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Did you fly today?????
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03-06-2011 11:37am#1I suggest using this thread as the place to report your flying experiences so others can learn. Another thread on this forum started off with a guy asking for a recommendation for a plane and it's gone off on tangents about learning to fly, repairing planes and reports of flying experiences. So if it's alright with the mods, can we use a stand alone thread for flight reports only?
If so let me detail my own flight this morning. Glorious morning so I took my Parkzone P51 Mustang to the Phoenix Park for a flight before work. I haven't flown in about two months as my dad was dying so I was a little rusty to say the least I experimented with a new handlaunchig technique by using my left hand and doing an underarm launch. This way I could have my right hand already on the control stick fir the elevator/ailerons. It worked very well and I had control from the start as opposed to my usual right handed launches where the plane us flying out of control for a second or two ntil my hand gets to the control stick.
The plane flew very well as ever but I had to bring her down early on my first battery as my telemetry unit showed that one of the fells was losing power much faster than the other two. I'll cycle this on my charger tonight to see if I can resolve the problem. The second battery was fine and I hit about 15 minutes out of the 1800mah battery. I had to go to work otherwise I'd still be flying:)0
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Good Call. Well you all know from the other thread what happened my plane yesterday evening. Silly Newbie
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Good Call. Well you all know from the other thread what happened my plane yesterday evening. Silly Newbie
Well its not really silly, you will crash, and you will crash when you are at the stage where its simple to fly. But it does become rare enough.
Very often when learning, something happens, and you wont actually know the exact cause, it all happens in a flash, then you cant remember exactly what you did. I think you said you left the motor on too long while trying to fly level, that wont cause a crash in itself. It might distract you if you think the motor should be off while you have it on. But the crash will be through a flying mistake.0 -
Prosperous Dave wrote: »The plane flew very well as ever but I had to bring her down early on my first battery as my telemetry unit showed that one of the fells was losing power much faster than the other two. I'll cycle this on my charger tonight to see if I can resolve the problem.
Discharge it under load in the plane from fully charged and watch your telemetry readings is the best way to check cells are discharging evenly. If they discharge un-evenly on a chargers discharging cycle, they are likely for the bin. A chargers discharge load during cycling is very small, so even a useless battery may show as ok in that cycle.
Yesterday i was turning the cularis in a tight slow circle while just above stall speed, this can cause the inside wing to go below stall airspeed, and i indeed stalled the wing, 2 meters up, and just touched the grass with wing tip, and unintentionally landed. So after 23 years, these things happen, although i have to admit, i often pushed it in this low slow turn to see can i get the wing to stall. But I was still saying to myself after it though, "what are you at":D0 -
No doubt that it's a dodgy cell as the quanum telemetry unit shows the voltage in each cell during flight and cell 2 was 3.2v whereas cells 1 & 3 where at 3.9v. When the telemetry detected that one cell had dropped below 3.2v, it gave me an audible alarm warning that something wasn't right.
Guess that battery will be going into the salt bucket. Luckily I have lots more batteries to keep me airborne this weekend:D0 -
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Prosperous Dave wrote: »No doubt that it's a dodgy cell as the quanum telemetry unit shows the voltage in each cell during flight and cell 2 was 3.2v whereas cells 1 & 3 where at 3.9v. When the telemetry detected that one cell had dropped below 3.2v, it gave me an audible alarm warning that something wasn't right.
Guess that battery will be going into the salt bucket. Luckily I have lots more batteries to keep me airborne this weekend:D
Yea you can make up batteries from the good cells, but they are cheap enough now just to buy new ones.
As a matter of interest, a cell thats out of balance from others on a good battery does no damage as such. Its when you charge it fully, or discharge it, that out of balance cells are a problem
Hit a great thermal yesterday bang on the 30 minute mark, battery was fully used, coming around to land, and only about 100 feet up i seen the cularis going through the thermal, got near 10 minutes of circling in that one spot. Climbed gradually up to about 300 feet. No thermals up to that part of flight.0 -
I was flying today, upside down as well:)
Crashed it into a tree quite high up and it took us a half hour to get it down, snapped in two but it snapped in the right place. Easily fixed. Will do it tomorrow.0 -
Watch out for the control rods and tubes if it broke behind the servo bay.
