lablover

So, 3 planes in the air...club rules state we must fly a clockwise or counterclockwise pattern, also no aerobatics unless they are on the downwind leg. 4th plane goes up and flys out of pattern and as it's coming out of a stall turn rips into my left wing and tears it off. Plane hits the ground destroying it as well as the receiver. SAito 100 seemed to have survived. Plane that crashed into me just broke a prop and landed fine on deadstick.

Is this just a "Stuff happens" or is someone at fault? Some of the guys at the field said he should of offered to replace my plane. HE did say he was sorry but I fell the 300.00 bucks I'm out deserves more. If I'm wrong, I'll live with it

Anyone dare to comment

Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

That totally stinks bigtime. I hate it when folks fly opposite patterns and so forth, unless of course we are doing something crazy on purpose. The guy should have at least attempted to do more since it appears from your post that he was at total fault here.

On a side note, I have watched the guys at my field fly and their flying patterns. I have marked certain ones that will go against the grain and if the person comes up and flys opposite patterns or the potential for mid-air is greater I will bring my plane straight around and land it. I think I have saved myself a couple times now because of doing this.

I can usually fly with 3-5 planes in the air, but when certain individuals are up it is like a nightmare with some of these guys. When you have 3 planes in the air and everyone is respectful and flying proper pattern then one guy has to fly opposite it makes you wonder why they choose to do that. Hopefully the guy that hit you will have a change of heart and at least compensate some of the costs.

jetmech05

There are two ways to look at this....The first, ever since my early days of RC I was told if you are out of the pattern and have a mid air you are at fault.....that would be flying CCW when the pattern was CW or crossing the field like in a figure 8. You said the other guy was out of the pattern. Was he in the middle of the field?
The other way to look at this is...if you were to try and have a mid air you would find it very difficult to hit another airplane......so it must be an act of some divine being...you must have angered the RC Gods.....seriously to try and hit another airplane is almost impossible.
So now the real question....let's say he is at fault.....how do you get him to pay you 300.00 bucks?
The best you can do is complain to one of the club officers, about all they can do is talk to the guy, or at the worse kick him out of the club for some kind of a conduct charge. That won't happen and you still don't have 300 bucks....
In my opinion it would probably be best to look at this as all airplanes have expiration dates and I found mine....When this guy goes up I come down....
Sorry for your loss, Good Luck
I just had another thought....sounds like there was no communication between the pilots flying...whats wrong with telling the other pilots that you intend to do a touch and go, or I'm gonna do a loop on the downwind, I was flying yesterday with a 3D pilot flying a 35% Yak, we kept each other informed, he would tell me as I turned up wind that we was in a hover over the grass.....Or has he was hoovering I would tell him I was doing a Cuban 8 on the downwind.
Even if no one does this at your field now I promise if you start to do this the other pilots will also start to do it as well.

lablover

It's funny, he was going thru his pattern maneuvers...I was heading in when I saw him start...Just didn't get in in time. He's not a bad guy, I just think he should of known better..

jetmech05

He was practicing a pattern? With 3 other airplanes up.....bad judgement on his part....you can always tell him how you feel......but as I said above you can't make him pay you
Good Luck

lablover

I agree

franklin_m

I like JetMech's idea about announcing intentions. This is consistent with how full size aircraft are flown at uncontrolled fields, and it works well in an RC environment as well. I've flown at fields where it's used consistently, and others where it is more "jungle rules." As you can imagine, the former is a lot more orderly, and it actually means people think about maneuvers in advance, so they can announce them. At the latter, like the field where I fly now, it's a bit more difficult. For example, a few weekends ago I announced "LANDING !" as I entered a downwind leg. I'm on short final when some guy decides to walk out on the runway...not announcing his intentions. I'd like to see AMA adopt the "announce intentions" as a tool to improve safety.

I think that if he was flying opposite the established flying pattern and hadn't announced his intention to do so, and thus giving you the opportunity to get out of the way, then he is at fault.

LargeScale88

If he was really sorry, he would pay you back your new airplane. If he wasn't sorry, he would say he was to act like he cares.

The same type of situation (only not in the air) happened to me. I was sitting watching this guy fly his pattern plane. Somethin went crazy, and he lost control, (not radio, pilot error), and it came and smashed right into my airplane 3 feet in front of me. He comes over, and hes more worried if his airplane is alright, not about that he almost hit me, and my airplane was in pieces.

Sounds like hes just a jerk who thinks he can fly whenever, and however

rgm762

My Feedback: (4)

I'll agree with Jet, most midairs I've seen were something that were "meant to be", on the bright side, midairs make for great video and stories

d_bodary

My Feedback: (85)

Sounds like the RCCD field. Am i right?

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

It boils down to character to me. Either he is man enough to take responsibility and offer you something for the plane, or he isn't. If he isn't than stirring the pot will cause bad feelings and you will still be without a plane.

