The Art Of Crashing

Crashing is an unavoidable part of flying radio control. Planes, and particularly helicopters, are going to get subjected to a lot of abuse. If you're just getting into the hobby, be prepared to spend time back on the bench after a day (or maybe a couple minutes) of flying.

Of course things improve the better you get, but even very experienced pilots crash - they just do it less often. Check out the catastrophic loss of this enormous B-52:

I put my personal fleet through a tough time learning to fly. Both of these electric Sig Kadet EP 42" ARFs have hit their fair share of trees, even spending the night in one! On one particular flight I nosed the blue one in very hard, destroying the firewall and everything in front of it. My father-in-law and partner in crime saw this as a perfect opportunity to upgrade to brushless power, and rebuilt the whole nose around a ElectriFly RimFire 28-30-1450 out-runner .

On the red one, we burned out the factory brushed motor pretty quickly, and fabbed up a mount for the RimFire to fit the existing plywood. Later that got damaged and we put a new nose on, using a small ElectriFly brushless mount . We also turned the motor around and used a prop saver because the stock landing gear doesn't give the prop much ground clearance. If you have a rigidly mounted prop, I'd suggest buying new propellers in packs of six. Believe me, you'll go through them.

This brings up a lesson I've learned from others: the type of package you buy will determine how much you can repair it. If you get a ready-to-fly (RTF) plane, any damage it takes will pretty much be a total loss. With an almost-ready-to-fly (ARF), you've spent several hours building it, so you have a better idea of how it goes together. You'll know how to make small repairs, and have a range of upgrades available. Still, you'll probably have to replace an entire piece after a serious crash. Finally, with a kit, you've built the entire thing and know the ins and outs. Rebuilding and recovering damaged sections will be no big deal.

Here's another example of what I've put the poor Sigs through, and the motivation for this article. In this case I may have run the battery down too far, and lacked the speed to turn quickly. I hit a large tree about 60 feet up, and while the initial impact wasn't too bad, the way it hit the ground completely disintegrated the wing. Since the body is fine, I've ordered a new ARF wing, and just have to reinstall the servos and hardware.

So, what can you do to avoid crashes? In my experience, there's a few easy things:

1. Don't fly when it's too windy. This is especially important with small planes or indoor models which require total calm to fly outdoors. Even if you've loaded up the car and driven a half hour to get to the field, don't push your luck. I've done just that and carried home a heap of balsa thirty seconds later.
2. Check your aircraft thoroughly before taking off. Make sure that all control surfaces work and move in the right directions. It's very easy to leave a servo reversed or use the wrong model memory when you share a transmitter between planes. Also check the covering for any tears or openings - these can cause serious control problems, for example the plane might turn sharply left even with full right rudder and ailerons.
3. If flying electric, make sure your battery is well secured. Not only can batteries be damaged in crashes, they are also the heaviest and densest item in your plane. If the battery slides around in flight, it will significantly change your center of gravity and make handling unpredictable. Before flying, balance the plane under the main spar to check your CG. Also, pick it up by the tip of the propeller and the tail and check that it doesn't lean to one side.
4. Lastly, remember that the ground is your enemy. When in doubt, try to fly "two mistakes high". The difference between a close call and big wreck is usually reaction time, which comes down to how high you're flying and how fast. Of course it helps if you're not flying into the sun, or too far away to see which way the plane is oriented.

There is an upside to crashing though - it's a good excuse to buy a new plane! If you plan carefully, you can often do it much cheaper than starting from scratch. It doesn't take long to realize the real costs in R/C are in electronics, and crashing frees up receivers, servos, engines, motors, and ESCs. You may even find yourself disappointed that a crash left your old plane salvageable. Personally, I've standardized on micro servos and 11.1 volt LiPo batteries, in 1500 mAh and 2100 mAh sizes, which gives me lots of planes to choose from.

Knowing that crashing is part of the hobby might make it a little easier to bear when you're facing a pile of splinters and wishing for a big undo button on life. (As far as I know, it's still in development.) You will crash, but don't let it stop you. Go out and fly safe, and like George of the Jungle, watch out for that tree!