Worst f2B moment of your life?

It seems that no matter what we do in life, something always happens to our lovely aircraft.
Im sure we have all been there and done that. YES im talking crashes.

Whats the worst experience you've ever had? Lets try to make eachother feel a little better knowing Even the best out there have "one of those moments"

My own Story is quick, Practicing for a State champs finalising my trim setting. Doing the vertical 8's Did the 1st one OK.. went to give full down to fly the other side. And I felt "clunk" and saw the model start to do TIGHT inside loop after tight inside loop.
Becasue i was at the top of the 8' all I could think was, try to save the engine.. minimise the damage. So I tried stepping forward leting the lines go slack as it jagged LEFT and right. I thought to myself, I cant keep doing this, ill snap a line. Then it occured to me.. Maybe i broke the DOWN line off the handle, becasue I could see it dangeling.
So I attempted to grab the loose line with my other hand, wrapping it up in an attempt to take the pressure off the line.
It temporarly worked, i could sort of control it.. ( by this time the crowd was gathered for the inevitble!) this was all going on for a good 2 minutes.
I could only fly up, or fly it level, I had no down, I thought at the time, I jsut didnt grab the line well enough, but for now, the model was STILL in one piece. With my fingers' now bleeding becsue the engine was revving harder due to getting low on fuel it finally cut, upwind after batteling with it, I let it go over my head in a wingover and with about 5 ft to spare i did a nice pullout to level flight and HELD the down line, WHICH.. was only giving me neutral.. peferct glide, and landing.. * EVERYONE CHEERS! * ( those that were there.. remember! )

After assesing the plane and being on adrenalin I tried to find out what happend. The problem was the leadout line had snapped off the bellcrak and had pulled through and stuck on the leadout adjuster on the tip, Which is why I only had neutral. I was actually takeing the pressure off the up line and flying on trim alone.

Since the ive invested in a carbon "bulletproof" urtnowski bellcrank!

ANYONE ELSE WITH A STORY?? Be it good or bad?

I thought I would add a BAD story in seeing that was the POINT of this post

How about.. 3 weeks before our nationals, Pull out of the hourglass and feel a "tug" then BANG instantly IN!

that stunter was only 2 months old. .61 powerplant with a lot of dirt in the engine!
Cause of the crash:
FACT: elevator pushrod 4-40 bolt snapped. Clean in half. WHY? Who knows. Fautly metal? perhaps.

I've already described mine in the Stunt-a-thud thread. I'm recovered now.

Billy Suarez had something similar happen with his F-4 Phantom Blue Angel at the 1970 NATS. During one flight the down line snapped and Bill found himself doing one inside loop after another. He somehow managed to pancake the Phantom after several loops. Damage was to both main gear and a cracked empennage. He worked on it through the night and had it ready the next for competition. Billy earned 7th place in that NATS with a repaired Phantom. That ship still exists today and it still looks beautiful.

We're only talking plane vs ground? What about plane vs:

1. lake
2. tree
3. building
4. other plane (no winner here...)
5. mouse (again, no winner, expensive mousetrap!)
6. cow (deadstick, no real losers, but FUNNY)
7. bat (the flying rodent type, tangled up in the wires for a dozen laps, didn't wreck the plane though)
8. tall grass

Never hit any people though. To be fair, not all of them (duh) were control line. Some of the stories get better each time I tell them!

Tools

Granted, Ive only hit a Bird a few years back, Hit on the inboard wing, and the bird decapitated on the lines, VERY funny, I kept flying it around , but the bird didnt keep flying

I can also add.. Plane vs mother nature doesnt vode well for a good day either!

I have two stories, both from my younger days in Lexington, KY

The absolutely worst day was the evening when I lost my Nobler, late 50s, on its first flight. Stupid mistake, flying with old, worn lines, and they broke in the square eights. Very few pieces left that were over 6" long. Cried my heart out; my parents were watching and I was 14. I've been "religeous" about line condition ever since!

Some years later, I was test-flying a Half-Fast at dusk, and a small hawk decided to try "combat" against it. No collision, but that bird was amazingly aggressive! More tenacious opponent than Rich "von" Lopez or Gary Frost!

Two for one. Same guy. A kid by the name of Bill Meyers was flying my Scientific "Little Devil" on a tennis court. Pile of dirt near the middle. Him backing up and tripping over the dirt. His feet sticking up over the pile, and the L.D. in a wingover, then playing lawn dart. Cleaned it off, restart, and this flight was going fairly well, but there was this post sticking out (just a little) into the court. The poor thing made a solid SMACK when it hit the post head-on. Rekitted, of course,with a few more parts, and it took lots of glue to get it back together. He never did fly any of my other models.

