I got luckier than anyone ever did

DethWshBkr · 05-10-2012, 12:43 AM

Flying my Somthing' Extra this past weekend, as I just got it used about two weeks ago, did a bunch of work, and I am enjoying the RELAXING flight time of an airplane.

Pushing out some hard full throttle full elevator figure 8s, and all the sudden I lose control. Aileron inputs are all kinds of bad, but she is just flopping around in the air about 150 feet up. I thought it was radio losing reception, so I started running towards it. Next thing I know, she's in a full fledged floppy dive straight into the ground.
My dad, next to me was yelling "chop the throttle!!!" Well, I instinctively hit "throttle hold" which of course, did nothing!!! I DID neutralize the throttle/collective stick, as I would do in the event of a heli malfunction. About 25 feet off the ground, I actually chopped the power, and she went in.

Ran down to it, and NOT A SCRATCH ON THE AIRPLANE. Not a hole in the monokote, not a broken prop, NOTHING. The spinner and prop were covered in dirt, but I picked up a fully intact airplane.
The ONLY thing I saw, was the right wing trailing edge was down about an inch. It appears as though the locator dowel (opps on my part for not gluing it into the fuselage!) pushed out of the right wing, and it was able to just rotate a little bit around the main joining spar. The fuselage did have a slight break where the wing attachment hook was jamming into it, and the main spar tube in the fuselage was slightly loose.

UNBELIEVABLE.

I filled in the flight fuse hole, and epoxied the main wing tube, and added some plywood gussets, just to be safe. I just cannot believe I did not walk away with toothpicks that day!!!

memosteve · 05-10-2012, 08:02 PM

That's super-lucky!!! You should hurry up and buy a lotto ticket!

WillJames · 05-15-2012, 05:58 AM

+1 on the Lottery Ticket. Go ahead and get two of them.

Glad to hear you took home everything in one piece.

Mike2112 · 05-20-2012, 10:08 PM

One time I had a Cap 232 nitro that I stalled on approach. It would up entering a spin and fell behind a school building. When I got there, not a scratch at all. Weird how that kind of stuff happens. About a year later I taxied into a basket ball post and destroyed it beyond repair. 5 knot taxi, did it in.

Twill · 11-20-2012, 09:15 PM

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That's my wreck i lost power servos and all I freaked hit throttle hold like heli stupid smash wish I would have thought to drop throttle. Lol

veloflier · 11-21-2012, 10:30 AM

It's just trying to make the switch to one thing from another. Sometimes the brain just doesn't want to co-operate! lol.

codfish124 · 11-24-2012, 02:48 PM

iv set up a hold on most of my airplanes. i did it cause id bump the throttle almost chopping off fingers but have hit in in a crash

jdr00ejr · 11-26-2012, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codfish124

iv set up a hold on most of my airplanes. i did it cause id bump the throttle almost chopping off fingers but have hit in in a crash

Not to get too off topic - but out of curiosity - what Radio - and how did you do it?

To the OP: Awesome to hear you didn't toothpick it!

05-10-2012, 12:43 AM	#1
DethWshBkr Registered Users Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Jonestown, PA	I got luckier than anyone ever did Flying my Somthing' Extra this past weekend, as I just got it used about two weeks ago, did a bunch of work, and I am enjoying the RELAXING flight time of an airplane. Pushing out some hard full throttle full elevator figure 8s, and all the sudden I lose control. Aileron inputs are all kinds of bad, but she is just flopping around in the air about 150 feet up. I thought it was radio losing reception, so I started running towards it. Next thing I know, she's in a full fledged floppy dive straight into the ground. My dad, next to me was yelling "chop the throttle!!!" Well, I instinctively hit "throttle hold" which of course, did nothing!!! I DID neutralize the throttle/collective stick, as I would do in the event of a heli malfunction. About 25 feet off the ground, I actually chopped the power, and she went in. Ran down to it, and NOT A SCRATCH ON THE AIRPLANE. Not a hole in the monokote, not a broken prop, NOTHING. The spinner and prop were covered in dirt, but I picked up a fully intact airplane. The ONLY thing I saw, was the right wing trailing edge was down about an inch. It appears as though the locator dowel (opps on my part for not gluing it into the fuselage!) pushed out of the right wing, and it was able to just rotate a little bit around the main joining spar. The fuselage did have a slight break where the wing attachment hook was jamming into it, and the main spar tube in the fuselage was slightly loose. UNBELIEVABLE. I filled in the flight fuse hole, and epoxied the main wing tube, and added some plywood gussets, just to be safe. I just cannot believe I did not walk away with toothpicks that day!!! __________________ Blade SR; Blade 450 3D; Blade MCP x; Thunder Tiger X50(TT) Sig Somethin' Extra, Seagull MXS-R with 22cc gas engine!

05-10-2012, 08:02 PM	#2
memosteve Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Tillamook, Or	That's super-lucky!!! You should hurry up and buy a lotto ticket! __________________ HeliDirect.com Team Pilot/Rep Align T-Rex 700LE FBL, OS 91HZ-R, Hatori SB-20, Beast X Align T-Rex 600LE FBL, OS 55HZ, Beast X Outrage Velocity 50N2 FBL, OS 55HZ, Beast X

05-15-2012, 05:58 AM	#3
WillJames HF Support My HF Map location Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Western, NC	+1 on the Lottery Ticket. Go ahead and get two of them. Glad to hear you took home everything in one piece. __________________ William James To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. If you fly you are going to crash. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-20-2012, 10:08 PM	#4
Mike2112 Registered Users Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Long Island, New York	One time I had a Cap 232 nitro that I stalled on approach. It would up entering a spin and fell behind a school building. When I got there, not a scratch at all. Weird how that kind of stuff happens. About a year later I taxied into a basket ball post and destroyed it beyond repair. 5 knot taxi, did it in. __________________ Hirobo Evo .50/Futaba 9C/OS 50 Hyper & Hatori/Radix/GV1/GY401&9254/9252s/Arizona Heli Canopy Trex 500 FBL/Futaba 8FGS/CGY750/CC ICE 75 & Scorp 1400 16T/Radix/9650s/9256 Trex 450 Pro/Futaba 8FGS/450M 14T/TP Blades/ 3156s/ Futaba GY520&9257

11-20-2012, 09:15 PM	#5
Twill Registered Users Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Kansas	That's my wreck i lost power servos and all I freaked hit throttle hold like heli stupid smash wish I would have thought to drop throttle. Lol __________________ Goblin 700 vbar\ trex pro 700n vbar\ compass 7hv vbar\ trex 700e vbar\ 3s 130x spin 8000kv all metal\ mcpx bl

11-21-2012, 10:30 AM	#6
veloflier Registered Users Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Phoenix, Az.	It's just trying to make the switch to one thing from another. Sometimes the brain just doesn't want to co-operate! lol. __________________ Go Big or Go Home! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Base Jumping - To instantaneously extract yourself from a sub-optimal situation, often at great risk to your personal safety, professional reputation, or social standing

11-24-2012, 02:48 PM	#7
codfish124 My HF Map location Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: US colorado lakewood	iv set up a hold on most of my airplanes. i did it cause id bump the throttle almost chopping off fingers but have hit in in a crash

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