Major crash...

[Dash]

It was the last flight of the day. Just learned forward flight and was flying some nice circuits around the field. All of a sudden the engine quites, and down comes the Spectra-G like a ton of bricks. I don't think I will ever forget the load thud sound it made as it hit the ground. I had my timer set for 9 minute flights. Usually Im out of fuel at around 12 minutes. Well the tank was bone dry at 7 minutes. Not sure if I had a fuel leak or if forward flight eats up more fuel. Extensive damage occured. :( I hit so hard I cracked the engine where the muffler attaches to it. I'm considering just buying a whole new kit since the damage is so extensive. I couldn't believe how fast the rotor rpm's decayed. I had no chance to autorotate.

[NolanManley]

That sucks. :shock:
I hate to hear of crashes like this. Why doesn't more people preach learning Hovering autos (at the least) before doing circuits.
That pretty weird that your fuel only lasted 7 min. I get 12 min on my Spectra while doing sport 3D maneuver's for most of a flight.
There was NO fuel left when you got to the heli? No busted tank?

A while back I installed a "T" fitting in my fuel feed line so I could drain the tank when I wanted. My engine quit on the next flight while inverted. Did minimal damage by MA prices ($200) :twisted: and I removed the "T" fitting and have not had any more problems with it.
Make sure you have NO air leaks or this will become a common problem. ;)
Sorry for the crash.

[Freakinflyin]

That sucks...! I'm always worried about my fuel, I think I'll learn from your bad luck and put in a larger tank!!! Good luck!

Cheers

[DavidH]

I couldn't believe how fast the rotor rpm's decayed. I had no chance to autorotate.


Have you ever done any autos before this happened?
If you have not, yes the rotor rpm will decay quickly when power stops to rotor head. You have to pull negative pitch to keep the blades spinning on the descent. Then you have to add positive pitch as needed to land the heli. I would think the rotor rpm decayed so fast because you maintained positive pitch in the rotor blades.

David

[rob_jones]

Learning autos will save your butt! Just yesterday I flipped inverted and started to climb. When I got to about 40 feet, the engine went lean and died. I calmly :roll: flipped it back over and did a sliding downwind auto. And this was with a 50!

The moral of the story: As soon as you start doing forward flight, learn to do autos!!

[bigrcr]

Are you using a loop in your vent line or the one way valve? If not the fuel may have been slung out instead of being consumed.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. How did the central frame stack fair in the crash? It sounds like you landed dead on the muffler. :arggg: :arggg: :arggg: :arggg: