Death of a Patty Wagstaff (RC Plane crash pics)

[JasonInAugusta]

Went flying with p47Tbolt today.

He was flying his big Patty Wagstaff, testing the new smoke system. I was snapping a few shots while he was flying. Got bored, stopped shooting.

Everything was going great until, for some reason, the engine shut off. First time it's ever let him down like that.

Roy calls out "Dead Stick!" and I swing the camera towards the plane and start shooting.

Pictures tell the story...

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/1.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/2.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/3.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/4.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/5.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/6.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/7.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/8.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/9.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/10.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/11.jpg

Overall it was a clean break of the fuse. Aside from the damaged fuse and the bent wing tube, everything survived.

It'll be back in the air by the end of summer. :nice:

[Old Busted Hotness]

What's the big deal? ALL of my landings look like that :lolbeat:

[Keith]

Wow, spectacular crash when you get to see it unfold like that! I see a nasty tip stall on the right wing that started it all! Part of the price we pay to have an airplane as aerobatic as I'm sure that one was... :D

[Jugg2Driver]

OUCH, great shots too. You must be like a western gun slinger with your camera!

[JasonInAugusta]

OUCH, great shots too. You must be like a western gun slinger with your camera!

Skin that smoke wagon and see what happens. :hunter:

[Kmot]

In the first pic, his approach looks good. In the 2nd pic, he has right rudder and up elevator. What was he trying to do??

[JasonInAugusta]

Avoid hitting people and parked vehicles.

Look at the 5th pic...first pic with the pilot.

The wind was blowing towards his back. The plane was coming straight in, from the pilot's 12 o'clock toward his 6. At that time he had airflow over the wings (headwind) and all was good.

To avoid hitting parked vehicles and people behind him, he tried to give right rudder to bring the plane around...90 degrees away from us.

He was fine with the slight elevator input until he threw in the right rudder. The headwind became a crosswind from the left, lost airflow over the right wing...rest is in the pics.

He could have gone straight ahead, over his right shoulder, and sat it down, but he decided not to risk it and turned away from us.

[JasonInAugusta]

Shots of the plane in the air prior to the crash.

Was overcast and I was using a 75-300mm lens so pics are grainy.

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/p1.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/p2.jpg

http://www.projecttwin.com/files/roycrash/sequence.jpg

[Jugg2Driver]

That last pic is cool, how did you do that? Or is it a photoshop work.

[JasonInAugusta]

Last one is a series of pics that were layered in photoshop.

[Norcal Crawler]

I still don't how you guys can fly like that? I mean, how do you practice? Not really practice, but when you want to get into it because i have a heli, but if i tried to fly it, well it wouldn't be a heli anymore. Just a bunch of scrap parts. If you use a simulator, you still have never flown before, so you would probably end up crashing the first time right? Either way, he is a very good pilot.

[Kmot]

Simulators can help. I have RealFlight G3.5 and it is pretty awesome.

[Keith]

Simulators definitely do help. but no they wont make you a pro before you ever get some real airtime... lol

You've probably heard it before, but you just cannot beat a proper instructor to get you on your way, or at least an experienced pilot to help you out. Once you can fly your trainer with confidence, the rest just kinda takes care of itself. :D

[The_Stuff]

i imagine that those big ones are like a brick in the nose when the motor stalls. hehe electric starter would have been nice :P

[JasonInAugusta]

A simulator will help to a point...it'll teach your thumbs what they should be doing and help your brain keep orientation of the plane.

Sims come in handy when you want to try that new move without worry.

I can bring a 1/3 scale Edge 540 across the airfield in an inverted harrier with the rudder barely off the ground...in the sim. :) (that's a $1,000 airframe, plus another $1,000 for the engine...then there's the 14-17 $100 servos, TX/RX...)

No way I'd try that with the real deal...not yet anyway. :nice:

[Trikster]

Like they say when someone asks, "How do you get to Carnegie hall? Practice, practice, practice..."

[p47tbolt]

Here is the remaiden flight after rebuild.:)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SEvjqLwVQSY