This week on What the Heck Wednesday we have a submission from RCGroups member radfordc and his Mig 29 EDF Jet Crash. Here's his explanation on what the heck happened.
"As the takeoff began I realized that the flaps were not down. I glanced down at the Tx to find and flip the flap switch. While I was doing this the plane yawed left slightly and headed for the tall grass. Before letting the plane gain enough airspeed I yanked back on the elevator. Just then the nose wheel hit a bump and the nose was pitched up. The combination of bump and elevator caused the plane to over rotate into a vertical attitude at too low airspeed for the elevators to be effective in recovery. The Mig 29 also has a low thrust line motor setup which causes the jet to pitch up at low speed/high power. Holding full power I had no control over the plane and it just tried to keep climbing vertically until a stall was immanent. Chopping the throttle kept the plane from getting higher, but caused the immediate stall and vertical descent."
Mig crash (0 min 18 sec) |
The good news here is that radfordc was able to repair the plane get it flying again.
Freewing Mig-29 in German colors (1 min 30 sec) |
If you have a video of a weird or entertaining crash and would like to be featured on What the Heck Wednesday, please send me a PM with your submission.
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LOL what a longwinded explanation from the pilot!
This line said it all: " Chopping the throttle kept the plane from getting higher, but caused the immediate..." Pilot Error- should have flown higher, should have nosed down to avoid stall, and most definitely- should not have chopped throttle... chalk it up as experience. Next time don't shoot yourself in the leg by eliminating thrust. ![]() ![]() |
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So, what exactly was the better course of action? |
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Last edited by radfordc; Feb 11, 2021 at 08:47 AM.
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Latest blog entry: Assembling a Spandau kit.
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In the future you need to be able to find your switches on the the transmitter with out looking get familiar and also get in a habit of allways using the same switch locations for certain functions such as throttle cut flaps flight modes and so on. All comes with flight time and experience all good carry on. Yogi
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Doing a proper pre-flight, where you check all the flying surfaces, including the flaps? Not looking at your transmitter during the takeoff roll and continuing the takeoff, lifting off at a higher speed? Aborting the takeoff when you saw there was a problem?
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Last edited by Angelo; Feb 11, 2021 at 11:04 AM.
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Experience, huh? Let's see I started flying RC in 1964....so maybe any day now I will have the knack?
You make a good point about standardizing the switches on the Tx. That's something I've always done. The flap switch is the same for every plane I own. You would think I could find it...right? |
Latest blog entry: Assembling a Spandau kit.
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Good points, all! To be honest, this is the first time I've crashed a plane due to pure pilot error in a long while. No matter how long you do this stuff you still get a dumb thumb from time to time.
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Latest blog entry: Assembling a Spandau kit.
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Latest blog entry: Assembling a Spandau kit.
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