Several years back at SIG's CL contest, I was flying my Charybdis FF Helicopter for the kids after the Saturday contest, using a glow stick on it for the failing light. It was windy so I was severaly short tanking the Cox engine with 4ccs, this usually gave it 20 seconds of flying time, enough for a 100 yards of running for the youths so inclined.

Well, I managed to get a full tank in it, or it went desperatly lean like they do from time to time and off that sucker went. I was launching towards the west side of the runway, and when I was up against the barbed wire on the east side of the runway I remember not really being able to see the little red glow stick way out there, but it was going up not down. Guess it found some ridge lift out there somewhere. As the light disappeared in the distance, I marked where it was going with a radio tower, climbed the fence and headed in the general direction. The problem with walking a straight line in Iowa in June is the dang corn rows go evey which way and I was soon lost, well, off course. I had the moon up above me and the sounds of people flying nighttime combat behind me to keep me located, so I kept walking, and walking, and walking. Suddenly it occured to me just how long I had been walking. The moon had been covered up by clouds and there was no longer any engine noise, just the noise of corn blowing in the wind. Several times I would turn around quickly only to see a coyote who was really confused about just what I was doing in his field, he would slink back into the shadows. So here I was in the middle of the night, in the middle of Iowa (worlds biggest corn field) in a tank top and shorts and sandles, with no idea where I was let alone my model. So I kept looking figuring I'd come up against a road sooner or later. About 30 minutes passed and there was a gap in the clouds, I recognized a constellation, turned around and started walking the otherway. Another 20-30 minutes and several fences later, I came up to a fence next to the road a pasture east of the field, I put my hand on the fence, right on a barb, and stepped into a 3 foot deep hole. Somehow I didn't puncture my hand. As I was falling, Bob Hennigson drove by. I got over the fence just as he stapped 50 yards away, pointing the car towards the pasture with the highbeams on. He got out and just gave a big holler at the field. Now I'd been out in the dark for quite some time, so much so that I was dark adapted. The glow from Bob's car was just brilliant. Bob on the other hand was accustomed to the light of his headlights, so when I walked up behind him in all this simulated daylight and asked 'As long as you're here, can I get a ride back?' it was to him as if I had just materialized out of thin air. I think he had to change his underwear. I guess they had waited a couple hours and then decided that they should go looking for me.

Made it back to the field and my tent and bedded down for the night. I woke up bright and early the next morning, went and got my bead on the territory and started walking again. You can go so much faster if you know where you going. After several pastures, I was walking in a lowle when I stepped into a cow footprint that must have been 1.5 feet deep. I looked up while pulling my foot out and noticed a piece of red part of the way up the next hill. I remembered thinking that it was either a milo stalk or my Charybdis, so I trotted up the hill to, a milo stalk. 'Ahh ta Hell with the damn thing then!' I exclaimed and on turning, there it was 20 foot to the left!

I picked up my Charybdis and was back to the field ready to go. When questioned about how that darn thing actually flew in the bright, pre-stunt plane morning, I gave it a full tank and we watched it go up and come down about 20 feet away. Then somebody pulled a stunt ship out and free flying missles were relegated to the back of my van.

Easily 4-6 hours that I wouldn't trade fer nothing.