flyingfever

I don't recall seeing a story here like this one, so I'll share some details of my recent loss.

Like most re-kitting events, the whole thing took only seconds. I'd guess 3 or 4 at the most. But those seconds are seared into my memory.

I was shooting touch-and-goes with my Somethin Extra, just having a ball. Only my fourth kit, but the best by far. Best flying, and the best looking. Some folks even thought it was an ARF. But the flying was what got me excited. I had the S.E. for about two years, and still had not learned everything it could teach. It was just a ball to fly. Had a Saito .62 for power, and a rubber ducky for a pilot.

But, just as I was making a low pass down the runway, a small reddish brown spider rappelled down from the bill of my cap and swung back and forth right in front of my nose. I'm not especially afraid of spiders, but I know that some are poisonous and that is all I need to know. If my flying buddy had been close by he could have dealt with the problem in short order, but I was alone on the flight line. I blew at the bug a couple of times as the S.E. went by, but he hung in there. Trying to focus just three inches in front of me, and 75' away at the same time was tough. Landing was not an option as I was already more than half-way down the runway, and carrying too much airspeed. I judged the best option was to gain altitude, (lots of altitude) and then address the spider.

So I powered up and began to climb out. At that same instant I gave my head a shake in another effort to get that bug out of my face. It seemed to work. But that's when I realized that not seeing the spider was even worse than seeing the spider. In a bit of a panic now, I began switching my attention from the plane to the brim of my cap, and back to the plane in much shorter intervals. Not seeing the spider, I spent more and more time focused on the brim of my cap, and less time on the S.E. Maybe I'm just a bit more fearful of spiders than I thought because I only saw the last instant of the S.E.'s flight. And even then it was out of the corner of my eye. It had rolled over and went in nearly vertical at full power.

Surprisingly, the left wing was unhurt. The right wing was shredded and all other balsa was a total loss. The needle valve on the Saito was bent forward at a ninety degree angle, so forcefully that the brass spray bar was partially sheared. These can be replaced. Oh yeah, the prop was broken too.

I went back out the next day with my Four Star. Felt the need to get back in the saddle as quickly as possible. The Four Star is a fun plane, but it just doesn't have the aerobatic ability that the S.E. had. And it is a real floater on landing. Frustrating.

So I went out Monday and ordered another S.E. kit. This one will be even better than the first.

And I'm open to suggestions on spider repellant.


'fever