First Flight Failure: My Giant RC T-28's Tragic Maiden Flight

[@xfirehurican]

*Sir, you talked yourself into a GO situation when, in the back of your mind, you knew it was a NO-GO. I've witnessed this more times than I care to remember.*

[@richardchang6332]

I appreciate your self-regulation. No cuss words at all. You're amazing

[@kraaijer]

Not sure about your connection and still fly? Consider boats?

[@3057luis]

@@kraaijer To be fair we are never 100% sure about the connection, right?

[@kraaijer]

@3057luis true, but here the indications were quite clear.

[@tikitime]

@@3057luis thats what range checks are for. And we get exercise when we take a 2000 yard walk to establish minimum range while the engine is running.

[@bryanherde8420]

Sorry for the loss of that great plane. I went to FrSky several years ago and have not lost a plane since. Lost three on Specktrum and got tired of people telling me it was pilot error. Hard to make control errors when the radio won't stay connected....

[@robertmaxwell8086]

Hi, Sorry to see such a total Destruction of that Beautiful Build. My sympathy goes out to you. Regain you Spirit and Forge on!

[@bennourai7686]

Sorry to see that, buy your self a Frsky and ditch that crap over priced radio.

[@jdrmusic3614]

That was the best choice that you ever made specktrum is trash

[@martinusbrouwers]

bullshit, never lost a plane in 15 year spektrum. You must have done something wrong

[@tikitime]

Telemetry radios also show us received signal strength.

[@DeWayneLong]

Chris, that was heartbreaking! So much time, effort and sweat equity went into the building of the T-28 all gone in a few seconds. All of us in this great RC hobby can empathize/sympathize with your emotion and feelings. However, in all defeats, we man up and look for our next RC victory! I look forward to your next build.

[@milesonewheelwinter]

You are way more thorough than I am. But this reminds me of just another reason why I put down the planes and picked up the RC cars and I've never looked back. I hope you i've had better luck since

[@davidmcclain5180]

I'm sorry about the crash. My heart sank when I saw it head straight down. We can all sympathize with you as we know what it takes to build any plane much less the size of the T28. We appreciate you and what you do for the hobby so please keep going.

[@bat2293]

I think you should build another T-28. Sorry for your loss.

[@BarryGrueter]

Such a bummer Chris, we are all so sorry that this happened. Chin up and on to the next one. Always enjoy your amazing expertise on building and flying skills. Thanks for sharing 🤍👍

[@ljhobbylife]

Send that transmitter to horizon to test the transmitter module, we’ve had two guys at the field with IX20’s that had issues loosing a few birds, they sent the transmitters in and found out module was emitting a weak signal and Horizon replaced them, just fruit for thought! Sucks that this happened I’ve been on a pretty sucky spell too lately.

[@andystoybox1723]

What up LJ !! Where have you been cowboy? 🤠 😊

[@ljhobbylife]

@@andystoybox1723 Hey Andy, I still fly just not as much I was, the kids are getting older and sports is really taking a grip on me.

[@andystoybox1723]

@@ljhobbylife yup I hear you ! My son started baseball again , back to going to practices and games .. I need to squeeze in flights now

[@Rob-vv5yn]

I would agree I had issues with system and it turned out to be the module was just a tiny bit loose , had glitching and then had nothing model was a Fokker triplane fortunately it just froze and cut the motor and it glided into hedge and survived with minor work to repair. Sometimes your lucky sometimes not had previously lost my Corsair and blamed it on the receiver but wasn’t 100%. Second model confirmed it was a transmitter.

[@RuudyL]

I never buy a a first edition of a new developed radio, I wait a while until all the bugs are out

[@akaFrits1]

When I heard: signal loss, I immediately thought: Spektrum. I lost a Mustang the very same way, after having several signal losses on other planes, luckily high enough for a recovery. A clubmate of mine, who is a very experienced flyer and even has built his own TX/RX combinations in the seventies, has looked in detail to his Spektrum signal loss issues and came to the conclusion that the real problem is the reconnecting time. That can take seconds, which is way too long in flight. You can notice it yourself when binding a receiver: that also takes some time. I have ditched my Spektrum, went over to Taranis/OpenTX and had zero signal loss problems since. At my club there is only one Spektrum user left. So far he’s been without accidents, so you can get lucky.

[@akaFrits1]

And btw, Frsky receivers don’t need satellite receivers, they even don’t exist. In my case, I mainly use a single X8R with the older protocol ACCST: an RX with 8 channels; if I need more I can add a second one and bind it to the channels 9 to 16. Nothing more needed.

[@RodManFB]

I flew many models with just AM & FM Futaba equipment. Never had a problem or glitch. Once PCM and more “advanced” radios came into the market, problems like this were more frequent. I got out of the hobby because of that and the high cost of everything involved! Sorry for your loss because the T-28 is a beautiful flyer.

[@JamesThompson-fb2bc]

Sorry for your loss Chris, I can relate - I've been flying on and off for over 50 years so I've had my share of similar crashes. For the past 9 years, I'd been flying Spektrum radios (DX9 & NX10) until 6 months ago. They always worked perfectly for me on LOS aircraft (FPV drones were a different story). Never had a hold or crash that I could contribute to the radio. It's certainly possible the Rx is the culprit just as you suspect, but I doubt it. At least one or more of those satellites would have been getting a good signal, so the Rx is probably not the problem. With so many holds on the ground, I would suspect something in the Tx. I've known several people with Spektrum iX radios whose RF boards were not working properly. One guy in our club had 3 crashes on an iX12 before he sent it back to HH. They replaced the RF board and he's had no problems since. If you want the most secure link possible, I'd suggest a dual signal system such as one made by Jeti, Radiomaster or Frsky. When I quit using Spektrum 6 months ago, I purchased a Radiomaster system with internal 4 in 1 MPM and ELRS external module. The 4 in 1 MPM allows you to fly all your current models without changing Rx's. I saw one test where it operated DSMX receivers at greater distances than genuine Spektrum Tx's. And ELRS protocol is amazing with operating ranges up to 60 miles and up to 1 watt Tx power. In several range tests on KZbin it blows all the others away, including Spektrum and Futaba. Imagine how secure your link is with a model in sight a few hundred feet away. Radiomaster also offers the ELRS Gemini system with dual simultaneous signals - both on 2.4GHz. They also just came out with the ELRS Nomad system with dual simultaneous signals - one on 2.4GHz and the other on 915MHz similar to Jeti. On top of that, open source systems such as Radiomaster are not expensive. I sold my used Spektrum equipment and bought the Radiomaster system with all the options (including the amazing AG01 gimbals) and had money left over. Jeti and Frsky have similarly good dual signal systems but are more proprietary and Jeti in particular is much more expensive. Good luck with whatever you do.

[@nattybumpo7156]

I went from Futaba to Radiomaster, and have never once regretted doing so.

[@holmesteadready]

ELRS all the way

[@aboveaerialmedia3829]

It was a beautiful plane, it’s tough to see. Been flying Futaba for 40 years, and I’ve never had an issue.

[@red7fifty]

I've been a Futaba user since 1983.

[@tim7402]

Let's be honest, the Spectrum guys use it because of all the bind n flys out there from Horizon Hobby. I'm a Futaba guy too for 30 years and in no defence, my Futaba 14SG just decided one day to change all my trims, rates, mixes which affected over 6 planes in my fleet. I now write down by pen settings of each aircraft just in case it happens again. Mysterious glitch it was and cost me many days of resting and test flying each model.😢

[@martinusbrouwers]

At our airfield heaps of problems with futaba, range, cables coming loose, and in the 35mhz era corroding antenna mounts. Its just like people never using a seatbelt and never had a problem with it. Every brand has issues. Its tough when its you.

[@gogianyee5002]

Sorry for your loss Chris. Beautiful plane. I noticed that your wiring is straight and not twisted pair interconnections. You must use twisted pair wiring especially in giant scale ignition, turbine, electric powered systems, etc. and also keep the power and ignition wires separated as far as possible from each other as to not get electrical interference injected into the servo/receiver wiring which will definitely cause signal loss. Same with the receivers. Keep those as far as possible from ignition. If the wires must cross, they must be 90 degrees to each other to minimize cross-talk (interference). Looking forward to seeing another fly again.

[@R32pekt]

Coming from a automotive background, I absolutely 💯 agree with your comment, very well could have been the issue, I want to go back and review the install video and double check for myself, I'm new to the hobby and can use all the lessons I can learn from

[@flyboywbl]

I have many gas/turbine aircraft with straight wiring and they all run just fine. I do run 2.4ghz with 900mhz backup FRSKY Tandem receivers. I'd be highly suspect of that Spektrum radio. My buddy had his go into a firmware update mode while flying and it reversed one of the elevator servos in flight. Lost a nice gas spitfire. It all got sent back to Horizon and they are reviewing it.

