So i was out flying this afternoon. 4-5 flights in or so, doing inverted hovering, some tumbles, shot a few autorotations, tweaked the tail, and upped the rpm on my gov. got around to working on some tic-tocs for a few flights(first day working on them alone, first time out since i went over some with my instructor.)

Saw some deer too.

All was going well, or so i thought! this was about my 3rd flight of just working on tic-tocs, they were going pretty decent and i was all over the sky on and off, some were good some not so much. at this point im 100ft up or so, about 30deg to my right, on the inverted half of the manuver. best way to describe it, was just... the engine just let go, for a split second i was trying to think of what happened, my tx alarm didnt go off i know i wasnt out of fuel, i had full control so it wasnt a lockout.

I got it flipped over almost instantly, but i knew i lost a lot of head speed, i actually heard it winding back up as i dropped the collective, with almost no forward speed. at this point i knew i couldnt make it passed the 6ft tall brush, and weeds and snakes oh my, to make it to the runway. so i got it to just the point i knew i would loose sight, and started raising the collective.

Set my transmitter down, pointed the antenna in the direction it went down, went back to my truck to grab my cellphone, incase i got bitten by a snake as i was at the feild all alone and was wearing shorts, and digital camera to take pictures. Locked the truck up and went for a little stroll. I picked up a 5ft tall strongish looking stick to beat the ground ahead of me checking for snakes.

Got out 100 feet or so, and jiggled the cyclic a little. I heard something behind me, had my stick... beating my way in that direction, walked 50 feet back diagonally from the way i came, jiggled it again. definately headed the right direction, still beating my way through the brush and there it was* a mere 10 feet from the edge of the grass, and about 30 from the pavement. at this point, i could TASTE how close i was.

*notice the branch caught between the flybar cage which was making the clicking sounds that honed me in to its location.

Crash Scene Photos:

After Accident Photos:

Bastard Deer that was Laughing at me:

looks like you almost got off scott free....did ya loose the blades?

"What the HELL was that?" Mayor of Hiroshima 6 Aug 1945.

i havent gone over it throughly yet. but the main rotors and tail rotors appear to be undamaged. at this point theyre in one piece but i havent checked for damage.

the only damage thats apparent is: both of the upper mixing arms are broken. and perhaps the usual suspects for bending or stripping.

edit: flybar didnt bend or break, i thought that was interesting too.

the ONLY damage im finding:

feather shaft is definately bent
both upper mixing arms broken

that is all im easily able to check, flybar seems straight, not sure how to check main shaft or tail shaft without running the helicopter. no frame or servo tray damage, servos seem fine, tailboom doesnt appear bent.

is there anything else i should look for? i realize this wasnt a major crash, but id rather be safe than sorry.

the way i figure it happened, i probably started my flare a bit too early and by the time it hit the ground had such low head speed when it tipped over it made contact, and folded the blades once; i believe this is also shown with the amount the tail rotors are folded up and were positioned neutral.

overall, im pretty damn impressed with this crash.

Always check the main shaft.
When blades stop suddenly (like in a crash) the main shaft gets it rough.
Take it out. Put it on a glassplate. Roll it.
Look if it keeps touching the glass evenly when rolling.
In doubt, buy a new one.
I allways have one spare and replace it after a crash (not that I have that many). After replacement I'll check the old one. Is it still good. Then that's my new spare one. Bended? Buy a new one for stock.

Ill bet you the hub is bent. I bet the hub will bend before the mainshaft. Fly it and if it shakes (canopy you can see really well around the swashplate area) I would buy a new hub and mainshaft if it shakes.

I checked over the rest of the machien.

Mainshaft was slightly bent at the top, so i replaced it and the center hub for safe measures.

Flybar was also slightly tweaked, it didnt look like it was, until i pulled it and tried to roll it, found it was bent at a slight upward angle which wasnt easily noticed while on the helicopter.

feathering shaft was tweaked a little, could have been the crash or a rough auto i was practicing earlier in the day, replaced.

mixing arms were broken off on the blade grip side, replaced.

nothing else appears to be broken and on wednesday i will know for sure only other thing that could be suspect is the tail output shaft.

all parts were replaced from items items i had in stock, in the event this happened.

you got off easy....congrats! now order somemore parts!

"What the HELL was that?" Mayor of Hiroshima 6 Aug 1945.

Looks like you got off pretty good all things considered. I also like the fact that you thought about all of the safety precautions before going to get yer heli. I probably would have just run out there to get the heli and got bit by a snake.

It wasn't me, it was my thumbs!

you got off easy....congrats! now order somemore parts!

lol i have plenty. not nearly the cache of stuff you had for that x-spec your selling though!

Sceaduflyer: yea, i have a strong dislike for snakes so i was pretty careful. i think for now on though im going to keep a pair of pants in the truck with me when i go out in case this happens again*crosses fingers*

Went out this morning and got it flying!! Was a little nervous at first, hoping i didnt forget to do anything. Got it off the ground for half a tank of hovering and seeing i needed to tweak anything.

Only a few flights, everything seems back to normal for the most part. Then i got a little skiddish and thought i should end the day on a good note

Back out on Friday!

Always nice to have some spares you should see my collection of rappy/evo parts....only reason I'm selling the x-spec cause thats the one with the least amount of parts!
glad you got her in the air again....

"What the HELL was that?" Mayor of Hiroshima 6 Aug 1945.

only reason I'm selling the x-spec cause thats the one with the least amount of parts!

holy ****, youve GOT to be kidding...

glad you got her in the air again....

and thanks

hey
did you ever find out what caused the heli to go down???

also.....that's a good crash if you ask me....nice

Thanks
~Will~

did you ever find out what caused the heli to go down???

unfortunately nothing definitive.

At least you didnt land in the swamp area to the right of the runway. Its a real pain finding things out here. Just for fun put a cam on the bottom of your heli and fly over that area. You will be amazed at whats still out there! Cant tell you how great condors is for "saving" your heli when it goes down there. I had my raptor 50 get shot down there because some fool turned his tx on while I was in the air and all I had to do was replace a link and clean the mud off and I was was back in the air. Last time I was there I ran into a rattle snake so be careful. They will normally warn you first but you cant always have great luck twice in one day so watch out for them.

spritefiend,

Are those BBT main blades?

If so, where are you getting them?

andy-

DaOne: lol, swamp?? i didnt know that we had any marsh there. i will avoid that area then for sure. I normally fly off the middle of the runway and normally dont go past the ends.

I always see missing airplane and helicopter flyers on the message board area in the pits, i was afraid for a while there that i was going to be on the wall of shame too, i only had about an hour or two before dark and only had a general direction to look, i didnt take note at the time to how close i was. i just knew it was far enough away i couldnt make it to the runway.

As far as the snakes go, thats crazy =\ like i said i hate snakes. one time i was out there alone flying off of the dreadful helicopter pad and this yellow and brown about 4ft long snake started coming my way. so i grabbed this 20ft pole by the very very VERY end of it, and slung the bastard way the F out into the brush thats next to the "helicopter area" Never to be heard from again.

snakes= .22 snake shot I dont like em either....shoot em till they stop moving

holy ****, youve GOT to be kidding...

nope not kidding

"What the HELL was that?" Mayor of Hiroshima 6 Aug 1945.