For those in Canberra today, you'll call me crazy for flying in this wind. But I couldn't resist. I got out to Yarralumla this morning, which is a picturesque, ritzy little suburb by Lake Burley Griffen. There's a big paddock next to the water that's great for flying RC planes, as it's not a sports oval.
This was my first fly with the cp antennas and also running the systems off the same battery. I've got a lc filter in the line too, as well as a FMA copilot. OK, I should be making one change at a time. First mistake. I took off without too much issue. It was pretty bumpy, but as I reached about 20m I flicked on the stabiliser. It made a huge difference, and the plane was locked in nicely. For the first time, I was also sitting down, on the nice warm grass. With the rubber ducky antennas I put the gear in my pockets, but thought I'd lay the gear on a box instead, which required me to sit down to make the cables reach.
After a couple of circuits, mostly in front of me, I thought I'd go out over the lake a little and get some scenery. All was fine, until suddenly I lost control. Video feed was crystal clear, and the plane was only about 200m away. The plane stayed straight and level, and it made its way over land and onto the roof of a boatshed. The landing wasn't gentle, but as I got closer to the plane I could see that it was in one piece. Someone gave me a boost onto the roof, and I was amazed that the only damage was the hinge on the elevator on one side, which had obviously hit a corrugation in the roofing.
I'm trying to diagnose what went wrong... I've flown this receiver out much further without any sign of signal loss. The 900Mhz vtx (I use 910) hasn't interfered with the rx range before. I also run a UBEC (5V 4A) to power the rx, so in spite of 7 channels being in use, as well as the stabiliser, it'd be hard to put it down to brownout. The battery was also pretty fresh off the charger. I've also flown behind myself before without issue. I'm wondering if me sitting down on the grass, hunched over the tx might be the cause...
In any case, I'm very lucky to have the plane in one piece and dry...
This was my first fly with the cp antennas and also running the systems off the same battery. I've got a lc filter in the line too, as well as a FMA copilot. OK, I should be making one change at a time. First mistake. I took off without too much issue. It was pretty bumpy, but as I reached about 20m I flicked on the stabiliser. It made a huge difference, and the plane was locked in nicely. For the first time, I was also sitting down, on the nice warm grass. With the rubber ducky antennas I put the gear in my pockets, but thought I'd lay the gear on a box instead, which required me to sit down to make the cables reach.
After a couple of circuits, mostly in front of me, I thought I'd go out over the lake a little and get some scenery. All was fine, until suddenly I lost control. Video feed was crystal clear, and the plane was only about 200m away. The plane stayed straight and level, and it made its way over land and onto the roof of a boatshed. The landing wasn't gentle, but as I got closer to the plane I could see that it was in one piece. Someone gave me a boost onto the roof, and I was amazed that the only damage was the hinge on the elevator on one side, which had obviously hit a corrugation in the roofing.
I'm trying to diagnose what went wrong... I've flown this receiver out much further without any sign of signal loss. The 900Mhz vtx (I use 910) hasn't interfered with the rx range before. I also run a UBEC (5V 4A) to power the rx, so in spite of 7 channels being in use, as well as the stabiliser, it'd be hard to put it down to brownout. The battery was also pretty fresh off the charger. I've also flown behind myself before without issue. I'm wondering if me sitting down on the grass, hunched over the tx might be the cause...
In any case, I'm very lucky to have the plane in one piece and dry...
Last edited: