Flight Safety
Four days ago I went out with my little radio controlled slope glider.
The canopy was only held down by two instead of the usual three magnets, but I didn't really care.
The Alula is a hand-launched glider which can be thrown a bit like a discus, so naturally it has to withstand some angular force. At one throw I noticed that the canopy flew off, but the Alula still climbed to about 20 meters. Then I noticed that I couldn't control her and she started diving into a steep descent, eventually hitting the ground. When I found her I noticed that the battery was missing.
I started to think: When flying a real glider, something like this would never happen to me. I always check everything there is to check, make sure that the conditions for the flight are perfect and that I stay safe.
With models however, the way of flying is completely different. I try things that I don't know will work out, and I also fly despite one missing magnet because fuck it, I just want to fly.
Today I took a 3,2 kg test model out to the field and thought: I have to get this right. I checked every rudder, every wire, every connection.
After the bungee launch, it suddenly went into a turn and crashed. I had lost control over the rudders. Arriving at the crash scene I noticed that the battery was unplugged. I had not attached the cables to the surface and presume that during the acceleration of the launch they almost completely unplugged and at the top of the climb unplugged completely.
It's basically the exact same error as four days ago. And I don't understand this. I was aware that I needed to change my attitude, but I didn't improve the one thing that caused the failure the last time: the security of the power supply.