Downdrafts, children, and experimenting. Just calling for trouble.

[MountianFlyingWV]

Well guys.....i have had my first crash.
I decided to try out my new homemade floats on a snowy field today. I also decided that i should bring 3 small children with me.....Not a great idea when a cold front is about to come through that made some unpredictable gusts.
Well i took off with the floats on and it was great at first. It felt like i was flying a real plane with the added weight from the floats. It was a little shaky because of some minor aerodynamic issues but other than that it was amazing. Well about a minute in a hear disobedient children behind me. I turn around.....BAD IDEA!! When i look back at the plane i see that a downdraft has put it into a nosedive.......and well i cartwheeled it and did this

yes i had a crap moment.
But good news with a little glue and alot of tape later i mended it! so all is good :applause:

 

[earthsciteach]

Those pesky kids! Yes, it is amazing how quickly things can go bad when you are distracted for even a moment.

 

[robschonk]

Sure, blame it on the kids.....

Best to get the first crash out of the way. The second, third, fourth....aren't nearly as traumatic.

Probably wouldn't hurt to have a carbon rod in the wing for reinforcement either.

 

[MrClean]

Reminds me of the Suburu commercial where the kids are "Washing the Car".

You'll find the shovel and two bags of lime in my garden shed, just sayin.

Heck, I've done worse listening to music and flying, just part of the price of getting them into model aviation and that includes those awesome wipeouts. Which they'll remember for a lot longer then the boring, no crash flights.

 

[Ak Flyer]

I used to be angry when I crashed because it was just me and my dumb thumb moments. Now it's usually the best time because I was doing something really cool and there's a story now. My last crash scattered my Galaxy while I was doing loops over the beams that hang down from the ceiling at the school gym. Got a cool story now and I was the first to try it so the first to crash doing it lol. I made it the first time, not so much after that.

 

[earthsciteach]

I find that I damage my airplanes almost exclusively when flying with friends. For some inexplicable reason, our flying together degenerates into stupidity. Stupidity, as in trying to knock each other's airplanes out of the sky. It really doesn't matter if the plane is meant for combat. It just happens. I love flying with my friends.

 

[robschonk]

I used to be angry when I crashed because it was just me and my dumb thumb moments. Now it's usually the best time because I was doing something really cool and there's a story now.

Like the old saying, "scars are like tattoos, but with better stories..."

 

[Ak Flyer]

Well said.

 

[lonewolf7717]

I don't fly so much as conduct foamboard durability tests. For some reason for me when I "fail" I FAIL BIG....go big and then go home lol.

 

[Ak Flyer]

I find that I damage my airplanes almost exclusively when flying with friends. For some inexplicable reason, our flying together degenerates into stupidity. Stupidity, as in trying to knock each other's airplanes out of the sky. It really doesn't matter if the plane is meant for combat. It just happens. I love flying with my friends.

I totally agree. I usually only do really cool things when someone is around to hold the camera. We don't usually try to knock each other out of the air but it has been known to happen. lol In fact, here's my 13" 4Site after a 32" extra caught up to me. The repair was grafting the entire tail of my old 4Site onto the new one. I'm still putting together a video of last nights stupidity. I'll post it later.

 

[Ak Flyer]

Here it is.