My mum's uncle spent 6 months building large scale b17 bomber (back in the 80s) He took it for its maiden flight on a sunny afternoon, as soon as it took flight there was a problem with the radio gear and it just took of gracefully into the sunset never to be seen again. It's a cruel hobby sometimes
That was awesome flying man, even when things went wrong. You couldn't have done better than what you did. I'm so sorry, I do know how that feels. To have a favorite, have it turn into a total mess and you can't do anything about it makes your heart hurt. You will return!
Oh my goodness, you had me with that retractable landing gear, I literally felt myself say, "That's Rad!" But then, when it lost its grip on the air, I totally felt your agony... Nothing but condolences, brother; that was a rough one to watch. Super sad! Tell me I'm not the only one who feels weird hitting the "like" button for something so unfortunate?
I see what you were trying to do, and you did a pretty good job, but i think i would have set it down as soon as i had a problem. It was definitely the height that caused most of the damage. People panic including myself and sometimes it works out. But most often times it doesn't. Stay calm stay focused.
It did look like an earlier set down would have been better, but that's with hindsight! I don't think it was a panic manoeuvre to climb, rather a conscious decision to buy more time. Unfortunate that an auto rotation wasn't ultimately possible, due to loss of swash plate control
@flyboy451 forsure and you did a great job overall. I was impressed that you gained control with the piroetting speed increasing. I was yelling out support for you lol
Oh boy! I’m so sorry that you’ve lost your Airwolf model, such a beautiful model and it was flying so well, before disaster struck. I do hope you’re able to rebuild such a great model and hopefully understand what failed and why, so that it doesn’t break again on the next one. Take care and best wishes to you and the family 😊😊
Aw man! My condolences. I had an RC plane that I lost on the first flight, but in no way comparable to losing Airwolf. It was a beautiful bird! The time and effort put into it makes the loss so heartbreaking to watch.
I am so sorry. I enjoyed the flight, that was really nice. Amazing machine and I am sure it was a lot of fun. Pick yourself back up though and get back in the air. At least you can say that if there happened to be little miniature passengers on board they likely survived ;) The landing was as good as you could have done with the situation at hand. EDIT: Personally, I think you should go with a half scale model next time :D
Wow, I'm very sorry you lost it! Unfortunately, that too is part of the hobby. While it is sad, you can get a newer one, hopefully, and use the knowledge you gained, to build an even better one. There's always room for improvement. All the best to you!
my dad and me had a tail rotor malfunction once but not on a scale but 3D electric helicopter. he barely kept it in the air and when it was high enough he gave it too me. pitch, roll and collective were still working fine and i was actually able tobring it down relatively safely. only thing that got broken were the blades when it tipped over at the end when i turned of power to the motor. i wasnt able to use autorotation at the time so i jsut brough it down under power while basically stirring the right control stick on the remote like crazy. i wasnt able to use autorotation at the time since i wasnt sure how and was still learning it so i brought it down under power and i know how damn hard it is controlling a helicopter with absolutely no tail control. You had it much worse here and for what it´s worth. You did what you could with the limited control you had. Hope you can rebuild it.
Yeah you said it...vibration. RC model aircraft of all types often suffer catastrophic failures due to the incessant vibrations produced by our two-stoke engines. Engine mount failures, muffler failures, structural airframe failures, and servo/electronic failures...all due to engine vibration. It's all happened to me. Thank God for the new world of vibration-free electric power.
Sorry for your loss. I lost a Bell 429 in a similar fashion. The heli was flying perfectly fine and then suddenly went into a tail spin. I gave it some altitude to try and buy some time while I gathered myself and attempt to autorotate it down. Unfortunately the heli blew apart in the air before I could do anything.
Rebuild please. We all would like/want that. If and when it sets flight again, add the Airwolf Theme track as bkgrd music and we will all be in awe and glad it's back in service again.
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="245">4:05</a> you can hear mechanical issues, even after that you could've put her down soft in that vegetation and saved her.
