Ever crashed a model on its Maiden flight?

[PJ Rowland]

Self Explained Topic.

I have once : 2003.

Full blown stunter, forgot to add wingtip weight in. Did a gentle wingover.. felt ok..

Decided to do an overhead 8 - and after the 1st loop the wing kicked upward due to wind, and I never recovered it.....

One of the single most devistating flights - I was VERY unhappy that day... complete write off, and very embaressing. 

Only a handful of people saw her fly and I dont think I even have any photo's of it.

[Clint Ormosen]

Never crashed on the maiden flight, but.......

I did destroy a brand new plane on the way to it's maiden flight by getting the leadouts caught in my bicycle spokes. Totally embarrassing.

[Glenn (Gravitywell) Reach]

Maiden flight of my Fancherized Twister last summer.  Broke the fuse in half and busted a few ribs.  She's back together now though.  Never did find out what was wrong.  I think it was as simple as....the wind got under the outboard wing on take-off and slammed her into the ground.

A blue box Nobler in the late 80s.  Line broke on t6he second lap....she snapped into some of the tightest loops I've ever seen.  Eventually pounded into the ground and was totally destroyed.  I'm talking a silk bag of very tiny parts!  Oh yeah.....I was a little miffed.

I have decided that since I have done it twice before and never enjoyed it, that I would not attempt it again!

[Russell Shaffer]

A rat racer in the early 60's.  It was a kit, full fuselage and built up wing.  Probably by Sterling?  I know it was inexpensive.  It rolled into the circle on launch and that was the end.  I was flying over hard packed dirt and it exploded.  I still have the Rocket 35 - it flew on a Streak just a couple of weeks ago. 

[jim ivey]

Hey glen. do you know Eggy? I believe he,s a fellow canuk.  I havent seen him online for a while. wondering is he ok?       jim

[jim ivey]

Yessir cant beat the leadouts tangled in the bicycle wheel. but i can challenge shortest flight. It was also my first and shortest nats.  1952 a home design team racer. It had never been flown before. the qualifying heat. It was th nats, Oboy I might even win. I started up that old teardrop torp 29 ran out grabed the handle waved it off, dad let it go, it went airbourne and  did barrelroll  right into the tarmac less than a quarter lap. Three months of dreams, gone in way less than 6o seconds we figured it out later itwas a bad built in wash in. heyyy It looked good to us. it was metalic green<---shoulda known dad named it the eel. definately to slippery for meee.         jim

[Glenn (Gravitywell) Reach]

Sorry Jim....I don't know eggy. 

[W.D. Roland]

I do remember incredible excitement and exercise on maidens... ..way in the past
(wing tip/ side thrust related)

Once upon a time I designed an ultra light AMA fast combat and built 2 test airplanes.
13-14 oz.
Maiden on both ended with successful landings with only the center section,nose and tail intact.
75% of each wing panels outer end shredded on maiden.

There was a time that I was intetionaly going to crash one on maiden.
Dad built a super nice Guillows Zero with .045 T.D. with 1 1/2oz or so tank.

I maidened it for him with good old Dacron lines.

Well it was fast....it kept on being fast....it wont stop being fast. How do I stop this thing. Please stop. Thing. stop.
I don't get dizzy but puking sounded reasonable and possibly enjoyable at that moment.
How long does fast last? Stop airplane, please please stop being fast.

Please stop!
I hollered for a relief pilot and out 6+ pilots standing around all I got was laughs and waved at.
Couldn't even get some one to throw a rag in it.
Airplane, Stop or Die!

I thought for awhile on how exactly to stop this eternal infernal thing with minimum damage. Nice Nice little scale model. Please stop!

At this point I was really getting sick( and pissed) and was just about to try removing the landing gear when silence turned on!

I think I sat down and just sat for awhile,. quite, stillness, no blur, a few ulcers. Relief at last!

How long will an .049 run on an ounce and a half?
Seemed like a week or two, probably 20 min?

