Have you ever wondered how much time that you actually spend setting up and fiddling with your model ? well I reckon that for every flight of your model which averages at say 10 minutes duration you spend a little over 2 hours minimum getting it to that stage ? and it goes on as you modify,adjust and tweak your latest pride and joy,not that I am moaning because to me the maintenance and getting it just right are all part of the fun.
How many times have you seen a buddy fiddling on the field to get his model working ? well I would say that 60 per cent of this time is due to bad preparation at home or not checking over your model since you last flew her,bad maintenance rears its ugly head in the form of crashes,that tailplane coming adrift at the join,a loose servo,broken antennae that someone stood on,loose glo plug,hinges coming away,it goes on and on,when you fly a full size your neck depends on checking things,you do a walkround before every flight,well you should do,even then people have left pitot covers and undercarriage locks in place with dire consequences.
So the moral is check and double check,in fact the motto could be check twice for every time that you fly once.
Makes good sense eh ?