[@terrencejackson4587]

Tough loss Chris! I have no recommendations on your build, but will say that you ignored your spidey sense which was not to fly it until you resolve your link issue. I don’t like the current spektrum rigs that don’t allow antennas on the satellites. I get more losses on the newer receivers than I do on the older ones.

[@gogianyee5002]

@@R32pekt yeah, I have seen too many planes at my field go down because of wiring induced interference that had either Futaba or Spektrum systems. The most recent was a Spektrum setup with main receiver plus two satellites and it had straight wiring. The untwisted cables act like antennas and pick up the ignition/electrical noise and cause the receiver and servos to go crazy. After replacing the extensions and other wiring with twisted pair, the issue was resolved. I make my own twisted pair cables for all my aircraft and never had this issue.

[@gogianyee5002]

@@flyboywblit could be possible that your flight system has a lot better internal noise suppression then Futaba or Spektrum. I don’t know of anybody at our field who uses Frsky yet. Interesting though.

[@johnw5734]

As much as it hurts to watch this it actually does me some good to see other pilots going through tough loses. It reassures me that I'm not alone. Thank you for sharing this. It makes me more prepared for the next time one of my planes goes in.

[@BerkinE.]

So sorry for your loss Chris! It’s hard to take, 2 in a row. I know you are a Spektrum guy but I suggest trying a dual band system for your bigger builds.

[@ibyvideo]

Sorry for your crash, it is Spectrum! Switch to Jeti, and enjoy your hobby.

[@easystar123]

My heart goes out to you. So sorry to see your T28 crash. It always hurts to see anyone's plane go down. I know the feeling. Take care and get back in the air as soon as possible.

[@NerdSteve]

Bummer. Great learning moment. Appreciate you showing the video to us!

[@marcelmetzinger7390]

I live in germany and i have Never lost an plane with Spektrum

[@DevinW86]

I have a gen 1 dx8, and luckily, I haven't had any issues. I've heard nothing but problems with the newer spektrum stuff. Sorry for the loss brother. Don't let this one keep ya down.

[@wylchyl]

My local flying field sees at least 1 Spektrum signal loss a day. I loss signal in my Flex Innovations Cessna 170 on Spektrum and with an extra satellite antenna from no more than 200ft away. That was the last time I used Spektrum for anything other than my UMX plane collection. I switch to Futaba's FHSS protocol 6 or 7 years ago and haven't experienced signal loss since. I love and trust my T10J so much that I bought a 2nd one as a backup, "just in case." I know Spektrums may be rock solid most of the time, but I'll never risk my nicer planes to Spektrum again. 🤷‍♂️

[@Vassilika1]

I crashed tons of self built RC-airplanes when I was younger back in the 1980's. Nowadays I just add a Gyro that I can turn on or off during flight, even in the easiest to fly models like a piper cub. My 15 yo son laughs about me since he flies his airplanes without a gyro. But I don't care, I just want my airplanes to come back home in one piece. ;-) Sorry for your loss....

[@winsor68]

What brand radio are you using. I want to fit gyros to models.

[@Vassilika1]

​@@winsor68 nothing special, hobbyeagle A3 V2 for example.

[@Vassilika1]

@@winsor68 The radio brand has nothing to do with the gyro, gyros can be any brand, cheap or expensive. Hobbyeagle A3 V2 for example. I'm using different radios, old modified futaba, and newer spektrum.

[@dougkoprowski7493]

Sorry for the loss Chris! We’ve all been there and we’re right there with you. Breath in, breath out, repeat. Keep flying.

[@AlvgeirStegane]

So sorry for your loss it's always hard when it happends but just try and get back a memory of a flight that everything was working perfectly! I would love to see a plane just like this again!!! Take care!

[@racingpichcontrol]

I'm sorry my friend, it's happened to all of us at some point. I would like to recommend that you use transmitters and receivers with the ELRS protocol. I have been flying with this system for over a year and I have never lost the signal again, it really is really good. It can't be that a radio like spektrum still has this type of reception problems,😞

[@stzimmerman]

Oh 💩! I am so sorry, man, that sucks so much. Love the attitude you've maintained. After those two losses, I'd definitely be beyond frustrated. Thanks for the great example. Looking forward to what you do next.

