rob_jones
Key Veteran
Location: Oglethorpe, GA
| I had been flying my Freya all day doing loops, stall turns, 540 stall turns and autos. I had just refueled and took off into about a 4 foot hover. All of a sudden, it just went bezerk. It banked hard to the left, then the right, pitched forward and backward...WTF!
I wasn't radio interference because it responded every time I did something on the sticks. I managed to keep it somewhat under control for a few seconds, but it ended up going in on its side.
Post-crash inspection revealed the two short links between the seesaw assembly and the blade grips were popped off. One went back on tightly and held. The other was sloppy-loose. Judging by the way it reacted in the air, and the loosey-goosey link, it must've popped off in flight.
I've been torturing myself with these things since 1989 and I've never had a link pop off in flight (and I've had some pretty sloppy helicopters ) I guess there's a first time for everything. And yes, I do check them. Somehow I missed this one...
The thing that really bugs me is that I just got the whole thing "dialed in". I had all the curves fine-tuned. Had the rotor RPM perfect in every flight condition and everything was perfectly balanced (the first time I ever bothered to correct the CG of a pair of blades) and it was flying so sweet. Now I have to start all over again!
-----
Team MRC Hirobo
I reject your reality and substitute my own. |
