Clean

Hand launching a little racing plane with a medallion .049 and 2 ounces of fuel, problem is, the on-off switch was right there by my thumb. I tossed it, grabbed my box and twiddleded the sticks. nuttin!

The plane climbed on launch to about 15 feet and then started in a gradually decending circle for about 5 turns, each of which were getting lower and of course part of them was over the pits. When I realized I didn't have it I ran to the only plane in that area, grabbed it and moved. The pilots box just emptied out like a baseball game after a beanball have been thrown.

'What the @!#$@$# are you doing' 'The radio is off' I yelled back, 'Well turn it on' 'I can't!' finally one of them grabs my transmitter, flips the switch and trys to control my plane and looks at me 'The reciever is off?' 'Yeah, I hit the switch on launch' 'How much fuel do you have in it' by now there is just enough fuel out of the plane that it is climbing out but is in the same stable turn. A fog bank was really only 100 feet up and my plane was looking to go for it. 'How much fuel is there on board' '2 ounces' 'What engine?' 'Medallion' 'Thats over 10 minutes' he said looking at my now climbing rather smartly airplane. 'Yeah, could you impound my transmitter I'm going to walk under the noise till it stops and then keep my head up' 'Sure you don't want a ride to the next town down?' 'Nah, it's not drifting that fast'

2 hours later I was coming back over the fence with my airplane. at about 5 minutes the plane went into the fog and I walked under the noise. When it went off I watched skyward but never saw it, but after a couple minutes I did have a herd of cows take off running. I figured it had hit one of em and maybe that's where it would be. No dice, about to give up I took one more glance around and saw it in a tree about half a pasture away. I took a running jump over a small creek and ran towards the tree when I noticed my legs burning, that half of the pasture was all needles and I was in tennis shoes, no socks and shorts. Got to the tree that it was 35 feet up and sure enough, Honey locust, female, thorns all over. Pocket knife and some careful climbing and I got high enough to knock the plane out with a 6 foot stick. Carefully walked out of the needles and took the plane back to the pits. It had a couple holes in the covering and the 1/4 stick leading edge needed repaired in one place, but other than that it was fine. I had it repaired and was flying it the next day. The funny part was the fire drill of everyone coming out of the pits not knowing whether to duck or throw stones at the plane, or me, or both.

Really funny was we were out flying combat one hot summer day 113° and during one of the intermissions someone strung a piece of creape across the runway to try and cut inverted with their 4 stars. After a particularly good round for me of combat, I was the last in the air when I ran out of fuel, I brought my plane in and limbo'd under the creape and slid to a stop. The creape was really just barely taller than my plane. I turned around, proud of myself and looking at a bunch of disgust from the other tired, beaten combat pilots and yelled 'Who Can BEAT THAT!!' Just then a giant dust devel, as yet unseen by us, hit the pits and took 3 quick rise dining flys and trying to lift the one that I was now hanging onto yelling to the skys 'I GIVE I GIVE!!'

That was pretty funny, though the guys with the ruined flys and the other guy with the dents in his truck probably didn't think so. My air conditioner belt broke on the way home, it was a hot trip. But I kicked butt so I didn't care!