Well I got the plane all fixed up, got the new receiver and servos, installed everything and headed out to the field. The first flight went great. There was a good wind and I was able to keep the plane in front of me headed into the wind for most of the flight. And when the battery died I was able to bring it down in a controlled manner and "landed" it without any damage what so ever. This was a first for me, up to this point all my flights with RC airplanes had ended with a crash. So I put the 2nd battery in and set it aloft again.
I'm not sure what happened but the plane was down wind in an area to the southeast where I didn't want it to be. I was trying to get it out of there and was having some trouble. Then I think it hit the top of a small tree and cartwheeled into the ground. I ran over there, as I was afraid it might have gone into the creek that runs along the East Side of my flying area. But it missed the water by along ways.
There was no damage so I decided to push my luck with another flight as there was still a charge left on the battery. This time the plane ended up in an area to the south where I didn't want it to be. I had it headed up wind and was trying to get it out of there, but for some reason I couldn't get it to make a right turn and head away from the houses. I don't know if the controls were malfunctioning or if the wind was keeping it there. Then somehow it turned downwind and dropped below a hill out of my sight. At this point I shut down the motor and turned off the transmitter and set out in search of my baby.
When I arrive at the area there was no sign of the plane. There was a guy out there watering his lawn so I asked him if he had seen a yellow airplane. But he said he had just come out and hadn't seen it. He suggested I look on the roofs, but I knew it wasn't high enough to end up on a roof from the last point I had track of it. But he did help me look for it. I found it on someone's back porch; it was mostly intact. If it hadn't of been for the obstacles on the porch I think it would have been undamaged. But as it was, there was some damage but not nearly as much as the previous crash. I didn't have to get the box to pick up all the pieces as I had before. So I talk with the guy for awhile then packed up and headed home.
This time the wing spar was destroyed and there is some minor damage to the fuselage and the propeller shaft is bent along with some minor damage to the wings. I don't understand how the wing spar was destroyed, I would of thought it was a lot tougher than the wings. And it's going to be hard to rebuild it as it had inadvertently gotten glued into one of the wings on my last repair job. That was ok, I figured I wouldn't forget it again. But now I will have to cut apart the wing to replace it.
What I learned from these fights.
1. I'm not sure what the cause of this crash was. But I suspect the servos were jolted out of place in the mishap with the tree and the result of this was the inability to turn the aircraft to the right. I should have removed the wings and the canopy to inspect the inner components before setting it aloft again.
