TopShelf

My Feedback: (4)

I have been reading this thread with great interest. I have observed a couple of similar incedents. This thread really makes me appreciate the safety features of our club.

One thing an instructor taught me when I first started was to always locate yourself up wind from a beginner. They are more likely to avoid hitting themselves than others. So, if your up wind, your less likely to get hit.

Kent

Cdallas2

Like I've said before - nothings going to change until someone gets seriously injured or dies.

Just using common sense will eliminate almost all of those stories.

sideshow

My Feedback: (11)

I had a friend tell me just the other day that if his wife knew he was still at the field he was a dead man walking.



Bob

seafury_fb11

Now THAT is serious danger. I live in a similar household.

Russ.

jdwiflyrc

My Feedback: (31)

I had been a club member about a year and was considered a pilot. That is to say I could not fly very well, take off and land if I did not have a problem.
I was sitting on my heels watching a club member work on his plane and heard a noise, saw him move to the side and looked up and was hit with a plane that had knife edged across our club shelter dragging it's wing.

Lucky I was because I recieved the outboard 4 to 6 inches of wing dead between the eyes. If I had been standing I would have been hit in the face with the prop and or spinner. No permanent injuries, a sore nose and black eyes for awhile.

Fear I had in multiples for several years. I would not fly when others were flying, could not fly if I heard a screaming engine any where close to me without looking for it .

I lost a few planes because of the fear and had to force myself to fly and ignor the sounds of flight but I have learned who I feel more comfortable with as flying partners and who to land and watch real close.

I have had a few close calls since but I will not give up.

Good luck and keep fly'in, John

wbrian

I appreciate all those who have replied to this thread. The stories are fascinating and I can only hope others will add theirs. I actually didn’t expect to be adding more stories so soon but here in Sunny Florida anything can and should be expected. Including apparently death threats, the rampage of a belligerent drunk man and his dogs . Yesterday as I was putting my plane away I noticed a strange man walking quickly to the flight line. There were three flyers at the line. After checking out the first two flyers he quickly dashed over to the third pushing his body up against him. His dogs meanwhile were pissing on the frequency post and cones bordering the runway. (My daughter later told me that one of the dogs pissed on my chair) Then as the dogs approached the flyer being harassed by the drunk man. I noticed that Mr. Drunk decided to take it up a notch and stand in front of the flyer blocking his view. That’s all I needed to get involved. I ran over and engaged him long enough to distract his efforts. The plane landed and the flyer understandably went berserk. By now we had enough people yelling at Mr. Drunk that he made a hasty retreat. Apparently his reason for yelling profanities and threatening people was that he was tired of hearing those damn planes from his house.

Only an idiot would move next to a RC field and complain about the noise. I think his last house was next to Yellowstone Park and he couldn’t stand living next to animals.

GSNut

My Feedback: (8)

:angry:
An sometimes while you are on that same road at the same time. Cheeeees, just the thought of that is enough to make ya wanna stay home.

Am glad I'm an old ph#%t and retired now, so I and a several others can go out and fly during the week.

The local R/C club I belong to has enough members that its like Wally Mart on a 50% off everthing sale on weekends. So what the hay, why not build on the weekends or go out and do your club a service and be a flight line observer or flight line official. Don't just be complacent do something about it. It's your life or maybe your buddy's.

Should all pilots on the line have to wear a full face motorcycle helmet and a Aerostitch with armour?
I would prefer not, but as I both ride and fly
I do own the gear necessary to save my life.

Just a thought:
But do you have a new/repaired plane inspected before you fly it the first time by a quailified
club official? We do, and an initialed sticker is placed on the rudder. No stickee, No flyeee!
You no likeee? Then go get stickee.

AMA and IMAA and some Clubs require this.

That's my .02 for now...(rant mode off)

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

Mmm... bureaucracy! Gotta love it!

stevezero

My Feedback: (11)

Shortly after wingspan99 and I were relocated to NC by the company we work for, we found a public field on public land to fly at. All this really amounted to was a small clearing alongside a road, with two small benches and one garbage can. the ground sloped upwards, and about 500 yards away was a mobile home. Wingspan99 was training me on a seniorita, AM band, so no buddy box. We were passing the radio back n forth. This seniorita had a muffled os 40 on it, and you could barely hear it at full throttle. Anyway, I was doing laps in the pattern, getting the feel of flying, and trying not to freeze up, when all of a sudden, we hear a loud "BANG", the unmistakable blast of a shotgun. It originated from the vicinity of behind the mobile home. I got spooked, wingspan got pissed, and took the radio back. He did another lap, still within the field limits, and NOT on this guys property, and was greeted with another shotgun blast. He landed while screaming over to the moron. He wanted to take the plane back up, and run a nice hole thru the roof, giving this guy a nice open air skylight, but I convinced him that we already knew the guy was armed, and I didnt want to go back to the corporate apartment looking like swiss cheese. We packed up, and that was the last time we ever went to that field. Talking to another guy who flew there pretty regularly, he said we should have called the cops on the guy, he was renting that mobile home and was always very drunk and beligerent. The owner was trying to find reasons to evict him (he's long since gone now). We were still very new to the area, and didnt want to make too much of a commotion.

