Watch out for that tree!

Tired of the Minnesota winter stopping my flying, I took out my plane for a spin.  Nice thin layer of snow on the lake, perfect for a photo.

Hadn't flown it in months, yet didn't bother with any checks other the up/down, aileron right/left, ok let's fly! Flying through the FPV google, immediately upon sliding down the snow it was turning left towards the open water (aerator), so opened her up to gain altitude and then it continued to bank left, now toward the line of trees - directly opposite the direction I intended to fly.  Pull up!  not in time, caught the outer branches near the top of the trees.

 

Tried full throttle, all the combinations with full elevator up, etc, moved once, then stuck for good.  Forecast was looking for some winds over the evening, crossed my fingers.  Luckily, found it the next morning on the dog walk.  One nice thing about the design is that most crashes only the fuselage is damaged, and is an easiest one of all my planes to re-make. 

 

Still need to complete the crash analysis, but my guess is the prop torque, especially with having no tail wheel, resulted in the initial left turning, and then when I gunned it added to the effect before the plane was stabilized at all.  The initial left turn also presented a large area for the now side wind, further turning the plane around. It all happens so fast! Overnight, the battery got quite low, but amazingly still had some voltage left even with the 600mV transmitting draining the battery.  Following the recommendation of others, I charged it at .1A (the lowest option) until changed, all inside a bat-safe enclosure and occasionally checking for any heating (never felt any).  Then discharge to storage, and we'll see how it does over time - haven't been able to fly since.