Ok, went to fly my Micro Albatros today, using AnyLink and DX7 Tx.
Fully charged battery in plane and Tx battery level was at ~ 9.7V.
When my Tx is below 9.0, I will get a beeping warning and will die shortly thereafter.
Note that I have flown the Albatros with this set-up several times before.
I hooked everything up and did hear a beep every now and then..... thought it might have been a loose connection somewhere, so believe it was fixed and went ahead with flying. Note that I did think maybe Signal and Power combined cable to the AnyLink perhaps had a broken/intermittent wire, but seemed ok after checking.
All surfaces/controls were working.
Plane took off and started to go right. Plane did not seem to respond to my Tx controls. Put down control and moved throttle to zero....... but plane did not seem to react to those actions in any way. It appeared to keep going under power however and wherever it AND THE WIND, wanted it to.
Lesson # 1 - Probably should NOT have tried to fly a questionable plane with any kind of wind (Note that I have flown it in more wind before) and especially with only a small play area surrounded by trees.
Lesson # 2 - ?

BTW - cannot find plane... is either up in the trees or waay down the street...... or still going higher!

Sorry to hear about your loss, hopefully it still shows up. I recently bound my DX5e to my Champ because I got tired of the xbox-type radio losing signal because of flying so far away. I brought my wife with me today to show off how high the little Champ can go. I kept the throttle pinned wide open until it was out of sight. I'm not sure where it went, but we didn't see it for literally about 3 minutes then I saw it incredibly far away out over a huge lake. Luckily I was able to get it back though, and I wish you the same type of luck.

It’s funny to read these stories, not because we want to wish you bad luck but because anyone who has been flying anything for some time has had this experience.
I have lost many planes in all the years I have been flying. Some came back one way or another, some didn’t ever come back.
Like you imply; it’s a learning experience.

I understand that "losing" airplanes happen........ was hoping that maybe someone had some similar experience as mine as far as the TX beeping and/or the Albatros acting this way.
I have some doubt now as to whether plane kept on flying OR was just blown away by the gusting wind. I did try flying another plane later on and turns out wind was stronger than I thought, so maybe I lost the bind and the wind just threw it around and away.

Originally Posted by Bob6831

... Lesson # 1 - Probably should NOT have tried to fly a questionable plane with any kind of wind (Note that I have flown it in more wind before) and especially with only a small play area surrounded by trees.
Lesson # 2 - ? ...

Don't try to fly a plane with a suspected intermittent fault. Personally I don't like to try and fix them at the field. I always take them back to the workshop, where I can see them, and have the proper tools.

Lesson # 3: Get a Loc8tor, or similar device, to help you find your models when they fly away, or crash into deep undergrowth.

Good luck with your search

That pretty much sums it up. Make sure all of your equipment is 100% operational before you let any planes leave the ground. If you have an intermittent problem, spend the time to determine the cause and fix it before you fly.

Sorry to hear about your Albatros. Was it a micro Albatros, or a bigger one?

Was just the Micro, and I did not pay much for it, buying used........but I don't like to lose anything!

Best thing to do with a fly-away micro is hope the next person enjoys it as much as you did!

Originally Posted by Bob6831

Was just the Micro, and I did not pay much for it, buying used........but I don't like to lose anything!

Yeah. I had a fly away situation when I first got into the hobby. It was the Micro Champ. The first and only plane that I had a few years back. This park had some radio tower array that I paid no mind to. Being new to the hobby. One day the Champ just starred flying away. Nothing I did, would change anything...

I had just been using the DX6i Tx. And it worked fine. So, in a panic. I turned the Tx off. Then back on again.

I had control back!!

I somehow gained orientation and brought it home.

That happened a few other times after that. But only with that plane.

Sorry to hear about your Albatros. I would like to get one of those. I have the micro SE5a, which no longer really flies at all. I need to work on it some more...

Originally Posted by Bob6831

It appeared to keep going under power however and wherever it AND THE WIND, wanted it to.

Lesson 1/2: Check your failsafe is configured and works. You probably have to look hard to find a setup that won't at least cut the throttle when when it loses signal.

I would get a micro Albatros if I could find one for cheap.

Originally Posted by abenn

Lesson # 3: Get a Loc8tor, or similar device, to help you find your models when they fly away, or crash into deep undergrowth.

Good luck with your search

Or, think about a simpler/cheaper lost model alarm.

http://www.amazon.com/UsmileŽ-2-6Cel.../dp/B00XMDC9V0

Bad enough to lose a several hundred dollar plane...with maybe a few hundred dollars more in FPV equipment. Regardless if 100 feet up in a tree, that you can't get back down. You can see it. But it is unretrievable. Gone.

Crashing is not the worst thing. Finding your expensive electronics in a place where they cannot be recovered is the worst thing.

Originally Posted by Vulcaneer

Before you spend $99.00 for a GPS, think about a simpler/cheaper lost model alarm. ...

Just to clarify, the Loc8tor is not a GPS system, it uses a hand-held direction-finder to show the direction of the beacon that's in the model (or on the cat!), and to give an idea of its distance away. You only lose the little beacon, not the whole $99 device, if you lose the model altogether

The Loc8tor is a great device. I've had one for a long time and place one of the tiny transponders in anything big enough to handle an extra 5 grams of weight. They'll usually begin to pick up a signal in the 200 yard range.
Where I live powerful winds can come out of nowhere and it's a lifesaver.
I had a plane blown away a while back, no matter what I tried it finally disappeared from sight. I headed off in the direction I'd last seen it and found it finally about 3500 feet from where I'd been standing.