The worst kind of shame walking....

[RRHandy]

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...

Some times those planes are found and never returned to the owner even with our names and number on and in them, Shame. R.

[chopper]

Kind of the opposite problem for me. I hung my beloved E-Flite P-47 in an enormous tree 2 years ago this month. To this day I can see the plane firmly lodged in the branches well out of reach - kind of mocking me. Despite countless cycles of wind, rain, and snow the plane is still there and largely in one piece (the nose broke off a few weeks after I parked it there and I got the motor and esc back.) The paint has become darker and flatter but all the control surfaces are still in place and the plane looks fairly airworthy, I have new-found appreciation for the durability of our foamies.

[dkalwishky]

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

Sorry rifleman but I laughed at that.

[dkalwishky]

I'll share my story. This happened in the late 70's or early 80's, I don;t quite remember.

I was flying a Marks Model Wander (glider) and something happened and either the battery went dead or I had a signal loss problem. This was back in the 72mhz days.

It went straight in to a corn field right next to our field. My dad and i and several members spent hours on three different days looking for it. We even had a guy take us up in his plane to see if we could see something from the air.

Fast forward three or four months to November, we get a call from the farmer whose field it went in to. he was out running the combine after dark and the headlights lit up something really shiny so he stopped and got off the combine and found my glider. He said it was pointing nose down so looking at it form the air was pointless, there was virtually nothing to see.

We got it back from him and other than a few minor repairs it was back in the air the next summer.

[purduephigam]

At least there was some resolution there. I have an update from my original post.

Ordered a new Rebel 70mm, had it together and balanced in a day. Took it out to the field Friday as there was literally no wind. Control surfaces checked, range checked, all good. Got it up no problem, a few clicks of trim with the right aileron and down elevator. I felt like I shook the whole first flight. Flying scared is an ugly way to fly. Did a gear pass, went out for a long approach, but overcompensated my speed as I didn't want to land it in the bush again. Came in way too hot, had just enough time for a go around and came in again to land. It was ugly, but down. Battery swap, went out and did it again. This flight was more comfortable. Smooth in the air, and the gyro was excellent. Landing time; and it's like a switch went off as I was again flying scared. Plus, I knew someone had just arrived at the field. Same approach as before, yet again too hot and went ahead for another attempt. Better speed but still too much and put it down at the end of the runway. Still ugly, and with a bounce, but I at least got 2 flights in and was able to drive home with a plane.

I hear a voice after I land, and the gentleman says, "Was that the plane that was lost?" Of course it was the same guy I crashed and burned right in front of last time LOL
I kindly replied back that I had it replaced and that I was still healing from all the stickers, burs, and twigs. I only brought enough for two flights as I wanted to get in and get out and just call it a day. I'll need to take some more time to get comfortable with speed, approach, and my confidence. Perhaps next time I work on some touch and goes so that I am comfortable with the whole landing process.

[rifleman_btx]

I did have one that just came to mind after flying my new FA18. Back when I was in Virginia, I had a little 64mm f18 I had bought when I was in Germany. Anyway I was flying around and was getting ready to land her when I see this flash shoot up from the ground and hit my plane to suddenly a cloud of feathers and foam went everywhere. I couldn't believe what happened, so I walked over to the site of the crash, and sure enough the fan was busted up plane was shattered in pieces with feathers and fan bade all over the place. And of course no one had a camera to film it... but who would have even thought about a bird strike on a little rc jet? Very crazy. LOL

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

The club where I fly has a big corn field and regularly guys drop planes into it. In many cases we have to wait until winter for the corn to go to recover the aircraft. Its amazing how hard it is to find these aircraft - you'd think it would be easy to see a gap in the corn but in reality they seem to just disappear of the face of the earth when the crash in it!

[rifleman_btx]

I've been there, and you are right about the those corn demons eating planes. It is almost impossible to find them. Also in a forest. Might need to find someone with a phantom drone to fly out there and look from the sky. Then have a team looking with the eye in the sky directing you to where to go.

[Hemidoo]

The club where I fly has a big corn field and regularly guys drop planes into it. In many cases we have to wait until winter for the corn to go to recover the aircraft. Its amazing how hard it is to find these aircraft - you'd think it would be easy to see a gap in the corn but in reality they seem to just disappear of the face of the earth when the crash in it!

Oh yes , we have a corn monster at out field as well !!

[MichaelJ]

My walk of shame, hmmm..... Usually ends up with a ten to twenty ft pole. Trying to get a plane out of the pond near our field. I lost a quadcopter, found out that my 980P40 sinks quickly when nosed in full speed..(never recovered)
found out my flybaby floats.
This year my FMS moa disappears into a thunder cloud never seen again.
But the funniest thing that happened was when me andmy nephew found one of our club members fpv plane I knew where his house was so we went to return it. He was not home. Being Mischievous I left the plane in a planter in acrash position. So he'll see it when he pulled up...

[rifleman_btx]

That fpv plane return is priceless should have got a video of him discovering it. Now that would top all! LOL

[MichaelJ]

Me too:)Paul figured it was me cause I was the only one who knew where his house was.

[WorldsOldestKid]

My "One that got away" story was my first plane the Apprentice 15. It was my 4th time up on my own when it got a little out of sight. I thought I was doing everything correct to bring it back but apparently I wasnt. The club I belong to is stuck in the middle of monster sized graze parcels and one would think recovery would be a piece of cake. I walked for hours and never saw it again. Today I'm still a beginner and now flying the Carbon Z Cessna (50 flights). I chose it for its size but really like the plane. I have several planes that are WAY out of my ability range (ie Aerobeez 330 60cc) but hope to someday see them in the air! Thanks for posting, I feel better Lol!

[RCjetdude]

Welcome to HobbySquawk WorldsOldestKid. I love your handle! Keep at it and you will see those planes fly. It is good that you recognize you need to work up to them. You are on a good path.

[icepirate3]

I dumped a Convergence about a year ago about 20ft from the runway. Found the plane no problem but couldn't find the camera. There were 3 of us out there looking for a good solid hour as we ALL wanted to see the footage of the crash! We gave up and went back to flying. About 3 or 4 months later, a club member mentioned that someone had found a small camera a few days back and left it on the clubs radio stand. Yep, it was mine!

After getting home I loaded up the SD card and the crash was certainly fun to watch. Did a loop a bit to low and slammed pretty hard into the desert floor. The camera looked to have flown about 50 feet or so from the crash judging by the airtime. The funny part is it kept recording for quite a while. At a few different points you hear us talking in the background. But at one point I hear my voice pretty clearly and then a underside view of my left size 11!! You can clearly hear me say "I'm seeing all kinds of broken props and crap but not the cam" Yep, walked right over it.

But it still records and use it a few times a month just in case I have another "Youtube" moment! Not a lost plane but still memorable in my eyes