First Hurricane circuits (hoorah) closely followed by first Hurricane crash (boo)

[Mikej]

Well it had to happen - I have had a couple of lessons on moving up from figure of 8 to racetrack circuits and was doing OK (with my instructor) so decided that it was time to go for it on my own. Started off with a few 8's to get the feel for the wind etc., then into the circuits, did a couple OK, then on the third or forth one I didn't get a tight enough down-wind turn and instead of flying across in front of me, the 550 was behind my right shoulder and coming for me :wow2::wow2: . In hindsight I should have given it some throttle and just lifted out of trouble, instead I tried to fly out of it and ended up nose-in to the dirt :(:(:(

Damage
boom (have replaced with cut-down original long-boom)
boom support (straightened - replacement bought)
Rudder rod (straightened - replacement bought)
Set of 475mm blades - got spares, going to try the 500's
Trex 600 skids (replaced with the "triangular ones bought previously and never used)
Vertical fin (have a spare - replacement bought)
Canopy Mount (short-term pinched from spare 550 - replacement bought)
Flybar (had spare - replacement bought)
Tail rotor blade (small nick out of it other blade reprofiled to match - replacement bought)

So about $40 - 50 of bits most of which I have, but I have replaced the spares. The other thing that happened was that the small lugs that the skids bolt into ripped off the frame - I have expoxied them back on and have replaced a couple the bolts with plastic bolts to act as a "fuse".

So after 170 flights (about 17 hours) of flights on my two 550's I've lost my virginity :banana the second 550 was always bought as a "beater", but still a bit sad to smash her :o:o

And apologies to the fetishists for the foot pics

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53592&d=1215084270

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53593&d=1215084270

[skigolfmike]

Ouch! At least you didn't hit yourself and it's not so bad it will never fly again.

[xodarap1]

Sorry to hear about the crash man.. but on a bright note (and hopefully will make you feel a little bit better), at least you didn't damage a CF frame and only broke the wooden blades and other cheaper parts. The total repair cost for your crash is less than a set of CF blades. ;) My last crash cost me the CF blades..and it went downhill from there. :( Hang in there.. it was a lesson learned. :Bang

[skigolfmike]

My last Blade 400 lawn dart adventure was worse than that. CF Blades, Feathering shaft, Main shaft, Flybar, Main gear, Tail Drive, Landing gear, Tail boom, Stripped servo gear and Canopy.

[mysticmead]

congrats!!! you not only moved to circuits.. but lost your virginity at the same time!!

and yeah.. crashing sucks.. but as you have seen, it wasn't that bad on the wallet.. that's one of the reasons I picked the Hurri...

my last crash on my 450... everything EXCEPT the receiver, ESC, motor and CF frame were damaged.

[Crashed Monkey]

So sorry to see this Mike...At least you have a spare ?

As i was going to send my broken heli to u, do i get yours ?????:shock:

really , I feel bad for you . :(

[mysticmead]

here's a little tip for you... boil the landing gear for about 5 minutes.. it will make the plastic less brittle.

[Drew816]

OOoohhh, Feet! :);)

Bummer about your crash dude, hang in there, take the lesson learned and don't let the helo/aircraft EVER get behind you let alone out your sight! Ask me how I know that one... ;)

Damage doesn't look too bad, and the costs will be about what it costs to repair a T-Rex 450 so what the heck.

I just sorted out my Scale build T-Rex 450, came VERY close to plowing it in myself. Not 100% what the issue was at the end of the day, I dropped the voltage on my CC BEC to 5.1 again and took off the Flat Bottom blades; I'm thinking the later was really the problem as they're heavy as heck and we're 'flexing' a bit under the load of the monster (or so it appeared to me).

Happy Flying, or rebuilding (as I'm doing on my Gaui as well swapping gears and waiting on my replacement swashplate to arrive!).

[Mikej]

Thanks for the comments guys -she's back together now with a combination of spares that I had, repaired / straightened bits and only 1 bit nicked from my spare 550.

Took her down to the field at lunchtime, spun her up, needed a couple of clicks on the tail plus one turn to get the tracking spot on and we're back in business :thumbup::thumbup: I think I'll go back to the 8's until I have had another lesson on circuits :o

[mysticmead]

how about... do the 8's...add in ONE circuit...back to 8's... until a single circuit gets to be easy and boring... then add in another circuit before going back to the 8's... rinse...repeat

[Mikej]

how about... do the 8's...add in ONE circuit...back to 8's... until a single circuit gets to be easy and boring... then add in another circuit before going back to the 8's... rinse...repeat

MM - that's what I was planning to do last time, but I got carried away :oops::oops::oops:.

I might try that soon, but for now I'm just gonna some 8s

[mjdee14]

OOoohhh, Feet! :);)



Sick Puppy Drew ! you've been massaging the wife's feet too long.....don't think Mike will give you any Helicrack money....for a foot massage :thumbdown: