New Field, New(ly Repaired) Plane With New Engine = Midair!
05-28-2002, 05:42 PM
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New Field, New(ly Repaired) Plane With New Engine = Midair!
Had to happen, I guess. Too many "New" things in one day.
We share our regular field with a bunch of Cricket players. We fly on Sunday mornings and they usually start playing in the early afternoons. This usually works out well, although there are ongoing issues about the placement of their scoreboard (smack in the middle of the landing corridor) and the tendency of their grounds-keeper fellow to park his SUV in the middle of the field while we're flying.
Oh well. Precision landing ability is a must around here.
Anyway I had my newly repaired and re-engined Ultra Stick. I originally had a Saito .72 on it, but that engine's rich midrange tendency has caused each of the four damaging crashes I've had with this plane as well as a bunch of deadsticks. It now has a YS .63, which runs flawlessly. The engine is brand-new and still being run in, so I took it easy. Kept it rich, stayed below full throttle, gentle aerobatics only.
I was the only flyer out so far. It was pretty windy, but nothing a sport plane couldn't handle. I put two tanks through the Stick, then put two tanks through my Top Cap. Stopped to take a water break.
One other flyer arrived - one of my (former) students. He's a pretty good pilot - he's spent lots of time with Realflight. He also refers to me as "Obi-Wan" and calls himself "Young_Skywalker", though. Bwahahahaha. He brought his Irvine .46-powered Duraplane as well as another newbie's LA-40 powered Superstar trainer.
We chat for a bit.
He sets up his Duraplane.
I refuel the Top Cap.
The groundskeeper finishes doing <whatever> to the cricket pitch and moves his Trooper from the middle of the field.
We fly the two planes, land normally. I clean up and put away the Top Cap as its just a little too windy for it.
My other student arrives.
Young_Skywalker
sets up the Superstar, takes off. Too much wind for training... he executes a bumpy landing
I refuel the Ultra Stick.
Cricket players start arriving, setting up their gear. Looks like they have a major shindig planned - music, food, drinks, etc.
Too many people and cars milling about to fly safely... time to quit.
Too bad it will have to be a short day. (its about noon - we usually quit around 2PM)
Young_Skywalker has an idea. He knows of a large, unused open field. Its pretty big - he thinks we can fly there.
We check the field out. It is big and open - no buildings and only a single palm tree way downwind. Its bordered by a busy street and apartment buildings on one side, a storm-damaged hotel on another, a deep water-filled ditch on another and the ocean. Lovely.
For the first flight we flew facing the water. This was a bit unnerving as there are quite a few sailboats anchored nearby... those masts are uncomfortably tall!
Second flight. We flew with the ocean at out backs. Much more comfortable. We had also attracted several onlookers on the adjacent boats - we could hear little bits of their conversations behind us. At one point, one lady onlooker was heard to exclaim "Oh my goodness... he's turning it upside down!" Heh.
Third flight. We've figured out the wind patterns over th field - where the turbulent and smooth areas are - and are cooking! We were flying speed passes with hammerhead turns at each end... uncoordinated aerobatics, etc. Just tearing around, having fun.
Then It Happned
We were racing, sort of. Heading upwind, with my Stick in the lead. Y_S figured he'd dive through his turn, climb to the same altitude I was at and fly by in parallel. That was his plan.
He dove through his turn (picking up speed), then leveled out and was climbing to the same level as my plane, when
**THUD**
My plane's wing rocked; it yawed slightly then stabilized. His plane yawed away from mine and dove. At about the same moment we realized that our engines were still running... I immediately ran a short approach and landed; Y_S followed suit.
Our planes had struck wingtip-to-wingtip!
Damage:
Y_S had a few popped wing rubberbands. Nothing else.
I have a small puncture in my Stick's underside wingtip covering and a dent in the tip rib from where his wing hit. Nothing else.
Incredible.
