My heli is alive

[Jonnyheli]

I had a crash about a week and a half ago and I had to buy new blades etc. Finally got the blades and main gear fixed etc. Took it out to the garden (Sunny day yesterday) hovered it and noticed the blades were out of track quite badly.

After the 6 mins of hovering I decided to correct the tracking. Put it on the table (Outside) and began adjusting the links. Flicked throttle hold put it to half throttle (I have a linear pitch curve for throttle hold) All is well. I unplugged the battery while I went to do something and also turned off the TX. When I came back I pluged in the the battery and turned on the TX.

The T hold warning sign came up. So I flicked it back to normal. OMG!! Its still at half throttle and the esc has initialized!! The blades went at half speed which is fast and the heli came towards me.. It was attacking me like a dog and it didn't want to stop. I literally fell off my chair and the helicopter came onto the floor with me. Then it was attacking me on the floor whilst I was trying to crawl away like a dying ant. It eventually stopped after it made a dying squeel. I put the throttle stick back to 0 and the heli was fine.. Atually it had a bent feathering shaft lol and the blades were abit dented and scuffed.

I now have gashes on my arms and legs but the skin didn't break... I thought maybe I had broken my finger because it went swolen and it was bleeding quite alot but its fine now.

But seriously It reminded me of a dog biteing you and holding on.

Iwas lucky this time... I will make sure not to do that again lol...

-Jonny

[Real_Sparky]

Sorry Jonny I am sitting here laughing, its the way you wrote it, it must have a mind of its own.

Maybe she knows you have a new girl coming and she is lashing out. You know jealous and all that.

Hope you heal ok.


Darin

Its scary when they come to life when you dont expect it.

[kheinz57]

If it wasn't for your injuries and potential for worse, it would be a very funny story. Perhaps once the shock has worn off...

General rule of thumb I always follow: Turn on the TX first! It'll warn you with beeps if something's not set right before plugging in the battery.

Glad to hear you're okay otherwise.

[Ber60]

Hi Jonnyheli

As a fellow bitee I hope your injuries are no to painfull (I still feel the scars on my finger)
This is a lesson that (if we are lucky) only happens once because it will stick in the back of our heads to check and double check the tx sticks before connecting the batts on the heli
Like you stated these heli's bite back if you let your attention wonder and the damage they do can be very very painfull.
A good reminder to any new pilot would be the pics of your injuries like I posted (http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=70225&highlight=bites&page=2) mine.

Erwin

[Jonnyheli]

You can laff if you want... I only cut my finger... The gashes on my arms and legs didn't go into my skin... They are just red lines that has stayed there... I actually didn't care about myself I just hoped that the heli was alright. Luckily it was. Once I knew my heli was alright I started laughing myself lol...

I came in and showed everyone lool...

I am thankful that I didn't have to pay for new parts and that I didn't get hit in the face:P

-Jonny

[mnwizard]

Sorry for the hurt, but I had to laugh, my Belt's got me twice.

The last time, I was putting in a new feathering shaft and replacing the tail rotors.

I put the new tail blades on and it went to check the pitch on the tail blades.

I knew the motor was plugged in, but the head was apart so I didn't think twice about plugging in the battery to operate the servos.

Well of course the gremlins had flipped the Idle On switch when I wasn't looking.

Soon as I plugged in the battery the tail rotor spun up and rotated the tail right into my chest.

Got 3 good cuts on the upper chest before I got hold of it.

Fortunately a few butterfly bandages fixed me up. I really didn't want to tell my wife I had to go to the ER! :rolling

It cut up my favorite workshirt, but I think I'll keep wearing it with the blade cuts when I go to the park. Might give me some "street cred"!

So what lesson did I learn?

Gremlins are real, so always make sure to unplug the motor as soon as I set the heli on my bench. ;)

[Ian 777]

NO PAIN NO GAIN:YeaBaby:

At least you wont do THAT again:thumbup:

[Jonnyheli]

Lol what r we like:P...

Someone could seriously get hurt one day.. We have all been quite lucky..

-Jonny

[another_finn]

Yeah, it's a good thing that luck so often steps in when our brains fail to deliver ;)

Had to laugh when I read your account of the incident - reminds me of the single time I managed to trip the idle up switch when setting the transmitter down. I don't think I've ever managed to scurry backwards so fast.

It's a real danger, setting things down for a while and doing something else before you pick it up again. It's when you break routine that you occasionally manage to miss a check before turning the power on. I quickly learned to make a light tap on the flight mode switch and throttle stick a part of the same motion I use to switch the transmitter on. That way I always get tactile confirmation that everything is as it should be without even thinking about it. Must have saved my hide and helicopter at least a couple of times by now.

[Jonnyheli]

Well normally I am like mr. heli saftey man.. I never ever accidently flick switches by accident and I always re-check the switches before I turn on the heli but this time I just plugged in the battery without thinking.

Well I guess I have learnt a valuable lesson. Always re-check everything after being side tracked.

-Jonny

[mecevans]

lucky me my radio has a idle up warning beeps. it didnt save me from the other times i crashed 2 of my helis by reversing the throttle channel and hitting the throttle lock switch when it was at half throttle. be careful, helis hurt.

[srhadden]

I have a DX7 and if I turn it on with throttle hold enable it beeps. How come? That is a GOOD thing!

:dontknow

[DierWolf]

With a good Brand ESC such like Scorpion, it will sense the stick is not down and not initialise....

[GCK]

I have a HobbyWing's Pentium ESC. It also will not initialise if the throttle stick is not down or the idle up switch in not off. As carefull as I try to be this has saved me a couple of times.