Premature breakages!

[E28_M5]

Just wondering if anyone has been in the same position?!

I built a new Hornet up around Christmas time for me and my 5 year old son. Enjoyed the build but poor weather meant we didn’t take it out properly for a couple of weeks. When we did it was to the local AstroTurf hockey pitch to give it a shakedown in a wide safe area. Unfortunately within 3 minutes my son Henry took partial control of the transmitter and despite my attempt to save it at the last moment we clipped the corner of a five-a-side football goal. Snapped servo saver!

New parts arrived and I replaced it quickly. In the meantime I restored my original Monster Beetle pulled from the loft. More bad weather down here in Kent and it was only last weekend that we managed to get out again. Back down to the park and this time (against my better judgement in hindsight) we went onto an empty basketball court. 2 minutes later he had hit the wire fence hard at a 45 degree angle whilst looking at me rather than the car! This time the fos chassis/suspension leg mount had sheered clean off - new chassis required!

We carried on with the MB and with close guidance he actually did really well and his control is getting much better. I’m looking forward to the weather improving and getting out onto wider grass areas.

I now have a new Hornet chassis here waiting for an evening to rebuild it all. 

So, to make me feel a little better, has anyone else had to completely rebuild their new and otherwise unblemished car after less than 6 minutes running?!!

 

 

[moffman]

Back in the early 80's I had the hornet (must say excellent choice for a young beginner) and the house we lived in was in a cul de sac which had a path running all the way around it "perfect for a hornet race track" but one corner had a very unforgiven fence which like your boy I to went underneath and sneered of the suspension arms! Roll on new chassis and back on my hornet race track again! About 30 seconds later unforgiving fence struck again! So my experience says buy more than one spare chassis? Considering they are a chassis I don't think that they are that expensive! Modelsport do them for about £10(ish) which isn't that bad really

[Kingfisher]

1 hour ago, E28_M5 said:

So, to make me feel a little better, has anyone else had to completely rebuild their new and otherwise unblemished car after less than 6 minutes running?!!

Your son drives better than my girlfriend did when she first started. 

I had a supply of plastic body mounts for her Lunchbox. I don't remember the exact number, but I think she went through like 7 in an hour.

I put Ampro control arms on a Midnight Pumpkin and she cracked one within the first few mins in the back yard by driving into a lamp post. I repaired it with epoxy/fiberglass and within 5 mins of the very next run she broke it in 3 pieces trying to jump a curb that was taller than the tires.

She's gotten a lot better since then, it just takes practice, experience, and someone to repair all of the breakages.

Maybe you could put a crawler motor in your car until your son gets a good feel for it?

[Peter_B]

Slightly off topic but for your lad I'd suggest getting hold of a 55t or 60t crawler motor to put in the Hornet.

That will slow it down a bit and give him the chance to learn to control it without so much risk of damage interrupting.

My boys, both 4, have 60t motors in their Lunchbox and Mad Bull. They do still crash but the slower speed means chance of damage is reduced.

 

Once he's got the hang of it you can pop the silver can back in.

[Hobbimaster]

FYI, If you are running in cold weather. The plastics tend to be more brittle when cold, and will snap easier.

[E28_M5]

Crawler motor not a bad idea thank you. Luckily I was able to obtain a new chassis for less than a tenner on eBay. With hindsight I probably should have gone for a Lunchbox or Madbull to be somewhat more robust than the Hornet, but it was something I had wanted since about 1986 so...ha ha.

[wolfdogstinkus]

You can put lunchbox wheel an tyres on the hornet, big tyres help with damping impact.

Need the longer axle in front wheel.

[Biz73]

When I first built my FAV, my younger son(7 at the time) drove it straight into a basketball court fence just like your son. Broke the servo saver. Second time out with it, my older son just clipped the corner a wall and broke a second servo save.

Like others have said, cold weather probably had something to do with it. The Grasshopper/Hornet are pretty tough cars for the most part.

[speedy_w_beans]

I prematurely broke our very first RC model, a Dark Impact.  I had just upgraded it to brushless and was demonstrating it to my son, and didn't look ahead to see the concrete island curb in the parking lot.  It was a full-speed direct hit and wiped out a few parts on the front.

[iluvmud]

Actually running the car directly into a solid verticle object has everything to do with it... if the plan is for the car to be running directly in the fully verticle solid objects head on.... you might want to buy a traxxas. I’m not a traxxas fan but they are way more durable than Tamiya and the front of the chassis has a rake to it to soften the blow. Tamiyas can handle some stuf but not a direct head on collision. Save the hornet for when he learns to not run it straight into walls.

[Backlash]

7 hours ago, Peter_B said:

Slightly off topic but for your lad I'd suggest getting hold of a 55t or 60t crawler motor to put in the Hornet.

That will slow it down a bit and give him the chance to learn to control it without so much risk of damage interrupting.

My boys, both 4, have 60t motors in their Lunchbox and Mad Bull. They do still crash but the slower speed means chance of damage is reduced.

Once he's got the hang of it you can pop the silver can back in.

What Peter said...

The bonus with a 55t Motor is longer run times on each battery charge..

It may also be worthwhile buying a few spares to take with you like a spare servo saver and chassis..

[novicelad]

Controller with model memory and dual rate adjustments

[markbt73]

Oh yes indeed... crashed my newly-hopped-up Grasshopper into a frozen flowerpot on Christmas Day, 1987, just after installing all the goodies I had gotten for it. Literally ten seconds after switching it on. Smashed a brand-new Parma chrome front wheel into a zillion pieces, and bent a brand-new front shock shaft.

I also recall, when I was racing M-chassis, taking a brand-new and beautifully-painted Porsche Boxster body shell out for the first time, in practice, and clipped a board on the very first lap. Tore a chunk of the right front wheel well out, and scraped the whole right side.

And then there was the just-barely-broken-in OS .15 CV engine in my RC10GT, that my dad hit a curb with, and broke one whole bank of cooling fins off the head...

[Jonathon Gillham]

I have been fortunate as far as breakages go so far, but just adding to the suggestions of slowing the car down. I went a different route than a crawler motor and bought radio gear with epa on the throttle. Thay way my son can run it slowly but its an easy change to speed it back up if someone who can drive them wants a go

[Parkesy]

5 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

I have been fortunate as far as breakages go so far, but just adding to the suggestions of slowing the car down. I went a different route than a crawler motor and bought radio gear with epa on the throttle. Thay way my son can run it slowly but its an easy change to speed it back up if someone who can drive them wants a go

I’ll second that, a throttle epa is a life (or car?) saver. Works great when the mrs wants a drive, or the kids friends. Touch wood I haven’t had any of the Tamiyas I’ve got have any real breaks, and they get driven every couple of days and have some gnarly crashes. I’ve got a 30 year old fox that goes too quick for its own good and the old plastic still holds up. My 5 year old crashed my dads new hornet into a light post at full throttle a few days ago and it came out unscathed. Luck of the draw I guess! Sooner or later mine will run out. My Hsp however doesn’t seem to be able to have a single run without breaking something. It’s always on the bench 😖