RC Twin Engine "Nomad"
Constructed in 1977, the 5 channel radio control twin engine Nomad was built specifically as a prelude to flying the big RC Herc. The reason being that the Hercules' nominated pilot, Dennis Scott, had never flown multi-engine model aircraft before. He didn't want to risk flying the Hercules without some kind of experience.
As it turned out, he crashed the Nomad twice. Not so badly that it couldn't fly again, but in his words he learnt valuable lessons about radio controlled multi-engine aircraft.
"Dennis Scott shouted "Oh no! it's gone Asymmetrical!" and I had no idea what he was saying. (Tex laughs). After a moments panic, I said "What's asymmetrical?". As it turns out, one engine had stopped." - Tex
Due to this testing, they were able to subsequently realign the engines on the Hercules to compensate if an engine stopped at any time during the flight so that it would still fly normally.
"Despite crashing twice, the Nomad's demise only came about when my 5 year old daughter Jennie climbed in to the driver's seat of my car and started the engine because the keys were in it. The car started rolling forward as it was still in first gear and ran straight over the top of the plane." - Tex
Good one, Jen!
SJ
