Funny story...although embarrasing. I took the Nexstar out for my first RC flight at the inlaws ranch. This ranch has two real grass runways that run E/W and N/S. I had been planning on taking out at a local club in Houston but brought the plane along for Easter just in case I got the bug to try and fly it.
It was a fairly windy day with winds between 8 and 15 but I had finished breaking in the engine and taxiing around so I decided to give it a whirl. Flew a very nice takeoff and a few turn upwind and let it climb up and made some nice turns, etc. The plane was very stable even in the relatively strong winds and then as it got further to the east it stopped responding to control inputs. It leveled off before making a turn and nosing straight down into the forest with a huge CRACK. I then noticed that in my excitement I had neglected to extend the radio anntenae. DUH.
So I jump on the 4 Wheeler to go find the pile of scrap wood and find the airplane sitting on its wheels in the middle of the dense pine forest with a broken prop. The airplane is in perfect condition, and all I can gather is that it bumped along through the branches and leveled itself off before impact. It will live to fly another day, except the next time will be at an r/c airflield with an instructor....and the anntenae extended.
The plane did fly great, so it will be fun to learn how to fly on it.