Silliest/Craziest things you've done flying

[Dwayne]

Watching Shugs video got me thinking whats the silliest stunts you've pulled. I don't mean dangerous but just silly fun, like flying around a goal post, flying out a tank with your back against a wall...etc.

[Tim Wescott]

I guess I'm pretty boring -- the silliest I've done, I think, is to learn to fly rudder-elevator-throttle RC planes inverted, and circle the field that way.

Doing outside maneuvers, inverted flight, and rolls with a rudder-elevator 2-channel with a flat-bottomed wing does seem to impress the troops.

[John Rist]

Back in the 50ties I flew a black Ringmaster at night in a lighted base ball park.  When I got above the fence the airplane disappeared.  It was a Boy Scout function and I wanted to show off some stunts.  So I tied a white hanky to the tail and it flew great. Mon made us carry a clean hanky back then.

 

PS if you want silly see Flying a Bi-Slob on a Unicycle))) posted in this section.

[Motorman]

This one time we set up a wooden pole and you had to fly up over the pole then dive down and try to bust these balloons we had on sticks. Funniest thing you ever seen.

MM

[Mike Keville]

In 1954 or '55, flew a Lil' Duper Zilch/OK Cub .19 inside a National Guard armory in Camden, NJ during a CAP meeting.  Dang-near asphyxiated all present (including self!) with the exhaust residue.

[Steve Helmick]

Arrived to fly at the WSC (now WSU) ballfield in Pullman, WA, about 1959, to find a tree pruning cart/tower deal sitting about where we liked to fly. So I climbed up the tower (25'?) and my brother launched my .15 powered "Green Monster". Did outside loops from level flight, but otherwise didn't get too crazy, because I couldn't go anywhere to get the lines tight if they went slack. Hadn't really thought as far as the landing, but that went ok (no LG). One and only one flight off the tower, we figured the college groundskeepers might not like it. All the places we used to fly are all fenced and gated now.    Steve

[Larry Fruits]

 A number of years ago, before the days of mufflers, I wanted to break in a new engine, so I set up a test stand in my single car garage. The neighbors were outside BBQing, so I left the window and all the doors closed so as not to tick them off too much with the noise. Cranked the engine up and let it run while I stepped out to keep from getting gassed. Let it run out the tank, opened the side door to enter the garage and the smoke was so dense I could not even tell the lights were on. I mean you couldn't see six inches into the garage. Popped the big door open and so much smoke poured out, the neighbors came running over to see if the garage was on fire. Never did that again.   

 Larry

[John Stiles]

A number of years ago, before the days of mufflers, I wanted to break in a new engine, so I set up a test stand in my single car garage. The neighbors were outside BBQing, so I left the window and all the doors closed so as not to tick them off too much with the noise. Cranked the engine up and let it run while I stepped out to keep from getting gassed. Let it run out the tank, opened the side door to enter the garage and the smoke was so dense I could not even tell the lights were on. I mean you couldn't see six inches into the garage. Popped the big door open and so much smoke poured out, the neighbors came running over to see if the garage was on fire. Never did that again.   

 Larry

[John Stiles]

Back in the 70s I told my son Charlie[who ran out of things to shoot at] he could shoot at my old Ringmaster, It flew relatively slow and could almost hover. He nearly hit it on the third try, so I started doing loops....LOL.....after I landed, I looked down and one arrow was stuck in the grass at my feet!

[Sean McEntee]

The last time I went to Oshkosh to work Kidventure, I challenged dad AT LEAST 3 times to a 50 lap "fun race" during the afternoon demonstration. Every time we tried this, cylinder heads would magically come loose, lines would switch themselves, and other such acts of sabotage.

So to answer the question, the silliest thing I've ever done while flying is think dad would ever race me fair and square!

 

[Dwayne]

Good stuff guys keep em coming. Larry your lucky it wasn't the 60's they may have thought you were burning something... cough,cough...lol  

[Fred Cronenwett]

 The one item that bring the best memory is flying off the water pond in Roseburg orgeon, we were flying large CL scale models with throttle control off the water pond at the NW regionals in Roseburg, Oregon.

They would fill the water pond from a nearby hydrant...awesome stuff

Grant Hiestand one of the other pilots got airborne video flying off the pond..



Fred

[Shug Emery]

When I fly I always sing "Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley" in my mind.
And yes.....a unicycle and Bi-Slob blend.

