Popped my crash cherry

[exiged]

Id crashed about 35 times by my 35th flight so your doing well

[myxiplx]

I'd argue with that.. Yes, eventually a crash or two is probably inevitable, but IMHO isn't something you have to accept as a routine event or a 'big part of the hobby'.
I guess we all have different ways of approaching the hobby, some push the their limits all the time with the inevitable results. Some on the other hand choose to fly with a margin for error and can go years without crashing. Neither approach is right or wrong but the amount of crashing we do is to a large extent within our control.

+1 on this. I don't accept crashing as a "big" part of the hobby either, although I accept that they do inevitably happen on occasion. I minimise my crash risk by learning all new moves on the sim and flying comfortably within my modest ability in real life. So far this approach has resulted in only 1 crash in 200 flights on my main heli, 3 crashes in 150 flights on my beater and zero crashes in 60 flights on my scale micro - all of those crashes came in the very early stages of the inverted/3D learning curve. It's now over 200 flights since I last had a crash on any model, so the approach seems to be working well for me.

Hear me out guys. When I say it's a big part of the hobby, I don't mean you have to expect to be out at the field crashing helicopters every week, what I'm saying is that it's something every rc helicopter pilot will experience, and we all have to find our own way of handling that. Whether you crash every week, or barely once a year, if you're going to stay in this hobby for the long term you have to accept that crashes will happen.

In one way or another it affects every single one of us. For some people fear of crashing really slows down their progression as a pilot. Others have too little fear, and end up sinking a ton of money into the hobby (and spending more time wrenching than they really need to).

I haven't crashed my X3's in 350 flights now, but that's because I've made a conscious decision to work on all my orientations and be a little more careful in my flying. I may not be crashing, but my decision to avoid crashing has definitely affected the way I'm flying at the moment. If I look back a year I was pushing harder and progressing faster while I had the attitude where learning came first.

And Peteski, I reckon if you look at your flying you would say the same. You may not be crashing, but I reckon knowledge of the risk of crashing affects many of the decisions you make in the hobby, from the size of model you fly, how you maintain it, how and what you practice on the sim, and even how you fly.


PS. My first year flying my 600N I crashed it 3 times out of 18 flights.... That was an expensive year for me :-)

[Peteski]

Totally agree there myxiplx, very good points. I agree that "crashing" is a big part of the hobby in the sense that you have to deal with the risk in one way or another. I make all efforts to avoid crashing - sim, rescue, conservative flying etc and you're right it does affect the way I approach the whole hobby. Not sure on how much it affects progression, but not crashing certainly maximises your flying time. I guess it's a balance between crashing so much that you lose significant flying time and perhaps your confidence and budget vs flying so conservatively that you don't make any significant progress. For me the sim allows a decent rate of progression without taking too many risks at the field.

[waveydavey]

I reckon Nick Maxwell would have real competition if I didn't spend so much time picking it out of the dirt and repairing it, you're a lucky boy Mr Maxwell

[Granpappy]

The desire to improve flying skills is obviously of key importance to most people in the hobby, but there are a few people, like myself, who have no ambition to take those skills beyond being able to competently fly circuits around the airfield with the occasional roll, stall turn and back flip. Therefore, for people like me, crashing is pretty much a thing of the past barring mechanical failure or stupidity like flying across the sun. (Like I did on Tuesday night, but luckily got away with it). I think the quicker you want to progress into 3D, then the more hits you are likely to take with accidental ground contact. As to whether I remain content to just carry on doing circuits which I currently enjoy, is a different matter. If I get bored with repetition then I either stop flying or try something new with the heli. Only time will tell which way that will go.

With regard to the OP's reservation about flying a 600 size heli, then the way I started was just to launch it and fly it further away. It actually looked the same size as the 500 which I was previously flying closer in. After a while you don't really notice the size difference so I no longer worry about launching it further away. The same with the 700. I'm now a lot more conscious of flying a small heli.

Edit: As an afterthought, simulators are definitely not for me. I get so bored with them that I invariably end up flying Concorde or some other large scale model that has no benefit in real life what so ever.

[Guest]

I bought my t rex500 last year and still being a bit of a novice i flew it all year without incident and now i can quite throw it around out there so i have never crashed it and honestly never want too the hight it flys is just amazing i recently bought a t rex 450 as i still like the small ones and last night the tail servo locked and it went into a wild spin and i had to crash land it luckily only a broken landing skid and a servo arm very lucky

[myxiplx]

Thanks guys, I do loads in the sim about and hour a night at the moment, I'm managing inverted circuits, I feel like a heli god but as soon as I get the real thing in the air my heart starts to pound and my legs turn to jelly I really can't explain why, it takes all my concentration to do even the most simple of manoeuvres. I hope it wears off as I intend to fly the 450 this season and build something bigger during the winter, at the moment I don't think I could even spool up a 600 let alone hover it.

That'll all fade with stick time, and you may even find some of the nerves go away now you've got a crash under your belt. Some of my best flying has been on the days I went to the field with the attitude of "sod it, don't care if I crash today, I'm going to have fun".

And once you're comfortable with a 450, a 600 just feels great, so much slower and steadier, it feels like you've got all the time in the world. You might just take a few more paces back before you spool it up the first few times :-D

[mole hunter]

Call that a crash? This is a crash it even had worms tangled up in it

[mole hunter]

Call that a crash? - This is a crash, it even had worms tangled up in it

[Guest]

Wow that's amazingly ****ed up not only wrecked but needs a wash too

[A.W]

Wow, now I bet that took some sorting out! Did it go into a lake/pond??

[mole hunter]

Wow, now I bet that took some sorting out! Did it go into a lake/pond??

No lake or pond involved - just our field was a bit damp.

I have to say that this wasn't my work but one of the best pilots in our club. Half an hour before this he had put his 600 in when a tail blade let go - but he does like to push hard . One way of looking at it is, it improves your rebuild skills!


Marty

[Jay23]

Happy to report the heli is repaired and back in the air, just managed 1 pack before it got too dark, it fly's great and sounds completely different! Upon closer inspection when i stripped it down, the one way bearing shaft was welded to the auto rotation tail drive gear and i had to replace both, not sure if this would have affected the flying that much but maybe it had something to do with the crash. As im relatively new to the hobby i probably can't notice if parts are slowly wearing and affecting the flight. Anyway, all's well that ends well. Thanks for all the comments i enjoyed reading them (especially the crash pics!)

[Coxy]

well I ploughed my 450l in today, the speed fuselage ain't looking to happy, so I'll be going back to a normal boom and canopy... bits to be ordered later

[Jay23]

well I ploughed my 450l in today, the speed fuselage ain't looking to happy, so I'll be going back to a normal boom and canopy... bits to be ordered later

Chin up, these things happen.