sportrider_fz6

this weekend we made a trip to one of our favorite flying fields, I took my modified T-28 and stryker C, my wife had her stryker B, and my son had his CC flyer and hand me down super cub. we met up with poorwboy to watch him maiden his "FrankenStar" (electristar converted to glow, very cool!!!) as well as fly his stryker C and T-28 also. my father in law came to fly his super cub and try and fly his stryker B that he has had a hard time learning. after flying a few sorties with poorwboy and my wife with the strykers and a few with the T-28, I was ready to teach my son (who is 6 years old) with the Super Cub only to have the ESC or motor quit so he never got a chance to fly the Cub, but he did get a few brief cc flyer flights in before a light breeze came up that was just a little much for the cc flyer. while walking to the cars to check on battery's on the chargers, I saw my father in law pick up his stryker B getting ready for an attempt at flight. we had just installed a AR6100 in the plane the night before so he could use his new DX6I TX that he bought. I had told him it might be a good idea if I flew the plane first for him so I could trim it and make any adjustments needed so he would have the best chance at flying the plane that has met Terra firma so many times I've nick named it the excavator. at this point in time I think its about 50/50 epp foam and CA and packing tape, but non the less if not a testament to how much abuse a stryker airframe can take and still fly. it still needed to be trimmed out, and he is not able to do it. But he decided that he was going to throw it up by himself while I wasn't even around to help and the flight was quite normal, a full throttle hand launch followed by full left aileron then elevator into a lawn dart. breaking the fuse in half at the battery box. this is not the first time this has happened on this plane, and seeing how he has a new 2oz. bottle of foam safe CA and a roll of packing tape we could have patched the plane and had it up in a few minutes, but what happened next was just psychotic. he grabbed the plane by the leading edge of the wing and in a rage started slamming the plane up against a baseball backstop literally breaking it into hundreds of pieces tearing and throwing the electronics everywhere, it was really disturbing to see. I yelled at him "Hey man what the hell are you doing?" and he starts flipping off the air??? or something and is yelling "F it all!!!! F it all to hell" I mean dude went mental. I felt horrible for my kids, here I'm trying to have some fun with the family teaching my son that with some practice and patience, he can learn to fly any plane he wants and then I have to explain to him what just happened, as he was clearly upset by what he just saw. he asked me "why did grandpa do that to his stryker" I told him, "well he got really mad that he crashed it" and my son said "it wasn't the planes fault, he just made it do the wrong thing" here my boy is only 6 and he knows about pilot error and "grandpa" still is blaming faulty equipment and any other excuse he can come up with. I taught myself to fly, I've taught my wife to fly, my son is learning with my help. I've used the same instructional technique with both. my father in law... I've tried the same ways with, but he just doesn't seem to listen, or retain anything I say. he said he was mad because his "daughter" can fly a stryker all by herself including the hand launch (and she flys it very well if I do say so myself!!!) and he can't hardly fly a super cub with out crashing it. I told him I didn't think there was an excuse he could use to justify the way he acted and I thought it was very uncool. as we left his house after getting our stuff he says "I'll have a stryker ready for next time." I've basically set up all his planes and radio gear for him, but after that episode I think if he wants to do this he's on his own. does anyone think I'm wrong for deciding I'm not going to train him or help out with setup anymore?

poorwboy

HaHa danny I caught your post.YA that was crazy yesterday. You missed the star today with full throttle and modded pipe. , Oh it was a joy.

ErikElvis

My Feedback: (2)

Well it happens. Golfers snap their clubs, car guys dump their clutches at high rpms and beat on a car if it doesnt act right, people break keyboards(or whole computers) when they freeze up. Anyones capable at the wrong place at the wrong time. Every once in a while stuff gets to me and things get broke. Like I said it happens. And this hobby can get VERY frustrating when you can only get half a cricle of flight before nose diving into the ground. Theres no feeling of accomplishment when you take your time and money to build something and it lasts a couple of minutes... or less

sowega flyer

Get him a Slow Stick.

n19htmare

My Feedback: (1)

Might be easier on the eyes if you could do a little paragraph structuring.

turdfergerson

i concure, got a headache after reading that! anyways, i can relate to being a bit mad but come on, if there is kids around he should have acted like and adult. if i were you i would def help him rebuild another plane. inlaws may be a pain in the neck but they are still family, good luck.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Punctuation helps too.

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

Regardless of "relation" he owes you one heck of an apology. If not, build him a paper airplane. he may be your father in law but its your son. You make the rules regarding him and you need to back it up. Don't allow him to go flying with you and your son. It's your quality time. Don't be sucked into the bad day he's having or he's just "old."
Your wife should clearly understand this.

