A car ran over my plane!

[GOK]

I flew my first wing for the first time yesterday. I had bought this wing from glyder here on the forums and my first toss a few months back had resulted in an instant chrash. I never had time to fix it and try it again after that untill yesterday.

These things are really fun to fly :D I can now see why people get hooked in wings. thanks again glyder ;)

Anyway, I was flying in an empty spot just off my back yard and was fiddling with the throws and the CG. At some point in flight, my battery hatch came loose (it was held in place with some tape :mad: and the battery pack (a 3s lipo) just departed from the wing :eek: I followed the wing as it descended and thought it fell onto a tree just next to Ginninderra drive (which was actually quite far away from where I was flying :eek:). Well I was wrong! wen I went up to recover it i saw it lying on the road and cars just passing over it :eek: I was so glad that it hadn't stuck on a passing cars front window that I didn't even care if a truck ran over it. When I finally picked it up, to my surprise there was'nt any damage at all other than a minor crack on the foam :D (The wing was EPP) :cool: I went home and fixed it with a bit of epoxy an it is now ready for another flight. However, I couldn't find my pack. :( I didn't even look for it as I was flying next to a creek foll of tall grass and bush.

I am happy that the accident ended with just a lost lipo and a minor crack in the foam. I still shudder when I think about what could have happened if the wing falling on th eroad would have caused an accident or something :confused:

[glydr]

Wow - what a story. Glad the cars didn't hit the motor or servos! You would think that they would stop or avoid hitting the plane.

Thanks for the battery hatch tip... perhaps some things I launch could use better methods.

Amazing how far they can fly by themselves... I would consider Ginnindera drive quite far from your place... in fact the area there would be better than most parks and ovals that many people fly in.

Reminds me of a story of a 100" glider that I bought. This aircraft used up its 9 lives when the previous owner launched it on the bungee without turning the glider on! Of course it came off the bungee, hooked into a thermal and 10 minutes later landed gently on the roof of a fellows house some kms from the field. No damage - there was a scratch on the wing - but it may have been there before!

I haven't had to use any of its lives since - flies very nicely and I always do a pre-flight check after hearing that story.

[old man emu]

"I still shudder when I think about what could have happened if the wing falling on the road would have caused an accident or something "

You know that post graduate degree you are doing? ... You wouldn't be. :eek:

There'd be a snappy visa cancellation and a cheap seat on the next fly-by-nighter out of the country, back to where you came from. :(

We all would miss you of course, and talk about that international student who was doing so well with AP from an Easystar, then was corrupted by the teachings of a radical building instructor until he came over to the dark side, causing death and destruction on one of our Capital's major thoroughfares.

You would become the symbol for where not to try out an untried wing.

OME

[steve wenban]

Could be worse a plane could have run over your car ;)
SteveW using reverse logic

[GOK]

"I still shudder when I think about what could have happened if the wing falling on the road would have caused an accident or something "

You know that post graduate degree you are doing? ... You wouldn't be. :eek:

There'd be a snappy visa cancellation and a cheap seat on the next fly-by-nighter out of the country, back to where you came from. :(

We all would miss you of course, and talk about that international student who was doing so well with AP from an Easystar, then was corrupted by the teachings of a radical building instructor until he came over to the dark side, causing death and destruction on one of our Capital's major thoroughfares.

You would become the symbol for where not to try out an untried wing.

OME

I accept my guilt and foolishness :o but as glydr says, the road was quite far away from where I was flying and I had a huge empty space with only trees to worry about. I just can't believe how the wing floated around and landed so far away :eek:

Trying to look at it from the bright side (although it is difficult), I must have had the CG spot on and must have had the wing tuned in perfectly in that final flight I guess. :cool: That's the only way it could have glyded so far off :rolleyes: without any input

Cheers,

GOK

[GOK]

Thanks for the battery hatch tip... perhaps some things I launch could use better methods.


I usually velcro my batteries down onto the plane but this was my only battery that didn't have a velcro patch on it :rolleyes:

BTW. a question about the wing. whenit bleeds off speed it tends to wobble its wings and eventually falls on one wing (generally the left wing) is this a characteristic of wings? or might I have a misbalance or something/

Thanks,

GOK

[steve wenban]

Thats indicative of a warp in the wing it may have a small amount of washin in the tip cause that wing to stall first at lower speeds .put it on the bench and sight it if the leading edge at the tip is higher on oneside than it is on the other then theres your problem, Other than heating the wing up and trying to get it to bend the other way which in its self is fraut with danger . Live with it if it does not bother you to much.
IMHO
SteveW

[Curare]

:deleted:

[old man emu]

GOK,

Was it like this?
http://www.windrider.com.hk/image/N6.wmv

OME

[GOK]

GOK,

Was it like this?
http://www.windrider.com.hk/image/N6.wmv

OME

OME,

Yes the wobbling of the wing tips on slow speeds was exactly like that :D

But the final part was quite different. The cars that ran over my wing were going much faster, probably doing about 80kph :rolleyes:

Cheers,

GOK

[Magnum9]

Wings wobble when they get too slow, then they tip stall badly, then they death spiral, then they bounce and you throw them straight back into the air! That is my experience with an EPP mini-bee anyway.

[gouch]

Could be worse a plane could have run over your car ;)
SteveW using reverse logic


Speaking of using reverse........Actually not enough reverse in this case.



Oh, and as far as wishing they would swerve to miss it, forget that. You want them to run straight over it, picture the soccer mum doing her makeup, whilst talking on the phone and looking back at the kids handing them an icecream, (whilst doing 80) she looks back at the road briefly enough to see the "thing on the road" and swerves straight into the path of oncoming cars, or the gutter and up the footpath.
I was a couple of cars behind a bloke on the pacific highway near Coffs a few years back, he suddenly swerved hard, and ran onto the gravel, lost it, and proceeded to drive straight into the trees at 100 km/hr. Nasty stuff. He was OK, but not very good. It was a snake.... :rolleyes:

[gouch]

Or how about plane running over boat :D

This is my local airport, Belmont. Shut down now. :(
This was the std approach over the lake. I saw a few go-arounds when the boys decided the yachts would end up being in the path.

Of course the yacht is moored in front of the flightpath in this case, but not by much, maybe 50 meters.