P-51 vs. asphalt

by Michael James
(South Carolina)

I wanted to start flying after seeing an r/c airshow at the local airfield and went to Radioshack the next day to purchase my first model. The one I chose was a P-51 Mustang.
The very next day I decided to test it out since there was no wind and the sun was behind the clouds. Well I took off just fine since it was hand launched but when I went to bring it around to come back towards me, the plane took a nose dive at full speed and shattered into pieces on the road in front of my house. Needless to say I went back and told the Radioshack employee what happened and he said "Oh yeah.. with a warbird like that if you hold the stick too far to one side it'll barrel roll and drop..."
So I lost about $250 to pilot error and also to lack of experience. But hey...isn't that what it's all about? Trial and error I say.