LAST EDITED ON Jun-16-04 AT 10:14 AM (CDT)
 
I too, have flown combat against some little hawks at dusk. What a hoot!
Funny you mention a Half-Fast Randy. Brought back a memory from my teens. I had, refurbished and still have a Half-Fast with a Green head Torp 35 (talk about fast!). On one flight, toward the end of the tank when the plane is really winding out and pulling hard, my down lead-out snapped. The plane instantly started looping like crazy. Didn’t take long for the engine to quit with the plane directly over head. As I stood there watching it, seemed like slow motion at that point, I thought I could catch it. It started its way back down then I thought about that hot motor, a big honk’n Froom spinner and it’s potential to make a large dent in my forehead. I turned and ran. It missed me and made a nice divot in the grass. Like I said, still have it and fly it. Tuff plane, it’s about 45 years old now.

I am not of the calibur of flyer that those who post here are, but I remember one crash I had in 1969 when I had just completed my Imperial Ring Master. It took me six months to build, I was sixteen at the time and it was my first really big plane kit. I did everything by the book. On flying day I was going to just take it up to level flight, do a few climbs and dives to get the feel. It flew 1/4 of a turn when POP! FLUTTER!, FLUTTER!, FLUTTER! and in my youthful horror saw my stabilizer flapping in the wind like a combat flag just before mother earth claimed it for her own. I had to dig six inches into the ground to get my motor. The crash was spectacular, I can say that now. Since then I have been leary about full fuselage type models.

Matt

Hi PJ

I was one who witnessed that 'flight' at Whalan last year.

For anyone Stateside who is interested, watching PJ save the model was the most amazing thing most of us have seen at a stunt contest. And if it is any consolation for the cut hand, the achievement was toasted-and PJ's absence missed--at the same event last weekend.

His achievement took everything away from the unfortunate competitor flying Expert at the time because only the judges were watching.

Good luck in getting your World Champs model up to top performance after the mishap.

Regards, Geoff

"As seen in Stunt News" - I had just finished my latest piped Cobra 9
and was at the first contest with it. Had 12 flights total. Was on a practice flight before the contest and my friend decided to run his lines out and adjust his handle. He didn't notice that the handle went up to the circle. I was doing triangles on the other side of the circle
when he picked up his handle. I came around and hit him in the back of the head with the outboard wing - almost exactly at 5'. He went down and the outboard wing went in hundreds of pieces. The plane kept on never missing a beat. After a few laps I realized what had happened. He was shaken up, but otherwise ok. I had a lost foam wing, so no leading edge, just molded 1/16 balsa. He was very lucky. I, on the other hand, had just lost an excellent plane and did not get a chance to fly it in the contest. I did manage to rebuild and you can't really tell there was any damage. But it was a crushing blow - to both my friend and myself.

Thanks Geoff
Im sorry I couldnt make it to the State champs but i hear everyone had a great time.
Im also glad you found my "save" so exciting trust me ,wasnt planned more instinct. "best thing at a stunt contest.. " i wouldnt go that far hehe but thanks
For the record. the world champs model is fine now, just repaired a minor cosmetic blemish. Flying better than ever!
i'll be there in 2005 I PROMISE!

I was 14. My older brother and friend talked me into flying at a competition (THEY didn't enter). I took out my brand-new,never-been flown Veco Renegade with my brand-new Johnson 35 and when it was launched (probably poorly) the plane flew directly over my head with slack lines and straight into the CEMENT runway. The plane never recovered and the engine case was egg-shaped.( I returned it to the Company and they replaced it for $4) Oddly enough, I won second prize in my group. A pair of wire-cutters that I have to this day! Sorry...no pictures.

A the last NZ nationals I had a brand new model and needed some final practice and trimming time the night before my event. I had fuel to practice some eights after the schedule, so went to it. At the top of the second outside there was a gust out of nowhere and I lost line tesnion for a second just as the model turned groundward. I hesitated and the model ploughed vertically and at full power into the finely manicured grass. I was so mad and upset that I just sat there looking at the pile hoping no-one would dare to approach me. It was pretty much a total write-off, but I had no satisfactory back-up and was not prepared to let it beat me. About 10 hard hours later I had it back in flying form, but looking very rough and managed a fouth place. I think it flew better after the crash....

A more amusing occasion was a combat model that wouldn't fly nicely after a hasty repair. After a line tangle it started free flighting around inside of the circle. At one point it came right at me... so close I considered catching it to end the terror. Luckily it turned away at about 2 metres and did a few more loops before "touching down"...

A.

Thanks for all the stories Guys.

But i think with just a few more sleeps till the biggest stunt event of the year, Its time to "touch wood" not add anymore horror stories to the archives and CLOSE this ONE DOWN

remember stunt is all about those days when U do a great landing, U get the perfect breeze.. The sky is blue, the grass is freshly cut, Your engine starts 1st flick, friends are smiling. This is how we should remember stunt for the ups. Not the downs.

