RIP SC

[Knackered Sailor]

I went to the flying field yesterday, not as windy as Saturday but quite breezy. Did the usual checks and up she went. Within seconds all control lost, no up/down, no left/right, no throttle response. Up she went twisting and twirling as the wind caught hold and I watched until about half a mile away she spiralled down to almost certain death.   

Cut myself to bits forcing a pathway through brambles towards the field where I thought she'd gone but no sign and concluded it went into an impenetrable wooded area.   Even sadder I'm not sure I can afford another one, have to sleep on it for several nights. 

[pasquale91]

Oh No!
Keep looking for it. There's still hope.

The wife's SC broke an elevator control horn weekend before last.
It did the crazy up/down/up/down till she cut throttle.
It was sitting on top of a 3 foot tall scrub oak with no damage
to the airframe.

[sham]

Ouch.
Unusual for it to have engine power but no control, failsafe should have kicked in.

Are you going to attempt to find it again, or simply assume death... ?

You never know, there's a small change it landed on dense enough growth to survive. Unlikely as it seems.

How am I going to n break the news to mine?

[flydiver]

Is there failsafe on the stock unit?
Was yours the stock Cub RX? Modification? If so, what system were you using.

Sorry to hear about that. No response indicates no communication between TX and RX. Spektrum 'should' have shut down.

[sham]

When mine loses connection it defaults to the settings on the sticks when it was bound to the TX. So low throttle and centred controls.
Tested by turning the TX off as my son held the plane under power. It works. I thought all Spektrum RX did that.
I did nothing to set it up, except bind it.
You didn't have the wrong model set on the TX or something sailor? Otherwise, it would seem to be RX failure... But make sure the TX is fully range tested before next flight on it....

[Knackered Sailor]

Stock r/x, admit I didn't do a range test but it flew for hours a couple of days before and I did check at the time that I had right model showing on 6i and as I said I did check all functions ok before take off.

[flydiver]

Aug 27, 2014 22:09:15 GMT 1 @thingy said:

Stock r/x, admit I didn't do a range test but it flew for hours a couple of days before and I did check at the time that I had right model showing on 6i and as I said I did check all functions ok before take off.

An incident like this happens and the advice to do a range check seems to immediately pop up. I don't know anyone that does a range check after the initial flight, and half the folks don't do that. But, you should do one initially, and after any major crash or modification. If you don't you WILL someday end up with a reversed control surface or a plane that flies out of range immediately.

I don't see this as your fault. Something must have failed. In this case it failed in a very non-standard way. Usually failure means > no power, or a stuck servo. I'd rather have no power myself.

[renard80]

Oh bugger, bugger, Sailor!

I know just how you feel. Been there, done that, had that lousy gutted feeling.

While she was lost, it poured with rain all night. I went back the next day and, like you, forced my way through dense forest and brambles. I remember there was even a little light drizzle to really cheer me up! After about an hour I eventually spotted my little lady, perched in a low tree. As I climbed, I thought how stupid, this old bloke could fall out and nobody would find him in this quiet, lonely wood.

Good news is that, despite a thorough overnight soaking, my beloved SC seemed none the worse for her adventure.

I sincerely hope you find her and she lives to fly again. Nil desperandum - worse things happen at sea, matey!

[sham]

I wasn't trying to pin blame, and if it came across that way then I am sorry.

Simply wondering what happened.

Personally, I do a range check every month or so of when flying from a new site... But I'm a bit paranoid.

For the record, it sounds like component failure.

[Knackered Sailor]

S'okay sham, it never entered my head you were trying to pin blame. :-)