She broke in half!

[Grandfatman]

I charged 2 batteries today!

Went for a flight and well.... Ploughed straight into the ground!

Not sure entirely what went wrong, partly me, partly a freak gust of wind. Lost sight of it behind a tree, and that was it! I immediatley cut throttle and pulled back on the elevator to try and save, something. And the fuselage completley broke in half. I was a little dis heartened but then thought, it was my first time solo, It's not un-repairable so hey, crap happens. I launched by hand as the grass was a bit too long for the tiny wheels. Had all of 30 seconds in the air. Luckily no electronics or battery damage. So it was a case of get her back home, and perform some surgery with hot glue. Looks like she might actually fly again! ( Hopefully!) Little bit of damage to the flap section of the wing but nothing that couldn't be sorted with a bit of tape or glue.

I welcome Criticism, advice, any thoughts whatsoever one what I did wrong / right!

Thanks guys! Top pic is the damage, second pic is after she had surgery!

 

[TexMechsRobot]

That is totally repairable and I see you've already done that. You can strengthen that bond by running a couple of bbq skewers through it with some hot glue to keep it in place.

 

[SlingShot]

If you lose sight of it, cut power and neutralize the controls. Hands off. Let the plane save you.

 

[French]

 

[jack10525]

^^^^ Yes !!!!

Hey I've got one of those. I've had a few pretty hard nose first landings but haven't cracked it in half yet. I had the CG completely off and slammed it straight into the ground. I straightened it out as best I could with hot glue and tape. Another time I flew it straight into a tree and poked a few holes in the wings. All repairable issues and she still flys!!! I have confidence you can get it back in the air.

 

[rockyboy]

Congrats on a succesfull repair! :black_eyed:

I like keeping track of all my flights in a log book - generally marking down where, when, and what I flew, how it did, and what repairs were needed. It's sort of fun to look back on a season or so of flying and see all the repairs I've had to do - or look back in my notes to figure out what battery I was using in a particular plane when it's been sitting in a corner all winter.

Looking forward to hearing the next flight report and "Achievement Unlocked: Landing in One Piece!"

 

[nhk750]

I found, after destroying my first plane, that practicing with a sim like Real Flight really helped me learn to fly. I just started last September and now I can hover a little bit, perform knife edge, inverted, ect pretty good now and rarely ever crash. I actually need to get back on the sim and practice more aerobatics so I can develop my muscle memory more, but I'm kind of lazy about that lately.

Also, withe Bix, it tends to be tail heavy, really check out your cg and make sure, it will fly much better if balanced correctly.

 

[Winglet]

Hi Grandfatman. Sorry about that but that is a very typical outcome of a first flight without help. Best to find someone with experience to help you, but at the very least get a simulator. Its harder than it looks! (at first anyway)

 

[Grandfatman]

Thanks for the response guys.

I do have a fair few hours in simulators, and I do have successful flights under my belt with the help of a local flying club. I guess this was just a mis-judgement. I may do that reinforcement with something like BBQ skewers!

 

[KB9KHM]

Did you check your CG before your flight? The way it looks when it's flying makes it look like it's tail heavy. Either that your you need to dial your throws way down ... or stop slamming sticks. You shouldn't be having issues like that with your pitch axis.

 

[Grandfatman]

yeah, slamming the sticks probably didnt help. I should in hindsight have used my dual rates. Not kept them on full. lesson learnt! CG seemed fine. But yeah, probably a little tail heavy.

 

[Hai-Lee]

Just a note about another Bix pilot with regular outcomes similar to the original post in this thread.

As he had been flying and crashing for years we all assumed he was one of the rare people who seem to really lack any eye/thumb communication. He never asked for help and seemed to know what he was doing,.

After his latest crash a couple of us went over to pick up the pieces and find out what went wrong. It transpired through the following conversation that he did not know how to set up his transmitter because in the old days there was no Expo or Dual rates on the transmitters.

After a quick explanation, another club member set up his transmitter immediately to match general recommendations for the Bix. Next flying day his flying was almost brilliant UNTIL he lost visual contact with his model and we have not seen it since.

As it was his 3rd Bix he is now trying alternate designs as he claims that Bixlers hate him!

Moral? Learn how to setup the gear properly and follow the manufacturer recommendations and your crashes will be less in number, SIGNIFICANTLY!

Have fun!

 

[JimCR120]

I use toothpicks but bbq skewers should also work. I dry fit them all in place first then back them out, then glue one sides set of skewers, fit together with a gap, glue the gap, press together and hold. If you use hot glue holding for a few seconds is no big deal. If you use another glue you might want to have some rubber bands on hand.