Noob warning - don't fly at sundown (just dumped Blade)

[Rick Rotorhead]

Sad this evening :( . Just waited for the wind to drop then took my Twister(Blade) CP out for a spin. I was well pleased with myself managing fast circuits in the 'slightly bumpy' light wind. Then disaster - I flew her toward the sun set (the sun had in fact already gone down) and against the bright sky guess what - yep, she turned into a strange shape changing silhouette. She was at about ten feet up and I had no idea which way she was going (not helped by the willful tail that requires a permanent, manually held, dose of left stick). Trying not to panic, I opted to gain some extra time to work things out by going to full power. Sadly, she didn't go straight up (yeah, they never do when in trouble eh) and came in nose first breaking a blade grip and its spindle. Second noob lesson now - when I got back to the car just 50 feet away I noticed I had lost a small link arm in the crash. So I went back to the spot I thought she crashed at then realised that actually I couldn't be at all sure exactly where she went in, so my chance of recovering an inch long thin black linkage in grass and failing light was effectively nil. Lesson learned; mark the exact crash site with a twig or pile of grass, stones or whatever to make returning on a parts hunt easier........ Chopper Down :(
Rick

[cbdane]

Sorry to hear it. Build 'er up, fly'er again! Hope you have a decent source of spare parts nearby. Flew mine into a wall about 30 feet above the ground (indoors) and she fell like a stone. Main damage was a bent main shaft and shattered covering on the blades but I'm running the all aluminum CNC head. Well worth the investment IMO.

Good luck getting back into the air!

[Rick Rotorhead]

Thanks cbdane. I'd luv that shiny blue rotorhead set up for my bird, but its £90 (about $140) with the ali swash. I must say those cf blades are pretty tough and take a hell of a battering, though if you repeatedly graze the tips they will eventually split open. I fly outdoors and I find she's very prone to mild turbulance especially any down draughts, I also found out about that 'sinking into your own rotor wash' condition! I look forward to getting her airworthy by about Thursday with luck.....

[akshaw]

I used to be leary of flying near dusk since I would crash nearly every time I tried it, but recently I found that if I keep my back to the setting sun, with heli flying in front of me, then I can see the heli well enough to fly it almost until it is dark! Keeping your back to the sun and heli in front of you will eliminate the silhouette effect you get when flying it in the general direction the sun is setting. Just don't let your heli get in your shadow. :wink: