No! Going Going GONE!

[Bluenose75]

Absolutely gutted, run 2 cells in the morning at a park in Oakham no problems, was running another cell at lunch time having fun, gained some altitude and started losing direction before I knew it the 200srx was a speck in the sky totally lost sight and helicopter! Spent hours looking, have dropped a letter through some letter box's with my number on the of chance it dropped in their garden, if not time to buy another! So gutted first flight since rebuild. Guess I'm not the first to loose a model!

[Mark_T]

Guess I'm not the first to loose a model!

Not the first for sure, but if you've not already done so, you probably want to look into RCHA or BMFA insurance.

It won't help with this incident, but if it happens again it will at least protect you if the missing heli comes back to you with a damages claim attached ...

[Sheldrake]

Hi Bluenose, where do you normally fly? Oakham is a long way from Walsall? You would be welcome to visit us at Central Model Helicopter Club and meet some friendly Heliaddicts, we fly on an airfield so there is plenty of open space, advice and guidance!
As previous post make sure you sign up to BMFA or RCHA for insurance, won't help your model but will help with any claim caused by a flyaway!
Hope you get sorted quickly and back in the air soon.

[Grumpy]

Sorry to hear that. Too late now i guess but next time try to keep it close at all times, If it does get away from you, and all else fails just cut the power, it wont fly away if the rotors aren't turning and a crashed heli is better than no heli.

[Mike Sanders]

Bad luck on the fly away.

I agree with Mark_T.

Maybe I am a bit obsessive but I wouldn't fly any model helicopter without having BMFA insurance. Even when I first started with a small co-axial in my garden, I joined the BMFA first.

[kenny d]

I like your attitude , down but not out , hope you get it back , Kd

[Grumpy]

Regarding insurance. Personally I'd not get too worked up about insurance if only flying a micro helicopter. You got to ask yourself, realistically what damage could it do? But each to his own.

[bigpops]

Been there, done that. It was a Blade mCX and it was a dead calm summer evening. For some reason I thought I could bring it back to me as it drifted away, instead of just letting it fall to the ground as soon as it got over my neighbours garden.

I never saw it again. 3 days I'd had it.

[Bluenose75]

Hi Bluenose, where do you normally fly? Oakham is a long way from Walsall? You would be welcome to visit us at Central Model Helicopter Club and meet some friendly Heliaddicts, we fly on an airfield so there is plenty of open space, advice and guidance!
As previous post make sure you sign up to BMFA or RCHA for insurance, won't help your model but will help with any claim caused by a flyaway!
Hope you get sorted quickly and back in the air soon.

Yes I work all over and take help with me for lunch times! I think club is the way to go!

[myxiplx]

Worryingly that's the 3rd 200SRX flyaway I've read about. I'm wondering if the safe mode on these doesn't cut the power if they lose radio signal. If it doesn't that self levelling technology is going to keep them in the air for a long while.

[Grumpy]

I'm wondering if the safe mode on these doesn't cut the power if they lose radio signal. If it doesn't that self levelling technology is going to keep them in the air for a long while.

It it cuts on loss of signal is somewhat irrelevant under the OP's circumstances. For starters you can cut the throttle just by moving the stick down. If you somehow in the heat of the moment you forget that you can close the throttle, then to fly out of range the heli is going to getting on for a mile away, a micro would probably run out of battery before it ran out of range.

I think the 200SRX is more prone to flyaways than the average heli simply because it's auto stabilising give it the ability to fly by itself. Most helis would just crash if left to their own devices, so flyaways are unlikely.

[Mark_T]

Regarding insurance. Personally I'd not get too worked up about insurance if only flying a micro helicopter. You got to ask yourself, realistically what damage could it do? But each to his own.

Ask the BMFA about the claims they have had from a couple of 'chuck glider' incidents

[Peteski]

Really sorry to hear about the loss, but hang in there! Just goes to show how steep the learning curve still is even with all the electronic aids.

[Mike Sanders]

There are a million things that could go wrong, even flying a micro. From damaging a neighbour's garden ornament to knocking a cyclist off his bike (into the path of an oncoming lorry) almost anything could result in a lawsuit.

For £32 per year it is worth having the insurance cover.

I have nothing to do with the BMFA, except as an ordinary member.
I used to be a lawyer......

[Grumpy]

There are a million things that could go wrong, even flying a micro. From damaging a neighbour's garden ornament to knocking a cyclist off his bike (into the path of an oncoming lorry) almost anything could result in a lawsuit.

Indeed, but all those things and more could happen from just walking about the street. Yet we don't take insurance out to cover us for walking around. The trick with flying your heli would be not to fly it near a road where there were cyclists and lorries in the first place. the insurance only covers you for places that are legal to fly anyway. Insurance shouldn't be seen as an alternative to common sense.


Dont get me wrong, i think BMFA membership/insurance is good value and I have it... but if i was just flying micros i for one wouldnt bother, no more than i would walking the street or kicking a football.