[@jasonmarange5973]

I just got into planes after being a RC car/truck/drone guy. I crashed a 150 buck slow stick and I was disgusted and it didn't sustain much damage just a wonky vertical stabilizer. If there's one thing I've learned in RC, crashes are inevitable and part of the game. This plane is absolutely beautiful and I really hope you build it/one again. Keep chugging along you'll get the reward in the end and all the hard work and money will be worth it. Glad I found your channel!

[@davidmcneill3809]

Man. For us who have been following these last two builds, our hearts are breaking for you. You attention to detail only shows that this hobby is cruel sometimes. I would love to see this one again. You’ve learned all the lessons in the build so would be smoother. But whatever you choose, you fans are supporting you.

[@iTickle88]

Oh nooooo…. I read the title of your video Chris and my heart just sank. Watching while knowing how it would end didn’t make it any better. You already know it’s the nature of the beast and yet we keep coming back for more because we love it. Keep the faith- things will get better!

[@RCnerd74]

Looks like Spektrum is not the most trusty RC system. I had similar experience with Spektrum stuff. Since i fly Futaba, i have zero issues with losing RC signal. Keep your head up and go for your next build😊

[@AL-RCjunkie]

Oh my God, Chris. I'm devastated for you, dude. We've watched the pain staking work you put into that beautiful T-28 with such anticipation to see her airborne. And to have this hapeen... I'm heartbroken. I really wanted this to be an amazing day of flying for you. Wow. Just gutted about this one. Brutal.

[@RCCopterLove]

This was really heartbreaking to watch! You invested so much time, spent so many hours and this plane was getting so beautiful! I hope you can restore and reuse this beautiful engine. Just this engine was a piec of art! I hope you get this transmitter/receiver. signal loss solved to avoid such fails in the future. I am using Radiomaster Transmitters with SFHSS receivers (small helis) and FrSky receivers (for the bigger helis) and fortunately never had any signal loss. All the best and I really admire your calm reaction in the first moment after this shocking crash!!

[@jasenwhite552]

Oh no! Bro I am so sorry that happened! You did such an amazing job on the build! And you know what, you have a lot of guts to post this and own it like you did. Respect.... looking forward to your next Build. ✈👍🇺🇸

[@alexsoul247]

Thank you for having guts to share it. You are legend! I wish you to get her back in the sky soon, she belongs there

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you

[@jerryWallis-k3w]

Happened to me on two planes on first flight. Sickening. E-flight Turbo Evolution and great Four Star 60 both with Spectrum receiver's.

[@MrWhatahelisdis]

Ugh. Man, I hate that feeling. I lost a project last weekend the exact same way. It spiraled out if the sky and there was nothing I could do. I also use Spektrum. But now I'm starting to sour on them - especially after seeing this. If you're going to build again, it would be cool to see a successful maiden with the same plane.

[@yarsmythe]

I feel your pain & frustration. Crashes happen and it looked like you were addressing the problems accordingly. Don't kick yourself. I had a crash last week from a switch/battery failure. Welcome to the party, pal! LOL. Looking forward to your next project. #CarryOn

[@rays8935]

Sorry for your loss. I moved to Jeti for that same reason. Never looked back. Best decision i made in the hobby

[@user-lb8eh3oc5q]

Totally agree with you 👍 I moved from Futaba to Jeti because after 25 years I felt that Futaba was starting to lag behind tecnologically (Reliability was never an issue with Futaba). Having moved to Jeti (DX16 v2) I can, like you, confidently state that its the best decision I've made in r/c modelling. In use Jeti is both intuative and absolutely rock solid reliable 👍

[@spaddriver1957]

Makes me feel better that even experts have maiden failures!.

[@JeffBrandt-p4n]

Made my heart drop 😢. Sorry for your loss, it was beautiful .

[@mickbroad9973]

What a shame. We all been there. I am not going to bash Spektrum as i did use it for a number of years but after an RF board issue i swapped to FRSKY and never looked back. That said i would also not discount RF interference from Ignition module its always tricky when you lose a model especially one as nice as this. I cant remember but i usually set throttle to quit and last know position for all other surfaces. your model looked like it lost all signal as it turned in as opposed to flying in last know position. Also odd with the extra RX that you should lose all of them , I think id send TX back for inspection just to cover all bases Good Luck with the next build

[@JeffsCustomRC]

So sorry to see this Chris! I know just how much work goes into this model myself, and it’s a heartbreaker when something like this happens. Best luck next time my friend👊🏼

[@alanshearing7515]

😢, Sorry for your loss Chris. Sounded amazing. Yes a second try would be great , an awesome plane .