David

noveldoc

My Feedback: (2)

Sounds like a test of character to me. But if this guy flew maneuvers in the opposite direction, I suspect he is lacking in both character and common snese.

I would bring this to a club offcer. This sort of carelessness is dangerous to people as well as other airplanes. Never forget that an RC plane is a 10 pound chunk of wood hurling around at 40 mph with a buzz saw on the end.

Tom

lablover

We will see. Like I said, he's not a bad guy at all...maybe it will just take a few days for him to go...Yea, I screwed up. The fact 3 other planes were in the sky is not the time to be doing any pattern flying. I was looking at whats left of my wing and you can see in the decal that was on the wing a very distinct prop pattern in the decal and monokote.

I can't wait to see what transpires. Like I said, I'm new to the hobby and am not sure of..what the norm is.

d_bodary

My Feedback: (85)

So where were you flying at? What field?

lablover

I don't think I need to go there...why is that important?

d_bodary

My Feedback: (85)

Just curious

k3 valley flyer

My Feedback: (18)

Not a big believer in all this "must fly a pattern hype", we have put 4 to 6 planes up at once for many many years with out any rules as to pattern except everyone takes off and lands into the wind. No midairs. We also fly combat wings in tight groups with the intent to hit each other, guess what it is very very hard to do. Less experienced pilots seem more prone to midairs as they don't anticipate taking evasive action when it may become necessary. No opinion on who owes what to whom, but our club would say you put it in the air it is your expense, each guy replaces his own. Now if he shot you down becasue he didn't get a frequecy pin that is a different story.

lablover

And if that's the case...I will be happy with it. The last thing I want is to get in any type of ****** contest with him. I like the Man, he's always been helpful to me but I just can't get this to settle in my mind is all. Too many things in life are not worth stressing over..I want to resolve it in my mind and move on. Heck, I'd be happy to just have the RX replaced (AR7000) and battery. I have not started the motor but I think it's fine?? I know stuff happens, however, I do know if the shoe was on the other foot, I would have no issues at least replacing part of the damage..No issues at all, if I was at fault.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I hit a seagull one time.. or it hit my plane.. not sure what the order was. I had a real difficult time finding the bird after that happened.... it just flew away.

These things happen. If it wasn't intentional, well, it happens. If it were me, and I hit the other plane, I would offer to replace the plane or at least offer to pay for repairs if it only needed repairs to get it right again.

We have not had many mid-air's at either of our fields, we don't really have a pattern except as noted earlier, we take off and land into the wind and tend to fly that way, as though we were in the landing pattern, but at altitude.. if you get my meaning... upwind is closer in, downwind is further away.

CGr

lablover

Very well said

Daddyo57

My Feedback: (15)

I have had 3 mid airs in the 30 years I have been flying, every time someone would ask, "who"s fault is it?" it amazes me. Like what was stated before, trying to mid air on purpose is much harder than it seems. I would have to say that mid air collisions are inevitable. It sucks losing your airplane for sure, my second mid air was a beautiful Cap 21 on its maiden flight, broke my heart but speaking from experience, it can happen. I hope you still keep flying and have fun, dont let this ruin your hobby in any way! BTW all 3 of my mid airs resulted in a total loss for my airplanes and the other guys landed with minimal damage. Recently we had 2 guys go up and purposly dog fight for quite awhile before they did manage to hit each other, they did not announce their intentions and one the airplanes landed right where flyers park their cars, while the airplane was spiralling down with power on, the guy never yelled or warned anyone his airplane was crashing, he had plenty of time too. Oh well at least nobody was hurt!

lablover

Cool

I have to say there is a plus to this. I now have servos for another project as well as a motor and it was a fun day. By no means am I gonna give up the hobby.....

Thanks for the advise Daddyo57...BTW anything I need to check on this Saito 100 before I fire it up? Cleaned the dirt off none seems to have got inside....

Daddyo57

My Feedback: (15)

Hey any guy who's name is lablover has to be a great guy! I would remove the exhaust and maybe the carb and intake to look inside for dirt at very least. Once satisfied the engine has no dirt inside I would remove the glow plug and install a prop and turn it over by hand. I would for sure bench run the motor at very least before it is flown again. it depend on what angle the engine hit, I have had broken cases from crashes, look at the mounting lugs on top and bottom real close. It is a pretty toght motor (I have one) but nothing is indestrucable. just check her over eal good and go with your gut feeling or get the Club expert to look it over if you are not 100% sure, an extra set of eyes is added insurance. Good Luck and keep flying! Look at it like you got that one out of the way and now the odds against it happening again soon are with you!!! Have Fun!

lablover

Thanks a million

theriddler33872

let me say this to you lablover if the guy that hit you would have at least offered help in some way would that have been enough for you ?
i think alot of us that have been through this type of thing would have been ok if the guy just offered up a little help . 
some people think saying sorry is good enough though . </p>