[NSRCA-discussion] Note to Self

Thu Aug 29 06:36:28 AKDT 2013

This happened to our Junior Team member, Joseph Szczur, right before he left for the World Championships in South Africa. See here:  http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/team-rcu-don-szczur-329/11584708-2013-world-championships-f3a.html

He apparently flew it in knife edge until just before landing, and recovered the airplane.  Fortunately, it wasn't badly damaged.  Quick thinking for a 13 year old.

I lost an airplane once to a wing that came loose (still not sure why, as I remember putting in the securing pin).  My wing just rotated, and didn't come off, putting it into a high rate roll, all the way to the ground.  Stuff happens...

Jon

-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Diamond <ldiamond at diamondrc.com>
To: Bob Pastorello <rpasto513 at gmail.com>; General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Thu, Aug 29, 2013 9:25 am
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Note to Self

Thanks Bob...Outstanding Luck is right !!!!! I have watched what happens when somebody forgets the $3K screw that secures the wing.

Because I have always been nervous about connecting the ailerons to the right channel, I use two pairs of small colored zip ties. One goes on the sacrifice cable connected to the receiver and the other goes onto the servo lead. Takes the guess work out for me... Gets really weird when connecting the retacts on another plane.

I was very lucky... The wing tube is very tight in the fuse and snug on the wings. Since everything is still fairly new and there are no snaps in Intermediate, the friction was enough to keep the wings attached. I wouldn't be so lucky if I had a lot of flights on this airframe...

LD

From: Bob Pastorello <rpasto513 at gmail.com>
To: Larry Diamond <ldiamond at diamondrc.com>; General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> 
Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 8:49 AM
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Note to Self

Larry - let me be one of the first to say "Outstanding LUCK!!"  Many of us have been on the "other side" of that identical scenario, and not with the results you had.
Outstanding work engaging your caller, too....that's a great way to get some good exposure.
Congrats on the "keeper" flight.... I always seemed to have those when alone, too.

This past Monday, I was readying my Monolog 70 for it's flight, had a lookee-lou chatting with me during assembly (yep, you know what's coming) and I plugged in the ailerons in their wrong channels.  Didn't notice how weird it was until landing and noted all the "droop" in both ailerons.  Took off the canopy, sure enough.  Very blessed that my programs were setup such that this error didn't mean a crash.

On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 8:30 AM, Larry Diamond <ldiamond at diamondrc.com> wrote:

I had the best practice flight yesterday which made me feel like I could actually fly the Intermediate Sequence with justice... ;-)

Nobody was at the field when I got there. After getting the plane set up, an older gentleman drove up to pick up an umbrella he forgot.

He saw my 2M Monolog and had a big grin on his face. He had never seen a Pattern Plane let alone see one fly. He said he was willing to stick around and watch if I was going to.

With a big smile on my face at this point, I asked for his assistance. I explained I needed somebody to call for me because I don't have the sequence memorized. He was initially nervous and quickly calmed down when I explained how he could call for me and what he needed to do, and if he messed up it was no problem and no worries.

Needless to say he was amazed watching the Monolog fly. I was amazed as I was thinking this is the flight that should be judged at a contest as it might be awhile before I repeat it. I flew slower to help give him time and for me some practice on a slower flight. Bang, it helped. He did a great job calling !!!!!

I finally landed and thanked him for his assistance and looking forward to meeting up with him again this weekend at the field.

He left and I set to pack the plane up. I took off the Canopy and removed the batteries. One by one I removed the wings next, placing each one in it's appropriate wing bag. What a great day !!!!!

Then I was overwhelmed with an adrenaline rush... What just happened...? What did I do...? OMG, I didn't just do that...!!!!!!!

I suddenly realized I didn't remove the rubber-bands that held the 2M Monolog wings on... Why you ask? Because I never put them on before the flight... I flew it with out the wings being secured. 

Note to self... "Make some kind of  "Remove Before Flight" red ribbon flag to remind me to put the rubber-bands on the wing restraints..?

Larry Diamond
NSRCA 3083
AMA 5024

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-- 
Bob Pastorello
rpasto513 at gmail.com 

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