Remembering the fallen....

thehaze · December 27, 2012, 05:07:31 PM

As 2012 comes to a close. I thought I'd start a "in memoriam" thread where we can remember the planes that didn't make it to 2013.

So as 2Pac once said "pour one out for my homies"....

My EMFSO Formosa #13. Shredded by the weeds at the end of the field while doing a victory pass over Greg's Formosa at 2ft, I guess I should have pulled up sooner. Spectacular end to a fun little plane.

LR-1A Pogo EF1 racer. Crashed and burned on the shortest ever attempt to race around the orangeville pylon course. Too much torque on take off and the left wing tip hit the weeds on the edge of the strip. A one hour drive for 5 seconds of racing, not my finest day at the field. I might repair it, but it's going to need some parts.

(Not So) Great Planes F-20 Tigershark. Couldn't pull out of a split s that started out at 300ft in time. In examining the wreckage it would appear that the plane managed to level out at the height of the beans. Plane was shredded, battery travelled 30ft before stopping. Officially the worst handling ARF I ever flew. Something was wrong about the placement of the vertical stab. Lost elevator authority on hard pulls through loops and turns. But it did look nice.

Phase 3 F-16. I let Greg hand launch it for me. Need I say more?

Ededge2002 · December 27, 2012, 06:36:19 PM

My Rifle #1 went out with folded wing in a high G turn. There were no survivors.. The self destruct timer must have been set at 100 flights as that was about when it died. The cure? bought another one!

pmackenzie · December 27, 2012, 08:11:12 PM

I was going to post and say I didn't "lose" any this year, but then I thought about all the combat models I wrecked. Lots of them but that is part of the game.
And then I though about the two I had fly away when the lines got cut.

2 planes + 2 motors + 2 mufflers + mounts + 2 shutoffs +2 props +2 models = > $1000.

Props and models are expendable though so that does not really count, and obviously the shutoffs weren't worth much since they didn't work when they should have.

But losing the two motors really hurt. They were both excellent, and will cost 300 euros each to replace.
And no guarantee the replacements will be as good as the ones I lost. (They really were strong ones

)

And to top it off, if your shut off fails you lose the match as well

One flew away at the Nats in Muncie, it just kept looping higher and higher till I lost sight of it. The loss put me out of the contest.
The other was at a contest in Detroit. it actually did not go far, but went into the forest beside the field. No way to find it in there.
(It is a bad area. They found a headless body in the area in the spring, so I did not really want to look too hard

)
This time was not so bad, I ended up second instead of first since it was the last match of the day.

Control line aint cheap!

Pat MacKenzie

sihinch · December 28, 2012, 06:11:04 AM

For me, off the top of my head, it was 2 mini EDFs that I lost this year that I wish to remember.

The F-35 was a bit of a handful running on 4S witha Himax fan, and survived a run-in with a telegraph pole (after some surgery.) But alas, didn't make it back after an over-correction ground smash. Consolation is that I salvaged the fan & electronics.

And then my F-22 from the same series (SkyAngel 50mm) obviously didn't like living in captivity. This was a wonderful flying aeroplane and I would recommend it to any EDF fan. It was sweet. But one day, it just decided to fly off over the horizon to the east, all on it's own. Despite several walks in to the field (with Greg H, Andy H and John W - thank you!) I never managed to find it. Lost lipo, aircraft, servos, receiver etc. I reckon $200 just flew away.....

Oh, and there was my lovely balsa Edge 540 that I lost at the beginning of 2012. The elevator join let go on the first flight after I'd upgraded the motor and esc. It was a large aeroplane for 48" wingspan, and had real presence in the air, but it made a good 8" gash in the TEMAC runway on the fast downwind pass when the airframe failed. Totally unrepairable.

S

thehaze · December 28, 2012, 09:42:38 AM

Quote from: pmackenzie on December 27, 2012, 08:11:12 PM

The other was at a contest in Detroit. it actually did not go far, but went into the forest beside the field. No way to find it in there.
(It is a bad area. They found a headless body in the area in the spring, so I did not really want to look too hard )

I don't blame you for not looking in that forest! I'm also going out on a limb and concluding that there was no overnight camping at the field for this particular event. Yikes!

thehaze · December 28, 2012, 09:45:01 AM

Simon, FWIW the F-35 hitting the telephone pole was a 1 in a million shot and was pretty spectacular.

Anyone else want to share a tale of destruction?

