The worst kind of shame walking....

[purduephigam]

Hey all, just wondering if I'm the only moron this has happened to. I fly at a local field which, maybe for me, seems a bit tight but I've made it work with my 64mm F86, Pandora, and 70mm Rebel without problems. Excited to get 4 flights in with my Rebel, I went ahead and did my checks and initiated. The entire first flight was uneventful and really just plain fun. Timer claims 1 minute remaining, so I do a gear pass and lower my flaps (mistake 1?). I have had issues over shooting so I tried to extend the flight path a little further so that I could really line up the approach and manage airspeed without feeling like I had to "drop it in." 50% throttle with flaps while turning turned out to be the dagger in which it stalled out as I desperately tried to manage the plane and at least get it away from the nearby treeline.

Needless to say, it was a pathetic crash, in front of another member mind you. As I began my journey through approximately 200yds of knee-high to chest-high brush and sticker bushes, I knew I this could either be bad, or terrible. After about 45mins of searching, I gave up. No plane, bloody shins and soaking wet shoes and socks; only to come back to the field with another member who was aware of my expedition into the wild Illinois wilderness. I'd like to think I'm a humble person, but I hadn't really felt humility like that before. Thankfully my wife felt so sorry for me she told me to just get a new one.
Has anyone lost a plane like this? I can't imagine the situation to be much worse than mine in terms of feeling like I was in the jungle of Vietnam. Tell me I'm not alone out there. And if I am, I hope you enjoyed a laugh or two LOL

[RCjetdude]

Been there... done that! HA! Freewing 64mm A-10 went down in waist high Kudzu and poison ivy after loosing power. Found 6 months later by another club member.

[fhhuber]

There's still a plane of mine out in the weeds somewhere... lost for 6 years now.

[rifleman_btx]

I have 4 missing planes, all on my own property, absolutely no idea where they went

[RCjetdude]

You win! LOL

[Jhnybgd]

Back in the early 90's I had a beutiful F14(great planes)prop driven done up in a black bunny scheme with retracts and a Supertiger 90.
Way over powered but looked and sounded great!

I was flying on a great sunday in front of half of the club doing a nice routine which mid way through i would fly inverted about 40' up(low for me)
everybody watching.......guess what time it is kiddies,lets pull up into a nice climb out .

Dooh inverted up runway center not good,I dont think the box came with that much balsa planks in it.

Packed up the pieces and went home, didnt fly for probably 2 weeks after that I felt like such a dolt.

[purduephigam]

Well I feel better. Thanks everyone. I'll chalk this up to yet another learning experience. Certainly won't be the last time I crash, but I hope it's the last time I lose a plane in the woods.....

[Hemidoo]

Ugh , It happens So far i've always found my pile of busted up foam from my " training missions ! " And yes , i've bought the same type of plane twice

[CZ Flyer]

Well I feel better. Thanks everyone. I'll chalk this up to yet another learning experience. Certainly won't be the last time I crash, but I hope it's the last time I lose a plane in the woods.....

Got to be a drone pilot at your field that could do some aerial recon for you. Recovered my dad's Carbon Z Cub that way.

[purduephigam]

I thought many times how convenient that would be. I'd like to have found the plane, at least to salvage the battery and electronics. But I feel somehow it actually squirted into some thicker, denser trees/brush. Not sure a drone would really help me there. Go figure the one time you'd actually prefer the plane hit something..

[fhhuber]

Got to be a drone pilot at your field that could do some aerial recon for you. Recovered my dad's Carbon Z Cub that way.

We sent up a drone looking for one lost in the weeds...
The drone couldn't find it until there was a person standing beside the airplane. The scale camo worked really well.


**************

Even if everything in the airplane is trashed, sometimes you want the wreckage just to figure out what broke to cause the crash. I play "minature NTSB" looking over the wreckage to determine what happened. If you don't find what failed then you don't know what you need to pay more attention to in setting up the replacement.