We did joke about taking wingspan99's voyager with a screamin dubjett 40 over there, and doing some 17000 rpm passes 4 feet over the guys roof, but that would have been more trouble than it was worth.

gizmo8012

My Feedback: (15)

there is a flying field south of me that has big bird flyins and funflys year round with a slight problem at the field. Southeast of the flying field past a tree line is a guy with a high powered cb or ham something nother and because one time a plane happened to hit his mobile home with minor damage, mostly to the plane, he insists on shooting down planes with his radio equipment, so the general rule at the field is to avoid downline passes anywhere in that direction, well I didnt know this until after the fact, I was flying a GP spitfire wide open and I guess was close enough to him, I go shot down and it went into a lake near the guys house, go figure... anyway, I make trips down there I just dont take anything to fly. bummer huh.

wbrian

Gizmo8012 – first, are there really 8011 other gizmo’s out there?

Great story. At our field many speculate that someone is hitting our planes too. Many say it’s the belligerent drunk man I wrote about earlier. It seams planes are always going down in a certain area next to his house. Rumor has it that this guy was at the Local hobby store inquiring about dial in transmitters.

Oh the obstacles to having fun

gizmo8012

My Feedback: (15)

great thought....

anyway, I have for some strange reason hung on to this screenname for around 5-6 years, I use it ebay, when I signed up for ebay that was the last 4 digits to ph# and I was selling electric gizmos and gadgets, basically, JUNK, ha ha, but how wonderful eBay is... this certain place was in Slidell, Louisianna, hope not to affend anyone that has been there, the situation may be different being I havent flown there in about 4-5 years, there is a flying there April 27-28 and I plan on attending so well see,

by the way anyone hunting Rocket City Hardware check with TNT Landing gear , they are super nice and get the products out quick, thanks all!

Unstable

you know... a quick call to the FCC could probably fix this ...

causeing interferance intentionaly is a BIG no no. and if he is shooting down planes consistantly I would bet that his setup isnt totaly up to code (is that a linear amp in your pocket or are you just happy to see me)

Herb-RCU

Several years ago my buddy and I went out to fly our trainers. By this time we had both learned to fly pretty well, but his airplane had become a little too heavy due to the weight of glue used for repair. On takeoff, if he didn't get enough speed, the plane would stall and drop one wing. The few times that this happened, he was able to continue to turn turn the plane until it got enough speed to get out of the stalled situation.

At the time of the incident I was already flying when my buddy decided to take his plane off. He did but it stalled and started turning despite his efforts to get it to respond. It had completed a 180 and was now heading for me and my younger sister who was seated behind me. He was quick enough and responsible enough to ditch the plane rather than try to save it and risk our health. The plane hit a couple of yards in front of me. I remember seeing the fuselage split in half and the whole mess just slid right up to a couple of feet in front of me. It all seemed like it was in slow motion. I was pretty shaky, but I was able to safely land my plane. I thank my friend for being responsible enough to push his plane into the ground rather than risk an injury to me or my sister. I hope that I have that quick thinking ability if I'm faced with a similar situation.

Fly safe,
Herb

Cometlover

In our country that can be enough to close down a field.

It almost happened in my club. A man moved into a house about 3/4 mile away from the field. He started complaining after about 6 months. After a long fight we managed to stay in business, but now it is not allowed to fly past 7 pm. That's no problem in the winter because it is long dark by then, but in the summer I don't have think about going out flying after work because I will have to pack my stuff up before I'm even started...

The ironic thing is, the people who had lived there for years (and closer to the field) came to the club to ask what was going on. They were so used to the sound of our planes they found it strange it suddenly wasn't there anymore... They were worried!

Cometlover

This one was a really close call, and I was at the sticks! I almost hit the oldest flying member of our club.

It happened a few years ago. That day there had been a fun fly competition at our field.
As usual my flying buddy and I took places 1 & 2 in the competition. I never did manage to beat that guy , but that's beside the point now.
So after the competition ended the pair of us decided to do some "Blue Angels style" low level synchrone flying. But, before we fueled up the planes and took off we asked every single person at the field it they had any problem with keeping the field clear so we could perform or thing without worries. That was not an issue as everybody would be in the clubhouse having a drink, discussing the events of the day and of course watch us flying.
At a certain moment we heard an engine running, but as we both were concentrated on our flying we didn't respond to it.
Now I was doing a low speed, very low level (about 1 foot) inverted pass along the field while my buddy was flying upright above my plane another foot higher.
Suddenly I see a person picking up his plane halfway up the field. Luckily I reacted in a split second, putting it full down elevator and passing this guys nose by inches. As it turns out our maneuver wasn't perfect because if it was I would have hit my buddy's plane. I guess he wasn't flying straight above me.
Apparantly this man attempted to take off, but his engine leaned out and it died just after he got airborne.
From our point of view it was hard to tell how close it was, but after talking to other people at the field I am convinced I missed him by a few inches.
After landing we went over to the man and apologized and he did the same thing. He admitted he made a mistake in crossing the field when we were doing this type of flying. He claimed it wouldn't have been a problem as he would be standing at the other end of the field when flying. Too bad his engine wasn't running reliable.
In our club it is normal to give a shout when you are going into the field, he didn't do that either. We probably wouldn't have heard it anyway due to the high level of concentration on the job.

As I see it, no one is to blame in this matter.
But I learned to keep my tricks for days when I'm alone at the field. It feels safer...

stick

My Feedback: (14)

Hear is a picture of me at age five. This was taken after a dead stcik .049 hit me. The young man age 16 who was flying the plane gave the hobby up after he hit me. Now I fly and will destroy one of my planes before I even get close to someone. I can always build another plane but cannot replace someones life. I'm a very cautiuos flyer but you never know when a kid, or adult, or animal may wander on to the field.

Gastronom-RCU

My Feedback: (5)

WOW! That is just awefull. Don't want to think of what I would do to an individual that lost his lane and hit one of my kidz, guess that's why my kids don't goto the field with me. :angry: (sorry, red-neck moment) :surprised
Dude sorry that happened to you, but I am glad to see that you are still very active in thios great hobby. Just a thought, Do you still know the young guy that hit you as a child? Could you locatre this person? I'm betting that if you, the one he hit, went to him and talked about everything that has happened between then and now, well we might just get our lost pilot back.. Any thoughts??

stick

My Feedback: (14)

Last I heard he moved off after he went to collage. Thisis what my Dad told me. I can't remeber the Guys name but My Dad could tell me.

This happend in 1977. After this my mother quit going to the field and my Dad soon quit the hobby. He got back into it in about 1985 and then I started learning to fly. He got back out of it in 1987. I flew gliders for a while at the local shcool yard but soon lost interest. Stated flying again after I dot married in 1994 and will hopefully never leave the hobby again. Cool thing is that When I got back into it my Dad Got back into it also. Then my younger brother got him a plane and now he is hlying with us also. My mother even shows up every Sunday now to watch.
I can even say I'm going to the field without having to load up my three girls. My oldest girl has a Piece o'Cake and is learning to fly it ant the age of 6. My 4 year old and 2 year old love to play with the sim. I have even caught my wife on the sim a few times yet she still says the girls were playing with it and she was just turning it off. Yeah right I've seen here take 10 minutes to turn if off if that is the case.

gubbs3

My Feedback: (1)

Air fields aren't the only place where r/c acciedents happen. I used to race r/c cars before I got into planes. I was racing at a parking lot track with an offroad gas truck one Sunday and I was having a great race. I was coming up on lapped traffic and trying to pass on the outside down the straight I clipped the tire from the other car near top speed (35mph+) and when cartwheeling right into the 8 year old at the end of the track. The truck got him right in the knee. I haven't heard a kid scream like that since I was that age. I felt terrible and gave my appologies after the race.

At tracks where they race 1/8 scale (mine was 1/10) where the cars are capable of 60+ and weigh 8# they don't allow anyone close the track unless they are marshalling the cars.

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

we have a few, umm where to start.
I'm walking from the cars back to pits, old guy with old plane ( yes one of them ) heads right for me, over empty ( thank god ) pits, just as that which way do i dive thing kicks in at 6 feet it nosed in, and that wasnt him doing it, he said nothing.

