MIA TT Gilles 202

[Rotary R/C]

Well, lost my Gilles 202....

Search party is on Sunday

I can only speculate as to what happened and am curious to see what condition she's in. All I know is that I'm PO'd right now. I had repaired the dreaded Saito 1.80 muffler that keeps coming loose on me the night before and did some trimming of the servos (this is only the 5th real flight on her so far). So I taxi on the deck and take off with a strange kick of the tail just past the end of the runway and had to adjust some elevator (dumb move since I was banking my corner), continued my banked corner afterwards then the plane just rolled and did a corkscrew on me (not my fault at this point so I think since the roll rate was very extreme for my LR) recovered inverted and moving away from me so banked again to come around and BAM same thing again, but this time upright on a 45deg DL and nothing i could do would bring her back (NO RESPONSE AT ALL).

I've spent 8hrs so far between me and my buddy on seperate days searching and still have come up with nothing. What sucks is the area is dense brush between 7 to 8 feet tall, swamps, and lots of red berries, small white flowers (both the same colour as my Gilles, which has led us on many a goose chase) and oh yeah, Bears...We no longer have the Spring bear hunt so it sucks.

So no pics until the recovery of my plane....I figure it could probably be poor range even though I did do range check, the fact that there were 4 planes total all within two ch of each other or dumb thumbs. Not sure....Oh Well.


Marc

[decoy26]

Sorry for your lose I know how you feel! Just get another and try it again!

[Rotary R/C]

That's what my wife said. She heard about the search party and thought it was pointless (we do this at our club anytime someone loses a plane back there), she did'nt see the point in it. She figures we should just buy another. I think I may go with the TT TOC 30% Yak54.

This time I will go Gas and 2.4g. You almost have to go 2.4 because there are 2 spots in the air where you lose reception and it is very unnerving. They are on opposite corners of the field and always the same spot. Maybe the big mining companies around here have some com towers that mess us up. lol

Oh well if I find her I'll post pics.

[50%plane]

Dude, that sucks! Hope you find it, and are able to recoup your equipment. The switch from 72 to Spektrum is super simple and worlds better in my opinion. You'll be glad you did!


Please throw up some pics and video once you get your new bird!


Chris

[Rotary R/C]

I'll make sure I do (add pics). What really sucks is that the search isn't until tomorrow due to the rain/thunder storm today. Oh well, hopelly she has good coverage in the brush. My buddy is trying to get me to buy the SD/Thunder Tiger 30% yak54 which sounds like a good plan. I'll see when I find her.

[Rotary R/C]

Well, the search party went for almost 3 hours with seven guys (thanks to all my fellow co-pilots who helped out!) and I went out afterwards for another 1 1/2hrs. I have come to the conclusion that she wants to rest in piece and never be found. I will miss her.

My buddy has the exact same plane but with the OS 1.60 and a smoker kit (never been flown, engine has never even been started) and on board glow that he's willing to sell me (all electronics included) at a damn good price. I think I may go that route for now and build a tt yak over the winter.

This pic is before the decals went on...

[3D Meatshield]

Wow man, what a bummer. Worst case scenario, you get a call from a hunter this fall/winter. At least salvaging the motor is better than completely writing it off.

Losing one like that would hurt worse than lawn darting one to pieces, IMO.

And look at the bright side- how many guys can lose/crash/destroy a $1000 plane (or more), to have the wife say "quit wasting time in the brush and just buy a new one"? LOL good woman you got there!

[Rotary R/C]

Well, it's true she is a good woman

And on that note my buddy and I decided to go out one more time tonight (in his Jeep this time), and after coming across one good sized black bear who kinda went on his merry way and having covered almost 5 or 6 acres of land we found her 1 KM South West of the flying field (Measured by GPS).

Conclusion I have come up with is she was shot down. I say this because once I knew she was in trouble I hit my throttle kill which obviously did nothing and knowing that she was acting eratic in the air before she went down. Seems like the only logical explanation (batteries were both Peaked before flight and all servo connections were checked before wing assembly, and range check had been done pre-flight).

NOTHING is salvageable. Enjoy the pics....The First one is exactly as we found her, then you can see how deep the engine was buried in the ground, after the is how f****d the engine is (it sheared both the intake and exhaust right off and crushed both push rods and tubes), then there is me and my scrap heap and finally the Jeep that got us there.

[SleepyC]

The Jeep is Bad ass.

[50%plane]

dude, I love that jeep!

[Rotary R/C]

Yep, his jeep is pretty sweet. And it came in very handy for searching the plane...After driving through the crap we went through I now have a new respect for them!

[3D Meatshield]

Bummer, man. Well, at least you have closure So when does the new plane arrive?

[Rotary R/C]

	Quote: Originally Posted by 3D Meatshield
	Bummer, man. Well, at least you have closure So when does the new plane arrive?

I pick up the new plane tomorrow. I bought the Great Pains U-CAN-DO 60-90 along with a thunder tiger pro 61 engine to get me through the rest of the season (yes, all my eggs were in one basket). I was able to salvage the 4 HS5625's and the HS5645. I opened them all up and tested them and they all seem ok. And thanks to the 4" think closed cell foam (kinda like the stuff you get in radio cases) that the receiver and the batteries were in they survived the crash also. I should be up and flying in about ten days since my schedule is currently packed with a small out of town trip and some side jobs I have to complete.

[3D Meatshield]

Ahh man, I loved my Do's. Never had a 2c on them, always had 4c (os 91 then saito 125), but they are fun flying planes, even though they couple horribly. You could probably mix it out, but it was more fun to guess what direction it would come out of the snaps

Do yourself a favor- before you even start assembling, reinforce the gear mount block. I cut a hatch under the canopy so I had access to the factory mount (which is extremely weak), popped out the blind nuts, and removed the existing triangle stock. I epoxied in a block of 3/8" birch ply, added more tri stock, and then drilled and tapped for 1/4x20 wing bolts. I left it stock on my 1st Do and the first time you peel the gear, you peel the bottom of the fuse and crack the fuse former. After the mod, I only ever lost my gear once on a deadstick in a tailwind- and never even creased the monokote.

Also, I used a robart tailgear as well. The stock wire gear will rip out on rough fields, but the robart has really good flex to it and is very forgiving.

Paint the canopy black, too- makes it look WAY cooler

[Rotary R/C]

Thanks for the tips, I'm just getting ready to start assembly. I'll make sure those get done. I can't wait to get started! We've had rain here due to the hurricane down south so it's giving me the opportunity to work on the plane...I usually don't like rain but today it's a blessing in disguise