Let me give you and example. I'm 52, I spent 20, retired 13 years ago. I always kept in contact with family by phone with visitng every few years. Well in 1997, if had been nearly 10 since I had made it back, My boy was 12 and I forgot what a "Mouth" my dad had.

2 days into a week long visit. I finally said enough around the kid. I mean I swear but it's not part of every word from my mouth. There was no long argument over it. He just gave me 'the look,' and i gave a better one back. It was actually funny for the remaining days as I would notice him catching himself as he was halfway into a real good one.

broke_n_bummin

I still have days when I think if I have just one engine that runs like it's supposed to .... it's probably stolen! You're right though. This hobby isn't for everyone. I think the only reason I still do it is because my Airplane OCD is stronger than my Torrets!!

GerKonig

Well, one piece of advice, never take him hunting... It is easy to put the blame on things (like model airplanes) for our own failures. Since he is family, I would try to keep helping him. Maybe he is not ready to fly that kind of plane...

Good luck

Gerry

Stick 40

I would have a talk with him, and ask if he can control himself from now on. If he agrees try it agian, if he loses it again- that would be the end. I would not have liked my kids to see that, and I would not let it happen three times.............. I stayed away from some of my family while my kids grow up , just because of things like that.

good luck

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

While I certainly agree with others that this individuals behavior is reprehensible and not to be condoned but I can see some other problems here perhaps that may be in your lap.

First and foremost in both full scale training as well as model flight training trying to attempt training someone who is close family in a high percentage of cases most often results in failure for any number of complex reasons that often are not related at all to the actual flight training.

This could even be worse in the father in law / son in law relationship. If you continue to try to 'instruct' him things will only get worse.

A seasoned impartial instructor would have realized this impending disaster and would have been aware at how inappropriate the choice of trainer for him is. Just because you or someone else may have successfully used this airplane for a first its obviously is an extremely poor choice for him.

His best chance for success is to get involved with a club or at least other mentors and get an experianced impartial trainer to aid him and a genuine trainer type airplane whether it is electric or glow. If he won,t do that then his chances for success are slim to none and possibly your relationship with him.

Just an opinion

John

spiral_72

It's not worth busting family relations up over. Let him cool down and start from square one.

Maybe you can build him a Zagi. With it and a double handful of props. If he can't learn after that, I'd call it quits.

Maybe a .40 trainer on a buddy box too. That's almost fool-proof........ almost.

brett65

My Feedback: (18)

Sounds like that stryker got what it deserved! Sorry, had to say that. I won't stand for that to happen around my son and he is only 1. I have had episodes myself, but look back and think "Man that was a DA move". I would definitely consider a second chance since he is their grandfather, but only after a good long talk about it.

I had to put my foot down recently about the new carseat that my inlaws got to carry my son in. It was 13 years old, and faded and funky looking. I told them "He is not riding in that accident waiting to happen, I'll give you your five bucks back if it will make you happy". They understood, maybe not completely but they did.

Jim Thomerson

There is a book I read, "Your Erroneous Zones" by some pop psychology guy whose name I forget. I didn't read the book for a long time because I thought the title was, "Your Erogenous Zones". Figured I alredy knew about those. His thesis is something like; it is wrong to say that d- aiplane made me mad. The fact is, my emotions are self-generated, and I made myself mad in response to something about the airplane. He argues that you should control yourself, not let outside events or people control you. I thought it was a good read, and it might be of help to some who have problems with outside events jerking them around.

bruce88123

1. Don't take the kids and the father-in-law to the field at the same time.
2. Get him set up with a buddy box, get the plane airborne and THEN let him fly it with an instructor (you) ready to save him.

If he doesn't agree to the abovelose him ASAP. Some people simply are not worth the stress in YOUR life.

sportrider_fz6

Thanks for the replies, sorry about the punctuation (or lack of). After reading everyones responses I think I'll have a talk with him and give him another shot, with some conditions. I like the idea of the buddy box , I'll read up on programming the DX6I for trainer duties and let him know

Appfan

Lots of good advice here. I'll post my two cents as well....

Your Father-in-Law clearly let his anger get the best of him, however you can also turn this into a great lesson for your son. I would have a conversation with your son about how letting your temper "get the best of you" is never a good thing. Also let him know that everyone gets angry, it is how you deal with that emotion that makes you a "Man".

The idea of the buddy-box is also a great lesson for your son. Sometimes the folks that act up, just need to be shown a better way of doing things.