denham
05-17-2008, 08:48 PM
I just stepped up from a CP Pro to Blade 400, and on my 8th flight had my first crash.
I followed the steps in the manual and have been following the usual advice on the forums for getting started with the B400. I checked every screw and confirmed that everything was working as it should before each flight.
I was flying this afternoon in a large, empty park and while I was in slow forward flight about 20 feet infront of me and at maybe 20-30 feet altitude I noticed some interference with the radio. Within a second, I had no control of the heli whatsoever and I watched it plummet HARD into the ground nose first with nothing I could do. THUD!
Looks like the damage is as follows:
- Broken blades
- Broken canopy (totally smashed, need a new one)
- End of battery that faces the front of the heli badly smashed in. I presume with any visible physical damage to a lipo it can't be used again?
- Stripped gears on the two rear servos (may also have burned them out, don't know yet.)
- Bent flybar
- Bent feathering shaft
- Snapped blade grip
Anyway, the reason for the thread (other than for other people to smile because they've been there before or if they're lucky smile because they haven't been there yet!) is to try and figure out if there's anything I missed prior to flying that could have helped avoid the radio locking out. I am also wondering what I can do in the future to help the same thing occuring. Would it be best to avoid that particular park? Is there anything I can do about something like this? I know it was not a range issue, I was literally 20 feet away, and had been flying around this exact spot for the duration of the previous battery.
Crashes caused directly by my flying, I can deal with more easily. That's within my control and I can figure out what to do to avoid it next time. But with something like this I think I'm going to be nervous flying again in the near future incase it happens again and I have another $100+ crash.
Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions....
I followed the steps in the manual and have been following the usual advice on the forums for getting started with the B400. I checked every screw and confirmed that everything was working as it should before each flight.
I was flying this afternoon in a large, empty park and while I was in slow forward flight about 20 feet infront of me and at maybe 20-30 feet altitude I noticed some interference with the radio. Within a second, I had no control of the heli whatsoever and I watched it plummet HARD into the ground nose first with nothing I could do. THUD!
Looks like the damage is as follows:
- Broken blades
- Broken canopy (totally smashed, need a new one)
- End of battery that faces the front of the heli badly smashed in. I presume with any visible physical damage to a lipo it can't be used again?
- Stripped gears on the two rear servos (may also have burned them out, don't know yet.)
- Bent flybar
- Bent feathering shaft
- Snapped blade grip
Anyway, the reason for the thread (other than for other people to smile because they've been there before or if they're lucky smile because they haven't been there yet!) is to try and figure out if there's anything I missed prior to flying that could have helped avoid the radio locking out. I am also wondering what I can do in the future to help the same thing occuring. Would it be best to avoid that particular park? Is there anything I can do about something like this? I know it was not a range issue, I was literally 20 feet away, and had been flying around this exact spot for the duration of the previous battery.
Crashes caused directly by my flying, I can deal with more easily. That's within my control and I can figure out what to do to avoid it next time. But with something like this I think I'm going to be nervous flying again in the near future incase it happens again and I have another $100+ crash.
Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions....