Our field has a sort of marsh on the opposite side of the flight line, full of desert scrub brush. It is very thick and matted. Well, on the first flight of the day, my teacher took the plane off (I,m using the box) made a gentle left hand turn, and let me have the plane. So I start to do the circut, but the plane is begining to desend. I add a little up elevator, the plane starts to climb, and I think everything is ok. Turns out the motor was dead, and the plane was way to far out to make it all the way back to the runway. We couldn't hear the engine, as a helicopter was flying next to us.
About a month ago, there was a brush fire out in the marsh, and in some spots, all that is left are the small trunks of the trees. (look like black spikes coming out of the ground). Anyways, my teacher takes the plane, and lands it (very softly) in one of the few scrub trees that didn't get burned. Only damage was one tear in the covering, a couple of pin holes, and a dent in the leading edge. My first thought was what it would have looked like on the spikes But Rick did a most excellent job of saving my plane. My hat is off to Rick, and all the instructors, who take the time, and have the skill to let me learn from my mistakes. Loren