Just flew the radian FPV, dead calm on ground, good steady wind up at altitude. Going to fly cularis now in a few minutes.0 -
Had a few nice flights this evening (5mins) with the radian that i repaired the other day. Repairs seemed to hold up well. I just taped the cracked and oversized canopy. I was very happy with 2 of my landings.
A few problems i had. Some could be down to the slightly warped/twisted front of fuselage and some down to newbie piloting.- I had to really push for along time on lever to turn the plane right whereas left turns seemed easier. Is this down to the twist or maybe setup of the rudder. What notch should i be in?
- When powering up in launch i fount that i was finding it hard to gain a nice steady altitude at 50/60% throttle.to avoid a loop i was having to tap the elevator down as it was climbing but i was then finding it hard to strike a balance of a nice angle and maintaining a good climbing speed. Struggled to get it over 100ft. Is this down to plane setup / previous damage or something in my piloting.
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Had a few nice flights this evening (5mins) with the radian that i repaired the other day. Repairs seemed to hold up well. I just taped the cracked and oversized canopy. I was very happy with 2 of my landings.
A few problems i had. Some could be down to the slightly warped/twisted front of fuselage and some down to newbie piloting.
I had to really push for along time on lever to turn the plane right whereas left turns seemed easier. Is this down to the twist or maybe setup of the rudder. What notch should i be in?
Test the rudder on the ground, it should be central with stick in centre with hands off it, and move the same distance each way with full stick deflection. The radian comes with the clip in the second hole out from the rudder (closer to rudder=more movement). Also it has more movement with the Hi-Lo button in HI position.
Another thing to check is look from the back of the radian, along the bottom surface of the front wings, and see that they are both at the same plane, as in one is not twisted compared to the other, which would cause one wing to have a higher attack angle and so turn the radian the other way. Also see that the tail fin is in line with the length of the fuselage central line. Because the wings are curved, you will have to do several views from behind the glider to judge both wings at the same time in a couple of positions.When powering up in launch i fount that i was finding it hard to gain a nice steady altitude at 50/60% throttle.to avoid a loop i was having to tap the elevator down as it was climbing but i was then finding it hard to strike a balance of a nice angle and maintaining a good climbing speed. Struggled to get it over 100ft. Is this down to plane setup / previous damage or something in my piloting.
If the prop is out of balance, and especially if the motor shaft is even slightly bent, which is a good possibility in a nose into ground crash, then the motor/prop wont have as much power. This should be noticable when holding the radian in hand and running the motor at full throttle, and will show as excessive vibration. It should be very smooth. I sometimes randomly stick small squares of insulating tape folded around the leading edge of one side of prop, and see if any vibration is reduced, if gets worse i try on opposite blade. Can get it very smooth with this method, even on new motors and folding prop setups that were not bad to begin with.
But anyway, we always climb at full throttle, and control the climb angle by giving a slight down input on the elevator. Dont tap it as such, but give it a controlled input. If you did not need this before then your probably climbing with too little power anyway, although there is not really a right and a wrong way, but full power is the most efficient way to climb.
Even the cularis i have requires a slight down input on the elevator while full throttle climbing. This cant be trimmed into it or the radian, because if you do trim that in so it climbs without needing a slight down elevator input, the glider will then be descending far too much in unpowered, hands off sticks test, and its this that the glider should be trimmed for.0 -
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Flew yesterday evening for a while with my Radian. Nice evening out and the breeze was all but dead by 8.30. I spoke in previos posts about getting the radian to fly level etc etc after my crashes. Its still dropping on the left wing all the time so I can only think this is to do with twists etc in the fuselage. The rudder ,elevator and wings seem pretty well setup . It basically means that Im having to implement corrrecting movements my turning right to balance error. Probably best to just get the fuselage replaced in a while but as a newbie I might just use this one afew more times for learning and when Im happy enough with my skill, ill replace it. My flying itself has improved alot.Im doing nice circuits and landings - Flying and landing in meadow reduces impact damage.
Also, My battery took over 2.5 hrs to charge yesterday!! Whats the deal with that?0 -
Flew yesterday evening for a while with my Radian. Nice evening out and the breeze was all but dead by 8.30. I spoke in previos posts about getting the radian to fly level etc etc after my crashes. Its still dropping on the left wing all the time so I can only think this is to do with twists etc in the fuselage. The rudder ,elevator and wings seem pretty well setup . It basically means that Im having to implement corrrecting movements my turning right to balance error. Probably best to just get the fuselage replaced in a while but as a newbie I might just use this one afew more times for learning and when Im happy enough with my skill, ill replace it. My flying itself has improved alot.Im doing nice circuits and landings - Flying and landing in meadow reduces impact damage.
Also, My battery took over 2.5 hrs to charge yesterday!! Whats the deal with that?
Rc planes are very sensitive with regard to their centre of gravity, i.e. even moving the position of the battery can make a previously well trimmed plane more nose or tail heavy. In your case, your repairs may have affected the centre of gravity of the plane which is causing her to lean left. Have you placed too much tape/glue on the left of the plane? Something to consider perhaps but the previous crashes are the more likely cause of the imbalance. You could try placing a small weight on the right wing to rebalance her.
You could also try using the trim tabs on your transmitter, i.e. give it a few right clicks on the rudder trim tab to see if that levels her out.
I'd agree that you stick with teh original fuse until you are happy with your flying as it won't hurt too much if you crash her again. You'd feel a lot worse if you crashed a new fuze.
With regard to the battery taking 2.5 hours to recharge, I take it you're using the standard PZ charger? Check that the little dial is at 1amp. It may have been turned down too far and there's only a slight trickle charge going in. The battery itself might have been overdischarged/damaged which would also cuase the lengthy charge time. Its a good idea to invest in a proper charger that lets you see the charge of each cell. I use a Sigma IQ charger which can charge all types of batteries up to 6 cells. Not that expensive at €45.0 -
Prosperous Dave wrote: »Rc planes are very sensitive with regard to their centre of gravity, i.e. even moving the position of the battery can make a previously well trimmed plane more nose or tail heavy. In your case, your repairs may have affected the centre of gravity of the plane which is causing her to lean left. Have you placed too much tape/glue on the left of the plane? Something to consider perhaps but the previous crashes are the more likely cause of the imbalance. You could try placing a small weight on the right wing to rebalance her.
You could also try using the trim tabs on your transmitter, i.e. give it a few right clicks on the rudder trim tab to see if that levels her out.
I'd agree that you stick with teh original fuse until you are happy with your flying as it won't hurt too much if you crash her again. You'd feel a lot worse if you crashed a new fuze.
With regard to the battery taking 2.5 hours to recharge, I take it you're using the standard PZ charger? Check that the little dial is at 1amp. It may have been turned down too far and there's only a slight trickle charge going in. The battery itself might have been overdischarged/damaged which would also cuase the lengthy charge time. Its a good idea to invest in a proper charger that lets you see the charge of each cell. I use a Sigma IQ charger which can charge all types of batteries up to 6 cells. Not that expensive at €45.
Yeah Im using the standard PZ charger. Dont think I could have over charged it because I usually kept a close eye on it and unplugged when it beeped etc etc.
I might just buy a new charger anyway and a new battery. What battery would you rec ? ALso what charger? i dont like have=ing to charge the existing battery in the car. Is there any 12v charger system i can use with an ordinary plug? Any links would be appreciated.
I have to say that when the radian is good, its real good. I got such a buzz flying it yesterday evening. Getting more confident in turns etc and landings are what I look forward to doing as opposed to dreading.
Have you been flying much of late?0 -
Flew yesterday evening for a while with my Radian. Nice evening out and the breeze was all but dead by 8.30. I spoke in previos posts about getting the radian to fly level etc etc after my crashes. Its still dropping on the left wing all the time so I can only think this is to do with twists etc in the fuselage. The rudder ,elevator and wings seem pretty well setup . It basically means that Im having to implement corrrecting movements my turning right to balance error. Probably best to just get the fuselage replaced in a while but as a newbie I might just use this one afew more times for learning and when Im happy enough with my skill, ill replace it. My flying itself has improved alot.Im doing nice circuits and landings - Flying and landing in meadow reduces impact damage.
Possibly a wing twisted, or the fuselage holding one wing at a slightly different angle than the other. Aileron aircraft can be trimmed out of that easily alright. Rudder planes not quite as well but can be for slight twists. A weight on the right hand wing may help. But only at a certain speed. But that could do fine for gliding.
Also look along the tail fin itself to ensure its straight in line with a line down the centre of the fuselage.