[@oulalaleyeti3606]

Thanks for posting this incident. It happens to all of us, except those who don't fly. Redo the same plane. But if I have a reception problem during the ground test, I at least change the receiver with a new one to have peace of mind. Especially on a plane of this value.

[@ScoutSniper3124]

When does RC-NTSB put out the full report?

[@robertramirez9061]

Sorry for the loss, she was an awesome looking plane. But I'm sure you will figure this out for the next project. Thank you for your inputs and very informative videos. 👍

[@ruftime]

What a great friend! Always a bummer! Usually I take a break and play with my surface R/C stuff for a bit😎

[@jasonbrand5352]

Futaba all the way mate 100% no problems like that especially on A large model

[@scorpion303067]

Agree spectrum is junk

[@ltdorn]

li had a buddy lose one of his turbine Jets on that exact same RX same exact thing... locked up just like that....... i love my Frsky X20PRo... all my expensive turbines, helis, and planes are all... 2.4 and 900Mhz always! Sorry for your loss... :(

[@mickgunn4979]

They can all have their problems I lost an expensive Vladimir's molded glider the Futaba MZ18 WC turned itself off 20 min into the flight I didn't realize thinking it was a model issue. Tested at home the receiver and battery were good the transmitter just randomly turns off by itself with fully charged batteries just an expensive dud radio. I have never had an issue with JR or Spektrum

[@VipiModel-nk3ce]

Totally agree!

[@wkrum]

Sooner or later you’ll have one of those satellite receivers, that Spectrum uses as a fix, be in the wrong place and you will lose the signal. I hope you never have a problem with your Spectrum because it is heartbreaking to lose a built up large scale model that you put so much effort in building. I happen to fly Futaba. Most of my flying mates fly Spectru, some fly Futaba like me. Maybe it’s the shear number of Spectrum radios out there that makes it seem like a Spectrum problem; but, non of the fliers at our field that fly Futaba have had this problem it only rears it’s ugly head with Spectrum radios. .

[@terrywisniewski1216]

Get a Futaba radio , I have been flying Futaba for 50 years zero problems.

[@ET_Don]

I wholeheartedly agree. In all the many many years I flew RC airplanes and helicopters, I always used Futaba, and never had any problems. My newest radio is quite old, so I cannot speak intelligently about Futaba's latest and greatest, but I would assume it would be more of the same.

[@janrc]

I have also seen Futaba systems failed. I am not convinced it was the radio. I guess it was a disturbed receiver by the engine sparks. Nowadays radios are rock stable and do not fail until the battery is empty.

[@scorpion303067]

Agree spectrum is junk never had a issue with a futaba radio or receiver

[@mikekopf1173]

I have seen this literally more times than I can count with Spektrum. I have been flying RC since 1977 and still do not get Spektrum. I have only flown Futaba and NEVER had issues ever like Spektrum does like this.

[@michaellussoro2295]

They all have issues sir at our field jeti and futaba are the worst . 8 miles away spektrum fails at the other field, it’s all part of the game

[@peterhancox5268]

You ‘threw that plane away’ by taking off with known radio link issues. You threw the wrong one away. Now throw that radio setup away and start again with something else

[@bigeclipse718]

Yup time for him to leave spektrum

[@svenelliott521]

​@@bigeclipse718does spectrum have known issues? Here I am about to invest in a radio system, I thought I had seen enough failures to rule spectrum out. Now I'm just not sure. Lol

[@RCThis]

Time to chuck the OVERRATED SPECTRUM hype. Lesson learned

[@neelslourens6839]

I agree. Throw away your Radio system. I had the same issue with my Radio system loosing 3 models. I'm flying frsky now without ANY issues

[@Browneye57]

@@svenelliott521 - Not Spektrum issue - this installer error..

[@SmokeyMountainRcTravisThompson]

Sorry for your loss. I know that's sucks bud. Sure did a great job was a beautiful model.