I started this thread to allow everyone to see the good times allways outweight the bad. When it all looks bad something positve can come of it.

Lets enjoy the year and safe flying to ALL!

Ok, so no more stunt crash stories...

But a combat one would be OK, wouldn't it?

I was 13 and had quite a nice diesel powered flying wing that had lasted me a long while (must have been time to go). I was teaching a friend to fly and had tuned it right down for a slow flight. He was just about to come into the circle and a freak gust of wind picked up the outboard wing and tipped it just enough to turn it directly at me.

I dropped on my face just as it whooshed over my head, and sprang up hoping to catch control of it on the other side. It was going like crazy and hit the end of the lines very hard - talk about a pull test!

I watched almost in slow motion as the leadouts, then the bellcrank came neatly out of the wing still attached to the line, followed by the rest of the entire control train including finally the elevator which pretty much turned the entire plane inside out like a sock.

What was left fluttered to the ground - some bits were still under power. Best combat loss I ever saw.

Hhehe
that reminds ME of another story, When I was VERy young learning how to fly, My father and a friend of his set me up with a .15 flying VERY slow laps, on long lines, jsut so i could get the feel for it. I was only 5 - 6 yrs old at this time, Anyway I remember coming into the wind, and the model jsut got blown toward me, and I still remember seeing it fly RIGHT at my body, being so young obviously I was scared but it crashed about 6 ft from me in the centre circle.
I also remember being so scared I didnt fly for 6 months, Went down.. but didnt fly.

PJ,

Please contact me at my e-mail address.

[email protected]

Thanks, Dee Rice

After reading this, I feel much better about my mishap last weekend. At least my plane is in one piece.

Dee.. check your email.

Randy, Thats a good luck story when u have a mishap and things go your way, I started the thread on that note. I read your stuntthud thread

Wow.. Stunt-thud thread try saying that 3 times fast.

It ammused me but im not sure i can VISUALISE what was going on.. Did u snag the line in your button? and try to release it??

P.J

LAST EDITED ON Jun-19-04 AT 01:34 PM (CDT)
 
P.J.,

Stunt-A-Thon is the actual name. Felt like the Whirl-A-Thon or Stunt-A-Thud for me.

Here's what I wrote to a friend of mine in describing the bizarre series of events.

No, the excitement for the day came when I went to fly my first official flight. Something snagged the tail-wheel, either it was the whirlwind from the twin full sized plane taxiing from the fuel deport or it just caught something on the pavement, but whatever, the plane made a partial left turn, skittered across the circle took off. The real problem came (as if that wasn't enough) when I realized that in all the hub-bub of trying to get the darned thing tracking on the ground, the lines had snagged on something. The next 20 seconds were pretty interesting. The plane went into a wing over and did a 180 and headed back into a wing over. All the time I'm trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Finally realized (while the plane was still in the air), that the upline was snagged and my coat was interfering with my ability to control the plane. I pulled my hand back and, while still snagged, allowed be go get the plane back under control. It was about then that I realized that in all the dancing around, I had strayed a considerable distance from the center of the circle. This is a pretty tight place to fly. Luckily, I was flying at about 20 feet altitude. Guys from outside the circle were yelling at me and I realized that I was flying right over a full sized plane. While I wasn't all that close to hitting it (I didn't think anyway---close enough), the very fact that I was flying over it about gave me a heart attack. I slithered back over to the spot marked as the center of the circle and continued to fly...all the while with the lines snagged on my coat. Did I mention that the wind was not only howling during this little maneuver, but was coming off the hanger and was pretty turbulent?

So, in the mean time, The Dirt and Jerry Eicthen had ran out into the circle (lucky I hadn't stumbled over them in my mad survival dance) and Dan had his buck knife out and was offered to cut the snap on my coat. The up line was caught on the bottom snap. Now, I don't know about you, but I really don't want Dan messing around with a 10 inch knife anywhere near me. I declined his offer and asked politely for him and Jerry just to vacate the circle. (well, sort of politely. A little anyway) So, they left and I was flying around trying to look down and see exactly how it was caught. I finally realized that the line wasn't wrapped about anything (I mean, you could tell. The handle would be pretty screwed up) and I was finally able to disentangle the up line from the coat snap and was back in business. Even did a couple of inside and outside loops just to make sure everything was still operating.

The landing was mercifully uneventful. Afterword, I found out that the prop had binked on the pavement sometime before it's self take off and since I didn't have another one that worked all that well, my flying day was over. So I didn't get an official flight in, but I still have an airplane. I probably could have flown with another less suitable prop, but my nerves were pretty much shot by that time.

So, at least I made it out alive. You missed a show.

