Good news I think I found your problem.

I have the Redbrick 30 amp esc.  I used a watt meter and a Turnigy IR thermoter.  At only 3 seconds of full throttle with 12 amps and 165 watts on the watt meter, the ESC temps went to 70C and was too hot to touch and this was the ESC in open air behind the prop.  I imagine your ESC is blanketed by foam with no fan on it so I'm sure it's overheating and shutting down completely temporarily until it cools off. 

In your static test, test it yourself with a watt meter and an IR thermometer.  If you don't the equipment, go full throttle for 10 seconds then touch the ESC.  If you can't keep your finger on it for more than a second, it's in danger of burning out.  But it's better to use the IR thermometer.

Quote from: girishsarwal on April 21, 2014, 01:56:07 PM
Make a trip to Gurgaon via the Pahari rasta ... It will be fun flying together... 

Sounds like fun - being a lone ranger in this hobby with crashes is not easy!
Where, when and what do you normally fly?

Quote from: v2 eagle on April 21, 2014, 04:17:31 PM
unless you are using any CF / metal objects radio should not be a problem.
Even if ESC brownouts your BEC should be working fine and you should be able to control its landing.
a few question:
What brand radio are you using.
what antenna does it has. pics please.
is that a new or old radio. any history if repairs to the radio.
antenna placement inside the plane.
do a ground run and see if you can reproduce the fault.
give some specs on motor/esc
how about your esc to rx connection are they strong enough to hold the vibration.

Ashok.P

And now the learning starts!

What brand radio are you using - I am using a Turnigy 9X v2. I am planning to upgrade the firmware to er9X, but will be some time before I get there (unless there are defects in the 9X that I am not aware of and are impacting me at this stage).
what antenna does it has. pics please. - It is a 2.4 GHz antenna. There doesn't seem to be a groove to screw in the longer antenna, but I think I read about a mod / hack somewhere for this - not sure but will check. (Photographs attached)

is that a new or old radio. any history if repairs to the radio. - Brand new, no repairs
antenna placement inside the plane. - I had taped it so that it wouldn't flap around too much, but the tape itself normal paper tape. (photograph attached)
do a ground run and see if you can reproduce the fault. - I'll run the tests theleabres suggested and update shortly.
give some specs on motor/esc -
Motor: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=12919&aff=46898
Kv (rpm/v)   2200kv
Max Current (A)   34
Resistance (mh)   0
Max Voltage (V)   11, 2S~3S (7.4v to 11.1v)
Power(W)   342
ESC: 40A
Suggested Prop: 7x4(2S) ~ 5x5 (3S)
I am running a 6x4 propeller. It seems that the ESC I am using is under-rated for the motor (40A required versus 30A max amps that I have)

ESC: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=18004 This has a built in BEC. Red brick, Max amps 30A, UBEC 5V/2A, Cells: 2-3s LiPo. It seems like the UBEC did not kick in, otherwise I shouldn't have lost control authority.
Battery: 1600maH, 20C, 3S

how about your esc to rx connection are they strong enough to hold the vibration. - Connections are good and were intact post impact.

Quote from: theleabres on April 21, 2014, 05:56:27 PM
So, the Hobbyking redbrick is a budget ESC and probably overrated.  The BEC is probably weak.

How many servos are on that plane?

Another issue is heat, do some static testing and see if the ESC gets warm only or gets very hot.

As for RX shadowing, it's common if you're using a budget RX with one short antenna.

An RX with dual and lengthy antennas around 20 - 25 cm each would be ideal.

Another simple check is to know your TX battery voltage.  I don't use rechargeable AA nimhs, only alkalines. My DX6i has a voltage meter for the batteries.

I've read the same thing about the Redbrick ESC at quite a few places now.
There were only two servos (elevons only configuration).
I will do a round of static tests, but it will probably take me a day or so to be able to run them. Quick question here - since I've kept the battery at storage charge for now, before running the tests should I recharge the battery back to full?

The RX antenna is a single antenna, and is short. I have not messed around with it because I know folding it can change it's electrical length to half. Is it possible to hack in another antenna (or maybe just solder another short wire to it?)?

I use normal Zinc carbon manganese batteries for the transmitter, and the Turnigy 9X showed a voltage of 10.1 at the time of the crash (8 cells, so max voltage is less than 12V with fresh cells).

Quote from: theleabres on April 21, 2014, 09:41:02 PM
Good news I think I found your problem.

I have the Redbrick 30 amp esc.  I used a watt meter and a Turnigy IR thermoter.  At only 3 seconds of full throttle with 12 amps and 165 watts on the watt meter, the ESC temps went to 70C and was too hot to touch and this was the ESC in open air behind the prop.  I imagine your ESC is blanketed by foam with no fan on it so I'm sure it's overheating and shutting down completely temporarily until it cools off. 

In your static test, test it yourself with a watt meter and an IR thermometer.  If you don't the equipment, go full throttle for 10 seconds then touch the ESC.  If you can't keep your finger on it for more than a second, it's in danger of burning out.  But it's better to use the IR thermometer.

Wow! Terrific of you to try it out - thanks so, so much! I will run a a static test in a day or so and be able to come back with results.
The ESC, while inside the foam case, would have gotten very good ventilation because it is squarely in the middle of the air intakes.

Any specific IR Thermometer that you recommend? For measuring wattage, is a multi-meter good enough or is there a specific watt meter that you would recommend?

Thank you again!!

Slightly dated, but a good read regarding when to consider a BEC, and why: http://www.stefanv.com/electronics/qf200105.html

I use this:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__10786__HobbyKing_HK_010_Wattmeter_Voltage_Analyzer.html?strSearch=watt meter

and this:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__8297__Turnigy_Infrared_Thermometer_33_180Celsius_.html?strSearch=thermomete

Calvin (still dont know ur name) ... we fly close to iffco chowk... we've a few self built and out of the box electric planes..you can see all of them and directions to the field at www.rcbolt.in

Red bricks do get hot..how good is it ventilated... ?

Turnigy 9x's stock firmware and radio module do have a few glitches and they manifest in various ways.. sometime soon you'd want to upgrade to er9x and a much reliable rf module

And please charge your Lipo full and not in storage mode. put it in balance mode. the volt should be around 12.4 for a full Lipo.

your Lipo is 20C, so 20x1.6=32A max. and your motor is rated 34A max for a 5x5 prop at 3s but you are running a 6" prop on a 3s at a 30A esc. should be a fast drain/voltage surge/over heat trip or something that should resulted in crash.

Borrow some 40A esc from a friend and check if this issue still persist.

Ashok.P

http://www.rcindia.org/rc-locations-and-clubs/rc-bolt/msg183309/#msg183309

Very nice attempts! Even though I am merely an armchair pilot as of now(0 min flight time) I too would suggest a high wing trainer for better handling and forgiveness for amateur/novice pilots..

did you just bring alive a 6-year-old topic?
XD