[@Ethelsbarrelracing]

It would be cool to see the T-28 again one of my favorite planes but all your builds are super cool and what ever it is I know it will be great sorry for the loss of the plane I look forward to whats next

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks. We will revisit this one for sure only next time, it'll be an ARC (which I might already have 😆) and we'll glass and paint it so we can really detail it up.

[@Ethelsbarrelracing]

@@Thercgeek that will be cool indeed

[@VipiModel-nk3ce]

Mate you better change that radio to a Futaba one, those expensive airplanes needs the best radios and i have to say Spektrum is not the best brand in my opinion, i fly jet turbines with Futaba many years ago and never had problems, sorry for your crash..damage was horrible, best regards

[@dalehickl3611]

What servos are installed? I have run into issues with the trusted Hitec 645mgs picking up interference from either electric landing gear while they are moving and also from older magneto style engines while running. I’m talking big flight control movements during these events. Tried everything but then found even the cheapest digital servos rectified these issues every time. It’s like the shielding in the analog servos inadequate. I have a pile of removed 645’s to show for it.

[@Lopez_rc]

So sorry for your loss. But honestly, I think Futaba is the way to go.

[@src2920]

What a great sport you are Chris. I think this is the first time I saw you disappointed, but you turned that around with a smile. Would it help to tests receivers in foam planes before installing it in precious builds? Or does balsa and metal behave completely different to foam/electric set up?

[@rcf4phantomflyer]

Chris you are a great flyer! Don't let your head down brother. I had the same issue a few months ago with my Cessna. I get it but you know what? Just look up and trust me things will be alright. Can't wait for the next build!

[@payitfwdrcl6171]

Chris, Just Unbelievable man. My heart goes out to you for all the time spent. That’s so odd with all the holds. I still fly Spektrum. That could happen to anybody with any protocol. Hang in there my friend. Love your builds and you such a great embassador to RC. ❤️

[@prestonkizer9618]

Chris sorry for your loss my friend. That’s another tough one to swallow 😢. You’ll get through this rough patch and come out on the other side better than ever. You’re one heck of a modeler so I say try the T-28 again because it’s such a great flying airplane and I’m sure you would really enjoy flying it. That’s a really nice plane and I know you’ll figure out what was going on and recover from it and fly on !! Dave Kristy maidened his and all went well until the landing. Landed fine on our fabric runway but was too close to one side and ran into the grass and the nose wheel caught on something and the plane abruptly stopped and flipped over. No major damage other than busted the canopy. So hang in there and it will get better! Good luck 🍀

[@aarronminker4157]

Tough loss Chris. Sorry to see that however, I’d like to see a re build of the T-28. Best of luck! You got this!

[@ericpark2911]

Don't give up on the T-28. It was beautifully done model. The sound was amazing!!

[@autogyro333]

Did you fly it in range-check mode? Made that mistake once, fortunately I didn't loose my Tiger 2 but it clearly had glitches during flight.

[@dtkristy1]

Do another T-28 Chris! I'm so sorry this happened. Use a completely different receiver though! I maidened mine recently (the China Lake version) and it flew well, but I did run it off into tall grass on landing and flipped it, bending the nose gear strut. But it does have a great presence and deserves another shot from you!

[@johnhalligan2530]

Chris, beautiful model and sorry for the loss. Knowledge will make the next build go faster. Hope the engine is ok. And yes, would like to see you build another for your stable.

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks. The engine along with radio gear are at HH at the moment. Will see what they come up with. Hoping the engine repairs aren't too expensive. Oh, and we will revisit this one for sure only next time, it'll be an ARC (which I might already have 😆) and we'll glass and paint it so we can really detail it up.

[@johnhalligan2530]

Looking forward to it!😁

[@KenSprouseJr]

What a bummer Chris! I was really looking forward to seeing her in the air. Like you said in the video, this hobby can be tough but you'll rebuild her and make her right. 🤞🏼

[@moonmullins8227]

Did you do a range check with engine running from every direction at the flying field? With a plane that costly I would check and re-check connection. Sometimes checking range at home motor off means nothing. sorry for the loss.

[@mappsbux621]

I love the build series and appreciate how much detail you provide in the videos as well your published how to guides!!!! If you could do an F5 Vigilante, that would be awesome!

[@trhodesify]

I’m sure you didn’t want to post this video, but it was a class act that you did. Thank you.

[@regsterl]

Why don’t you use Futaba radio equipment? I’ve never had a radio glitch or any radio problems with Futaba, and I’ve been flying since 1987.

