You Ever Build something so (Intricate, detailed, expensive) you were afraid to fly it?

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If I was going to be afraid to fly it, as in get cold feet and not fly it, I'd never build it.

I will say the times I flew this were the most "concerned" I was before launching a model. Although not the most nervous.

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Nice rocket but aren’t those guys standing a bit close at takeoff?
 
A lot of great stories posted. And I could share some of my own stories but you guys probably heard it all before. I'll never forget all that time I put in that paint job on my sumo. I got my L1 certification but the second flight came in ballistic. Probably not as expensive or as bad as some of the other guys out there but all the same it was a long dark core sample whatever you want to call it. But I think part of the fun of the hobby is building a rocket and also launching it. I don't care how much it cost or how much time I put in it it's not a rock until you light the candle.
 
So far, I have not. The most expensive and intricate things I ever built were nitro-powered large R/C helicopters, and having over 2 grand in one was the norm. They are also extremely complex and intricate, and very easy to damage. Not once did I ever hesitate to fire up a new one and go fly it! The last one I built had over 10 years of flying, two crash repairs, and one engine rebuild. It was also converted mid-life to flybarless head which was the greatest thing since sliced bread!

Now if I had a quarter-scale turbine-powered helicopter with 15 grand or better in it, I just might be a little more nervous about flying it... but fly it I would! ;)
 
Yup, have been flying those things since 1976. Lost track of how many I splattered over the years! Always got another in the air ASAP! :headspinning:

Good move. I have enough space to fly on here, but time and funds are not on my side. Oh, and my RC skills are pretty rudimentary...
 
I have a few I won't fly yet due to sentimental value, but not because of my build quality for sure. I also have a few in bags that I won't build, yet, due to sentimental value, but eventually I'll figure out that its a dumb sentiment for it to sit in a dark closet until I'm gone, then go to a stranger who builds it and flies it. I'm getting there.

Anything that I've built in the last 20 years is on the block to fly if the weather and field are right. Sometime choosing which one goes up next is the hardest, as there are some really reliable fliers that have proven themselves over and over. . .

Sandy.
 
I always picture in my mind the rocket on the pad as a flaming pile of goo. If I can't live with that image I don't push the dern button. Just crashed my B58 to a thirty foot ditch last fall, only four of six lit. Peices placed in a plastic bag. Had to salvage chutes and shock cords so other rockets could fly in the group that day.
 
Most of what I fly are things I designed and 3D printed parts for. I post these to thingiverse but not until AFTER I fly them, so they HAVE to fly at least once. A few of them I got nervous on. The Snake Eye was the scariest of these designs.

But if I am honest, the rocket I am MOST afraid to fly is a good old Estes Interceptor that was given to me as a gift (in kit form). That thing is almost too pretty to risk, though it has flown a few times (everything MUST fly at least once).
 
If I build it, I will fly it. Having said that, I have built two Intercepter E's and would not attempt that again due to the decals. Crashed the first one from a bad Estes motor. I do have a Hobby Labs SR-71 RC that I won't fly because I don't have a good place to land it and I have seen way too many of them that have the nose crushed.
 
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