Worst crash possible!!!

[RudeRebel]

Just got back from the field, session ending with a horrible crash with my beloved Warp. I was on my last battery and doing some light 3D, and transitioned into a speed run when all or a sudden I had no elevator control. With the heli now heading towards the trees and very little control, I hit the throttle hold, managed to get the heli level, and then the heli disappeared behind the tall grass. As I started the walk of shame towards the crash site, I had this sinking feeling. My worst fear had come true. I crashed into the pond!!! I could see the blades just beneath the surface of the water, heli sitting at the top of the weeds. I waded into the above waist high water to pull out my drowned bird.

While there is no physical damage to the heli, it's yet to be seen how the electronics will make out. Just about to start taking the heli apart to start the drying process. Wish me luck.

[numbermonkey]

oh that's awful. Take it apart and put the electric components in rice. Hoping for the best for you.

[Bob O]

Oh man.

[quinn]

i just did one of those with my 6hv. it was completely submerged for about 20 minutes. i was lucky that my battery came loose when it hit the water. nothing fried. time is working against you. get the whole thing dissasembled, dried and maybe some wd40. oil all the bearings. if you have compressed air, that helps to get the water out of the bearings. i would take all the electronics apart that you can. i pulled the case off my ikon, esc and bec to dry them. i made the mistake of assuming my torq servos were completely water proof so didnt open them till a week later to find water in them. they still work, but i dont trust them. i would pull the servos apart right away

[RudeRebel]

ok, completely disassembled!

All electronics disassembled, blown dry, and in a bag of rice.

All bearings blown dry and lubed.

To be on the safe side, I think I'm gonna take this opportunity since the warp is completely disassembled to replace the screws and possibly all the bearings. We'll see after a few days what is still good and what needs to go.

Fingers crossed on the electronics (gonna leave it is rice for 3 days before I even test to see what's fried). Unfortunately for me, there was no such luck in terms of disconnected battery. It was completely submerged for 20 mins plugged in. I was just lucky I could see the blades through the water and it was sitting on top of weeds, otherwise I would have never found it.

[cyclo]

Sorry to hear about the mishap RudeRebel... I hope you get your Warp back in the air soon.

[quinn]

When you pulled it out of the water was anything still powered? Like servos buzzing?

[rodo1268]

Any idea why you lost elevator? Gawd that sucks man, best of luck going fwd,

[RudeRebel]

Originally Posted by quinn

When you pulled it out of the water was anything still powered? Like servos buzzing?

No buzzing, no lights, but still plugged in. I'm pretty sure ESC and/or BEC are fried, but we'll see.

[Luigi_tuga]

Good luck!
But worst crash is a bit rough...
Having a heli vaporized after hitting very high voltage lines is worth, it happened with a poor-luck goblin

[GravityJunkie]

That sucks.

I had a rear servo go out and of course that takes out the elevator. What servos were you running?

I've seen the goblin vid. I'm not so sure luck played a part in that vid. It seemed to more of a 'selective harvest'...

[RudeRebel]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. A day and some perspective later, it don't hurt so bad.

Sorry for the title, I realize there are plenty of other crash scenarios that would be much worse. Even at the field we fly there are probably a couple of worse options. That said, what should have been a soft auto-Landing into tall weeds on dry land just a few feet away was instead one dead center of a tiny 30ft x 30ft pond. It wasn't exactly warm yesterday as I live in Canada and it's Sept. I wasn't in the mood to take a dip in a "pool", a shallow, mucky, weed-filled pool at that. So in the context of my world, at the time of my OP, it was hard to imagine it could have been worse.

While it does suck, it's not the end of the world and I'm taking things in stride! It definitely could have sank to the bottom and I never would have found it, so I'm happy to have the opportunity to salvage electronics, and the rest of the heli is in perfect condition (gonna replace all the screws to be safe as most of them rusted pretty quickly and we'll see how the bearings make out). Wasn't so funny at the time, but now that I've had a chance to shower and take the heli apart, the boys and I are having a pretty good laugh about it.

As for cause of my misadventure, the elevator servo was ceased, and upon further inspection, the large gear had missing teeth (nothing that should have happened in flight but more likely a remnant of a previous crash so I only have myself to blame). The cyclic servos are DS95's and tail is DS95i.

I've seen that Goblin video too, and in the grand scheme of cost and actual damage, it's definitely hard to top in terms of a bad crash, vaporization of heli, and worst case scenario. His Kontronik ESC is worth more than I spent on my entire Warp As it was so eloquently put, natural selection seemed o be a huge factor, LOL. Meanwhile, I took a dip in a shallow cesspool so not sure if I deserve a better fate

PS. I'm calling the pond a "pool", but make no mistake, this field is nowhere near residences, and the land is as wild as one can find so close to civilization.

[RudeRebel]

Quick update. So ESC, BEC, and FBL (AR7200BX) all fried, servos, motor, and the rest of the heli in perfect condition (minus the stripped elevator servo gears, which were the cause of my crash, not caused by the crash).

I stripped everything down, dried, lubed, and sat on it for a couple of weeks. I finaly picked up a used HeliCommand through a buddy this past weekend, grabbed ESC and BEC from my X3, and just got my Warp all back together and set up and ready for re-maiden. Unfortunately forecast is for rain and given my recent experience with water, I'm holding out for a better day, LOL.

[Scream]

Good luck on the maiden flight & happy landings thereafter!!

Cheers!
-=S=-

[Luigi_tuga]

+1
hope everything goes smooth.

[RudeRebel]

Oh Yeah!!!!!! What a beautiful feeling. WARP IS BACK, BABY!!!

Made some fine tune adjustments on the HeliCommand through the first flight and it was good to go. Flew 4 more flights and WOW!!! It may have just been to 2 weeks of not flying the Warp talking, but it flies better than I remember.

Thanks for all the well wishes guys ... this chapter is closed and a new one begins ...