[@planet43]

Mate, that’s a valuable lesson learned. I have done it, most of us have a similar experience. Any ??? Don’t fly. That’s the lesson. A more experienced modeller would have realised that he should not have been having those radio problems. When he put it on low power to do the range check, and had nothing, that was the deal breaker. That should have told him there was a serious issue with rx/tx . I remember an Aero flight Hustler, with an ASP .46, did a beautiful hand launch while demonstrating to neighbours, forgot to switch on radio prior to hand launch…… instant kit. Hand in there.

[@csullivancox]

I just bought a P 51 ready to fly from China for $100 and I wouldn’t have flown it if it was having issues like that on the ground. It’s good to have a friend like that try and make you feel better, but unfortunately, you definitely could’ve predicted what was going to happen. I did just subscribe and I will be anxiously waiting watching you build another airplane. Thanks for sharing your experience, I know this is a horrible way to go, but it helps a lot of beginners to see that anybody and everybody will crash at some point.

[@johnwalker4105]

Way to handle this situation like a pro. This hobby definitely giveth and taketh away. Hang in there buddy.

[@retro440]

Personally, after every major crash, I quit the hobby. It's a stupid hobby. Later, I build another aircraft.

[@Freedom1776usa]

What did the hold counts look like on radio at the end? What remote receive had the most frame loss? To many times people (asking for friend) turn radio off before looking at this kind of stuff.

[@JeffSpaulding-y1f]

Sorry, I know it’s tough. I’ve only been flying a few years here now and I think I learn a little something after everyone great content thanks for being there for all of us guys who need encouragement and like to see somebody who can really excel at the Hobby and build a great scale models.

[@JPh35]

So sorry for you !. Holds on the Spektrum Tx before takeoff are not a good sign. This may be due to over-ground conditions (humidity, vegetation, etc.) or to the layout of the on-board Rx. Was the weakened RF signal ground test Ok from several angles of presentation between the transmitter and the warbird? what is your final conclusion ? thks fore sharing.

[@AerospaceMatt]

Sorry about the 2nd loss. I know the feeling, I had my DarkStar and my E-Flite F-18 Blue Angel go into 2 separate trees 5 days apart!! For about 2 hours I had both planes in 2 separate trees! Both had a lot of work invested into building/acquiring them respectively. Both were on their maiden flight, and both were due to some sort of receiver trouble. (Don’t go above 100 percent servo travel on AR620 if you are anticipating high G hairpin turns, a right rolling moment occurs with that RX when full aft stick is applied) It was fun watching this adventure, keep it up! Don’t let 2 losses of kit airplanes stop you from building another.

[@g33kfly]

Thanks for this video. I am finally convinced to sell off all of my Spektrum gear and just ordered the FrSky X20RS for the dual protocol redundancy.

[@rhyslightning3379]

That was heartbreaking, Man! I would love to see you back on the horse with the T-28 - maybe different paint scheme to break the curse? I'm sure you will get lots of great advice from this great community - best of luck!

[@johniecornett8975]

Hey Chris, sorry for your loss buddy. It’s a bummer in more ways than one. I’d like to see another one of those T-28 it was very nice Buddy very nice

[@planeman1428]

Did you check reception with gear retracted? I know you probably did but i might have missed it. It looked like you started having problems as soon as the gear went up.

[@nivekkrg]

The hole was in your judgment for flying when you had red flags, warning you to the problem, which you never took the time to work out .

[@kennethburgraffjr.9851]

What electronics are you using ? I've built and installed spectrum electronics in all of my planes for 4 years. I've never experienced a hold much less blackout. I wish people would explain this to me because I see this a lot and it's never happened to me .

[@tompekarna]

Could you tell what the Rx and Tx brand is?

[@The_regular]

Chris, you ever think about switching to FR sky? I switched to the X20S and with the tandem system you really never have any problem with fail safes or holds. I know spektrum is nice, I used to fly it even way back in the day in Cali when we flew together and am a firm believer in spektrum but there are better options out there for these expensive planes with way better technology.

[@RudixSA]

Sorry for your loss! I learned the hard way that Spektrum sucks! Never again! Flew Futaba for 40 years never an issue, lost 2 planes in 6 months due to Spektrum. These days I fly only FrSky, best RF link in the business especially with the dual band Tandem system.

