Concentration-consecrated

[Jeff Hughes]

I had something similar happen. At the bottom of a loop the hatch came 
open and the battery flew out!. The plane continued looping and slowly 
drifted towards the parking lot. Luckily it missed all the people and 
cars. Not only was the plane a total loss, the engine and most of the 
servos were ruined.


> Sorry to hear about Concentration's last flight.  It always hurts no 
matter
> what the reason, but especially that you have done so many
> modifications/improvement to the plane; custom modified cowl, moved 
canopy
> forward, and OS 160 in the nose, to name few of them.
> 
> W-  
> 
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: 	Henderson,Eric [mailto:Eric.Henderson at gartner.com] 
> Sent:	Wednesday, April 16, 2003 8:47 AM
> To:	discussion at nsrca.org
> Subject:	Concentration-consecrated
> 
> 
>   I said farewell to my CONCENTRATE a.k.a. FOCUS yesterday. I dodged 
a
> bullet yesterday when the elevator-stick-spring snapped during the 1-
1/2
> horizontal snap. An after market spring that I had shortened and 
must have
> weakened. The week before my buddy Earl stopped me taking off 
without the
> Jesus screw in the wing. I had the engine running and he spotted the 
wing
> gap. But every plane has an expiration date on it and mine came due.
> 
> The P-03 schedule has 3 1-1/2 snaps in it. I was trying to master 
them when
> I, and the guy next to me, heard a "clunk!" coming from the plane. I 
rolled
> level, throttled back - but wait nothing! The plane was still at 3/4
> throttle. It flew very straight for a while. Then started a slow 
turn over
> the DMV a mile down the road. then I could not see it anymore. THEN 
it came
> back into view performing a VERY slowly diving left turn. It almost 
made it
> into the open are behind the field. Them it went below the tree line.
> 
> The OS 1.60 was running strong and then was gone. I searched for an 
hour and
> came back and load up the van to drive around and further back. Just 
about
> then the police arrived with a few pieces and a report of an upset 
home
> owner. To cut a long story short they had called the police when it 
tore
> through five tree tops behind their house. There was debris in the 
tops of
> five trees.
> 
> The fuselage, or 3/4 of it, is still up there. Later in the day, 
Michelle
> and I visited the home owner and gave them a fruit basket for any 
concerns
> we may have caused them. They seemed OK, especially the wife, and 
they
> understood that this was a very rare occurrence. I'm going back 
there today
> to use a line and weight to try and dislodge it if the wind has not 
done so
> already.
> 
> The police were amused and very helpful in picking up the hundreds of
> pieces. I only hope the home owner does not get militant.
> 
> It was clear that the battery had come loose. There was no fail-safe 
action
> telling me that there no power was reaching the on board radio 
system. The
> pack was in the rear of the fuselage about 10 inches behind the 
wing. I had
> taped the connectors together but the moment of the continuous 
snapping must
> have eventually disconnected the pack. I must say this was the most 
helpless
> feeling I can remember.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Eric.
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> 

-- 
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