Firstly anyway, try trimming the rudder to the right slightly with the trim tab under the stick, 3 or 4 beeps at a time and test it. We have the rudder trimmed slightly one way on one of our radians to keep it straight.Also, My battery took over 2.5 hrs to charge yesterday!! Whats the deal with that?
Battery taking ages is probably the charger set too low alright, it wont quite charge the fully discharged (to 20%) 2200mah battery in an hour if thats the battery your using. If it did before at the same setting its at now, its because you were not using its full capacity in flights. But make sure its set at 2A on the dial which is the max for that charger that came with the radian.
Here is the second charger i use, my primary one is a thunder power 1010, but that hobby king one is a great charger, about €20 with postage and all, i can charge any battery i have with it. It needs a 12v power supply as well, they have one suitable for it for about €7.
It is a must to be able to see how much you have put back into your battery, from this you can find over a few flights how long you can fly for, how well the battery is charging etc, as batteries do deteriorate as more cycles are put on them, and this can be seen on chargers that show the amount the battery took to charge compared to its voltage when you start the charge cycle.0 -
Yeah Im using the standard PZ charger. Dont think I could have over charged it because I usually kept a close eye on it and unplugged when it beeped etc etc.
I might just buy a new charger anyway and a new battery. What battery would you rec ? ALso what charger? i dont like have=ing to charge the existing battery in the car. Is there any 12v charger system i can use with an ordinary plug? Any links would be appreciated.
I have to say that when the radian is good, its real good. I got such a buzz flying it yesterday evening. Getting more confident in turns etc and landings are what I look forward to doing as opposed to dreading.
Have you been flying much of late?
When I said it might have been overdischarged, I meant that you might have flown too long and run the battery down close to or exceeded less than 3.2 volts per cell. I was flying my Mustang last Saturday morning and I got almost 23 minutes out of my 2200mah battery using my Quanum telemetry device which is like a fuel guage for your battery power. However, it took almost 2 hours to recharge this battery back to full power. You can charge at a higher rate than 1C but you risk damaging the battery and shortening its life. It can also go on fire if you're not careful.
I use mostly 2200mah batteries in my planes as they are the right size/weight/power for my little squadron of 6 planes. I started off with 1300mah batteries but they deplete far too quickly for my faster planes.
I bought a transformer for my original PZ charger where I could plug the charger's "cigarette lighter" plug into the transformer and then plug the transformer into the mains supply in the house. The company I bought this from has since gone out of business unfortunately. You could try this one for your PZ charger:
http://www.modelmaniacsonline.co.uk/products.php?ProductID=8414&CatID=464&SubCatID=588&Title=HobbyZone+1.5A+AC+Power+Supply&ManCode=HBZ1004UK
but I'd invest in a decent charger that lets you see how much juice is in each cell i.e. if you have an unbalanced lipo. This is the one I have:
http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=29152
Glad to hear you're getting the hang of the Radian. She is a brilliant plane to fly and so graceful in the air. Just watch the landing speed doesn't get too low or she can stall and nose in. Try not to turn too sharply while close to the ground as this will also induce a stall. My tip is to plan your flight in advance, i.e. know what you want to do and therefore know how you are going to do your approach (into the wind), that its clear of trees etc and that if you have to overshoot and go round, there are no obstacles in your way. This way, you shouldn't have any nasty surprises.
I've been flying my Mustang a lot lately as she's a great flyer (one I'd recommend if/when you want to move to a faster plane), has no nasty quirks but can do amazing aerobatics. Had planned to maiden my new Wildcat this morning but slept in and had to miss out on what would have been a great flying session on a beautiful, calm morning here in Dublin.0 -
Pretty good morning in Dublin so I decided to give my Wildcat her first flight in the Phoenix Park. http://www.parkzone.com/Articles/Article.aspx?ArticleID=2172
Although the wind was gusting a little, it wasn't too bad...........or so I thought.:eek: I gave her about 80% throttle and handlaunched her into the wind (this plane has no undercarriage so rog take offs are not an option). She flew straight up with no issues whatsoever which was a relief. I gave her some nice gentle circuits to get a feel for her and then a couple of loops and rolls. She is a very responsive little plane and will turn on a sixpence. The only negative is that she was buffetted a lot by the wind which was ranging from a steady breeze to some tree swaying gusts. The wind appeared to be getting stronger by the minute so I thought I'd bring her down while I had plenty of juice left in the battery. This is when the fun started.
