[Sparkfarmer]

Autopsy done....lots of damage. I found some possible causes but I'm unsure if it was caused post crash. Here goes.......

As I said previously the heli crashed into the ground in a very controlled manner crossing in front of me right to left. No effect from transmitter inputs at all, even right to the stops. (pitch,yaw,roll) I didn't see the heli go all the way into the ground as it's patch took it behind some trees.

Our flying field is surrounded by swamp land. Although most the water was frozen, the reeds 4-5 feet tall made searching very difficult. I finally found it about 3 hours later. It had crashed into an embankment, at the edge of a swamp surrounded by reeds. Using my Iphone I calculated the distance from where I was standing while flying to the crash site. It was about 980 feet away.

Here's a google map image of the site:

[Sparkfarmer]

How it looked from where I was standing:

[Sparkfarmer]

How it looked when I finally found it:

[NinjaToes]

Been to that field numerous times. Never anybody around ? That crash looks painful on the wallet.

[Sparkfarmer]

The very first thing I saw:

[Sparkfarmer]

Originally Posted by NinjaToes

Been to that field numerous times. Never anybody around ? That crash looks painful on the wallet.

You haven't seen anything yet. More pics uploading

[Sparkfarmer]

Seeing as I have a DX8 and AR7110 receiver, and due to previous posts and what I had read on the net, my first thought was brownout, loss of communication, whatever.

The battery was still connected, although had been ejected from the tray. No lights at all on either the receiver or gyro(GY401).

Looking closer at the receiver I noticed there had been some overheating inside as part of the plastic case was scorched and a little melted.

[Sparkfarmer]

So then I thought receiver failure! This is why I took so many pics. I wanted everything documented for when I contacted HH.

So I brought her home at laid her on the autopsy tableMaybe a little CA glue will fix it....

[Sparkfarmer]

As I started to unplug the connections from my receiver, I noticed one of the servo connectors was also melted. It was evident that the red lead had heated quite a bit!!

It was starting to look like maybe the receiver was a victim and not the perpetrator.... (Side note: Do receivers not have some sort of internal current limiters?)

[Sparkfarmer]

By the way.... the whole time I'm doing this, the heli reeks of toasted electronics....

As I worked my way along the wire bundle towards the rear of the heli, and towards the cyclic servos... Peeking inside the frame I can see massive meltage on the right cyclic (Pitch) servo. This is what I found when I split the frame: