RE: Mid-air this weekend. Anyone to balme??
Without being there...its hard to judge who was right or wrong. I will however offer a tip that I use to avoid a situation like this. Since you were a visiting member, you were at a disadvantage in knowing who you were flying with. Knowing who you are sharing the air space with is very important in my opinion. When I fly I make sure that the person I am sharing the air space with has a similar viewpoint as mine should a mid air occur. People have all sorts of different opinions and reactions on things, and knowing how they react to certain situations is good knowledge to have when sharing a field. For example, there are some people who will look for anything or anyone to blame should an accident happen. Even if they are the only one in the air, and dumb thumb a plane in, they will immediately turn around looking for anyone besides themselves who may be at fault. It always strikes my as funny at how many recievers or batteries go bad right at the time when someone in is some precarious manuever that they are not sure how to get out of without smashing into the ground, or somehow flying upside down 4 ft off the runway drains batteries or makes recievers go bad, or someone turned on a radio on your frequency 100 miles away when you was flying 4 ft off the ground. You was certain you saw the guy pull when he should have pushed, but he will go to his grave swearing Tower Hobbies sold him a defective Futaba reciever. Then there are those like myself who accept that $%it happens from time to time, and its just part of the sport. We all zig sometimes when we should have zagged. I am not saying my attitude is right or wrong, but as long as I am flying with those who have the same attitude there will be no problems should a mid air occur. There will be no finger pointing, we both will express or sincere appologies for both losses, and continue on.
On the other hand, if I am flying with someone who I know will become upset regardless who is at fault, then I will just leave my Plane on the ground or come into land. I guess my point is to try to get to know who you are sharing a field with. Some guys take things with a grain of salt, and some don't. Niether are bad folks, and you can't blame someone who gets upset when they lose a nice Plane, its just that I prefer not be the focus of there anger should a mid air occur. Anyhow, I don't know if anyone is really to blame. The main thing IMO is to know who you are sharing the sky with, and if you are both comfortable flying with each other. As I said, you were at a disadvantage as a vistor. If you see the guy again, tell him your sorry to see his Plane end up like that whether you feel you are at fault or not. Sometimes things just happen, and hindsight is 20/20.