Stinger 90 Bites the Dust in 3 or 4 minutes...

[jbrown2288]

Well, boys, I have some bad news on a Stinger 90. First, I was in my backyard, where there isn't much room, i wasn't trying to fly, I was just doing a break-in period and tracking in the blades, and in 3 or 4 minutes of the first flight, before i could even do any adjusting, I heard a "pop" sound and the helicopter started spinning violentely. I hit throttle hold, and of course, a 90 doesn't spin down like a 30. It went to the left, and hit a trailor that I am restoring and tore it up pretty good actually. When I went to look at it, I noticed the tail blades were gone. I didn't know what to do about it at the moment, and after thinking about it, I thought it was time to call David and talk to him about the blades breaking off. He told me he had a problem with this in the past, but thought he had that problem fixed. Obviously, the problem is not fixed because mine broke off. He instructed me to send him a list of parts that were messed up so he could replace them. After seeing the long list of all the parts I needed, he didn't feel like he was responsible for the messing up of all the parts. He thought I should have been a better flyer and set it down so that the helicopter wouldn't have torn up as much as it did. I told him that I was sorry I'm not an extremely experienced pilot. The bottom line is, that if the defective tail blades would not have broken off, and the helicopter wouldn't have went into a spin from that, I wouldn't be having to write this to start with. I've sent letters to the NC Department of Justice, and all I've gotten out of that, is the Department of Justice sending letters back and forth between me and David, and not solving any problems concerning this. So, I guess the "top dog" Gohbee Aviation wins another one. But, he did give me a good price on replacement parts (wasn't that nice of him.) After I've already spent 564$ for it to start with for three or four minutes of flight time before messing up. This seems to be a company that doesn't stand behind their helicopters. Evidently, they've had some issues with their helicopters, but I'm sure they could do better about taking care of customers. I guess that's what I get for buying a cheaper helicopter. I reckon I could've chose a better helicopter. This shows you get what you payed for. So thanks Dave, you'll save me money in the future for not messing with these brands of helicopters anymore......

[ZzEther]

I keep checking this thread for a reply.....still nothing? It's making me sad. Makes me wonder of Gohbee is in financial trouble. I would've sent a whole new kit, just to prevent a post like this (if my product was actually the thing at fault.) Then you would've come on here saying how much Gohbee rules and how they stand behind their products and they would've sold more helis and more than made up for the cost of a new kit, or at least replacement parts.

I am ready for a .90 bird and as it happens there is a Stinger at my LHS, sitting on the shelf. I have a Stinger .50 and love it, it handily outperforms my friend's Raptor, very handily, it's great. So I thought I might buy that .90 but I don't think so now. The TRex 700 is looking very good after your post.

I'm not trying to bad-mouth David or Gohbee. He's helped me on the phone three or four times with issues and my Stinger has been nothing but good to me. Well except that time I tried to fly it after I knocked my transmitter off the bench and it cut out two minutes into the next flight, it would've been nice if the heli landed itself and shut down but that kinda technology is still a ways off.

Anyway, something isn't sitting right with me here. Sorry for your troubles.

[aristo]

Actually I spoke to David today about this incident as it didnt fit what I've come to expect from Gohbee.Yes there was a question of a bad shipment of tail blades,but the supplier had notified David in advance about it.Gohbee's people tried to make sure that all of the bad ones were changed out before shipping the kits to dealers and customers.Just so you know David said it was possible that he did get a faulty pair,he never hid that fact from me.As to how it was handled, at first David told me that he told the fellow in question to get a list and he would make it right,after it was all said and done it basically came to a new copter with cf mains.And while yes a new kit might have made it easier than the publicity the poor choice of flight area by his own admission was taken into account when David made his offer.He told me he sent him everything that he asked for including new cf mains for 120.00.Sorry that the fellow had such a crash,but to expect a company to eat losses that are made worse from poor choices is just over the top.
These are flying model heli's they break they will crash,even the best companies in the busness have failures on new parts,the difference is that David is very approachable and will bend over backwards for you.john

[newbie to heli]

JBrown
Sorry to hear about the Gohbee crash. I have a Stinger myself and just love it. I am new at this Heli stuff and bought a Gohbee based on what I had heard around our club. Gohbee came hightly recommended from the other Heli pilots. My only question? Would the damage still have occured if you were at the club feild? Would a trained heli pilot been able to save the Heli from all that damage?
I just love learning on my Stinger. Just wished I had someone around to teach me how to do some aerobatics with it. Stick with Gohbee. You just can't go wrong in my opinion......

[WhirlingBladesOfDeath]

Originally Posted by newbie to heli

JBrown
My only question? Would the damage still have occured if you were at the club feild? Would a trained heli pilot been able to save the Heli from all that damage?

Sort of the first rule of thumb is to fly in an open area (especially if you're just learning).

Once you hit TH the heli should stop spinning, but might leave the heli in an unfamiliar orientation for a new pilot. But for anyone beyond nose in and FF, I don't see why the helicopter can't be recovered with minimal damage. I've had a tail fail on me twice, the first with some minor additional damage, and the second with no additional damage.

The first time, my tail blade broke off on my Hurricane 550 like the OP. The blade actually hit and tore off one of my landing skids! At the time I was in a hover about about 5 feet up and the heli just plopped down on the ground and tipped over which caused the bulk of the damage.

The second time was with my Phazor 600. I installed one of the bearing blocks upside down that holds the tail belt drive shaft, which allowed the the bearing to drop out during flight. I was flying the vertical up leg of a big loop. Hit TH, got the heli flipped over and came in to a skidding stop, but no more damage other than my heart pounding hard!

So while it's no fun to loose tail control, it is still recoverable. I think the OP just had a bad break, and if you're going to fly RC helicopters you better get use to it. Parts do fail despite the best intentions of the manufacturers, and you just have to get over it, rebuild, and keep at it!

[kiwibob72]

Hypothetically, you buy a new car ... your driving down the hill as you leave the car yard, and the breaks fail because they are dud batch, and you crash into tree through no fault of your own ....
Should you be responsible for the damage .... .... IMO ... if a known fault causes a crash be it with a car or heli as in this case, the person who supplied the faulty product should man up and make it right - end of story.
Thank god we have a little thing called the "Consumers Guarantee Act" over here, as it protects average people from this sort of thing .... it basically states that if I sell a product for an "intended use" (I run a business and do just that), that the said product MUST be able to fulfill that "intended use" that I am selling it for .... as if it does not .... i have to replace it or give the customer their money back.
Ie - I have to do the right thing!!

Yes helis crash, thats because they are hard to fly .... manufacturers have a moral obligation (again ... IMO) to ensure they don't fly to bits!!

Now I have had my rant ..... I'm off to place my soap box back in the cupboard till next time!!

[flyinfool]

Rant?

About what?

[aerosmith]

I guess I'm confused... I read this thread some time ago. The post date shows 08-30-2008, 06:56 AM. Don't get me wrong, I hate to hear about someones misfortune but sometimes we have to pick up the pieces and just move forward. Look on the sunny side... good thing no human was injured during the mishap.