It's good therapy....

pmackenzie · December 28, 2012, 10:11:03 AM

Quote from: thehaze on December 28, 2012, 09:42:38 AM

I don't blame you for not looking in that forest! I'm also going out on a limb and concluding that there was no overnight camping at the field for this particular event. Yikes!

Judging by some of the "objects" that can be seen on the ground in the parking area, there is some short term "camping" going on there at night

And just in case you think I was kidding about the body being found:
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/18785946/headless-body-found-near-missing-womans-home-20120614

The parking lot in the video is the one used for the flying field. This was three weeks after we were there in the Spring.

Other side of the flying field is the back side of the Detroit Police shooting range. They are often there when we are, my model actually flew over the range.

wollins · December 28, 2012, 11:41:20 AM

Well. this year was a rough one for me and especially frustrating cause it seems like I just couldn't get off the ground! As long as I got into the air everything was normal.

My last hand launch of the season finally put my "scale" P-40 foamie to rest. Launched it but couldn't get to the sticks in time cause my hand hooked up in my sweater pocket on the way down to my TX!

SPLAT! Repairable but since it was the third time it had gone in this year "on launch" I decided to retire it. (read: BIN IT!

)

I had a couple of "crashes" with the Bird Dog (mid air with Rob's Decathlon and ripping off the LG at the skills challenge) but since it survived both I guess it doesn't count as "fallen".

The one that really hurt was early on in the season with my F5D composite, the video says it all! Video says it all ... TOTALLY DESTROYED.

Hopefully 2013 will be better ... no crashes for any one of us!

Colin

thehaze · December 28, 2012, 12:10:26 PM

That was a tough one for sure... However, notice who the launcher was. The Black Widow himself, Greg Hazelton....

Wingnutz · December 28, 2012, 12:43:14 PM

Parts of my Skyangel F-86 are still in the swampy treed area to the west of the driveway, a few parts have made it into other models, most parts are binned and what's left of the fuse sits in my model boneyard in the basement.
Misjudging lateral separation between your model and a tree can produce spectacular results!
I followed Ed's lead...bought another one. The model doesn't fly all that well but it's got the cute factor covered!

Polecat · December 28, 2012, 12:51:16 PM

Quote from: thehaze on December 28, 2012, 12:10:26 PM
That was a tough one for sure... However, notice who the launcher was. The Black Widow himself, Greg Hazelton....

Are you going to use Greg to give you a pylon launch.

wollins · December 28, 2012, 01:32:01 PM

Quote from: thehaze on December 28, 2012, 12:10:26 PM
The Black Widow himself, Greg Hazelton....

Lol!

In all seriousness though, Greg's always threw my planes well ... good strong throw at the horizon ... and he even looks good doing it.

Just look at the man's form in the video! (and you know he means business when he takes off his hat!

) It's like the two bladed knife producing 1700 watts just inches from his hand doesn't even faze him.

Thanks Greg but despite your best efforts the pilot still put it in the dirt.

Colin

battlestu · December 28, 2012, 03:29:59 PM

Quote from: thehaze on December 28, 2012, 12:10:26 PM
That was a tough one for sure... However, notice who the launcher was. The Black Widow himself, Greg Hazelton....

hee hee Black Widow... I think i need to adjust my profile.

off hand i can only think of one... Fw-190. I don't have time to write up the story stop me some time and tell you tale that involves cows, electric fences, and busy bull

Greg

sihinch · December 28, 2012, 03:35:07 PM

Greg - Not sure if your 2013 nickname should be Black Widow or Sticky!

piker · December 28, 2012, 11:07:25 PM

I wrote off a couple of planes this summer, thankfully both ARFs, so no big deal

The first was my Mew Gull at the Oakville Electric Fun Fly. I was having a great flight and was bringin' 'er across for one final high speed, low pass when I clipped a small tree at the edge of the cut field. The plane plastered itself across 100ft of the Oakville runway (closer to the far edge so far from any people, thankfully) and generally made for a spectacular crash. I say, if you're going to do it, do it right!

The next was in front of a bunch of TEMACer's at the September TEMAC Fun Fly. Colin and I were flying around in close (well... close at times) formation with my Decathalon and Colin's Bird Dog. I got my plane a bit too close and they got tangled up. Mine headed straight for the ground and ended in a heap. Colin, with his masterful piloting skills, and general good looks, brought the Bird Dog in for a perfect landing despite a broken wing, and thankfully, the Bird Dog was repaired to fly again.

Robert