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ORIGINAL: pipercub6

No Lie, This really did Happen!!!!


I was a helicopter pilot in the Army stationed in Ansbach, Germany in 1988. My family was with me and we lived in Government Quarters across from the Heliport I worked at. Being an avid R/c er I also had been trying to get my 3 small sons involved in R/c and was fairly successful with cars but I wanted them involved with airplanes also. Christmas Day rolled around and my wife had failed to tell me that she had purchased one of those Cox helicopters(airwolf Body) for the oldest son 11 y/o at the time and has always been and will be a motorhead like his father. Unfortunately for me, my wife had also bought the starting kit so everything was there to try and fly this thing. After xmas dinner we went to the end of the housing area and all I wanted to do was try to break in the engine. Of course as soon as we started it up it began drawing a crowd of kids and a few adults also. After several tanks of fuel through it my son really wanted to let it go. It was one of those free flight ones. They climb until they run out of gas then auto rotate to the ground.
Common sense told me to not even consider it as it was a low overcast day. We were at the edge of a big sugar beet field but the housing area and parking lots were right behind us. I'm sure all of us have had the uneasy feeling (The Army called it a heightened sense of awareness that something bad is going to happen) and I certainly had that feeling but the big field was in front of us and the show had to go on.

We refueled it and with a crowd of about 50 people watching my son let it go with a little toss. Damn, that thing actually flew!!
To well in fact as it had a wicked rate of climb and shot right up into the low lying clouds. I almost crapped my pants as everone began asking me what happened to it. I could still hear the little cox whining out so I had some idea of where it was as it began running out of gas and started sputtering. When all went silent, everybodys eyes was up watching for it. It finally came out of the clouds in an autorotative descent but was heading straight for some huge oaks at the edge of the playground behind the housing.
(You know whats going to happen next don't you!) oF course it managed to land in a humongous oak nearly at the top of it. Probably 60 to 70 feet high.

Naturally the youngest one went off to immediately tell Mom what Dad had allowed the oldest one to do. Everyone was offering suggestions on how to get it down. I even tried to climb the tree but it was a damp day and that mossy crap that grows on the bark only allowed me to slide down about 10 feet and just get more aggravated.

I figured that everyone knew it was ours and we would allow the wind to possibly blow it out of the tree. I jokingly told my oldest son that the only way that the airwolf was coming down today was if the fire department came an got it!! Suprisingly he was not very upset about the whole incident and actually believed he did a pretty good job for the first time out!!

I should have known better than to say the remark about the fire company. While we were all outside trying to figure out other possible ways to get it down my middle son had went into the house. A short time later I heard the unique sound of a German fire truck and a shiver immediately went up my spine. As they pulled in I about s*** my pants. They immediately jumped out of the truck and in broken english asked where the helicopter crash was that they had received the call about. (I nearly passed out at this point)(Here my middle son had went in and told my wife that I said to call the fire department.) I did a whole lot of explaining about it was only a toy helicopter and calling them was a huge mistake by someone!! (No reason to confess at this point yet!) I pointed to the one in the tree and jokingly said said that the rescue could wait. The one German fireman asked me who it belonged to and I pointed to my son saying that it was a Christmas present he received today.
The German fireman looked at my son and turned around and began barking commands to the others on the fire truck. They immediately scrambled into action and repositioned the truck, fired up the pumps and with two quick bursts with the water cannon blew that little copter right out of the tree.
It actually was high enough to start auto rotating again and just settled down to the playground. The really huge crowd (At this point it was probably over 100 people) went into a gigantic round of cheering and clapping for the firemen. The German fireman that gave the commands walked over and picked up the helicopter and handing it back to my son said Merry Xmas. With that the crowd went crazy
cheering them and they were hitting the lights and sirens as that turned around to leave. Everyone was waving and cheering them as they left. (I was so worked up I actually felt lightneaded) I was certainly glad my son had his airwolf but I could not imagine what the bill for the fire company was going to be. I figured it was beans and hotdogs for a long time. After the holidays was over I returned to work and it seemed as though the entire aviation brigade had found out about it. Until I left Germany I was still sweating bullets about a bill for that event. But nothing ever came of it.