Well like the others before me, I too have lost a plane to both bad piloting and airplane not made for AP.

I was nearing the top of a climb to begin my glide to start snapping photos for a client. I was at the end of a cul de sac in a developing subdivision. I heard a car coming down the road, so I turned my head to see if I was in the way for just a brief second. I looked back and my EZ400G was in about a 45 degree dive at me. I pulled back (prop still running) and the main wing shattered into about 1,000 pieces. The plane was probably about 1,800 ft when the wing broke. I could see much come down. I did manage to see something silver that resembled my Nikon 3700 streaming toward the ground with what appeared to be part of the tail. (After later thinking about it, it was probably the entire plane minus the main wing streaking toward mother earth.)

The good news it didn't land near anyone or anyones house. The bad news is that it landed in what seems like the midwests largest cornfield at a time when the stalks are 7ft+ high. I made a search before dark for about 2 hours and haven't even found a scrap. I will begin my search again tomorrow. I may use a handheld GPS to make sure I don't walk the same path.

Plane Lost:

EZ400G
MiniAC 1215/16
GWS B Gearbox
GWS 1080 prop
3 Cell LiPoly 11.1v Kokam pack
castle creations 25amp brushless speed control
3 HS-55 Servos
Hitec 555 Receiver
Nikon Coolpix 3700 Camera-2 weeks old
256 mb SD Card

Watching my plane disintegrate at 1800ft, PRICELESS!!!

Jeff,

Sorry to hear of your loss. Good luck with the recovery mission tomorrow.

Just curious to know if your plane had the shear webs mod done...

-Andre

No, I didn't do it because I figured the wing that broke (FlyTowner's) was a freak thing. The wing I had seemed very strong. I actually bought material to make the mod, but couldn't get my self up to doing it. I don't care what others say, but I won't be buying that plane again. I spent countless hours moding the plane in other areas that were poorly designed. Its a lot of money for what you get. The slow stick is totally opposite. It may look silly, but I have put it into the same postion and the worse thing that happened was the wing folded but came right back. The SS also didn't require 50 mods to become a AP plane. Again, I do understand most of this crash was pilot error, but sometimes you hope the plane is a little forgiving. Time for a Beer to soak the pain. Thanks for the luck, I'll need it in this corn maze.

I don't suppose it had a lost model locator? One of those things that beeps when the TX is turned off as long as your RX battery is intact (a stretch, I know). I have lost two planes with an LMA that got too far away for an auditory locator to be helpful and one without the LMA that I think could have been found with it.

I do learn from my mistakes, but it seems that there are a great many lessons as each loss was by a different cause.

Jeff,

Very sorry to hear... hope you'll find it soon. Maybe some one that is also in AP work and lives in your neighbourhood can make a picture from the cornfield from above.

Success,
Alex

look on the bright side, since it landed in a corn field maybe it cusioned the fall? i think if they are 7 feet tall something wouldve prevented the gear from slamming directly into the ground. sorry to hear about your plane. why were you at 1800 feet for taking photos for a client? unless he wanted photos from that high. im surprised you could still see it at that height. i gets kind of hard to see my slow stick when it aprroachs 1000 feet. good luck in your searches!

Kyle

There will be NO -EZ 400G - in my fleet or in my hanger. Looks like a very pour design and not a airplane for an AP duty.

BAR-STOOL

I feel your pain, Jeff2216, I lost mine for 4 days. Well it wasn't exactly lost, but I couldn't get it back. Here's the post:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...2&postcount=89

I hope you find it. Maybe this is the justification you need for a second AP ship equipped with a video cam for search & rescue missions. If there's a Mrs. Jeff2216, just explain to her how it will save you money and reduce stress, making you live longer and keeping you in a better mood. So you're really doing it for her...

Roadkill

hey Bar-Stool - Roger - check your PMs, email me back! Thanks,
Skip

I opened the box of my EZ 400 G and was shocked by the frail looking wing - especially the center section. I'm no aeronautical genius, but that wing seemed obviously & terribly understructured for our purposes.

