The Bonehead Files

[quadracer]

I was flying my 48 EPP Yak one day, and went to straighten out the gear after a particularly rough "attempted elevator- to-hover." I sat my radio on the tailgate, and when I reached in to bend the gear back, the wind caught the tail feathers and pegged the throttle. Dumbass ME didn't unplug the battery. So, what probably needed a few stitches and some thorough cleaning by a trained professional, was a cut on my index and middle fingers, each went down to the bone. Luckily I was able to grab the prop and stop it before it cut my wrists up.

 

[Jwmav528]

I was working on my .90 glow to 20cc gas conversion on my Phoenix Extra 330 and I was cutting the throttle linkage to length the night before an event and in my haste, I was using a fresh straight razor blade with no thumb buddy (article coming soon on what that is) and the blade slipped and I buried it a quarter of an inch into the tip of my left thumb. I'm a bleeder so this meant a stream of blood running down my arm. I put pressure on it, raised my arm, and drafted my fantasy football team. I probably should've gone to the ER. I never regained full feeling in the tip of my thumb. I'll have that article out as soon as I'm on a real computer and not just Tapatalk on my iPhone.

 

[gyro]

Right before my 3rd flight of the 74"Edge I had, I changed the servos from Hitec to Align (Savox). Little did I know that they are 180 degrees out in travel direction.
Well, I got to the field, and I checked for proper movement, but not "correct movement"
I think you know what's coming... I took off, and the ailerons, and rudder, were reversed.
Plowed into a desert berm of rocks and dirt, luckily avoiding the pits by about 20ft. Destroyed the cowl and motorbox, chipped the canopy, punctured the wings in a few spots, and cracked about every piece of wood inside the fuse from nose to the rudder tray.
I did get her all fixed, only had to purchase a new cowl, prop, and spinner. She flew again, many times actually, and I just sold her for a steal of a price.
Not the airplane to learn a hard lesson on... A foamy would have been better!

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

I had a bonehead move just yesterday. I wanted to slip out during halftime of the Ohio State Michigan game and fly my Crack Yak at a local church field. I got there and I was bummed because my receiver lost its bind to the transmitter (so I thought). I went back home and looked into it and I was turning on my transmitter to my 47" SHP model. Thankfully my 8FG radio was smarter than me. Worse part is I have the start up option to always ask me what model I am flying when it turns on. I guess my mind was not really into it.

 

[njswede]

Right before my 3rd flight of the 74"Edge I had, I changed the servos from Hitec to Align (Savox). Little did I know that they are 180 degrees out in travel direction.
Well, I got to the field, and I checked for proper movement, but not "correct movement"
I think you know what's coming... I took off, and the ailerons, and rudder, were reversed.
Plowed into a desert berm of rocks and dirt, luckily avoiding the pits by about 20ft. Destroyed the cowl and motorbox, chipped the canopy, punctured the wings in a few spots, and cracked about every piece of wood inside the fuse from nose to the rudder tray.
I did get her all fixed, only had to purchase a new cowl, prop, and spinner. She flew again, many times actually, and I just sold her for a steal of a price.
Not the airplane to learn a hard lesson on... A foamy would have been better!

Man that sucks! Almost hurts to read!

 

[njswede]

I drove by my field today and just "happened" to have a plane in the trunk of my car. On the fourth and final battery, I suddenly lost all power and made a very ugly dead stick landing but saved the plane. Since I had bought the batteries from Gary, my first reaction was, naturally, to send him a nastygram from my phone.

To make sure I discarded the correct battery, I measured all four and noticed, you guessed it, that one was fully charged... Ooops... I guess I must have put back a discharged battery.

Conclusion: I need to install telemetry and a voltage sensor in my plane and I need to be nicer to Gary...

 

[gyro]

I know where you can get said telemetry and voltage

 

[Planecraz3d]

Last year at my clubs spring fly-in, I was about to fly my brand new (only 3 flights old) 59" Slick. The one in my avatar actually. This was my first time flying at an event or in front of a crowd and I was nervous and trying to follow all the rules, like have a spotter, don't arm esc until out of the pits, etc... I got everything lined out and announced "taking off!" then hit it hard for show. With my Motrolfly 4315 I was off the ground and pointed at the sky in less than 10 feet. Thats when I realized I had no control of my wings and the plane was drifting into knife edge. I had forgot to plug in my ailerons and they were drifting causing the plane to be almost uncontrollable. I intentionally put it in the ground. The crash destroyed the plane from the wing tube forward, there was nothing but bits and pieces left. I was crushed and embarrassed to say the least. To top it all off I had a Team Futaba pilot that I know standing next to me while all of this took place! He watched what happened, then leaned over to me just after the crash and said "You didn't plug them in did you?" then patted me on the back and smiled. That's a lesson I won't ever forget! I now have a preflight routine that follow rigorously and I don't "visit" while assembling my plane.

 

[wedoitall]

The other day i was working on my lil yak. I had already plugged in my battery and was doing something cant really remember. Anyways i dropped my Tx and throttle went wide open. The lil yak goes full throttle into the side of my tire of my truck. It ripped the motor right off the motor box and busted up the cowl and prop.

I really shouldnt have been flying that day was really sick and was kinda loopy, think thats why i dropped my Tx. I just laughed it off and flew some other planes.

 

[gyro]

The other day i was working on my lil yak. I had already plugged in my battery and was doing something cant really remember. Anyways i dropped my Tx and throttle went wide open. The lil yak goes full throttle into the side of my tire of my truck. It ripped the motor right off the motor box and busted up the cowl and prop.

I really shouldnt have been flying that day was really sick and was kinda loopy, think thats why i dropped my Tx. I just laughed it off and flew some other planes.

Damn, that sucks John! Which little yak?