Million-to-one shot. We couldn't do that again if we tried!
whoa. I started writing this around 10 this morning. With all the interruptions (I'm in my office) its nearly 3PM. Yak, yak, yak. Sorry!
We share our regular field with a bunch of Cricket players. We fly on Sunday mornings and they usually start playing in the early afternoons. This usually works out well, although there are ongoing issues about the placement of their scoreboard (smack in the middle of the landing corridor) and the tendency of their grounds-keeper fellow to park his SUV in the middle of the field while we're flying.
Oh well. Precision landing ability is a must around here.Anyway I had my newly repaired and re-engined Ultra Stick. I originally had a Saito .72 on it, but that engine's rich midrange tendency has caused each of the four damaging crashes I've had with this plane as well as a bunch of deadsticks. It now has a YS .63, which runs flawlessly. The engine is brand-new and still being run in, so I took it easy. Kept it rich, stayed below full throttle, gentle aerobatics only.
I was the only flyer out so far. It was pretty windy, but nothing a sport plane couldn't handle. I put two tanks through the Stick, then put two tanks through my Top Cap. Stopped to take a water break.
One other flyer arrived - one of my (former) students. He's a pretty good pilot - he's spent lots of time with Realflight. He also refers to me as "Obi-Wan" and calls himself "Young_Skywalker", though. Bwahahahaha. He brought his Irvine .46-powered Duraplane as well as another newbie's LA-40 powered Superstar trainer.
We chat for a bit.
He sets up his Duraplane.
I refuel the Top Cap.
The groundskeeper finishes doing <whatever> to the cricket pitch and moves his Trooper from the middle of the field.
We fly the two planes, land normally. I clean up and put away the Top Cap as its just a little too windy for it.
My other student arrives.
Young_Skywalker
sets up the Superstar, takes off. Too much wind for training... he executes a bumpy landingI refuel the Ultra Stick.
Cricket players start arriving, setting up their gear. Looks like they have a major shindig planned - music, food, drinks, etc.
Too many people and cars milling about to fly safely... time to quit.
Too bad it will have to be a short day. (its about noon - we usually quit around 2PM)
Young_Skywalker has an idea. He knows of a large, unused open field. Its pretty big - he thinks we can fly there.
We check the field out. It is big and open - no buildings and only a single palm tree way downwind. Its bordered by a busy street and apartment buildings on one side, a storm-damaged hotel on another, a deep water-filled ditch on another and the ocean. Lovely.
For the first flight we flew facing the water. This was a bit unnerving as there are quite a few sailboats anchored nearby... those masts are uncomfortably tall!
Second flight. We flew with the ocean at out backs. Much more comfortable. We had also attracted several onlookers on the adjacent boats - we could hear little bits of their conversations behind us. At one point, one lady onlooker was heard to exclaim "Oh my goodness... he's turning it upside down!" Heh.
Third flight. We've figured out the wind patterns over th field - where the turbulent and smooth areas are - and are cooking! We were flying speed passes with hammerhead turns at each end... uncoordinated aerobatics, etc. Just tearing around, having fun.
Then It Happned
We were racing, sort of. Heading upwind, with my Stick in the lead. Y_S figured he'd dive through his turn, climb to the same altitude I was at and fly by in parallel. That was his plan.
He dove through his turn (picking up speed), then leveled out and was climbing to the same level as my plane, when
**THUD**
My plane's wing rocked; it yawed slightly then stabilized. His plane yawed away from mine and dove. At about the same moment we realized that our engines were still running... I immediately ran a short approach and landed; Y_S followed suit.
Our planes had struck wingtip-to-wingtip!
Damage:
Y_S had a few popped wing rubberbands. Nothing else.
I have a small puncture in my Stick's underside wingtip covering and a dent in the tip rib from where his wing hit. Nothing else.
Incredible.
Million-to-one shot. We couldn't do that again if we tried!
whoa. I started writing this around 10 this morning. With all the interruptions (I'm in my office) its nearly 3PM. Yak, yak, yak. Sorry!