I guess by now everyone has figured this out and will not use the stock wing for a/p.

IMO, and in light of the recent disasters, we probably all agree that using the EZ 400 G for a/p without proper wing & fuselage strengthening modifications is irresponsibe and unsafe.

And this is not in any way shape or form condemming jeff2215 or anyone else who up to this point has placed their trust in this aircraft only to have structure failure resulting in loss of plane & cargo.

Now we know, and wing/fuselage failure with this plane should never happen again.

Happy, safe flyin',

Buzz

Spent 2 hours crawling on our hands in knees through the thick corn looking up and down each row of corn. No luck. That stuff is Very Thick. When it was coming down I could see it with a piece of the tail dragging behind it and acting kinda like a chute. At the very least I could of gotten my 256mb card, and brushless esc and maybe the motor back. I don't think flying a AP plane over the corn will be able to see through the thick leaves. Damn shame to loose it all. Know I have no idea what to replace the plane with. I like the SS, but its still not very strong for a 3700. The other question is do I drop another $183 on another Nikon 3700 or use the good ol' Aiptek Pencam. Boy this hurts deep down inside.

Originally Posted by jeff2215

I like the SS, but its still not very strong for a 3700.

im carrying a camera heavier then a 3700. with all my donwlink gear my camera mount/camera weighs 16 ounces, yep 1 pound. my slow stick is holding its own. deffinitly need reinforcements to carry all that up though.

Did you add Carbon Tape to the Wings? Do you have picture to post?

Here is a picture of the site. I was in the top right corner turn around in the cul de sac.

Originally Posted by jeff2215

Did you add Carbon Tape to the Wings? Do you have picture to post?

Here is a picture of the site. I was in the top right corner turn around in the cul de sac.

wow looks like you got a lot of searching to do. thats a real bummer that it had to fall in the corn at this time of year. but hey, the corn might offer some protection from the impact so i would consider yourself lucky in a way. but if you dont find it then it really doesnt help does it. i didnt add and carbon tape to my wing. i added a brass dehidral tube and a piece of CF across the top secured to the original fiber glass rods going along the leading edge with epoxy. electrical tape was then put on top to secure it some more. i have a picture of the wing and everything i have to carry. (you cant see the TP 2s 860 pack on the other side of the camera mount which powers my reciver) but if the camera was in there it would be about 1 pound. (the wires look a little messy but once its flight ready the wires arent dangling)

Well, I got the bright idea to try and find my down EZ400G with my Slow Stick using old servos and equipment along with a Aiptek Camera. After about 3 mins in the air the SS took a dive straight into the corn field for no reason. I now have lost 2 planes to this field. I swear it must be the "Bermuda Corn Field". I thought I had a good idea where it went down, but I couldn't find it.

So I devised a plane to walk from one side of the filed to the other moving about 10ft when I reached the other side. Nothing on my first pass. This field is huge, but I had a general idea where both planes may be. But all I could think of is this is like finding a needle in a haystack. After my first pass of looking down each row on my hands and knees, I took 10 steps and reentered the field. I started looking down each row and had made it about 20 rows in when I noticed something that looked like a stick in the ground. I ran as quick as I could through the jungle of corn and there it was the EZ400G stuck in the ground like a dart. This was an amazing find in all of this corn. The camera was laying on the ground next to it. I checked the camera and it worked great. Just had a busted up tripod mounting hole. The motor works, the ESC works, all three servos work, the receiver works, but the battery doesn't. When I try to charge it I get a battery output error.

Now that I found this plane I was determined to find the SS. I searched and searched with no luck. I went on top of a house that was being built with a pair of binoculars but nothing. I was about to give it up when I decided to try one more pass in another area. I made it about 3/4 of the way across the field crawling in the dirt when I noticed down one of the rows the red tail of the SS. The main wing had a cob of corn through it but I had got it back.

It was a wasted weekend, but turned out good. Now I just need to decide what plane to use for AP. I am leaning at going with a new SS with beefed up wings. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!, now I can sleep!