I’m sorry for the unfortunate ending to a fabulous flight, and congratulations on your calm handling of the situation. As others on here have already said? Anything can be restored, and I hope she does get the restoration she deserves? With technology we have today? I’m pretty certain that it’ll have built in redundancies?
I love watching you RC Aviation Masters. My father flew RC planes his entire life I believe he wrecked everything he ever built that one time or another. Have you ever thought of a ballistic parachute?
Heartbreaking to see this, I’ve got a Trex 450/s2 electric Heli and not flown it properly because I’ve never had lessons or been shown how to do it properly, I didn’t realize it would be so difficult from the toy jobs I had before, I got carried away on eBay one day and spent 1500 euros 🙈🙈😂😂
You know, I've been flying helicopters since 93. Airplanes, maybe 15 years. I cannot count on both hands how many models I've taken up, and, either I was pushing my limits and trying to learn(aerobatics), someone ran into my model(happened a couple times over the years), or radio glitches(hasn't happened in years, but still). You have to take a deep breath, every time you put one in the air. Even for simple hovering. But the thing is: a model can be replaced, a person can't. Could have been worse, and for some, they've put them in the air, and, that was the last thing "they did". Models can be dangerous.. Especially helicopters, and their many moving parts.. Don't get me wrong, I empathize completely as a modeler, but also as a modeler who lost a Vario BO105 long ago, you have to keep it moving, and push on...
Interesting that this helicopter's main blades spin in the counter-clockwise direction, as viewed from top. That is opposite from most other RC helicopters that use clockwise direction. It looks like tail servo got jammed or, more likely, the linkage broke somewhere and so the heli lost anti-torque control. The nose was spinning hard right as expected given counter-clockwise main blade spin direction. Hope you can fix it.
Im so sorry see your beautiful Airwolf die like that, but I'm impressed that you were able to keep it airborne as long as you did. I lost my much loved 20 year old X-Cell .60 heli due to forgetting to Loctiting a single screw on a servo horn. 🇦🇺
Poor Airwolf! This was an awesome RC heli! I felt like I'm watching the TV Series 😉. And then...this crash at the end... I know what you feel. A few month ago I lost one of my RC MD500E. During the flight suddenly I lost the controll and the model fall to the ground. It destroyed in a few seconds... But now I have another (you can see on my channel). I hope it won't follow it's predecessor...
i purchased a drone .....brushed.....lol......anyhow......maiden flght..........it took of....beeped......that was our relationship over.....took of .....then.......days later a neighbours friend found it........he dont believe it was mine.........so gave him control and box...........sorry for your loss
Nice flying. Nice heli. Love that Airwolf. Sorry it ended this way. I had a very short career some 30 years ago with RC-heli and didn’t made it beyond hover on the ground and flipped over. So really feel your pain. 😢
Saw a vid from RC Geek he basically states "every RC Plane has an Expiration date" it could be today's flight or tomorrow's flight so enjoy them while they are there. He mentions it when his rather nice F-4 nosed in and crashed due to what he suspects was a failed servo. Its sad but no reason it can't be rebuilt.
I used to fly RC helicopters and planes. It's a bit like having a motorcycle. You know it's just a matter of time before something bad happens. I have to say I can't really relate to the kind of person that is in this hobby -- the ability to take a disaster like this and look forward to the rebuild. That's not me and it didn't take too many crushing losses for me to give it up. But there are those who can and I hope that's you and that you put another one in the sky. It certainly was pretty.
I always want to cry when I see some of these things crash. I am no into it anymore but I've seen some of these go for more $$$$$ than some ppl make in a year.
well at least you found it to repair or salvage parts off of it. I really lost my trex 450 when the whole throttle stick fell off the transmitter in mid flight, it went to full throttle and I didn't even have a stub to grab onto on the tx, it kept going and I never found it. ☹
In the 16 years that I was able to fly it, it has handled many, many such flights without any problems. As I have already written, I unfortunately neglected to check all the frames again in time. This has now taken its toll. My mistake!
