RunRyder - almost killed myself today... please be carefull!

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Safety - RC Helis are not toys > almost killed myself today... please be carefull!

glfloat
Senior Heliman
Location: Santa Monica California

Spooled up my raptor 90, lifted it off the ground, put a bit of forward elivator and the heli flew BACKWARD straight towards me!

THIS WAS MY STUPID FAULT!

Well I put a new push pull system on my raptor 90 over the last week and test flew today. Forgot to check to make sur the swash was moving in the right directions, turns out that the forward/backward cyclic controls were... REVERSED due to the new geometry in the upgrade!! I had to essencially reverse my mind and landed the heli safely, thank god! It was only then that I realized i forgot to check the servo directions.
If I were not more experienced, I would be in the ER right now or dead.

Now here is the thing, I DID check the radio and servo directions at the bench, but diddnt REALLY check it (look to see if things were really moving in the right directions). I just "twiddled the sticks" and guess what.. THAT WAS NOT ENOUGH!

Guys I am very carefull with my stuff, but YOU CANT BE CAREFULL ENOUGH. PLEASE PLEASE, check to make sure your control inputs are ACTUALLY MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR PROPER FLIGHT, and for those with multiple models, CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE FLYING THE RIGHT MODEL! It is not enough to simply twiddle the sticks. Never be in a "rush" to fly or you WILL do something stupid.

If that 90 flew in to me today, I would not be here tonight, I am certain of it. God was with me and I feel like an idiot.

07-16-2007 07:18 AM

MolokaiBoy
Veteran
Location: Kailua-Kona,Hawaii USA

Glad to hear you are a safe. Let's take this as lesson learned. The Importance of Preflight checks especially after making changes, or after a crash. A Preflight can mean the difference between having fun at the field or going for a ride on a stretcher.

Be safe!

Aloha

Les
Life is like a roll of toilet paper...the closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes...

07-16-2007 07:56 AM

HOMEPAGE

orlee008
Veteran
Location: Miami, FL USA

yup... preflight is essential before EVERY flight! Dont get comfortable and think "yeah it should be ok" NO!

My brother and I inspect our helis before each and every flight. pull on all linkages, check throws and travel directions, check fuel lines, battery levels and make sure everything is exactly how it should be. and if something is worn or needs replacing we do so, if we cant fix it then we dont fly it, its just not worth to wreck or hurt yourself.

good thing you were able to reverse your mind. change your shorts, reverse the elevator and go flying! haha

Flying in Miami, FL (Kendall Area)

07-18-2007 05:32 AM

tailspin90
Elite Veteran
Location: Portage, IN

This is why i always check radio and swash movement everytime i fly. I do this before starting the motor. Be safe...

..........Joe

Local Smart A$$......JR Helis Rule!!!

07-21-2007 10:15 PM

Proline
Heliman
Location: Austin,Texas

Hey glfloat,
It sucks when that kinda stuff happens but I really respect you for reporting here. Sometimes we tend to keep our mistakes to ourselves in fear of ridicule. This does little to stop the next guy from doing the same thing. We all make mistakes but you only made one. Not telling us would have been the second. Just know that you may have saved someones life and that should take some of the sting out of it. Thanks again.

10-23-2007 03:32 PM

borneobear
Senior Heliman
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

90 size??? OOh maan.... here's what a Trex 450 can do:

http://malaysia-rc.com/index.php?topic=981.0

Glad you're still in one piece dude. Really.

10-23-2007 03:50 PM

Zaneman007
Key Veteran
Location: Texas - USA

glfloat

Been there, done that.

Swapped a JR servo with a futaba, and found out the hard way($$$) they turn in different directions. The heli just rolled over like a dead dog. Then when I went to pick up the pieces, I realized what I had done?

My unofficial pre-flight check list consists of pushing the cyclic around, and talking to myself saying "left, right, forward, backwards, up, down." I also check the rudder and pitch. This routine saved me a couple of weeks ago.

I'd rather be flying

10-23-2007 06:31 PM

TachyonDriver
Senior Heliman
Location: Chipping, Lancs, UK

glfloat

Thanks for the report. That's one where thankfully you can say "I larnt about flying from that".

FWIW an easy way to check tail rotor pitch direction is to have the rotor pointing vertically and visualise the lower blade as a boat rudder.

Tach.

Little Spinning Bundle of Joy®

10-24-2007 10:35 PM

FloridaHeli
Heliman
Location: jacksonville, florida

Hey guys, don't forget in that preflight to check the DIRECTION of the throttle servo. I got it backwards on 2 different helis in the last 2 weeks: REAL dumb. Started both in full throttle with the left stick pulled back all the way. Got the engines shutdown by pulling the fuel line off on one and plugging the Pipe exhaust on the other. Neither situation was fun.

So, please include checking the direction and throw on the throttle too.

Fly a lot and fly safe.

This hobby is WAY too expensive!!

10-25-2007 01:52 AM

sceaduboy
Senior Heliman
Location: London, UK / Hong Kong

Just check all the servos, just to be sure. And Floridaheli, you were lucky that it didn't happen to you with an electric heli, with reversed throttle

.