[purduephigam]

The clock ticks at this field, as they do controlled burns every fall. I guess cremation is the way to go these days...

[xviper]

We sent up a drone looking for one lost in the weeds...
The drone couldn't find it until there was a person standing beside the airplane. The scale camo worked really well.

Great "search and rescue" technique. I've sent up my sailplane or wing with a camera on board to look for lost planes (my own and others) via a grid pattern. Unfortunately, I can't review the movie till I get home and download it to my computer. I don't take my laptop with me to the field. To date, I have found 5 planes (one was my own). One was a friend's who was flying from his acreage (wheat field). He lives an hour and a half from me. flew around where he thought it came down. Went back to his place and used his computer. Found it easily from the air. It was within 15 feet of where he drove past. Just couldn't see it for the tall wheat. Mine was 5 feet from where I walked past. Grass too tall.

Interesting note: If left in the wild too long (more than a couple of days), the field mice and other little critters eat Styrofoam.

Oh, and we've all done the "walk of shame". It's part of the hobby. Anyone who does the shaming has forgotten what it's like to do it himself.

[Hoomi]

I haven't needed (yet) to search for my own lost plane, but on one of my first visits to the club field, before I even joined, I ended up wandering through the desert across the road from the field, helping look for another member's plane. There were at least three of us out looking, and I think that was one of the things that impressed me about the club. No one teased or harassed the pilot for losing the plane. We just went out to help find it.

Mind you, there is plenty of good-natured joshing going on around the field at various times, so the club isn't lacking in humor. I think it's just the awareness that, if any particular member hasn't lost a plane before, they likely will someday.

Unfortunately, drone reconnaissance isn't an option at the SAGE field. We're within five miles of Marana Regional Airport, and to keep on good terms with the airport, the club has a firm rule of no drone flying at the field. As I understand it, if the airport decided to push the issue, they could shut down all our flying.

[BluesDragon]

So long as the drone pilot contacts the tower and let them know what altitude they'll be at while searching and an approximate time limit, it shouldn't be an issue. I've used my drone on occasion to help out club member's, as well as taking the walk to help search for planes and/or parts. My own walks have been short and humble... up to this point anyhow. :Whew:

[Hoomi]

So long as the drone pilot contacts the tower and let them know what altitude they'll be at while searching and an approximate time limit, it shouldn't be an issue. I've used my drone on occasion to help out club member's, as well as taking the walk to help search for planes and/or parts. My own walks have been short and humble... up to this point anyhow. :Whew:

In the case of the SAGE field, the club has gone beyond the FAA rules. While I think most of us would abide by the FAA rules if we flew our drones at the field, all it would take is one to screw things up for the relationship between the club and the airport, so rather than take the chance, the club instituted a firm, "No Drones" rule for the field.

The photo shows the alignment between SAGE and Marana Regional. We're pretty much right in line with their secondary runway, and not that far away. We sometimes joke about who has control of the big airplanes when they go over. If I'm measuring correctly with the scale, our field is less than 10,000' from the end of that runway, so under 2 miles.

[Aros]

LOL

We ALL can relate! That is for sure. One of the classic lines in this hobby is "If you ain't crashin' you ain't flyin'" LOL LOL

I have at least 5 airplanes out there somewhere to this day, disintegrating into dust as I type, never having been found or able to retrieve. One haunts me to this day as I bought a brand new camera, it was the first flight with the camera and it went into the woods never to be seen again. I spent several days looking for it...Nothing. Still makes me want to go look again just thinking about it, lol.

We are ALL familiar with the Walk of Shame...

[BILLY BOY]

Hey all, just wondering if I'm the only moron this has happened to. I fly at a local field which, maybe for me, seems a bit tight but I've made it work with my 64mm F86, Pandora, and 70mm Rebel without problems. Excited to get 4 flights in with my Rebel, I went ahead and did my checks and initiated. The entire first flight was uneventful and really just plain fun. Timer claims 1 minute remaining, so I do a gear pass and lower my flaps (mistake 1?). I have had issues over shooting so I tried to extend the flight path a little further so that I could really line up the approach and manage airspeed without feeling like I had to "drop it in." 50% throttle with flaps while turning turned out to be the dagger in which it stalled out as I desperately tried to manage the plane and at least get it away from the nearby treeline.