I should of spent the rest of the day twisting others needle valves but I try to be the nice guy!

David
Trying to move slow now.

[Bill Little]

I did crash my PT-19 stunter on its first flight.  I admit that I drilled the motor mount holes wrong.  I was only 13, and it was only my second full fuselage stunter.  It didn't get more than 20 feet forward until it went into a gentle wing over.  It took quite a while for me to figure out what was wrong, and I finally noticed it when I was looking at the remains of the nose.  First time I had used monokote, applied with Grandma's clothes iron of course.  Made for a nice trash bag for the wings.........

Big Bear

[Lester Nicholson]

Yes. My 1st model was, a given to me, solid balsa wing [have no idea what it was] w/a borrowed .19, destroyed shortly after the motor was started [1956]. When I was 14 I got a Thunderbird for Christmas that I built and powered w/a borrowed Ohlson/Rice .35 converted to glow, destroyed shortly after the motor started. I then went thru several ringmasters before I ever made the first lap. In my own defense, living in East Millinocket
Main I was on my own - only one other played with models - anyway I percev -stuck with it and now 50 yrs later I can fly my models. LOL         Nick      P.S. Yesterday I turned 64 - sure got here quick.

[Les McDonald]

Yes, it was the first full stunter I ever built!
I kit bashed a Sterling "Ruffy" when I was living in the barracks at Bunker Hill AFB in 1967.
Fully sheeted wing, different fin and tip shapes. Finished with about 15 cans of Aero Gloss metallic blue spray paint, your first guess would be it crashed because it was too heavy. I worked on that thing all winter and really had it looking good but it never had a chance, the huge wing warp assured failure.
On it's very first flight it slowly rolled away from the launch and eventually broke ground (did I mention it was heavy?). Very soon the outboard wing started coming up, and up, and up. Next thing I know it's headed for me, slowly rolling to the left about five feet off the ground. The Torp 35 probably didn't have enough power to pull all that weight much higher. It's all a blur after that but I do remember stopping by the BX on my way back to the barracks and buying a Flite Streak. It was Springtime and I needed something to fly.
                                                                                                                      Les McDonald

[DON BERRY]

  Yes.  A Super Clown.  It was flying great, with my McCoy 35 running strong.  On about the 3rd lap, the down line broke at the bellcrank.  Then, loop, loop, loop, crash!  What a bummer.

[John Leidle]

I did it twice, the first time was an Imitation maybe 3 flights & the down line broke,, about 10 months later I took a brand new Biceps  .60 sized bi plane full fuse plane & launched ...it turned into the circle as it taxied,,, and beautied big time ,,first launch ,half a lap a total loss. I concidered dropping the hobby that minute.
     John

[jim gilmore]

Clint, I too had a bicycle mishap. I had a brand never topflight I think f-51 mustang on my handle baer and the bike fell over snapping the right wing in half.... end of my trip end of my new plane...

[Dalton Hammett]

My only maden flight crash was a Super Ringmaster in the 60's.   Apparently,  I did not build it as strong as it should have been as the lines slacked in a wingover but made it and when it pulled tight again the bellcrank mount gave way.  That was my first full fus. plane build and was a big disappointment

Dalton H.

[Clint Ormosen]

Clint, I too had a bicycle mishap. I had a brand never topflight I think f-51 mustang on my handle baer and the bike fell over snapping the right wing in half.... end of my trip end of my new plane...

Yup, I guess bikes and airplanes don't like each other?

