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Thrower set with launch angleThrust pinned to 100%Left hand removed from fuselage, causing instability in front of drone, resulting in nose pitching down. Right hand begins to push forward,Right hand finishes pushing forwardNose is pitched down resulting in the hand that should be pushing the aircraft upward, pushing the tail further upwards, forcing the aircraft to nose dive into the ground.
Windracers Flight Log Analysis
Joseph Salcik- 24 February 2026
Background Context:
On February 14, 2026 at 1200 the Believer DAB10 crashed at the ACRE Research Trailer. Personnel present were Anestis Tsagris as PIC, Ryan Shurtleff as the Aircraft Launcher, Trigg Strawhorn as GCS, and Erik Krellner as VO. They were flying the aircraft for practice when they went to launch the aircraft, it nose dived into the ground on launch. There was significant damage done to the nose of the aircraft with the starboard side of the nose with the foam being completely destroyed, a large crack on the port side above the “UAV Make Fly Easy” sticker, starboard side wing connector separated from the foam, a large crack under the starboard side wing connector also formed leading through to the bottom of the fuselage, and a large crack on the port side bottom of the fuselage running from the nose till about halfway through the wing connector.
Root Cause Analysis:
The main cause of the crash would be an inadequate launch, resulting in the aircraft not being able to gain lift to takeoff, resulting in the nosedive. The end of the launch had the main force being pushing up on the tail instead of pushing the whole aircraft upward at an angle of 20 degrees above the horizon to achieve lift underneath the wings.
image 1.
image 2.
image 3.
images 1, 2, 3. Believer DAB 10 being launched leading up to crash.
Crash Dynamics:
The main cause behind the crash was the improper launch of the Believer. The aircraft should be launched 20 degrees above the horizon but, as seen in the images above, it was launched closer to 5 degrees below the horizon resulting in the nose dive into the ground and the damage to the front of the aircraft.
Sequence of events:
Post-Crash Response and Consequences:
The required reporting actions that would need to be completed would be to fill out the SATT Safety Report as the incident occurred on Purdue property as well as included Purdue students, along with a UAS Incident Report that will be logged in UAS Dispatch. These all ensure that similar incidents do not happen again and bring knowledge of possible incidents forward and knowledge of what could possibly be done to prevent them.
Recommendations:
A potential change that could be made would be to have more practice of launching the Believer with some sort of rig or similar object. This will ensure that students are comfortable with the weight and proper angle in which to launch the aircraft prior to an operation. This can be done with weighted objects, such as a PVC pipe with some sort of item to weigh it down, foam back/limb rollers that are weighted to simulate the length and weight of the Believer, or any other combination to make the best simulated Believer possible to prevent improper launches.
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