As I brought her in to land, the wind was rocking her up and down and from side to side. I did a few go rounds to try again and again. However no matter what I tried, i.e. bringing her in steeply on full throttle to maintain airspeed or coasting her down, the wind just wouldn't play ball. At this stage, the battery level indicator on my Quanum unit was dipping below 9.8 volts and therefore very close to lvc. As I didn't want to even attempt an unpowered landing, I had to get it right on the next approach. So I took her out downwind a fair bit and turned her on final for a long glide in. It was interesting to say the least fighting the gusting wind but I landed her in one piece.
All in, she's a great little flyer, quite fast and very manouverable but she doesn't like the wind much. Think I'm going to like her:D0 -
Prosperous Dave wrote: »When I said it might have been overdischarged, I meant that you might have flown too long and run the battery down close to or exceeded less than 3.2 volts per cell.
3.2v per cell under load may be ok, but if its down to 3.2v per cell while with no load on it, then its over discharged.
3.7v is the nominal, 4.2v fully charged, so 3.2v is almost completely discharged. But 80% discharged is down to about 3.6v no-load, which is a good no-load minimum to stick to for a longer battery life.
The battery chemistry is damaged when at or below a certain discharge level, and this discharge level is indicated by its no-load voltage, or its on-load voltage, but because loads vary greatly, any given level of charge is hard to be precise with on-load, except when familiar with a particular model, although 3.2 to 3.3v loaded is usualy not too bad.
So that means a lipo at 3.8v no-load could be down at 3.3v with a good load on it, but the chemistry in the battery is still at a 3.8v charge state so its not being damaged once its within its C rating load.
In reality though, every charge and discharge cycle takes its toll on a battery, but the better its kept within the 80% discharge limit, the longer life cycle they will have on average.0 -
I flew my Parkzone Radian yesterday evening. I had completed 2 flights but wasnt overy haapy about the CG of the plane and was trying to figure it out. I put it up for one last flight but i lost control of it in a loop at about 100 -150 ft . I spent 1 hour looking for it last night and another 45 mins this morning but no sig at all. I was flying it in a rural arae close to my house. I figured at the time it was in the next field ( a meadow) but after combing that field pretty well and a few around it, i cant find the radian. What do i do ? I dont think it was flying level enough or well enough to have sailed of or maybe it did but i thought it was nearing a stall at the time.
Im sickened.0 -
How long after losing control of it did you still see it for? Did you keep struggling with the controls until out of sight?
Another radian with camera on it might find it.0 -
robbie7730 wrote: »How long after losing control of it did you still see it for? Did you keep struggling with the controls until out of sight?
Another radian with camera on it might find it.
When it was in a spiral / decent / loop and i couldnt gain control , I shut off the throttle hoping to save the motor / props on impact and reduce speed . I did this when i lost the plane behind a tree line. i had gotten downwind but when i say down wind, there was hardly any breeze at all. I dropped all then and went looking for the radian0 -
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When it was in a spiral / decent / loop and i couldnt gain control , I shut off the throttle hoping to save the motor / props on impact and reduce speed . I did this when i lost the plane behind a tree line. i had gotten downwind but when i say down wind, there was hardly any breeze at all. I dropped all then and went looking for the radian
Ok, if you kept a note of the exact line the plane went behind a tree and also of where you were standing, it should be not too difficult to find.
When searching, its hard to cover ground with any method unless you have a map of the area, and far better again is aerial image of the spot where you were, including surrounding fields. So go onto maps.google.ie and set it as satellite images, centre on the spot you were flying from and have it zoomed out enough to cover a few hundred meters each way. Copy and paste into paint, draw a circle with centre right where you were flying from, and if you print this, you can search fields much more methodically, as once you are actually in a field, its hard to tell which way to go in reference to where you were when flying.
We found a plane before using this. And during the first search on the evening we lost it, we were clueless as to where to look as we searched, but the next morning, with printed image of fields, it was a lot easier to do a proper search patern with a bit of method to it.
If you are on the google.maps.ie, you should be able to judge along what line the glider was from your position, and use this as a search line. It really is far clearer where your looking with a printed image though, as its much easier to know your on the right line etc, or where you are in a field.0 -
robbie7730 wrote: »Ok, if you kept a note of the exact line the plane went behind a tree and also of where you were standing, it should be not too difficult to find.
