RE: Have YOU ever shot someone else down?
Back in the 70's I was flying gliders all by myself or with other glider guiders for a long time.
One day i decided to go to my clubs flying field. I went through my normal routine, start the little TeeDee, turn on the glider and turn on the transmitter and then toss the glider. About that time I hear a cuss word and "I ain't got it" and other things like that and hear a plane go in. The guy who was instructing the power guy was also the guy who taught me to fly and the first thing he did was come over and ask what freq I was on. Yep, same one.
So Dusty (the instructor) told the student to turn his radio off so he didn't shoot me down. Well, I got down as fast as I could, went over to talk to the guy. Dusty had alreadt calmed him down and I told the guy I would buy him another kit and Dusty volunteered to build it for him.
Lesson learned: Don't get complacent with a routine and always, always, ALWAYS check freqs before turning on. Back in those days we didn't have a frequency board, but nowadays I still do a walk down the flightline before first flight to see who I may have a conflict with.
Don