450 Pilot Error

[James M. Lewis]

This morning had just spooled my Hughes 300C, the unthinkable happen. It happen so fast I froze, my bird suddenly arched backwards on its head and hit the pavement. OUCH & DOUBLE OUCH!!!!!!!!!!! I lost that muscle memory function. Guess that's to be expected when you're in your golden years. Normally a person would invent a new language for such an event, but I kept my cool and processed it. Am real lucky the only things damaged were the carbon glass blades, fly bar rod and bubble canopy. Everything and I mean every else were AOK and working after I did a systems check. So as I'm rebuilding this bird will convert her back into a pod and boom helicopter. Still have my other scale birds that when flying will pay closer attention to. When I told my wife at breakfast and what I was going to do, her reply was "Good Training".

 

[Tony]

Oh, if that is all that was damaged, that is VERY lucky! Be sure to check that main shaft and feathering shaft. Not sure on yours, but on Align like products, just that amount of force can damage them.

 

[James M. Lewis]

Checked main shaft and feathering shaft no damage working great. Oh I forgot to mention earlier the main gear was missing some teeth. Have extra ones on hand and thank god for metal gear servos fully functional.

 

[Tony]

Nice! Gotta love when a little mistake doesn't require a second mortgage...

 

[James M. Lewis]

And gotta thank the wife for being so understanding. Already ordered replacement canopy and blades. Have a little ware house of parts on hand.

 

[Admiral]

Sorry to hear about the crash, I never seem to have any much with scale machines, I keep all mine as pod & boom now a days.

 

[D.O.G.]

Yeah I agree with Admiral. Those fuselage cost too much money for a opps.

 

[James M. Lewis]

Tony, you sure know your stuff! Thought everything was fine, but when I looked at the main shaft had this bad gut feeling. Took it out for a further inspection and rolled it across the table and had a very, very slight wobble. Lesson learn don't assume anything. Hard to believe a piece of metal that strong you can't bend will change due to the force of a crash. Will order a new one, might get two. Lucky feathering shaft is alright. And you are so right everyone about scale fuselages, got too much money and time invested. Especially since my new Augusta A109 is FBL with top of the line components. Fuselage alone with shipping was over a $100. Plus I custom painted it. If I were to wreck that one, it wouldn't go over to well with the wife. Took my time and devoted a year's work in it. Will never fly over pavement again. might reset throttle curve 85% max and keep them below 50' in flying height. This is serious and has me thinking. Will keep this bent shaft as a reminder of losing a good looking Hughes 300C.

 

[D.O.G.]

It sucks spending all that time and money on that fuselage for it to disappear so quick. It doesn't really matter if your flying over concrete, pavement or grass, the result would probably be the same... a costly one.

 

[James M. Lewis]

So true my friend, so true. Never will buy another fuselage no matter how temping it is.

 

[RandyDSok]

Hold on now.... think about it some first before just saying never again on something...

What I'm going to mention is that for at least certain people, the detailing out and getting something to look just so... is worth it even when they know that at some point a crash is inevitable. The detailing itself was also something they enjoyed as much as the flying or perhaps enjoyed more in some cases.

After my Dad got to an age that flying wasn't a great idea... he still built several airplanes because of how much he enjoyed the design and construction portion of RC. While my own patience made the construction a little tedious for my own likes, I still got a lot of satisfaction when I completed a build.

So if you enjoyed any part of detailing and using a custom fuse... maybe just temper how much you put into it if the thought of a crash after a lot of hard work is a little more than you like... but that doesn't mean you have to completely stop customizing it to your own pleasure. Maybe practice with a more stock fuse until you have gotten your muscle memory back. But if you enjoy the detailing a little, don't miss out on doing at least a little bit to whatever extent you are willing to risk as some point.

Life is short... squeeze out all of the drops of goodness you can find and don't be afraid of an occasional bump in the road.

 

[Tony]

That was a good find there James. If you would have spooled up the helicopter with that main shaft, you would have had vibration issues and the blades would be tracking weird. Glad you pulled it out!

 

[James M. Lewis]

rdsok, thank you very much for your words of wisdom and I really appreciate them. You're right about the detailing and customize of a bird, do enjoy that very much. I still have my two other scale helicopters, a CH 53 that came from lan, a friend who's from the UK . Now that was my first scale bird and put over 70 hours in building and painting. He sent me a photo of one that a guy also from the UK finish his in USCG color scheme. Knowing the navy and marines used these helicopters and had their own colors, mine had to be different. So it was completed also in USCG colors and when people see it draws a lot of comments. Especially seeing the nav lights working, no problem with orientation. A guy was so impress he ask if he could take pictures and sent to his son who's a pilot in the coast guard. But you hit the nail on the head, more stick time with my pod and boom birds. I do also have a computer simulator from Real Flight. Need to spend more time practicing on it to sharpen my skills. I'm very thankful to everyone who's given me sound and proven advice. Thank you all.

 

[D.O.G.]

This is the last fuselage I will own James. Their getting too expensive batch_IMG_0923.JPG

 

[James M. Lewis]

Wow awesome looking heli, You're so right scale birds now days are like making a car payment. I've ordered all the parts needed for a rebuilt. Losing my Hughes 300C really hurt, kit came from Germany. My other scale birds are from Canada and the UK.

 

[Smoggie]

A little tip for checking the feathering shaft (without removing it):

1. Remove one blade (other blade must be fitted and pointing straight out as if ready to fly)
2. Put a hex driver in the grip retaining bold and turn the feathering shaft.
3. While turning watch the end of the blade closely. If the end of the blade prescribes a circle the shaft is bent.
4. Repeat with opposite blade fitted.

This is a good way to test, it's quicker than removing the shaft and will pick up even a slight bend that is difficult to spot any other way.

 

[James M. Lewis]

Thank you Smoggle, I'll follow your advice. That's what I love about this forum, the strong support and feedback from others. It really means the world to me. Thank you all.