2 ways to loose a plane

[Anne & Xavier]

Hello all,

I feel a bit guilty about loosing a 1/4 scale Cap last night but I would feel even more guilty if I don't share my finding and someone else loose a plane for the same reason.
I always range check my planes before the first flight of the days with the antenna colapse or remove if possible and I did it again yesterday with good results. However, I lost control of the airplane after a few minutes in the air. The plane crashed in a 45deg dive doing some barril roll and hit the ground inverted from what I could see when I retreived it. It was behind some trees so I didn't actually see the hit.
After retrieving it, I checked if I had control and realized that the RX crystal wasn't there anymore. I remember checking all the servo connections before closing the canopie but not the crystal. It may have been loose but I can't know now.

Believe it or not, I also damaged my other Cap last Sunday. That one had a wing retaining nut come loose after 6 or 7 flights. The wing moved out of the anti-rotation pins and I had a hard landing trying to control the plane with the wing moving around the tube. It will be fixed somedays.

I am sorry about damaging these planes but I would feel really bad if it had been one of my Nova. I won't be doing any Imac contest this year I guess and I will stick with pattern.

Leasons learned:
Get sure the crystal is fully in
Get sure the receiver is well protected from vibrations
Soft mount all engines
Verify wings, stabs, and control surfaces are secured before each flights

Xavier 

Thursday's plane: 1/4 scale Cap 232, fiberglass fuse / OS 160 on solid nylon mount / JR10SXII and 549 receiver

Sunday's plane: 1/4 scale Cap 232, wood fuse / ST2300 on solid nylon mount
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