Red Max
Posts: 36
Joined: 1/10/2008
From: Virginia,
VA, USA
Status: offline
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  When I first began flying, I bought a couple of those little indoor electrics. One of them was a little micro-flyers that you hold in the palm of your hand. Not an easy plane to maneuver indoors or out, as I found out. I tossed this little plane into the air and immediately the wind got hold of it. I just could not control this little thing, altitude was controlled by pushing a button which controlled the throttle, and right and left was little buttons. I veered out toward the dog lot, which contained two Siberian Huskys. Of course the plane flew right over the pen and came straight down. I ran as hard as I could to rescue the little plane, but "chomp", and that was the end of that flight and all future flights.
Tried to fly a GWS Tiger Moth the next week-end. Same old wind problem, but I flew anyway. There was this big "Charlie Brown kite eating tree" in the field, and as my luck would have it, the little Moth flew right into the top branches and lodged there. My son got a long tree branch to knock it down, and while he was doing that, I went down a little bank under the tree to catch it, stepped into a ground hog hole, fell, and rolled down the hill. It only suffered a broken wing and prop, and was repairable, but the end of another flying day.
I tried another little electric, designed for beginners, little V-tail. I could swear that there is something at that location that knows when one of these little planes was in the air, as the wind caught this one and sailed it right straight into the top of a very tall pine tree no where near where the plane was launched. It stayed there for about a month, and finally I fabricated a long pole out of wire conduits that fit together to make a very long pole. It was too wobbly to hold straight up, so I slithered it up through the branches and began poking on it until it gave up and fell down where it could finally be reached. I found that it had been a home for several Earwigs, and the receiver was shot.
Winter came, and I decided to try something that didn't fly, so I got out one of those swamp buggys that float on water or slides on snow. I had a big ASP .91 engine laying around and decided this thing would really move on snow and would be a blast to play with, with all that power. It is designed for a .40. Went to the hobby shop to get a 3 bladed prop for clearance, as the engine is mounted up off the back deck. I fired this thing up, turned it loose, and man, it really moved out; straight toward my camper. I immediately pulled back the throttle, and tried to turn, but those rudders need a prop blast to turn. It slammed into the camper hitch and sheared the engine clean off the mount, and sheared the prop into little pieces. Another day of fun aborted.
I had decided at this point that I was not cut out to fly on land or in the air. My wife got me a flight simulator for Christmas, and I flew those planes the rest of the winter. When spring came, I joined my local flying club and soloed after the second flight. I am now up to the point that I have layed away a Pitts Monster to be completed this summer. My hangar is full of planes and I enjoy every one of them. Three cheers for flight simulators.
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Old, but not bold pilot
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All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> RC Humor >> Bad days at the field 
Bad days at the field - 
but I'm glad to hear that you found help and have had at least 2 successful flights. A bad day at the field is always better than a good day at the office.
