Pilot figures and superstitions
I fired my pilot fugure, a KC Cheifs Troll (Kewpie Doll) after he burned my H9 Edge 540 in a few months ago. I have since heard that while Kewpies look awesome on low passes with their brilliant neon hair waving in the prop wash, they have an uncanny ability to land aircraft at approach angles and speeds well above design limitations leading to catastrophic structural failure on impact. My troll now sits on the window ledge above my building table and for punishment is forced to watch the construction of the current project, all the while knowing that he will never touch the plane, much less climb aboard. Snoopy has become the full time pilot of all my aircraft, and on the two seaters, he brings along his sidekick Woodstock. I know it isn't very scale, but I love the kids' reactions at the flying field. They may not recognize a Giles G-202, but there is no doubt that Snoopy is at the controls! When they are walking down the flightline with their parents in tow, I have often heard, "Look Daddy, it's Snoopy!"
So I pose this question to everyone. Who or what do you use as a pilot figure and why? Do you have any superstitions or do you feel, as I do, that being superstitious brings bad luck?