Evo 50, Rappy 90, T-Rex on the bench, need rebuilding

10-25-2007 03:46 AM

wlfk
Veteran
Location: uk

Sceadu,

On electric helis, most ESCs will only initialise if the throttle channel is at 0 when you turn them on. If you plug them in with the throttle anywhere else, they won't start the motor. This is one thing I really like about electric!

Kit

A bit like a kite, but 500 times more expensive

10-25-2007 06:51 PM

sceaduboy
Senior Heliman
Location: London, UK / Hong Kong

My electric do that too, but if that fails....

(But I doubt it will ever fail)

Evo 50, Rappy 90, T-Rex on the bench, need rebuilding

10-26-2007 12:20 AM

flyfisher
New Heliman
Location: beaufort

raptor30 very close call

am new to this hobbie and on my 17th flight I landed the raptor and spooled it up but did not want to take off again so I gave it some more throttle, my mistake it shot up like a rocket and I chopped the throttle hit my vw passat dented the hood and fender and the blades missed my hands by 3 inches, found out the skids were trapped under a root about 1/8 inch thick. I learned a lesson here could have been a lot worse

12-24-2007 12:15 AM

TachyonDriver
Senior Heliman
Location: Chipping, Lancs, UK

OUCH! Not the kind of repair bill you need - heli AND car! Cheaper than a new hand though!
Thanks for posting.

Little Spinning Bundle of Joy®

12-24-2007 06:28 PM

flyfisher
New Heliman
Location: beaufort

preflight

being a new member here and with a raptor30 v2 version I have learned so much in so little time here, and only want to stress the safety thing about these helis, if one tiny pitch link is cracked or simply worn out it can be all over for the heli and you so what I do personally is look at all the moving parts in the rotor with a magnifying glass while I move them with the transmitter small cracks or loose screws or nuts can cause someone or yourself serious injuries please be careful. This is not a toy toys r us do not stock this............love my raptor30 26th flight today and no bumps or gaping cuts I love a good challenge success is being able to go through failure after failure with really no loss of enthusiasm

12-25-2007 01:08 AM

BigguyOz
Key Veteran
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Have a look at what a pre-flight picked up! I wonder what would have happened if this had let go in flight... You can't look too closely..

Tony Stott
Scenefromabove.com.au
Trex 450,AP2000i,Askman
8m mast
hot air balloon
kite

12-25-2007 02:57 AM

HOMEPAGE

eric_b
Veteran
Location: Denver, CO, USA

Quote
You can't look too closely..

Amen, Good catch.

01-11-2008 12:43 AM

HOMEPAGE

Pink Panther
Heliman
Location: Jersey, Channel Islands

Pleased your OK. It is so easy when you can fly to become complacent. I always check everything before flying but, I used to fly far to close to myself and liked the heli' to pass right overhead. I have stopped this now, it's just to easy to lose concentration for a nano second and lose control, really not worth it, 'showing off' (as my wife says) when people are watching me fly.

I like to spend everyday as though it were my last; in bed drifting in and out of consciousness!

01-11-2008 02:06 PM

heligrom
Senior Heliman
Location: Long Island NY, USA

I had a similar thing like Bigguy...

I was doing a preflight and noticed something weird in the flybar cage. A closer look revealed that one of the cage "arms" was completely cracked in half and being help together by the static pressure of the assembly.

That coulda been abd mid flight!

T-rex 450S CF, Blade CX, Blade CP, A few planks

01-11-2008 05:41 PM

raptor25
Heliman
Location: Kinston, NC

I though I would join the conversation on how Helicopter aren’t toys. I admit lately I have not been doing in-depth preflight checks concerning the tightness of bolts. The other day I was flying my Tiger50 with an upgraded rotor head of the Pantera50. Now one of the main differences between these heads is the spindle shaft 5mm vs. 6mm. The manual for the Pantera 50 states to use blue thread locker which I thought I’ve used; anyway I completed the assembly, test flown the bird and had over 10 flights over a couple of weeks. The day of the incident my chopper went from hovering at half stick to ¾ stick all of a sudden. It wasn’t long after that during a slow spool up that my Tiger started to shoot blades: one in front of the helicopter and one flew to the left of me. I think I was about twenty feet from it. I’m thankful for no bystanders, my safety, and for the helicopter not being airborne.

Maybe it’s just me but I fill more comfortable with the spindle shaft’s with the screw/nut ends rather than screwbolt to secure the spindle shaft. At least with the screw/nut ends you have 2 safety measures going for you: 1- apply some thread locker and secure the 3-4mm nut. Second- in my case the type of blades I was using once extended out for flying allowed the nut to remain in place even if the thread locker fail. But with those spindle shafts that uses the screwbolt in design there’s nothing stopping that bolt from backing out once the thread locker fails. Maybe it’s my inexperience.

Damaged assessment is one ball link, a missing spacer between the damper/bearing and a cracked seesaw arm follow by a high level of respect and safety for my hobby.
Sound off?