Jack211

Tim, Waldo, you guys have fallen from great heights in my esteem. You HAD to answer Down's questions about smoke systems, didn't ya?

Understand, if HE gets one, I have to. ....It all began when he said, "You oughta try the Twist." It's all been down hill since--and beaucoup bucks down the tubes. I won't tell ya what happened after he said, "We oughta try 4 strokes, huh?" Suffice to say, HE doesn't have one. I have two.

Yes, Gary, I have thinned blood (by meds), so when I bleed it's a LOT. I've found that you wipe the wound clean, put a torn bit of Downy (or some such towel) on the wound, then add CA. Voila. Bleeding stops.

I'm just glad that you're dumb enough to catch a finger in a prop. No sympathy here. As the man said, "A Twist scorned...." I'm STILL envious/angry with you for flying ONE Twist for over a year.

Waldo, you'd be proud of me. I flew three ariframes today (the Katana, the Big Stik, and the Model Tech Magic) with another guy, Rick. I flew RICK'S Magic on the buddy cord. He's still learning it all, but he put that Magic down with no help from me as if it were a Valentine bouquet, nose in the wind, wings straight, perfect. He's fast learning that the wind CAN be a friend. And he's learning his left hand, the THROTTLE, for controlled approaches into the wind. He may have left a one inch trail in the snow, NOT more. The winds were at 11 mph ON THE GROUND, 17 mph at 10 meters and gusting to 32 mph. That's when Rick said he wouldn't go up again. Wise. With 60 acres of flat in front of us, upwind, I KNOW that wind was higher at ground level than the 10mph reported by the local weather station.

As I was putting MY birds away, the wind blew his Magic, protected from the wind by his truck, OFF the table. Onto its back. No damage. Those Magics are tough birds.

But, oh, boy, did we play in the wind. We flew backwards many a time. Waldo, the Big Stik .60 is just like your Sig Kadet, as you prolly know. And the new ST .61 did yeoman service (in it's third and fourth flights; broke her in Saturday with Down's help {he IS good for SOME things}); no flameouts--and I'm happy about that. I'd have had to recover it in the next county.

I was saving the Twist for last, but I just got too durned cold (29 degrees, whatever wind chill)--and at 32 mph, gentle gusts, I thought better of it. Gary, I DID, first flight, kill the ST .61 before take-off. She wasn't warm, and turned that big MAS 13 x 5 prop, carefully, carefully, with my gloved finger. She popped off in reverse, stopped, another flip and she was going--no blood. All my taxiing on the ground helped teach Rick how to taxi using ailerons in high winds. The Big Stik ALMOST flipped over. Ailerons saved her.

All birds home safe in the coop. What a day of flying! I think the only guys stupid enough to fly today are in this room.

Jack