If you have read my Goldberg Skylark RIP article… then you know that I laid some of the blame for that crash on that pilot! … 
I have crashed only a few planes in my “career” and that guy was at the stick for FOUR of them!
When I built my new Goldberg “Eagle 2” 40-sized trainer kit, I flew into the face of the MAGs (Model Airplane Gods) and, again, assigned this pilot to my new model. … and… after at least a month of flying the Eagle, no ill effects have been attributable to HIM… (not much “good” either: I am still learning how to fly my Eagle!)
Well… Today…
I further tempted the MAGs by deciding to fly mid-day, in the wind, on a day I should have stayed home. They TRIED to warn me, several times, but I would not listen.
When I arrived at the field, about 12:15 on Sunday afternoon, I was alone. The wind was calm. As I opened the tailgate of my Blazer, 
the wind puffed strongly and stayed there… 12mph?? … and as I set my model on the stand, the wind dropped to about 5mph… light enough for me to take that picture with the wing unsupported.
As I strapped-on the rubber-bands, holding on the wing, TWO of them broke after I had installed them… not as I stretched them into place, but after I had already let go of ’em and reached for the NEXT one. I had plenty of bands, so… no problema!… I DID recognize this as a possible “sign”, but continued on, determined to fly, despite the MAGs!.
I got the model together… the wind was nearly calm… and as I turned away, a gust FLIPPED THE MODEL into the next stand and onto the ground. I picked up the model and carefully examined it for damage… the wing was sound; the tail fin was strong and in-place, the motor was not damaged; the control surfaces felt stiff and strong. The only damage looked to be that crunch in the elevator. I smoothed-out that bad edge with my fingers and decided there, really, was not much damage.
About that time, MT Bob arrived, to show his wife the recent improvements to the field. It was a pleasant visit. I fueled my model and spritzed a little fuel into the carb as a primer. I decided that it may have been too much! So I removed the glow-plug and gave the motor a spin with my starter… big plume of liquid fuel was ejected… I figured I was good to go. I replaced the plug, applied glow-igniter and the starter… and snapped off a big piece off of my plastic spinner as the motor locked-up! I again removed the plug and gave the motor a spin; spurting another plume of fuel skyward. I turned the starter’s cup around so I could spin the motor against the prop-nut, without the spinner. What?… another sign?
With my friends watching, I fired-up the motor and tuned the needle-valve. That motor was running great! I taxied out on the newly applied geotextile apron into a gentle wind. Once on the runway, a gust came up and the wind started blowing… right down the runway! … and I throttled-up and took off into the wind!
Nice flight!
All was good… nice climb-out and some gentle aerobatics at a comfortably high altitude.
… and then…
After only a minute, I felt like the radio connection was failing! … The model’s nose dove downward and only at full-up elevator could I start to bring the nose up… and the model was twisting to the left… I had to fight that with ailerons and full-up elevator. The MAGs were having their way with my Eagle! I could throttle-down a little bit, but the engine was racing, even at minimum throttle! I yelled to Bob that I seemed to have lost control of my model… it was “sort of” responding to my commands, but not going where I wanted it to! I managed to fly it to the down-wind end of the field, but way out there, as I fought my way back to the strip for a landing. There was now a cross-wind blowing and I had to approach the strip on a diagonal, out of the northwest. About 20-yards from the strip, at 20-feet up, I clicked the Kill-Switch… but that racing engine did not respond… I drove the model to the ground for what turned out to be a safe landing, actually. I touched-down about ten- or twenty-feet on the far-side of the runway and gently plowed into the weeds at the edge of the runway, killing the motor. To Bob, it looked like a pretty good landing!
Not my fault… I owe it to that pilot!
The fact that I made it back to the field is amazing!
Since the model “made it home” in one piece, I was able to figure-out the problem. Had it smashed into a pile of balsa splinters, I might never have known the cause!
It turns out that the hit that crunched the elevator must have jolted the servo-tray… that single piece of plywood servo-tray had been broken loose in that wind-flip-crash incident… and I had been flying with those servos rocking loosely, to and fro!
With the tray having moved forward, at neutral on the sticks, I had extra throttle, solid down-elevator and strong left-rudder. As I flew it, I could sense that I 
sometimes had control… and sometimes NOT … I guess that board must have been shifting positions as per the strains I was demanding.
FLYING INTO THE FACE of the Model Airplane Gods, my much-maligned pilot SAVED THE DAY! … I owe him BIG-TIME! … sorry for all the names I’ve called him over the years!
LESSON LEARNED:
CHECK YOUR MODEL CAREFULLY after dropping it or having it tossed by the wind.
“YES…” I did try to rock the elevator, rudder, and ailerons to see if they seemed stiff. But, “No” I did not remove the wing to look inside… to try to rock any of the structure around, looking for, perhaps, hidden damage.
‘nother Lesson Learned:
LISTEN to the MAGs when they are “speaking”… I did not… and almost payed the price!
Come out and FLY with the Kingman Golden Eagles RC Club!