what has come back to bite you ??

[chansen1953]

I think I have pushed this before, but I reckon a thread based on things that you do.. in all innocence.. and they always come back to bite you !!1

Today I was in a rush to get out to the LMAC .. becaue the weather finally turned good,, but in my rush.. I had to pull the main gear from my "waiting 600"and put it in the "ready to fly..but nogear heli !!" so in my rush .. I got out there and spooled up..only to have the main gear strip.. (my last and only spare gear till parts arrive !!) .. and that was the end of my flying day !!

What came back to bite me ? .. I failed to check the mesh.. after changing gears from a 14T/100KV motot to a 15T/1400KV motor heli.. !! so it was too loose and stripped..

So what other things do we do that we know will come back to bite us ??

I'd like to see anyone contribute to a list of these things.. As I am sure I have had every single stupid thing here is to come back and bite me later.

here's just few I can think of ...

• forgot to switch the DR on... too twitchy on takeoff. caused a crash !!
• forgot to set the timer on power up... ran out of power and had to auto land !!
• forgot to tighten ANY screws..I have sinned here plenlty just waiting for a crash !!
• tighten the feathering-shaft bolt properly after a bearing change and the bearing did not seat.. so head came loose on power-up.. lucky to not lift off !!

I think I could fill several pages of stupid things I have done that later came back to bite me ..

so what are your worst ones guys ???

something you did or did not do that came back to bite you ??

come on!! own up.. what stupid thing have you done .. and they came back to bite you ?


.

[Luke Warmwater]

I had a cat that disappeared for a few days, then came back and bit me when I went to give it a brush...

I think its mainly all the above. Failing to do a pre-flight screw check is the norm. Not been bitten yet, but through luck rather than judgement. I usually get the warning of tracking moving out a bit, so that prompts me to check screws etc....

[Tomstoy2]

I took my Avant to my buddies place to fly out in the country.
Got there, got all set up, fuel up, went to power up and discovered I left the engine starter home!

[chansen1953]

yeah, leaving stuff at home is a biggie.. always spoils the day if you have to just watch everyone else fly !!

[Ian 777]

Forgot to take the blade holder off before plugging the lipo in and nearly popped the tail servo.

Forgot to change the head bolt after banging the 450 on its head. This makes the head turn into a demented daddy longlegs when it pulls its self off the shaft in mid air.

Forgot to change the model on the Dx6i before plugging the 450 lipo in, the orange RX I briefly used spools up the motor when it has no signal

Got distracted by a pretty butterfly while spooling up the 450 on uneven ground, causing it to
fall over and destroy a pair of new carbon blades on their first spooling

I could go on but I may loose all respect among my fellow heli men

[mnwizard]

In the early days of the Esky co-axs, pluging the battery in with the throttle up on the TX would result in immediate take-off. Had several exciting take-offs!

While replacing the feathering shaft in my first Belt, it came time to check the operation of the controls. I didn't disconnect the motor because the blades were off. Throttle up, tail rotates into my chest. New shirt, new T-shirt, 6 stitches.

Finished replacing the ungodly expensive blades on my ungodly expensive Hirobo Quark. It was a touch breezy, but I figured if I kept it low it would be ok. Right? Off the deck, burst of wind, splash down in the neighbors pool. More ungodly expensive blades, ungodly expensive ESC, ungodly expensive tail motor. What's the most expensive in my fleet? Not my Mini-Titan, my ungodly expensive Quark.

[chansen1953]

Very funny jack


I did similiar with my belt whilst checking the swash on my bench... 450 suddently spun up in 3d mode... and the tail fins chopped the vertical drapes to bits .. wife not at all happy !!

I also managed to chop into the plaster wall in the lounge room .. had the 600 on a lazy susan on the bar... but didn't check the distance from the bar to the wall carefully.. and the tail unit hit the wall and chopped 5 or 6 slices into the wall before I killed it !!

I tried to hide it with a picture on the wall.. but it was a bit low and the wife sprung me straight away !!

now I have to tke them outside for any blade spin ups !!

[mnwizard]

Originally Posted by chansen1953

I tried to hide it with a picture on the wall.. but it was a bit low and the wife sprung me straight away

I've tried that trick, in my case it was a bullet hole in the wall that appeared mysteriously after a cop party in my youth. Same result though, wife busted me in about 3 seconds....

[copterboy]

Sliced my AIL/ELEV thumb open at work the other day, just where it sits on the stick. Also, got something in my eye at work yesterday.

Coincidentally, I finally finished work early enough yesterday to go fly my 450 (which has been in the van for about a week, waiting for the opportunity). But my eyes were streaming and closing up, and my thumb hurts. So I jumped in my van determined to go for a hover and discharge my packs, then it started raining as I was on my way to a field!!

The next 5 days forecast is rubbish, so I'm just wondering now my helis are airworthy, when am I gonna get to fly them!!

[mnwizard]

You gotta stop that work stuff. It's dangerous and cuts (intention pun) into your heli time...

[copterboy]

Originally Posted by mnwizard

You gotta stop that work stuff. It's dangerous and cuts (intention pun) into your heli time...

Lol...Thankfully, I'm getting on top of things work wise after this week, and should see me getting home at more reasonable times over the next few weeks and finally get to maiden the 600. Just getting frustrated now, because of the lack of flying time this year and I'm ready to fly at least something again.

Seems the gulf stream is starting to take its annual migration southwards. Today was a proper 4 seasons in one day kinda day, and winds worse than the FFFD2011 at times, with hailstones throw in for good measure!!

More on this topic tough - When Jack was last here, the tail blades fell off the cx2 because I forgot to CA them on!! I found the tail blades but he wandered about with the heli making it do tic-toks and go upside down (which is him copying daddy on the sim ) and the little white plastic 'tail output shaft' has fell out somewhere - so far never to be found. As the pin goes through the tailbox, it didn't fall out at the same time the tail blades fell off, so thats another £5 required just for the little extreme productions pin to fix it!!

As Jack is still a toddler, and taking onboard another comment a fellow freak made, I'll leave it off for now as it is a bit of a choking hazard. Will put the blades away in the spares box, and get a new shaft sometime in the future.

[Tomstoy2]

Best get that boy a toy heli to play with, my friend. Don't discourage him from touching your birds, just keep them out of reach.
I envy you, the opportunity to teach your boy what you can. Then, again, I would hate to go thru all of that over again.
That's the great thing about being a granddad. Had enough? Send them home to their parents.

[mnwizard]

I'm using the same strategy with my grandkids and helis that I used with my kids and guns.

Teach them safe handling, and tell them that they can handle them whenever they want, as long as grampa is the one that hands them to 'em. If grampa ever catches them handling them without gramps, grampa with tan their little butts.

And of course, keep them out of reach.

[Tomstoy2]

Jack! Jack always, I mean always comes back and bites me in the ass, just like the old nasty dog he is, every damn time I buy a heli! Doesn't this decrepit old fart realize how addictive this is?
Never mind, guess he does.
Still,,,,,

[Tomstoy2]

Hmmm, just edited my signature,,,, maybe Jack is right. Maybe I do need a meeting?
Suppose this means I'll have to listen to more of his jokes,,,,,, still, he does have good cigars and the beer is cold,,,

[badfrog]

The day after I got my Belt CP I made the mistake of turning the tx on, plugging in the battery on the Heli... IN THE HOUSE and carried it outside... elbow bump on the door to the house triggered a thumb twitch on the throttle - ended in some nasty cuts on my arm and an interesting conversation with my wife...