey's_fist

Had a lot of fun as a kid making these with my chums then whacking each other with them as slungshots.

[jakestg]

Brave RC Pilot, I would jump in the water myself lol.