When searching, its hard to cover ground with any method unless you have a map of the area. So go onto maps.google.ie and set it as satellite images, centre on the spot you were flying from and have it zoomed out enough to cover a few hundred meters each way. Copy and paste into paint, draw a circle with centre right where you were flying from, and if you print this, you can search fields much more methodically, as once you are actually in a field, its hard to tell which way to go in reference to where you were when flying.
We found a plane before using this. And during the first search, we were clueless as to where to look, but with printed image of fields, it was a lot easier to do a proper search patern.
If you are on the google.maps.ie, you should be able to judge along what line the glider was from your position, and use this as a search line. It really is far clearer where your looking with a printed image though, as its much easier to know your on the right line etc, or where you are in a field.
Thats a good idea robbie - Thanks a million. im going to try that. Im a bit doubtful of my position though now the search has dragged on a bit. I kind of panicked and dropped all and ran for the radian . I really should have taken a more accurate line. I have close to 2hrs of a search done so i am a bit doubtful.
Ill try that method this evening.
ps. Is theer anyway a range check can pick up something??0 -
Thats a good idea robbie - Thanks a million. im going to try that. Im a bit doubtful of my position though now the search has dragged on a bit. I kind of panicked and dropped all and ran for the radian . I really should have taken a more accurate line. I have close to 2hrs of a search done so i am a bit doubtful.
Ill try that method this evening.
ps. Is theer anyway a range check can pick up something??
If you can roughly judge where you were compared to something nearby, your house etc maybe, and then the line you last seen it, get the map from maps google, in satellite mode, and if you draw a line from where you stood, out to where radian was, but that is a little too far left of where your radian went down, and another line from your position a little too far to the right of where it went down, you will now have a narrow area in which it should be. And once you have the printed A4 aerial image with these lines marked, as well as a circle of a few hundred meters diameter centred on your fliying position, you should find it.
The range check thing cant do anything. What could work would be moving the control surfaces and if your close you might hear it. But that will be futile now, the battery would be dead now, even if it stayed plugged in at impact.
What are the fields like, short grass, crops? It can be tricky to find a plane in a field full of wheat for example. But if you can reasonably accurately note where you stood, and the trees it went down behind, you should find it with the above method.
How far away was it when it went down behind trees?0 -
robbie7730 wrote: »If you can roughly judge where you were compared to something nearby, your house etc maybe, and then the line you last seen it, get the map from maps google, in satellite mode, and if you draw a line from where you stood, out to where radian was, but that is a little too far left of where your radian went down, and another line from your position a little too far to the right of where it went down, you will now have a narrow area in which it should be. And once you have the printed A4 aerial image with these lines marked, as well as a circle of a few hundred meters diameter centred on your fliying position, you should find it.
The range check thing cant do anything. What could work would be moving the control surfaces and if your close you might hear it. But that will be futile now, the battery would be dead now, even if it stayed plugged in at impact.
What are the fields like, short grass, crops? It can be tricky to find a plane in a field full of wheat for example. But if you can reasonably accurately note where you stood, and the trees it went down behind, you should find it with the above method.
How far away was it when it went down behind trees?
about 250ft - 350ft id guess away from me when i thought it went down so maybe 200ft to the tree. It went down (if my guess is right) in heavy meadow but usually id expect the tail of it to be sticking up from the nose dive ?? I have scanned the field i thought it went down i fairly well and some surrounding fields. I Have gone into google maps now and followed your plan with the circle and lines. I will try it out later on.
Thanks again robbie for all your help - I hope it produces a result !0 -
about 250ft - 350ft id guess away from me when i thought it went down so maybe 200ft to the tree. It went down (if my guess is right) in heavy meadow but usually id expect the tail of it to be sticking up from the nose dive ?? I have scanned the field i thought it went down i fairly well and some surrounding fields. I Have gone into google maps now and followed your plan with the circle and lines. I will try it out later on.
Thanks again robbie for all your help - I hope it produces a result !
