Lost and Found

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
I want to hear stories of loss and discovery. Everyone has had that one crash where a piece of the wreck goes missing. Whether it is a battery, esc, or that one favorite rudder, loosing parts at the field isn't fun. Then hours, days, or years later you unexpectedly stumble upon the missing piece.

Hears my two stories:

During the winter I repaired a plane my dad found at a yardsale by adding completely new electronics. Due to the snow on the ground I decided to add floats in place of the missing wheels. At this point I was still learning how to fly so I was excited when the plane took off from the snow. In fact I was so excited that I did not realize how close my plane was getting to the trees. The plane smacked right into a tree, launching the electronics through the firewall and into a forest of snow. Over an hour of searching in freezing weather I found the receiver 10 feet away, the esc 50 feet away in a pine tree, and the battery 100 feet away in a hole. In the end I was happy to retrieved my gear for another day along with a complimentary physics lesson.

At the beginning of the summer I built an Alula clone out of DTF. I decided the have a hatch on the nose much like what is on the FT simple soarer. Out at the field I went for a hefty DLG style toss. The plane went straight up while the battery ejected and went flying who knows where. All I heard was a thump and saw my lifeless Alula glide softly to the ground. I spent around thirty tense minutes looking in a radius around my launch site for a tiny 300mAh, green, NiCad battery pack.

In my case I was able to retrieve my lost items within a few tense minutes, but I know some people have found missing things years later. So let's hear your stories!
 

rcspaceflight

creator of virtual planes
I don't remember how, but I lost a battery once. It's still out in the fields and may have been plowed under.
 

Montiey

Master Tinkerer
Surprisingly, I still have every plane I ever bought. The ones that never flew I got rid of, or tried to make something out of the parts. but everything else is still "new".
 

Ron B

Posted a thousand or more times
I had the spot marked but couldn't find it and it got dark so I gave up then it rained all night and the next day. I called the man that owned the property and told him I would need some help finding it. He was coming into town and called me to tell me he had most of my plane. It wasn't where I looked. I lost a prop and prop adapter that has never been found. It also cost me a battery and had to rebuild the plane.
 

Sahara54

Junior Member
Not mine but a friend had a Tiger .60 go down into woods that was never found. I grew up in a beach community and would fly right on the beach. Got shot down by interference and full throttle'd into the water at about 60mph. Battery Pack sank, everything else was there but fried. It had a OS .40, sprayed it down with WD40, replaced the plug, bolted her to the engine stand and let her sing. Still have it in the drawer of glow parts.
 

rcspaceflight

creator of virtual planes
When I was a kid I lost a model rocket in the woods. My brother found it about a year later and the cardboard tube was wet and decayed.
 

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
rcspaceflight reminded me of some of my rocket antics. This past fall I launched two rockets, one from and Estes kit and one homemade. Both had their parachutes and nosecones snag in a tree. I have their fuselages but the nose cones are still in the trees even after a hard winter (trust me I checked recently). Hoping one day they'll fall and I can retrieve them.