ORIGINAL: PilotFighter
In aviation, its easy to be lead down the primrose path to destruction. By sharing his story here with us, Garcfield has alerted many pilots of the potential consequences of assuming the responsibility of helping another pilot.And by doing so, he has yeilded a net good for the RC community by educated his piers.
The various responses voiced in this forum are directly related the speakers' experience level. Newbies see the situation one way.Instructors see thattheir duty is to save the airplane, always, without fail. And so they see the situation another way. How many instructors have promised their students thattheir airplaneswould not be crashed ? I know I have. I meant it to. Can a newbie conceive of makingsuch a promise? Can an expereinced instructor conceive watching a students' plane crashand not helping ?
So what if you aren't a newbie. And you aren't yet at the level where you shouldoffer instruction ? Lets say you are in between.
Ithink Clint Eastwood saidit best, " a man has got to know his limitations" .
Lets make something completely clear: If you offer to "watch" someone , you are offering to save their plane if it is needed. If this is beyond your capability, then don't offer to do it. And if asked to do it, say that you are unable. (Unless this is something you are comfortable doing.)
I think Garcfield just found himself in a situation that he didn't entirely understand his responsibilites at the time. He probably wasn't the first. He probably won't be the last. But lets ALL learn his lesson. A promise to "watch" is a promise to save.
Well said and 100% true. And much more diplomatic than I'd be.
Over the course of time I think Garcfields perspective will shift regarding those events. It's a really tough learning experience, but like tough things that happen to people, events such as this are a good way to grow by analyzing what really happened and facing the gut reaction we have to events we are involved in without looking for rationalizations. I don't judge Garcfield by thinking he was simply looking for rationalization by seeking the opinion and support of the officers of his club, or posting here. Quite the contrary. It was an unsettling experience, as it would be for anyone with a relatively brief association with the hobby.
And by the way Garcfield, I'm not commenting on how you handled this, but let's just say I've done things a million times more clueless than the events you described here. Just keep yourself open to looking at this from different perspectives as you move forward.