PiperCub49
Junior Member
I went out to fly my 24" Guillow's Cessna 170 conversion. It was my first build that took me six months of dedicated modeling to complete. It was a beautiful aircraft and had flown time after time with no problems; it was just perfect, the piece of art that a 12 year old kid had poured his heart and soul into.
This day, it was a bit breezy for the three channel, RET (rudder, elevator, throttle) plane, but I gave it a go anyways. Surfaces free and clear. Check. Prop up and spinning correctly. Check. Headed into the wind. Check. I throttle up and and rotated. Of course, the wind picked up as soon as I lifted off (Murphy's Law). I began to put it into a gentle left-hand bank. That bank just became steep and steeper. It was all I could do to keep the plane up with full deflection of the control. Even then, it decided to make one full circuit and continue on its path of destruction. As it went around and around, I tried everything to get the wings level (remember that I don't have ailerons), including throttle changed and pitch variations in combination with full right rudder. I just couldn't get the thing to break free of its left-hand circle. Then it all went downhill quickly. The gentle turn became violently steep and I watched as the little guy went straight in onto the tar parking lot that I never got the chance to clear after takeoff. Every scratch builder knows the sound of crunching balsa, and it is heart wrenching, especially for a young kid and his first airplane.
As it turned out, it was pilot error. I took too much care of that little plane for it to be anything else. For the plane that had its own designated checklist, it was that very checklist that was neglected. This plane needed high rates to take off and it was in low rates the whole time. The flick of switch would have given me the deflection that would have saved so much work... Currently, I am undecided as to whether or not I will repair the plane. Again, as any scratch builder knows, every plane can be repaired, it just depends on how much effort you're willing to put into it.
-Kody
This day, it was a bit breezy for the three channel, RET (rudder, elevator, throttle) plane, but I gave it a go anyways. Surfaces free and clear. Check. Prop up and spinning correctly. Check. Headed into the wind. Check. I throttle up and and rotated. Of course, the wind picked up as soon as I lifted off (Murphy's Law). I began to put it into a gentle left-hand bank. That bank just became steep and steeper. It was all I could do to keep the plane up with full deflection of the control. Even then, it decided to make one full circuit and continue on its path of destruction. As it went around and around, I tried everything to get the wings level (remember that I don't have ailerons), including throttle changed and pitch variations in combination with full right rudder. I just couldn't get the thing to break free of its left-hand circle. Then it all went downhill quickly. The gentle turn became violently steep and I watched as the little guy went straight in onto the tar parking lot that I never got the chance to clear after takeoff. Every scratch builder knows the sound of crunching balsa, and it is heart wrenching, especially for a young kid and his first airplane.
As it turned out, it was pilot error. I took too much care of that little plane for it to be anything else. For the plane that had its own designated checklist, it was that very checklist that was neglected. This plane needed high rates to take off and it was in low rates the whole time. The flick of switch would have given me the deflection that would have saved so much work... Currently, I am undecided as to whether or not I will repair the plane. Again, as any scratch builder knows, every plane can be repaired, it just depends on how much effort you're willing to put into it.
-Kody
