I bought an remote controlled battery powered airplane about two months ago and I’ve longed to blog about it ever since. Too bad, I was either too busy or too lazy to do so. But after it crashed badly for two times, I think I wouldn’t want to let this opportunity pass again.
I bought the Silverlit X-Twin at Toy Kingdom SM Makati but you can actually buy it anywhere. They have different models and they have helicopters too. The one I decided to buy cost me P3,100 in total - P2,500 for the airplane itself, P300 for the rechargeable batteries, and P300 for the battery charger. It’s worth the cost as me and my family enjoyed flying it. Added satisfaction is provided by the oohhs and ahhs by people who happen to see it flying.
X-Twin Charging
X-Twin Parked
Now, on to the air crash investigation…
Crash No. 1. It was about 5:30 in the afternoon (can’t remember the exact date). We were flying the plane at an open space in Bulacan. Kei (9 years old) asked me if she could try flying it and so I did. She was flying it well when a sudden gust of wind passed by. The plane, being made only of styrofoam, was blown away towards a grassy and thorny bush. The grass was taller than I am and the thorns were all over. Me and my brother-in-law searched for it until evening to no avail. We decided to look for it again the next day and we did. The plane was caught hanging between a group of tall grass and thorns. I got lots of scratches and geez they were itchy. Two things made me smile that day - one was seeing the plane and the other was seeing a family of owls in their nest nearby. The owls probably got scared of me so they flew away. Quite a nice view. Bad thing was I lost the landing gears. As of the plane, it flew again - hand thrown.
Crash No. 2. This time, I was flying the plane alone in a park in Makati City. T’was a sunny morning but the wind is pretty strong. Despite manufacturer warnings telling me not to fly it on windy days, I still decided to give it a go. After about 5 take offs and landing - take off being hand-throwing it and landing being catching it - it flew off course. It was about 10 meters high when the wind blew it away and out of control. It fell on the room of a small building near the park. Sad thing was the building was practically desolated and there’s no way of going to its rooftop except from using a ladder - a tall one. Heart-broken, I left it there - watching it from the terrace of my rented condo unit in Makati. It was December and the weather is quite erratic - sunny and rainy. The plane suffered the heat of the sun and was soaked in strong rain at times.
Today, I finally was able to borrow a tall ladder. Actually, I was able to borrow an entire truck with a basket lift - the kind used by electric companies when fixing overhead electric lines. After politely asking them to help, they obliged. They picked up the plane and gave it to me. I gave them P100 for the trouble. I also tried giving another P100 to the person guarding the building but he wouldn’t accept it.
What building? What company owned the truck? Who’s the guard? Sorry, I can’t mention those. I learned that the building is totally restricted to outsiders so mentioning their names or the building or the company owning the truck here might end up in one of the people who helped me losing their jobs. Thanks to you guys - if you happen to read this.
This time, the plane is quite damaged. The plane’s built-in battery got soaked in rain and I doubt if it’ll still work. I guess I need to buy a replacement. As for the electronics, I don’t know yet. It might need a few repairs. Here are some aftermath photos.
X-Twin Paint Job Damaged
Bottom side looks fine… or is it?
As you can see the paint job of the plane was damaged - probably due to the elements - but that’s the least of my concerns. A quick look at its bottom side appears to be fine but a closer inspection reveals otherwise.
X-Twin Battery and Receiver Assembly
Close-up of Battery and Receiver Assembly
A close look at the battery’s charger pins show some green stuff - dunno what it is - but it’s the same thing I see on damaged batteries. I guess this battery is dead but I’ll give it a try.
Well oh well… now that I have it, my only hope is that it would fly again. Wish me luck!
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