Were having some pretty wicked weather lately here in Western Kentucky and since i was bored i decided to head out to the local field to see if anyone was flying. I had a hunch nobody would be there but as i pull into the drive way i see a kid and his father getting ready to fly. I parked and checked out the wind sock... it was parallel to the ground, forecast called for 15-20mph winds with gusts in the 30's. I walk up to the kid and his father to introduce myself.

The kid just got a new Parkzone Mustang for his birthday and was dying to fly it. I asked the father if he or his son who looked to have been maybe 12-13 have any experience flying and both said "No". I highly advised against them flying on this particular day let alone flying by themselves without the club instructor. I also said the Mustang is not a trainer but to make a long story short the kid whined and whined so they went against what i advised and began setting the plane up. I told them to wait tomorrow when the winds would subside. I figured dad would've persuaded his son to be patient but to my surprise he was just as eager to get this plane in the sky as his son... they both ignored my advice and proceeded to the runway.

I am not an instructor nor was i going to take any responsibility for what i knew was going to happen so i stood to the side and waited for the inevitable. Dad launched the plane into the wind in which the kid managed to keep it in the air. The plane literally looked like a kite! it went absolutely nowhere until he turned around and went with the wind..... from there it was over. It went into a death spiral and ended up in the corn fields which were heavily saturated with water. The plane was literally sunken into the ground full of water... he brought it back and i gave it a quick inspection. I asked the kid to input some controls in which the plane did not respond. The plane came out with zero damage but im willing to bet all of his electronics shorted out. I held off on the whole "I Told You So" speech and gave the kid some advice. I told him never to rush into things and to be patient. I told him to learn from this mistake and to hook up with our club instructor. He understood and the father thanked me.

As they left i felt awful.... i knew what was going to happen but i let them proceed with their flight. I stuck around for another 30 minutes until a buddy of mine came in. I explained the story and he said there's only so much you can do and it's ultimately there decision to do whatever they want. He said "You have to let them learn the hard way".

Anybody ever have an experience like this? Care to share what you did?