It should do, its just far easier to know exactly where you are and have looked with an aerial image, and also which way to keep looking as the shape of the field your in should be recognisable in the aerial image in your hand.0 -
Sorry to hear you lost your Rad. Mine flew off on me last August and even though I was on a hill and saw where she went down, it still took an hour of searching to find her. While you might think she's a large plane, if she's lying in long grass, you could pass within a few metres of her and not see her. Pity there isn't anyone near you with a fpv set up (Robbie - fancy travelling?;)) who could do an aerial search for you and pinpoint the position.
Robbie's suggestion is methodical. Start off where you where standing and walk in the direction of the Rad's last known sighting. Now she could have veered off left or right when you lost control and she can glide a fair bit so go further than the point where you think she might have gone down. How far she went depends on how high she was when she flew away, unless she went into a spiral and thus crashed closer to you. So you'll have to remember what her attitude was (i.e. flying straight and level or in a bank) when you lost sight of her.
You will find her, just takes a bit of time. With a bit of luck, she'll be in one piece, although the battery is most likely dead at this point.
For future reference, some guys use these high pitched buzzers to find models that have gone down in long grass:http://www.njttechnical.co.uk/lmf/.
Have you any idea why you lost control? In my case, the batteries in my DX5 had run down. Did you have fresh batteries in your tx? If so, then maybe you have a dodgy receiver. I took out the stock AR500 receiver in my Rad and put in an AR6200 that has a satellite receiver for better all round radio reception.0 -
Woke up at 6am and headed into Dublin to fly my Wildcat in the Phoenix Park. I recently purchased some new 2200mah Turnigy Nanotech batteries from Hobbyking and wanted to see if they lived up to their reputation for speed and endurance over regular lipos. 5 batteries and one huge smile later, I was a convert. According to the timer on my DX6i, I was getting 18 - 20 minutes out of each battery and this was with plenty of loops, rolls, immelmanns, stall turns, screaming dives and fast fly bys. So as you can see, I wasn't sparing the electrons;).
It was a great morning's flying, blue skies and calm winds. The little Wildcat has been nicknamed the "Fat Penguin" on some rc forums but this little plane, while not as pretty as my Mustang, is one great little flyer. She is incredibly sharp and responsive and flies like she's on rails. She has the same powertrain as the Mustang but as she's smaller, she's faster and just as, if not more, nimble than the Stang.
I was late for work but what a great way to start the day with an hour and a half's flying with the Wildcat:D0 -
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Robbie, I was just coming on to Boards to update you. Thanks for all the help and yourself as well Dave.
So I went with the plan of searching for the plane using the sat map. I had found nothing. Yesterday evening my neighbour rings the house to say that there is a plane stuck up a tree near her house. She must have known it was mine as Im the only plyer for miles. I couldnt figure out where she was talking about as I had searched all the trees I thought.
When I went over I couldnt see it for a few minutes until suddenly ... I DID! I dont know how it landed the way and direction it did. It was pretty much on the same line i last saw it but was 22ft further on and in the far side of the tree as opposed to the near side. It took almost 30 mins to climb the tree which I hadnt done since I was a kid. I crawled out along the top bow and had to shake the tree for ages. It dropped half way and got caught again. Eventually I got it to ground. Amazingly it was in pretty ok shape. There was a slight chip on the leading edge of the wing but the canopy was still on and the under carriage was sheltered so no rain got in .
Overall, I got away with it. Im not sure really what happened .The centre of gravity aint right in it and the fuselage is slightly distorted from my newbie crashed so it isnt the easiest to fly as Im always having to counter the imbalances. It probably got to much for me and down it went.
Heres a Photo attached of the plane when I found it in the tree - Have a laugh .
Thanks again guys.0 -
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Congrats on finding her. Its pure relief when you do - I know:o:D
I guess I was luckier than you in that my Radian crashed into a tree but fell to the ground so no climbing for me - just as well as I hate heights:D. Here is a video of my flyaway taken from the camera that I had attached to the wing of the Rad. You can see the point where she goes out of control and heads away and finally crashes into the tree and hits the ground. There was no damage to her apart from a few little chunks of foam knocked out. I used Gorilla glue to fill these in. This stuff expands and fills gaps but if you use too much, you'll end up with a "wart" of glue on your plane.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj5vND4VWTk
Some people mark their planes with a telephone number so some good samaritan can call them if they find a lost plane. Of course, if the plane has done a kamikaze on their house, you might not want them to call you;):D0
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