I owned a Horizon Hobby SAFE enabled Delta Ray for about two months and it was an amazing airplane until yesterday! I was out flying it in ideal conditions at my local flying spot. I had flow the Delta many times with great success and it did help me learn to fly, however yesterday it let me down with disastrous consequences.
The SAFE system on the Delta is great and had worked perfectly for many flights. I used it with my DX6 as recommended by the Horizon Hobby experts. During my previous flights I was able to progress in my flying quickly due to my faith in the SAFE system and the Panic Recovery button. I felt comfortable flying in expert mode because I knew if I got in trouble I could simply push Panic Recovery and return to straight and level flight. It was a great aid in my flying progress.
Yesterday was a normal flying session except for the fact that the weather was absolutely perfect. I did all of my pre-flight checks and range tested the radio/plane link. Everything seemed fine and it was for the first battery. I got a full 10 mins of flying in and made a successful landing. However things changed for my second battery.
On the second battery I took off as normal and made my pattern turns in expert mode as I have been doing. The SAFE system gave me the confidence to fly in expert just as it is designed to do. The plane was only at about 300 yards our and probably 100 yards up and in clear sight when I turn it towards myself. The turn was a little steep and the left wing dipped a little low and started to stall. I at first try to recover myself to improve my piloting skills but I lost my orientation with the plane headed towards me. This is not the first time I felt that the plane was having an issue so, as before, I simply pushed the panic button. Every single time prior to this it did exactly what it is supposed to do and leveled the plane out after which I took back control and continued my flight. This time was different.
After pushing the Panic Recovery button the plane did not respond. At this point it is going into a dive. I had time to push the Panic button one or two more times before it smashed into the ground! My Delta Ray is now destroyed and beyond repair. At first I was not concerned because I had heard about the legendary customer service of Horizon Hobby but after spending 45 mins on hold I was told that no replacement or repair would be covered and it was suggested that I but another one.
I realize that the Panic Recovery worked 9 out of 10 or maybe even 99 out of 100 times but it only takes one failure to completely destroy your plane. I realize that systems such as SAFE may have failure rates but if so I feel that Horizon Hobby should pick up the slack and cover replacements or repairs due to system failure.
This incident has shaken my confidence and made me decide to never rely on the SAFE technology again. It definitely does help you learn when it works but if you experience a catastrophic failure as I did then any gains will be erased and you will be our several hundred dollars depending on which model you buy. I will not buy SAFE products anymore and am going to learn the rest the old fashion way, slow and steady progress. It is too bad that SAFE is not 100% or that Horizon Hobby won't cover failures as it could really sky rocket a new pilots learning rate, but as it is currently the SAFE will only give you false confidence that will be shattered upon a system failure. I am just glad I didn't buy a more expensive SAFE model or have a camera on board. Beware of SAFE, beware of Panic Recovery and I would recommend that you forego them and just learn slow and steady at your local club or under the instruction of someone more experienced. Forget this teach yourself to fly SAFE business, it will most likely end with you being frustrated and out several hundred dollars.
The SAFE system on the Delta is great and had worked perfectly for many flights. I used it with my DX6 as recommended by the Horizon Hobby experts. During my previous flights I was able to progress in my flying quickly due to my faith in the SAFE system and the Panic Recovery button. I felt comfortable flying in expert mode because I knew if I got in trouble I could simply push Panic Recovery and return to straight and level flight. It was a great aid in my flying progress.
Yesterday was a normal flying session except for the fact that the weather was absolutely perfect. I did all of my pre-flight checks and range tested the radio/plane link. Everything seemed fine and it was for the first battery. I got a full 10 mins of flying in and made a successful landing. However things changed for my second battery.
On the second battery I took off as normal and made my pattern turns in expert mode as I have been doing. The SAFE system gave me the confidence to fly in expert just as it is designed to do. The plane was only at about 300 yards our and probably 100 yards up and in clear sight when I turn it towards myself. The turn was a little steep and the left wing dipped a little low and started to stall. I at first try to recover myself to improve my piloting skills but I lost my orientation with the plane headed towards me. This is not the first time I felt that the plane was having an issue so, as before, I simply pushed the panic button. Every single time prior to this it did exactly what it is supposed to do and leveled the plane out after which I took back control and continued my flight. This time was different.
After pushing the Panic Recovery button the plane did not respond. At this point it is going into a dive. I had time to push the Panic button one or two more times before it smashed into the ground! My Delta Ray is now destroyed and beyond repair. At first I was not concerned because I had heard about the legendary customer service of Horizon Hobby but after spending 45 mins on hold I was told that no replacement or repair would be covered and it was suggested that I but another one.
I realize that the Panic Recovery worked 9 out of 10 or maybe even 99 out of 100 times but it only takes one failure to completely destroy your plane. I realize that systems such as SAFE may have failure rates but if so I feel that Horizon Hobby should pick up the slack and cover replacements or repairs due to system failure.
This incident has shaken my confidence and made me decide to never rely on the SAFE technology again. It definitely does help you learn when it works but if you experience a catastrophic failure as I did then any gains will be erased and you will be our several hundred dollars depending on which model you buy. I will not buy SAFE products anymore and am going to learn the rest the old fashion way, slow and steady progress. It is too bad that SAFE is not 100% or that Horizon Hobby won't cover failures as it could really sky rocket a new pilots learning rate, but as it is currently the SAFE will only give you false confidence that will be shattered upon a system failure. I am just glad I didn't buy a more expensive SAFE model or have a camera on board. Beware of SAFE, beware of Panic Recovery and I would recommend that you forego them and just learn slow and steady at your local club or under the instruction of someone more experienced. Forget this teach yourself to fly SAFE business, it will most likely end with you being frustrated and out several hundred dollars.
Also, accept that you will crash, it happens to everybody.
