6-6-04
I've quit keeping track of my flights, as I'm getting to fly somewhat often, and there isn't much new every time. I have been able to perform some more aerobatics now. Keep in mind that none of them are performed exceptionally or anything like that, but I have done several now. My list now includes: loops, rolls, half Cuban-8's, Cuban 8's, Immelmans, split-S, Harrier (almost, didn't have enough wind to really do it that day) and I got it to hang on the prop (the first time was the best, lasting only a few seconds).
This day stands out in that it is the first time that I've really crashed. (I'm not counting nosewheel-first landings as crashes because they only damage the prop.) I found out that R/C planes have some sort of attraction to trees. In the several times I've taken off in my yard, my plane hasn't veered to one direction by very much. Not today. I made a take-off attempt, but it turned right and headed straight for a tree. I was able to get it stopped before it got there. I set the plane further to the left for my next go, and at first, everything was fine. But, for some reason, it turned to the right again, and headed straight for that tree. Even though I was applying full left rudder, then left aeileron after lift-off, it continued it's course to the tree. I don't know why I never pulled the power back either. But, my plane hit the middle of the tree about 4 feet above the ground.
Despite this bad news, I have some good news. The damage was minor. The only thing that broke was the sheet balsa that butts up to the trailing edge of the wing. The leading edge of the wing received 4-5 dents, and only one is very big. I'll have to remove the covering from the LE to repair it, but hey, I was thinking of recovering it with yellow anyways. So all in all, my first crash isn't a big deal at all.