Needless to say, it was a pathetic crash, in front of another member mind you. As I began my journey through approximately 200yds of knee-high to chest-high brush and sticker bushes, I knew I this could either be bad, or terrible. After about 45mins of searching, I gave up. No plane, bloody shins and soaking wet shoes and socks; only to come back to the field with another member who was aware of my expedition into the wild Illinois wilderness. I'd like to think I'm a humble person, but I hadn't really felt humility like that before. Thankfully my wife felt so sorry for me she told me to just get a new one.
Has anyone lost a plane like this? I can't imagine the situation to be much worse than mine in terms of feeling like I was in the jungle of Vietnam. Tell me I'm not alone out there. And if I am, I hope you enjoyed a laugh or two LOL

I lost my HH Apprentice S 15E in a flyaway. I don't feel too badly as I did a range check before the flight. I also reviewed my preflight checklist before sending her up. There was nothing I could do. She just flew off into the wild blue yonder. I cut the throttle and did all I could to bring her down while I still had sight of her. She went over a bluff and dissappeared. I walked the entire area for 2 days in search. Nothing. I had my name and address on the aircraft. I am guessing she broke into very small pieces as I never heard from anyone that might have found her. I used a battery that was showing signs of puffing and would have had to have been replaced soon so I didn't lose much there. Still....you get kind of a sick feeling and you DON'T tell your wife. lol

[BILLY BOY]

Hey all, just wondering if I'm the only moron this has happened to. I fly at a local field which, maybe for me, seems a bit tight but I've made it work with my 64mm F86, Pandora, and 70mm Rebel without problems. Excited to get 4 flights in with my Rebel, I went ahead and did my checks and initiated. The entire first flight was uneventful and really just plain fun. Timer claims 1 minute remaining, so I do a gear pass and lower my flaps (mistake 1?). I have had issues over shooting so I tried to extend the flight path a little further so that I could really line up the approach and manage airspeed without feeling like I had to "drop it in." 50% throttle with flaps while turning turned out to be the dagger in which it stalled out as I desperately tried to manage the plane and at least get it away from the nearby treeline.

Needless to say, it was a pathetic crash, in front of another member mind you. As I began my journey through approximately 200yds of knee-high to chest-high brush and sticker bushes, I knew I this could either be bad, or terrible. After about 45mins of searching, I gave up. No plane, bloody shins and soaking wet shoes and socks; only to come back to the field with another member who was aware of my expedition into the wild Illinois wilderness. I'd like to think I'm a humble person, but I hadn't really felt humility like that before. Thankfully my wife felt so sorry for me she told me to just get a new one.
Has anyone lost a plane like this? I can't imagine the situation to be much worse than mine in terms of feeling like I was in the jungle of Vietnam. Tell me I'm not alone out there. And if I am, I hope you enjoyed a laugh or two LOL

I have my own flying field and don't belong to a club. My flying time is my "me" time. I enjoy the peace and quiet. The only one I can embarrass is myself. lol

[BluesDragon]

In the case of the SAGE field, the club has gone beyond the FAA rules. While I think most of us would abide by the FAA rules if we flew our drones at the field, all it would take is one to screw things up for the relationship between the club and the airport, so rather than take the chance, the club instituted a firm, "No Drones" rule for the field.

The photo shows the alignment between SAGE and Marana Regional. We're pretty much right in line with their secondary runway, and not that far away. We sometimes joke about who has control of the big airplanes when they go over. If I'm measuring correctly with the scale, our field is less than 10,000' from the end of that runway, so under 2 miles.

Yeah... that's pretty tight right there.