Lost plane!!!!!!

[gnat]

I'm have a Spektrum radio and rec. and my plane got away from me, what happens when it gets out of range,does it hold the last inputs til battery runs down? Dx6 radio, ar636a safe rec. In a p51d mustang bl gun fighter,thanks

[chevstar]

RE: Lost plane!!!!!!

:( :(           I'm a little concerned when I read this post because I've had an issue with my Old Crow P-51 by FW the airplane would fly like it was on rails now seems like I'm fighting it all the way almost acts like the plane was tail heavy but after checking and rechecking the CG its right on. One other thing I noticed was when powering up receiver the controls work spontaniously , so I'm thinking the issue is with the receiver will be talking to Spektrum about this issue.

[PappaBear]

RE: Lost plane!!!!!!

I'm have a Spektrum radio and rec. and my plane got away from me, what happens when it gets out of range,does it hold the last inputs til battery runs down? Dx6 radio, ar636a safe rec. In a p51d mustang bl gun fighter,thanks

Generally speaking if you loose a plane unless it is fitted with a stabilizer it will crash long before the battery runs down. The problem will be finding it unless you can pin point where it came down. If you have a stabilizer turned on and the model flies off straight and level, then you could have a problem and it will continue until the battery looses power.

Martin.
[hr]

:( :(            I'm a little concerned when I read this post because I've had an issue with my Old Crow P-51 by FW the airplane would fly like it was on rails now seems like I'm fighting it all the way almost acts like the plane was tail heavy but after checking and rechecking the CG its right on. One other thing I noticed was when powering up receiver the controls work spontaniously , so I'm thinking the issue is with the receiver will be talking to Spektrum about this issue.

Have you ever crashed your model? You make the necessary repairs and fly it again right. Hand up everyone who has done that. Almost everyone I imagine, including me.

Give a thought to the electronics, especially the RX and the servos. If the RX has been a a really hard crash, at the very least send it to the service agent for test and evaluation and if you are in any doubt what so ever, change it for a new one. The risk is not worth it on the next model.

Please don't sell or pass on a faulty RX to an unsuspecting customer.

Martin.

[farmflyer]

RE: Lost plane!!!!!!

When having similar problems as these a couple of years ago I found the problem to be (corosion). Actually a grey white residue on the contacts under the sticks in the transmitter causing interment controls. Sometimes loss of control and sometimes erratic controls I didn't input. After carefully cleaning the contacts the problem went away. I read about this on another forum but don't recall where. They recommend doing this every few months especially in high humidity climates. By the way this was a Spectrum dx6i.

[doctormike]

RE: Lost plane!!!!!!

I live in Santa Fe (7000 ft) so I dont have a humidity problem. I do fly float planes, however, and always spray Corrosion X into my electronics. I'm thinking you should do this with your transmitter. It really does work well. Doc

[Grossman56]

RE: Lost plane!!!!!!

Ever wonder what to do with those dessicant packs that come in all our pill bottles?
Collect them and throw them in your transmitter case.  That's what they're for and lets face it they're cheap, just change them out wihen you've built up stock!!

Grossman56

[Pauly]

RE: Lost plane!!!!!!

The first plane I bought from MRC was the RTF Sport Cub S. After I made sure it was ready and binded with the supplied remote it went up and yes it went away and away and I had absolutely no control of the airplane. I cut my loss and ordered a BAF model since I already had a remote and never had a issue with the other plane. Yes I was heart broken, but sucked it up and got another and kept on flying.

[martmichals]

RE: Lost plane!!!!!!

Did you lose sight of the plane, or did you still see it when it crashed?

[fhhuber]

RE: Lost plane!!!!!!

Assorted things get blamed on the radio, when the radio might be working just fine.

Get a plane far enough away and you can lose "orientation" and not be giving it the correct commands to recover from strange attitudes or to turn it around and bring it back.

Our club field has some really strange wind effects due to the staggered tree lines. we call it "treebulance" If flying in the wrong spot with certain wind conditions the wind can flip a 14 lb plane doing 120 mph... The wind forms a "rotor" that is several times the reported wind speed at the airport (just appx 6 miles away and its generally flat land)

Simple pilot error of causing a high speed stall will snap the aircraft into a spin or snap-roll with no warning. High speed is relative... anything above the speed you'd expect to stall from straight and level. A 60 deg banked turn puts 2 G load on the aircraft to just maintain altitude. That added aerodynamic load increases the effective "stall speed". You can also simply apply too much elevator and suddenly stall due to imposing a higher angle of attack on the wing.
The radio gets blamed almost every time...

then there's the issue of overloading servos... Sometimes the RTF package servos are marginal. Then apply the loads of advanced aerobatics and you can exceed the servo's power. The wind blows the control surface back toward reduced load despite the servo trying to hold or increase deflection. Generally the first place to see this is called "aileron blowback) where pulling a tight high speed loop the ailerons deflect toward the center of the loop (up if inside, down if outside) They rarely deflect evenly and the effect is some un-comanded roll. (not as violent as snapping out of the loop due to stalling the wing)

Combine these (and other issues) with distance and the chances of recovering get small. This is a place SAFE's one-button rescue can be very handy...

***********

Most 2.4 ghz radios have "failsafe" positions the controls will go to on loss of radio communication. In general that will be the position of the TX sticks/levers/switches/buttons at time of binding the RX to the TX. This is one reason its a very good idea to NOT have the sticks centered and to ensure the throttle is at 0. If you bind with full up elevator and full rudder, then the airplane will snap into a spin on loss of radio. (takes about 5 to 10 seconds for some to go into failsafe)

Initially (usually at least 2 seconds) the radio goes to "hold last commanded positions." often with the exception of immediately putting throttle to its failsafe position.
Some ESCs will detect the RX not communicating with the TX and will go to 0 throttle. This depends on both the RX and the ESC if that will work or not. (usually 72 mhz AM/FM RXs, not 2.4 ghz)

since different makers of ESC and RX used different philosophies about all of this... its best to read up on what to expect from your particular equipment... and do some ground testing with the prop removed to verify that you get the results you want. (or to at least be able to recognize what happens on loss of radio communication.)

[gnat]

Lost plane was found about a mile away,two kids were playing and found it. Plane was busted up beyond repair but the electronics checked ok, so I ordered a new airframe and put it back together. Fly's great!!
Martmichals, the plane got too far away and I couldn't get it to turn back to me, the last direction it was.going and where it crashed, it flew straight, I got it back about three weeks ago, thanks gnat

[farmflyer]

Wow after all this time it was found and returned that's amazing.

[Aros]

Oh man, that's awesome! Her heart beats in a new airframe.

[xviper]

I used to wonder what would happen if there was a loss of signal when the plane was in the air. Unless there is some sort of interference from electro-magnetic sources (high tension overhead power lines for example) or some sort of obstruction that the plane flies behind, loss of signal generally happens long after visual is lost of the plane. (One place where I fly, there seems to be a "dead zone" in one particular vector and distance from our pilot area. It is in line with a power transmission tower. This has happened to several different people with different planes. We try to avoid that area.)
There is one way to see what happens when radio contact is lost. First remove the prop (or hold an EDF very tightly on the bench). With everything powered up and operational, run the motor up about 1/2 and crank the sticks to their extremes. Now turn off the TX for a few seconds. Note what the motor and control surfaces do. That's what happens. Turning the TX back on should re-establish contact. If you have some kind of failsafe, the controls will go to those settings and you should see the control surfaces and motor go to them.
I fly sailplanes a lot and have lost a couple due to sudden uplifts into clouds and strong winds aloft. I have since installed a failsafe RX and a stabilizing, GPS enabled "Return to Home" module on those planes. I can test, on the bench, what it's supposed to do when the signal is lost. Turn off the TX and the plane powers up to a pre-set throttle, crank the control surfaces to come home. It's amazing what this cheap bit of technology can do. Almost all of the sailplanes we fly at this field have this system onboard and although it is still not guaranty that a plane won't be lost due to strong forces of nature, we have not lost one for a long time. I also have such a system installed in one of my FPV planes and my Eflite QX-350 quad comes from the factory with it.
It's not something you would install on every plane, just ones that are more prone to "getting lost" or for those who are still learning how to fly well. There are even planes that come with this technology built in (for beginners).

[wrongroad]

G'day gnat,
May I suggest that if you have not done this, set your fail safes.
Most of the better systems have such a setting feature.
If you are unlucky enough to have an issue, the settings you have may just get your model back to you in time to save it.
I set my fail safe to turn the model to the left and hold in a fraction of up elevator and cut the throttle to zero. This might and read, might be enough to bring the model back over the field and regain control. At the very least, the aircraft should not just keep on going straight. Hopefully, the model should circle until it either stalls and dives in or holds a turn with a bit of nose up and flops down in a nearby field.
Most jet jockeys set their fail safe to bring the model down ASAP. They do not want a fly away with a twenty kilogram model doing three hundred kilometres per hour. They prefer to bring it down within the flying field.
When I take on a new student, the first thing I do is set the fail safe. Then I check the rest of the model.
It is sobering to think just how far away a model could get with a full battery.
Regards and respect
Daryl

[martmichals]

Good to hear that you managed to salvage the electronics, at least.

[Iowa54]

Well I can add my Waco to the list, Lost radio contact with it and watched it spiral in from about 100ft. I think it can be fixed but, it won't be pretty!

[doctormike]

I lost control of my GB-Y on the final and nosed her in. Right away, I noticed that the r. ail. and r. ele. foam hinges had failed. I haven't determined, yet, if the crash was from radio failure and the hinges broke from the impact, or visa versa. Anyway, I'm giving all my foam hinges a dose of E-6000 glue! Doc

[Iowa54]

I have my Waco almost back together. I need to go over the electronics yet and change my receiver. All my hinges all intact but, I usually do give them alittle bit of Foam tac.