[FLOYD CARTER]

Long ago, when I was stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS, we flew Sterling Yaks and Mustangs off the beach at Gulfport, MS.  Fox 35 engines.  We always had to hand launch because couldn't take off in the sand.  Landings usually in the sand or in the water.  Instead of cleaning out the motors, we just fueled up and kept flying.  Those Foxes didn't last very long.  But we could buy new Fox 35 at the base PX for $11.

Looking back, that was pretty dumb. Especially when we had a nice grass field to fly, but beach flying was more exciting!

Floyd

[Randy Ryan]

Rigged an "arresting hook" on a Cox PT19 and used 1/4" rubber doubled as a cable. The results were pretty hilarious, but I guess you would have had to be there to appreciate it.

[Jim Kraft]

How fast will a Cox PT19 fly backwards? I have this crazy picture in my head of a carrier plane landing on the deck and then catapulting backwards off the deck the other direction. Help me, my head hurts.

[Randy Ryan]

How fast will a Cox PT19 fly backwards? I have this crazy picture in my head of a carrier plane landing on the deck and then catapulting backwards off the deck the other direction. Help me, my head hurts.

Yes, and all its various parts parting company!!!!

[Dennis Adamisin]

Have not done anything remotely comparable to flying a Bi-Slob while riding a unicycle...

[Sean McEntee]

Ooooh....I got another one.


Many years ago, when I was about 14 or so, I won a Cox J-3 in a raffle.  One long, particularly boring summer afternoon, I thought that I would set an endurance record with this J-3.  I made some extensive fuselage modifications, to include the removal of the 1/2oz stock tank and the installation of an EIGHT OUNCE GRW metal tank!

Took it to the culdasac down the street and set it down--the landing gear buldged under the weight.  Cranked it up and, screaming its poor little guts out, my pit crew released it.

...it didnt move...

Slowly, it started rumbling forward.  After about a lap, the wings started to flex (If you've ever seen the Rutan "Voyager" takeoff footage, it looked allot like that) and after about 3 laps total, it broke ground.

To say this thing flew like an elephant would be very kind. "So this is what Lindburgh felt like" I thought.  After about 20 minutes, it had burned up enough fuel that the tank was starting to slosh around, and the model became very pitch sensitive.  I think at the 35 minute mark, that sloshing of fuel became too much.  A sudden CG changed caused a stall and subsequent crash.


But it was fun

[John Park]

Folks:
When we were kids, back in the mid-'50s, my friend Ginger was lent an old ED Competition Special 2cc (about .12 cu. in.) diesel by his elder brother, and we collaborated on the design of a profile trainer-type model resembling an overgrown KeilKraft 'Champ' (look it up on 'Outerzone').  Painted in camouflage colours and christened 'The Bomber', it was flown initially on the only lines we could get our hands on - seventy-footers made from three-strand 'Light Laystrate', and therefore fully twice as long as the model and engine should have been required to handle.

As I was the only one with any C/L experience (actually very little more than none at all), I was expected to make the first flight.  Well, I got it off the ground, but had never seen or even imagined anything like the bow in those seventy-foot lines with the poor old Comp. Special revving its heart out at something like 8,000 rpm on a 9X6 nylon prop - and the wonder is that it actually stayed airborne until the little integral tank ran out.  I really don't know what we thought was going to happen, but we got away with it, had fun and actually learned something.  If only life could always be like that...

Regards
John

[donchandler]

Back in the WAM contest days in the San Francisco bay area we flew 1/2a Carrier, that was a ball especially in the wind The last 2 or 3 years that WAM was going strong Bob Bolng and myelf would pit for each the and compete against each other. We always waited untill late in the day especially at the El Ceritto contest because the wind would come up ad it was a kick to fly 1/2a Carrier in the wind, kind of took the seriosness off of the rest of the day.

A couple years go my grandson thoght it would be fun to put his video camera on ne of my airplanes while I flew so we took an old rigmaster off the shop wall, cut a notch out of the cockpit area and mounted his camera, he loved the result.

Don

[Larry Renger]

How about full stunt patterns flown in the Tustin Blimp Hangar? Plenty of room, even with the FF and RC boys at the other end.   The rows of skylights on both sides near the top of the roof presented a bit of an orientation challenge.

Thinking back, I did fly a 1/2A Stunter in the gym at MIT. Essentially no room to spare and VERY disorienting with the walls whizzing around. Gee, they never did that when I was flying my microfilm rubber models.... 

And then there were the Pee Wee .020 Pylon racers. We had a 2x4 pylon, about 2-1/2 feet high, lots of sandbags, and 15' line.  I eventually set the record at 71mph!