Crash happened

[mjr_larkin]

It was only a matter of time I suppose but it has happened.

My 2nd build, the favorite and most beautiful child, got into an incident today. For the first time I flew in a large field, it is a sports field with no one on it. I flew from a platform on a nearby building. It was the first time I had flown around such a large space. It was great. On the third pack I got a bit bold and ventured into some nose in FF. I almost crashed big time but recovered and landed successfully but HARD on the platform. I told my self, call your mom and wish her a happy mother's day and put the bird away. I tried to put it away, but two packs remained and well you know how it is... The tail had twisted a little around from the hard landing so I realigned it and did a test hover. The bird looked to be tilting a bit but that could have been some trim I just hadn't noticed before. Anyway, I took it out for another adventure in the wide open field and while doing one circle circuit it got away from me, and boy, when it gets away it really gets away. It came tumbling side first twords me and crashed in to the wall of the face of the platform (under me) and fell on to the grass.

Post mortem so far: (i may have been lucky)
* snapped spindle shaft
* damaged wood blades
* cracked fiber skids
* bent tailboom
* tail servo holder cracked and broke off the tail servo mount

The head appeared ruined, but on closer inspection the spindle shaft broke right in half, leaving the two blades hanging. The plus is that the blade grips look fine as does the yoke and the rest of the head.

I will salvage parts from my first born for this gaui, including the shaft drive whew.

p.s. yes, i called the mother.

[rotorhead58d]

the loss of a loved one is tough. i know first hand, that horrible feeling, and the last two words are always the same..."oh s***" welcome to the never ending world of pain.

[Buzzkill]

Congrats on the flights and sorry about the crash. Sounds like you had a lot of fun though!

[crabfu]

Originally Posted by mjr_larkin

p.s. yes, i called the mother.

lol!

Yeah I've crashed too often when there is something inside telling me that maybe you should just end on a good note and call it a day, but it's hard to listen when you are having a blast and batteries are waiting Hope that you get it back up and flying soon.

-Crabfu

[t-driver]

Originally Posted by crabfu

lol!

Yeah I've crashed too often when there is something inside telling me that maybe you should just end on a good note and call it a day, but it's hard to listen when you are having a blast and batteries are waiting Hope that you get it back up and flying soon.

-Crabfu

after flying planes and helis for years,i come to the conclusion to
never fly one last time!!!!! (before calling it the day)

the strangest things and worst crashes are happening then.......

[mjr_larkin]

So i pieced her back together with the main change being the addition of a shaft drive. I took her for a test hover and there are major stability issues. I remeasured the links and made sure there was no tracking and did another hover and still the bird is like a bucking bronco to bring down for a landing. It sort of seems like the shaft drive is taxing the motor and there are intermittent bursts of power. I really can't isolate the problem just by eyeing it in the air. Before the crash this bird was a dream, I was taking off of ledges and cars and completely comfortable until I went maverick and crashed.

These are the repairs I've made so far
- bent tailboom replaced with shaft drive
* shaft drive is set to have minimal friction (push) on the pinon while having good gear alignment
* main gear for SD installed
- bent grip/swash link replaced and resized
- link replaced that was too tight and causing fly bar stiffness
- CF skids replaced with stock skids (for now)
- installed upgrade canopy rod things
- all screws checked and tightened
- yoke replaced
- feathering shaft replaced
- flybar replaced
- tail servo replaced
- main blades replaced
- swash reset to 0 pitch at 7mm
- cyclic servos seem to be fully functional and center properly (not sure how to check for damage tho)
- CG is good

One thing I notice is the bird sounds like it's spinning up to much higher RPMs before it will actually life off. I've played with the curves but no success, I still don't get the nice and smooth lift off before. If I increase the throttle now it wants to tip over. I have to increase rather aggressively in order to get up in the air without incident. I want the old gaui back . Appreciate the support fellows.

[Buzzkill]

Bummer, the "burst" sounds like it's binding or maybe a bad bearing? How is it unstable? is it wagging? Tail to nose bounce? Or is it just the burst thing making it hard to handle?

[mjr_larkin]

Well I tried to get a hover in my living room and identify what the burst is but I just am not comfortable at all with the spin up to get a lift going. I did notice that the CG was not right (it was tilting back). That shaft drive adds quite a bit of weight, and for that reason it is going back into the 3S gaui setup and I am putting on the CF tailboom. Man it's a lot of work uninstalling the SD (pinion, main gear, servo). Oh well, will update when that's done, break!

[Gr4yb3ard]

Good post!

Great to hear more on the SD, but please do a search and replace, it's not crashing,
it's Learning!

...so I like to say anyhow.. sorry 'bout your loss.

***yb3d
"...a crash is when your passengers sue... ;-)..."