It's not an event that I much want to repeat, but I'm sure I'll laugh about it...eventually.

I really don't wish you to have a similar experience.
Some years ago I used to fly on a parking area of a big truck factory. This area was used for hundreds of employees during work days, but I got permission to use it on Sunday. Because of the huge asphalt areas it was extremely hot in summer.
I'm using a stooge which is mounted to a metal plate. This plate is so heavy I cannot hold it on my arm stretched out horizontally. This is my "asphalt stooge" ( I have another one for grass ).
One day I made practice flights as usual. After starting the engine I walked to the handle. Beeing half way between model and handle, I saw the handle coming towards me !!!!!! Turning around quickly, I saw the airplane in an almost vertical, slightly inverted position, still kept on the ground by that heavy metal plate, and falling on its back. Luckily there was not much damage, except for a few scratches at the nose and the fin. Not even the ( wooden )prop was broken !
Looking at the mess, there was a lot of dirt laying around my starting place. The only explanation is that a little tornado must have passed this place. I had noticed them before, but had never imagined that they could ever lift my model.
In my life I've lost quite a few airplanes, some by building or piloting errors. However I feel that the greatest horror is seeing the handle coming towards you.
Regards, claus

Gday claus

I only fly out of a stooge, even when ppl are there to help launch i feel more comfortable flying from it. And out of the 1000's of fligths Ive had, I think the same thing everytime I walk to the handle..

Will this be the day.

sometimes i run, and the sense of relief when I GET to the handel.. phew.

Ive had my stooge let go once the engine started, but i was holding the front section anyway.. Kinda scarey.

PJ,

Me too. When I'm flying alone, I always run to the handle and grab it up as soon as I can. I've never had a stooge accident, but I also think, "will this be the time".

Had the lines snag on some tall grass once. The plane made a left hand turn and took off. Flew almost over my head about 10 or 12 feet off the ground. Came to the end of the lines and I sort of ran toward the plane just as it came tight. The plane made another left hand turn and started flying normally. No damage that I could ever see. Weird.

I was about 12. I flew my first Ringmaster at the local High School.

I was flying on the asphalt playground, near the corner of the brick school building. As I was flying, I accidentaly put pressure on the line-release lever on my Jim Walker U-Reely. The plane eased out and on the next lap I flew it straight into the brick wall. Needless to say, the McCoy Redhead was toast along with the rest.

Cheers,

>The only explanation is that a little
>tornado must have passed this place. I had noticed them
>before, but had never imagined that they could ever lift my
>model.

At a combat event on a hot, calm sunny day we were all watching a carrier model practice when a sudden rush of swirling wind blew in from behind us. We all wondered what was going on, but as I turned towards the pit area I saw everything there get sucked up into the thermal. Combat models went up 1 to 2 metres and a plastic bucket went about 20 metres up. There were plastic bags and streamers fluttering as high and far as the eye could see for a while!

The only thing that didn't move was my Bearcat stunt model just outside the path of the thermal, although my combat model nearly landed on it on the way back down!

A.

Dust devils. You're describing dust devils. Like tiny tornadoes, but without the storm. Yes, caused by thermals on a really hot day. Common in TX and OK. As kids we used to chase them, the object being to stand in one and feel it swirl your clothes around. Great fun but not good for planes.
--Ray

Randy ,

Hehhe thats a save and a half. Its weird when you recall these storys to someone else, if your an "outsider" you cant fully explain the time u have to either "save" or "pick up the bits" its so quick its jsut not funny!

Ive got one more last story to tell, This is ONE of my worst.
Note: Ive never made the same mistake twice!

1st Flight and i mean.. virgin flight, took off everything was fine, felt smooth, and i felt confident, and started doing some loops, bit of inverted ect.. About half way into it, i thought to myself.. "did i put wingtip weight in" ??
I continued to do some very gentle overhead 8's when I pulled up to do the 2nd one, and it hit its own wake.. or some turbulance, Act of god if u will, and Ive never seen anything like it, from above my head, banked in so the nose is coming in at a 45 o downward dive, lines loose as anything, completly out of control, and I just stood there like a deer in headlights and watched it scream past me in a vertical banking dive, and it crashed a good 12 ft from the centre. foam core wing, light weight balsa, and LOTS of small bits. That was the worst moment of my life, took a long time to get over that one. becsue it was the 1st flight only, and it was totally piolet stupidity!

I checked and and there was no weight in the box. Lesson 1: check wingtip weight. Now I do that before i bolt the engine in!!!!!!!

Hell I do that before i cut out the root template!!!! (joke)

Ill never forget the sound it made as it cut across my vision, almost screaming.. and there was nothing i could do, becasue of the angle.

----

randy, thanks for the visualisation, im sure it was a sight to see!