It happened a few weeks ago but I’ve tried not to think to much about it- the Laser crashed and was totally destroyed during practice in rough winds. It was much better but sadly not flown as much as the Red Laser that preceded it. Intended as a backup model I originally fitted it with an O.S 200 FS engine. It was fitted with a pump and Hatori header that was later sold cheap after realising it had none of the power I wanted. I replaced it with a YS 1.60 which I discovered was badly broken before I had a chance to fly it. It then got a used YS 1.70 DZ which performed really well. After changing fuel from one type of Rapicon to another it stopped on takeoff, breaking one undercarriage leg. It took a while to get the leg I wanted from Germany and by the time it got mended, last years flying season was over and I was eagerly looking forward to receiving my new Integral. The Laser was in storage for a full year until my Integral broke and then it came out of hiding, dutifully performing its role as backup model. It flew very nicely and after three trim flights due to a change to 2,4 Ghz it performed well. It was very honest to fly with no bad habits. Although not being able to match the Integral in knife-edge performance it was a very decent F3A model, despite looking like an IMAC half-breed.
There was a lot of wind that fateful day. I don’t really mind wind as long as it blows straight down the field but this was the kind of day when your model must be bolted to the grass in order to not fly away on its own, the kind of windy day only an idiot flies. I was that idiot. After the second round of P11 I was about to turn onto base leg for landing, and with a tailwind best described as a tornado, the idiot move I made was to retard the throttle and pull a little elevator to turn. It stalled, simply flicked forward and was blown nose-first into the dirt in the blink of an eye.
Crash pictures
Video (With OS 200)
“There he goes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.”
- From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
I wanted to try out the new battery the other day and I learned the hard way that old habits are easily forgotten when it comes to these little electric toys.
When you can just take the plane from the car, plug in the battery and strap on the radio and fly, normal routine is forgotten – the antenna was not extended and of course the flight was cut short by severe interference. It landed wingtip and nose, broke the prop and parts of the fuse behind the wing and u/c mount but that was easily repaired.
And then we got weather – lots of it so I’m still waiting for a decent weekend sunny day to fly once more.
December 17, 2006 – 20:10
I had to opportunity to take my 2 year old daughter and the new Mini-leader out flying on saturday. It was a beautiful morning, wind and cloudless with a crisp frost underfoot.
The plane flew uneventfully straight out of my hands but it seemed tailheavy so I gained some altitude and tried to trim it. My daughter ran about my feet around shouting joyously (she’s never seen me fly before) and that distracted me a bit. Elevator trim seemed not to help, I decided it had to be landed so I could move the battery forward. Strangely, the plane just flew on with the throttle closed. My daughter was by now euphoric with glee and I was stunned and let the controls go, the plane was so stable it would not stall, loose height, even roll – it just flew. I guess when BPLR designs a low wing trainer he is not kidding. It was fantastically stable.
In the end I flew much to slow and flared to high so it dropped a wingtip half-metre above ground. I mistakenly thought it flew like a foamie (it felt like it at times). Not much damage, the battery came loose, broke an elevator (stab still ok…) and prop. My daughter ran off to retrieve the plane (how’s that for great offspring, huh!) and I was as happy as she was.
The plan now is to fix the elevator, move the battery 2 cm’s forward and strengthen the home-made battery fastening-gizmo (i.e, a balsa-stick).
If I can get it to stall turn reliably and if it manages to take off from grass it’ll be my secret weapon at the club contest this spring. I know the judges sometimes favour electric planes…