I'm flying, a buddy has a V-Mar Spitfire, i see his tail split, but it continues to fly, i shout to him USE THROTTLE FOR ELEVTOR!!!!! hehe past experiance kicking in, he just guns it and its bunting right above my head, crashes a few feet away, good thing my plane was high and slow and i had time to look at his.

Next, guys flying as per usual, dives for flight line towards himself, sometimes right way up even! and pulls up into loops over the patch, well this time he didnt pull up, came right for me and 2 friends in the pits, which was a bit close to the flight line that day. all 3 of us had same thought, jump! but at 3 feet high we didnt know which way, all of a sudden it jumped back in the air. now this guy normally complaines about getting interferance, " I LOST IT THEN "! he said it again... funny, planes with interferance cant normally fly dead level at 3 feet. and if you thought you had interferance wouldnt you do something about it other than moan? oh well. We shouted at him for alomost killing us, he got very abusive saying he knew what he was doing!

Couple of years ago an old guy with a limbo dancer took off and got the normal old guys 90 degree turn, went right between two guys on flight line, walked over to them and carried on flying, not a word to them!!!!

a REALLY! annoying and new guys started, got an opinion on everything, all he does is touch and go with his damn cub, loads of people have almost him him when trying to land, he also moaned about me prophanging, over his head?? umm nope, im not that good lol
anyways, recently at a RAF base he chased a jeep down the runway when all other flyers got high out of the way, and we WILL loose the base at any problem, his boy, who cant drive yet also drove the car right down the runway as a DF plane was landing, almost went up the back of the car.

To say we have some idiots in our club is an understatement, and its always the same few. no-one has been kicked out of the club ever to my knowlege

I forgot to add i do the check the movement thing before everyflight too, not so much for direction, but to make sure its working on take off, i do it as i walk over, and also just before i throttle up.
As for drunks. During the foot and mouth things we had some of use went to diffrent places, there was a big bowl in the sand dunes down the road, bit enough to fly all the planes we had.
went down one night, and as we flew a guy and two kids started to walk over the area, we landed so there was no chance of hitting them. as he got closer he got real abusive, we could tell this guy was a tourist and must bee staying on the camp near by, but thats way over the hill, and we went the tother way, he started going on about flying over his F***ING place and if we did it again he'd kick out F***ING heads in, walked off, got 20 paces, then came back for more. now theres a couple of people in the club that would have had him for breakfast if he started on them, shame they wernt there.

OH YER! last week evening flying, two kids with dad came to look, dads talking to pilot, hes distracted and comes in for a landing WAY too fast, hits the wire that is around our patch, ( for the sheep ) and skids to a stop, then he realised those kids where playing in front of him and had only just been missed.

PLEASE KEEPS KIDS & DOGS UNDER CONTROL, THE WIFE TOO lol
kids with chuck gliders and frisbees are a damn nightmare

Cometlover

I once hit a dog!
This one happened early on a sunday.
I was just learning to fly. There was just me and my dad at the field, so no problem. I was flying a glider with a OS .10 FP mounted on top (yup, the same one).

During one of my flights on old guy arrives at the field with his dog. Dog is running around on the field, but he says it's no problem because if he calls for the dog, it will go straight to him.

So I start my landing circuit. The dog is still on the field. As I am on final I hear the old man calling for his dog, so I guess everything is ok. On touch down I can see the dog is going for my plane. Now this was early (say about 10 am), and the grass was still wet from the night. So my glider did what it does best : gliding! I guess the dog was thinking he was catching a really big bird.
So I hit the dog a relatively high speed with the wing close to the fuse. No damage done, neither dog nor plane was hurt. But if I was flying a sport plane and that dog ran into a spinning prop he would have been hurt.
The old man decided not to have his dog running around in the future when people were flying. But I don't think that dog would make the same mistake twice, judging by the sound it made when I hit it!

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

heheh always get dogs going after RC cars.
A sheep did get hit by a small Shrike, killed the...... PLANE, sheep ran a few paces, turned around, bleated at the bits and carried on eating lol got it on video, www.rcflyers.fsnet.co.uk
Getting back to the people with transmitters shooting down planes, every summer we get a spate of problems on just a few channels, some think theres locals wih radios and a set of crystals sitting on the cliffs, others think its Spanish fishermen radioing to home with high power, bleeding over radios. The frequency monitor has proved nothing.

phazernut

Never let your sheep on the runway.....funny

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

we cant help it
1 sheap dont speak very good english and our welshman wont be seen talking to them.
2 its a farmers field and though we can keep them off the patch with electric fence we cant stop them wondering where else they want, good fun tho to fly low with correx deltas round them, some times cows too