[Bryan Higgins]

Every time out

[Jerry Leuty]

First of all I like threads like this one. I wished I had started it. I have crashed lots of models in the last 50+ years. But one of the most memorable was in Texarkana about 10 years ago. I had 3 new planes that were unflown when I showed up at this little contest. One was a Brodak Mauler and the other two were scratch built models. I had started a series of planes I proudly called the JR Specials. The very first one was a profile with a nice wing in it. In my first official I flew a sort of combat type of plane with twin booms, tricycle landing gear, and a longer nose moment. I was flying fairly well. I think that I had one flight on it before my official flight in the Beginners class. The experimental hinges with hot glue came loose and the plane flat planed in on the second inside loop. Not too much hurt. Lesson learned; hot glue is not for vibrating model airplanes. So during lunch break I decided to fly my new JR Special with the nice wing in it. One the wing over some thing snapped and it went straight in. I was over dirt so the engine was saved. The Monocoat made a nice bag in which to carry the splinters to the trash can. All that was left was the Mauler so I opted out on flying it since it was unflown as well. Later that week I was in Marietta, Ga. flying with Tom Dixon and a few other fellas in Cartersville, Ga. The up line snapped while flying the trike geared twin boomed what ever it was and it went straight in. Lastly the Mauler had to be flown. Some time later in the summer I was flying the Mauler and it just did not handle right. On the 3rd. inside loop it rolled in and passed over my head at about 35 feet from the ground and headed in the opposite side of the circle. I ran the opposite direction and when it hit the other side of the circle it was inverted. The bell crank pulled out and the plane did about 3 outside loops before it came to rest in a pancake manner. My building and flying have much improved since then. But then there was VSC last year. Another saga in itself.............Jerry

[Will Hinton]

Oh my, how memories can hide until someone starts a thread like this one!!!    My original Ephesian twin boomer, trike gear, was the only one I did in on the maiden voyage.  I had my stooge fastened onto my flight box at the time, had the nose gear in the stooge, and failed to notice that the subrudder on the inside boom was hanging over the edge of the box!
That Tom Lay OS Max VF46 and pipe were screaming out the 11.5K when I let it go and looked me staright in the eye!!!   Help!!!!!
She passed me by at about ten feet high and ten feet out from me.  I had it saved except I failed grip the handle hard enough and when it jerked out of my hand the good old safety thong took over.  Totaled it.
Actually, that's not true - the booms were both fine and went on to live another day on two, yes, I said two, subsequent Ephesians.  They live down south now, wonder how they're doing?

[Joe Just]

MANY MANY TIMES! Worst experience..I didn't notice that some school worker had moved a movcable backstop.  Took off a brand new untested Nobler. Less than a half lap later it hit the backstop and took off the outboard wing.  Yet another time, with another Nobler I tripped on the stooge wire and the plane took off with my back to it.  The handle flew past me way too quickly to catch and the plane rose well into the sky and then did a Ferris Wheel flight straight into a metal roofed backstop.  Never built another Nobler after those two events, but found new and fun ways of killing some planes including one that I had to crash 2 times at Brodaks' and was re-built twice until  it died  half way through its 3rd and only flights.
Joe

[mike hartung]

Yup a RSM Ringmaster, plane flew pretty good. I did a loop and some wingovers and ran the tank dry. I was at about 4' high on final approach when a puff of wind lifted the outboard wing. Broke the fuselage in two places. That was two springs ago and I still have not repaired it.

[Matt Colan]

Does doing it in 10 flights count??? 

[Mike Keville]

Several!  First one was an S-1 Ringmaster, c.1952.  First-ever try at CL.  Gave it full "up" on takeoff.  You know the rest.

Second was an S-3 Yak-9, c.1953.  Made it about two laps, then it dove in.  Dizzy?  Who knows?

Last was this Peanut Scale P-51 (Peck kit) flown indoors at a Santa Monica school, late '70s.  ROG, went straight to the nearest gymnasium wall and quickly became a pile of sticks & tissue.  (The Waco SRE behind it was much more successful in Outdoor Scale.)

[Randy Powell]

Once. A Ruffy when I was about 14. Forgot to check the CG. Really, really tail heavy.

Almost did it again about 8 years ago. Same reason, same problem. But I was a lot better pilot and able to keep the thing in the air. Did nothing for my blood pressure, though.

[Zuriel Armstrong]

Twice!!!

