I am relatively new to the hobby and really enjoy it but today really bummed me out. I spent all night last night repairing the first Flitetest swappable I built, the Old Fogey. I built this plane originally about six months ago and have really enjoyed the high wing slow flyer. Today I may have been a little to excited to let my common sense override my judgement
It has been a beautiful day here in Shelby, North Carolina and I was invited to an AMA Flying Field to watch some of the guys fly and fly my scratch builds around. I wanted to make sure that my planes were in top shape and flyable to go, so that is exactly what I had in mind. I took my FT Flyer, Delta, and Old Fogey out to my personal field at home and the wind was gusting a little. There was probably 5-10 mph wind and gusting to 15-20 mph but the FT Flyer and Delta went right through it. My Old Fogey on the other hand may have liked the wind a little too much as it is no longer part of my collection. No, I didn't crash it, not right away anyways, but as soon as I took off, the wind carried the Fogey way too far up in the air and away from the field. No matter how much throttle I gave it, it wouldn't come back home to me.
I'm not so sure how it managed to do it but I watched this plane basically fly backwards with the wind. Where I fly, there is a road that runs against the property and I didn't want to bring her down in the middle of the road, so I kept attempting to maintain some control until i could get it over a grass field somewhere. That grass field did not come very quickly and the Fogey was almost a mile out when I last seen it. Where I live isn't a very populated area but i didn't want to risk bringing it down on the road or in someones window of their house. I cut the throttle on it long before it ever made it that far out but it glides so well i didn't even need throttle.
My ultimate plan was to glide it down to the ground as safely and close to an open spot as possible without causing any major damage and I believe I accomplished that, maybe. Before it could get all the way down, I lost sight of it and have yet to recover it. Even when I thought i knew where it may be, its not there. I have searched for 4 hours now and still have no luck.
Now I understand that the Fogey is probably nothing to be bummed over but it had a little sentimental value to it, and not to mention the value of the electronics that was in it. I don't run anything expensive and had a small set up on it: 500mah 3s battery, blue wonder 1300kv, receiver, and 10amp ESC. That entire set up was my first setup and has been super strong even until today and I really hate losing something that I spent time and money and a few nights dreaming about having. This hobby has been my life from an early childhood but up until the last 6 months, I was never able to afford the hobby, still barely can..haha.
I'm sure this is something that should go on the lessons learned forum but i would really like to know what you guys do for lost planes and how you recover them. I am looking for some inexpensive way to either track my planes or just be able to find them a little easier if this happens again.
And with that I will leave you guys and girls with it, but today I learned a valuable lesson: don't let your emotions override your common sense and judgement. If its too windy to fly, go home and do the house work that your wife wanted you to get completed anyways. Any suggestions on what electronics to use to keep me from losing a plane would be appreciated.
It has been a beautiful day here in Shelby, North Carolina and I was invited to an AMA Flying Field to watch some of the guys fly and fly my scratch builds around. I wanted to make sure that my planes were in top shape and flyable to go, so that is exactly what I had in mind. I took my FT Flyer, Delta, and Old Fogey out to my personal field at home and the wind was gusting a little. There was probably 5-10 mph wind and gusting to 15-20 mph but the FT Flyer and Delta went right through it. My Old Fogey on the other hand may have liked the wind a little too much as it is no longer part of my collection. No, I didn't crash it, not right away anyways, but as soon as I took off, the wind carried the Fogey way too far up in the air and away from the field. No matter how much throttle I gave it, it wouldn't come back home to me.
I'm not so sure how it managed to do it but I watched this plane basically fly backwards with the wind. Where I fly, there is a road that runs against the property and I didn't want to bring her down in the middle of the road, so I kept attempting to maintain some control until i could get it over a grass field somewhere. That grass field did not come very quickly and the Fogey was almost a mile out when I last seen it. Where I live isn't a very populated area but i didn't want to risk bringing it down on the road or in someones window of their house. I cut the throttle on it long before it ever made it that far out but it glides so well i didn't even need throttle.
My ultimate plan was to glide it down to the ground as safely and close to an open spot as possible without causing any major damage and I believe I accomplished that, maybe. Before it could get all the way down, I lost sight of it and have yet to recover it. Even when I thought i knew where it may be, its not there. I have searched for 4 hours now and still have no luck.
Now I understand that the Fogey is probably nothing to be bummed over but it had a little sentimental value to it, and not to mention the value of the electronics that was in it. I don't run anything expensive and had a small set up on it: 500mah 3s battery, blue wonder 1300kv, receiver, and 10amp ESC. That entire set up was my first setup and has been super strong even until today and I really hate losing something that I spent time and money and a few nights dreaming about having. This hobby has been my life from an early childhood but up until the last 6 months, I was never able to afford the hobby, still barely can..haha.
I'm sure this is something that should go on the lessons learned forum but i would really like to know what you guys do for lost planes and how you recover them. I am looking for some inexpensive way to either track my planes or just be able to find them a little easier if this happens again.
And with that I will leave you guys and girls with it, but today I learned a valuable lesson: don't let your emotions override your common sense and judgement. If its too windy to fly, go home and do the house work that your wife wanted you to get completed anyways. Any suggestions on what electronics to use to keep me from losing a plane would be appreciated.
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