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First Flight - Ever

by Ethan Perrin
(Redmond, Washington, United States)

I had just completed my first model glider kit. It was a covered balsa construction with a sixty inch wingspan, two channel control, built for slow flying. I was so pleased after 5 months of building and testing.

I hooked it up to my recently acquired hi-start and did a small flight test at light tension. It went up smoothly and glided down with little input. I pulled back a little more, about 1/2 the recommended maximum distance, and let go. At about 30 feet in the air it spiraled down and crashed at about 40 mph (no control input, all trims properly adjusted) wing first! The wing was broke in two sections, the tail completely ripped from the fuselage! AARRGGGHH!

I examined the damage at home: I have to rebuild half the fuselage and half the wing, and reconnect everything and cover it again with Ultracote. $150 and five months down the drain in less than five seconds. Closer inspection revealed a slightly crooked elevator, which could have induced the spin. A beginner's mistake.

(Sorry, I will have to find and post the picture later, I know you all want to see.)

Comments for
First Flight - Ever

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Jun 02, 2010
 Re: first flight ever
by: Pete

Bad luck Ethan, that's very unfortunate but don't get discouraged! It's unlikely that the elevator caused the spiralling crash - does the glider have rudder or ailerons for directional control?
It reminds me of an almost identical incident I had many years ago; I had spent weeks building a balsa 2 channel glider, my first RC aircraft ever, and my cousin test flew it also from a bungee (Hi-start). Unfortunately someone else on the same frequency turned on their transmitter just at the wrong time, as my shiny new glider was halfway up its launch. The interference caused my rudder to lock to the left, forcing the glider into a big arc right down in to the ground - smashed in to several pieces :-(
Was anyone else in the area when you were flying?
Jun 02, 2010
 Response to Pete
by: Ethan Perrin

It uses rudder control, no ailerons. My trim could have been adjusted accidentally as I was preparing for launch. Now that I think about it, my brother handled the transmitter for a short while. Nobody else was around with an airplane, as I was on an empty soccer field complex with my two helpers.
Jun 06, 2010
 Needs proper repair
by: helicopterflyer

You must check you plane and repair your plane, the more you maintain your plane+taking care of it=increased lifespan!

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