A surprise way to lose a plane

[John Ferrell]

I have experienced similar failures.
I now tie all connectors together with white kite string. Cheap, easy to
verify and brings no risk of its own. Be sure to carry finger nail clippers
to remove it though, you will likely cut a wire using a knife for removal...

John Ferrell
6241 Phillippi Rd
Julian NC 27283
Phone: (336)685-9606
johnferrell at earthlink.net
Dixie Competition Products
NSRCA 479 AMA 4190  W8CCW
"My Competition is Not My Enemy"

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <patterndude at attbi.com>
To: <discussion at nsrca.org>
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2003 12:16 AM
Subject: A surprise way to lose a plane


> The pretty picture of my new Aries on the aeroslave.com website is how
I'll
> remember her.  Got a full day of flying on the new bird with the Mintor
170
> pulling it before the battery unplugged while in straight and level flight
and
> she exectuted a 70 mph belly landing.  The wings have minor damage but the
> fuse is toast.
>
> Why did the battery disconnect?  This angered and surprised me.  I used a
> Parsons yellow clip to "make semi-permanent" the extension from the
receiver
> to the Radio South 5.1v regulator.  These clips are coded for JR/Futaba
and I
> had a Futaba one.  They hold the male/female connector bodies together and
> clip around the joined connectors. The battery lead contained only two
wires,
> with the 3rd signal wire missing.  This left only 2 of 3 pins in the
> connector.  Thinking I was doing a smart thing I clipped the Parsons clip
with
> the empty connector housing in the base of the Parsons clip.  The leads
were
> taped to the fuse to prevent flopping around.  The Parsons clip crushed
the
> empty housing and the battery lead vibrated loose.
>
> I inspected the plane carefully after every flight, but never suspected
this
> connection could ever come loose.  If I had clipped the parsons clip so
that
> the wire and pin were in the base, I'd still have my plane.
>
> I hope my description helps someone.  If you use these Parsons clips, make
> sure there is a wire/pin on the side of the connector that fits in the
Parsons
> clip base.  I've used this product in the past without problems, but never
on
> a battery with only 2 wires.  If my explanation is unclear, just don't use
> this product on battery leads.
>
> --Lance
> =====================================
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>


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