Charlie P.

I take it the large Stearman biplane crashed and you wanted the debris if he was not going to rebuild.

Fine and dandy.

He could simply have said: "no, I'll be rebuilding it myself." Or: "pound salt, the servos, engine and receiver are worth $1,000 and I'd be a fool to toss them."

Probably the problem arises that in asking someone with a tear just forming in his twitching left eye while leaning over the smoking hole that was seconds prior the happy result of two years of his free time and hobby allowance you just hadn't picked the best time to broach the subject.

Maybe if you had started with: "Ooh. Sorry to see you had a crash. Such a pity. Say, if you're . . . "