Even with the flybars, that thing was tuned. When you pulled the gears up, you stole my heart,when it down my heart broke. Just another excuse to build another , I've been trying at cp helis for 10years and I still suck so I know you have it in you
My dear dear friend......... I am sending you my sympathy. I am also an R/C helicopter pilot, and I also have had such a bad day. I understand my friend....... Please build a new bird and do not be discouraged.
My friend had an entry level cheap r/c plane and I went with him on it's first flight. The motor fired up as I held it from drifting. The gas engine was humming. He throttled it up and proceeded to fly it into a tree 150 ft away! Wooden frame model was completely destroyed. I felt bad for him after a long build time. After that he brought another with a foam wing and crashed it numerous times but it was easy to put back together and keep flying.
Like yours i think, i got tailwag after a nice flight and that shaking went to bad. The Airwolf got in a spin and crashed. The tail broke and the fuselage was beyond repair.
Thank you, are you rebuild this one? I will not, to many thinks to go bad. I will make my 600 mechanics in some other model. I dont know what it will be.
@@Reinierbaasrc It depends, I haven't examined the airframe in detail yet. If it's worth the effort, I'll probably rebuild it. But that might take some time.
@rctakeoff very sorry you lost your air wolf, I still have mine new in the box , I was going to build it like 20 years ago and never got around to it, do they still sell them? can you repair yours?
So sad. I still have a gasoline-powered MinAir Spectra G, assembled the kit in 2006. Flying it less and less, not the least because of replacement parts scarcity. Fully mechanic, too, no "flybarless" computer thingy in it.
I know how you feel. I have an electric one with contra rotating blades. All went well until the end of one of the blades sheared off and it flew into a tree! I hope you were able to save yours.
At the moment the helicopter is on the shelf, just as I got it from the cornfield. There are a few broken parts on the fuselage, I've already seen that. At the moment I don't think it makes sense to repair the fuselage, but maybe my opinion will change in the next few weeks.
Hello Takers. So sad. I am so sorry for you. That is why i dont built Models that can sink or crash. I don't got the nerves to take such a complete loss.
What you mean is a pedal off landing. That only works with manned helicopters. And only on a very smooth field without obstacles. A model helicopter cannot compensate for the torque of the main rotor by flying speed.
Though easy to say in hindsight, you would have been better off getting it down when it was already low, and as soon as the problem occurred. Trying to gain altitude for an attempted autorotation, when there's already a major problem, was probably the worst thing you could've done. If it happened at height, then for sure attempt an auto. Either way, it's a shame it got destroyed. On another note, it's hard not to have the Airwolf theme music playing in your head whenever you see a nice scale Airwolf!😅
I have a question. First let me say, I am unfamiliar with flying these things. I tried an electric 250 class. I tried hard. I just don't have the feel, for it. Question: Would it have helped, to cut power, as it came down, to minimize damage, in the tall grass? 😁✌🖖 P.S.: Condolences, on your loss.
I was thinking the same thing. I have general knowledge but not pilot level knowledge. Sometimes pilots love to over complicate things (trust me I know a few) Instead of trying to be a hero he could have brought it down in a much more gentle, yet unconventional, way
I have been flying model helicopters for over 20 years and work with manned helicopters every day. 1) Tall grass is poison for model helicopters. 2) There are lots of people who talk smart. 3) Autorotation from a height of 10m at very low speed would most likely have resulted in a 1000 piece puzzle.
I had a favourite a yak18 it flew so well but I got home from work early decided to go fly (didn’t check the charge) got 1/2 through a Cuban eight it didn’t pull out nothing much left that day I nearly gave up model flying but a mate got me back into it.
I think that things like this can happen from time to time. We are all human and make mistakes. As long as we learn from our mistakes. My mistake was not checking the frames in the Airwolf again in time.