[@billgrozdanich1165]

Chris, so sorry. Stay strong in this hobby. Would love to see another T-28.

[@jcb6713]

So sorry to see this happen...All the best...I live in M'boro...just wondered where the test was ? tnx...

[@BillKisel]

Thanks for putting the video up even though the flight ended with such a bad crash.

[@avipatable]

Man really sorry to see that Chris. I hope you manage to find out the reason behind the signal loss. Such a shame, it was a lovely take off... looked like it would have flown beautifully.

[@scottadikes1006]

Sorry that happened Chris. You did a beautiful build and setup. I would love to see you do another Hustler. That was such an amazing and unique project. Whichever project you decide on will be awesome.👍

[@benb5841]

Chris, I have been following your channel for a long time and your work is inspirational for me. Even more inspirational is how you took these two maiden crashes - I would have been gutted to the extreme. Nevertheless, even if you don't show it, I feel your pain because I have experienced it myself. The T-28 is a beautiful aeroplane and the sound of that engine was just amazing, I do hope that you consider building another one. I see a lot of advice below and it is all sound. My company builds electric VTOL UAV's and we have the rather challenging problem of routing high power cables past sensors, servos, magnetometers, R/C equipment and datalinks and still have everything work. The recommendation about twisted cables is a very good one - it does help somewhat. Crossing cables at 90 degrees help and keeping especially higher power cables away from servos and antennas all help. I say "help", because there is no single magic bullet - you have to pay attention to detail throughout the installation to minimize EMI - at least you don't have magnetometers influenced by the induced magnetic fields to also have to deal with... Then antennas - I don't know how much carbon there is in the T-28, but antennas must be kept as far as possible away from carbon and make sure you have proper diversity (different antenna orientations). You are very experienced and probably know all these things, but it is really worth applying all of them to make the whole package work. The others are also correct about range checks - I always do them before the first flight of the day. Maybe over-cautious, but they don't take long to do. And then finally - I am not going to bash a brand but there is a certain notoriety attached to the radio brand that you use at my field. There are at least three alternatives that are all great: Jeti, Powerbox and FrSky. The last may seem surprising, because they are relatively cheap, but in our VTOL drones where we deliberately fly in and out of range of the R/C link (remember, we also have long range datalinks), we have had incredible reliability on the FrSky equipment. Their dual band (in the US it would be 914MHz and 2.4GHz) are even more reliable. Perhaps worth a consideration for a model as expensive and with so much time and effort invested as the T-28. Once again, your work is inspirational and I truly hope these two crashes (T-28 and B-58) are not going to discourage you from the next big project.

[@flyboywbl]

Oh man, I'm so sorry man. She was running so well. Beautiful airplane and you did such a nice job with it. 😢

[@fepatton]

Sorry for your loss. 😢 This is why I took up flight simming. Crashes are too heartbreaking.

[@robertdroner]

That really was heart breaking. Beautiful bird, definitely build another - I would. Blessings.

[@Nitro-Rc]

Did you stop the range test mode before start?🤔

[@manuelgordillo1986]

You're right, Chris. It's all part of the hobby. The ugly part. Had a similar situation last Saturday and lost my Skyradier. Lost signal right after take off, and there was nothing I could do to recover. Broke my heart. I'm going to rebuild another Skyradier (with improvements). Best of luck to you.

[@rharn473]

When you raised the gear you lost signal. I was hoping you would lower the gear quickly. Years ago composit aircraft would cause issues with inside antenna. Put 4 satellites in the fuse.

[@Ramirez241]

thought the same thing, wasn't like plane was 500 ft away. First sign was you had to move receiver location around in fuse being 50ft away ? wouldn't trust an aeroscout with that setup

[@RuudyL]

Did you use a Satellite reciever? We get a lot of holds on the antenna less recievers of Spektrum. Also did you do a Range check. I noticed that you lost signal immediately after the wheels retracted

[@K5_BlaZer]

I'm so sorry for yet another of your beautiful planes to be lost Chris. I switched to TBS crossfire for this very reason. Unless it's a lil foamy, I put TBS Crossfire RX in my planes and use my Radio Master TX16 with a CrossFire module. But on a positive note, your book is fantastic and I have implemented a bit of your techniques in my MiG build.

[@kevinmatney2218]

how long are your holds? I set mine to reset the fastest it can

[@Joshandthedog]

I am so sorry Sir. ❤❤❤ thank you for filming and sharing .