Around 1975 I built a Johnny Cashburn Miss Behave with an OS35S, and boy did she.  Flying along and noticed I had no flight controls and flew it until it finally impacted the not so soft earth.  I have since worked on my soldering skills.

Second time was in 1999 when I returned to the hobby.  I built a really nice Fore Runner with a Lew Wollard tuned OS40FP, that I did not attach the flap joiner to the trailing edge of the wing.  The inboard flap lead and the outboard flap followed.  1st flight in about 12-14 years.  I was doing okay until I went inverted and the lines went totally slack.  This one at least did live to fly again.

Since then I have delayed my destruction of airplanes somewhat.

Mentors are great to have.  For a long time I did not realize it was me that was causing my airplanes problems during construction.

[W.D. Roland]

Bicycle
 Now I remember.
Fuel, batteries and stuff in the basket Flightstreak in hand.
Cars run stop signs from time to time, Kids wreck bicycles avoiding cars from time to time.
The Flightstreak never got a scratch!

Skinned hands knees and elbows, torn clothes, bent spokes, airplane ok and that what mattered!Right?
Voo Doos were easy just held the elevator with fingers and the thumb around the handle bar grip.

Now a days they let me use the car. Hauls a bunch of airplanes! A/C and stereo! what will they think of next?

David

[PatRobinson]

Hi Guys,
Not the 1st flight but the 4th flight, not that it made it any less aggravating.
I bought a Midwest Skyraider kit , and the fuselage was warped and ungodly heavy so I trashed it.
I had some light blocks and so I Carved up a full Focke Wulf FW190d-9 fuselage, did the whole grey camo paint scheme and all. It came out to a dry ready to fly weight of 32 oz. with the OS35s engine.

The first 3 flights showed promise as the plane improved with each trim change. On the fourth flight The outboard wing slammed into a small bare limb that stuck out 25-30 ft beyond the tree line. Me and my buddy had lucked out and missed this stupid limb through 6 earlier flights and then wham!! Totaled airplane!

                                                                                           Oh well 
                                                                                                          Pat Robinson

[Ted Fancher]

Hi Guys,
Not the 1st flight but the 4th flight, not that it made it any less aggravating.
I bought a Midwest Skyraider kit , and the fuselage was warped and ungodly heavy so I trashed it.
I had some light blocks and so I Carved up a full Focke Wulf FW190d-9 fuselage, did the whole grey camo paint scheme and all. It came out to a dry ready to fly weight of 32 oz. with the OS35s engine.

The first 3 flights showed promise as the plane improved with each trim change. On the fourth flight The outboard wing slammed into a small bare limb that stuck out 25-30 ft beyond the tree line. Me and my buddy had lucked out and missed this stupid limb through 6 earlier flights and then wham!! Totaled airplane!

                                                                                           Oh well 
                                                                                                          Pat Robinson

Well, I was thinking that, no, I've never crashed on a maiden flight.  But then my oldtimers abandoned me temporarily and the following came back to me.

When I was a kid (shortly after I attended the 1959 Nats where Riley Wooten mentored me on hot rodding the then hot combat engine, the Johnson 35) I went home and bought a Double Voodoo kit, modified a couple of Johnson .35s per Riley's instructions and built the two Voodoos side by side; duplicating each process step by step by step.  Finished both airplanes the same day complete with covering from flowery silk scarves (there was a BOM in combat in those days, you know.)  They were gorgeous and ready to kick butt.

Brother Gary and I went out to the Renton High School Stadium parking lot to try them out.  Fueled up the first one, cranked up the Johnson and rushed out to the handle.  Waved at Gary and he let 'er go.  A split second later the "never glued down" bellcrank mount pulled through the inboard ribs, the pushrod pulled full up elevator and the ship did about a five foot radius loop and rekitted itself at my brother's feet.  Alas! it was heartbreaking.

Thank goodness I had another one ready and waiting.

Need I go on........?

Don't you just hate losing on the instant replay!

Ted

[PJ Rowland]

Dad was thinking of a similar issue.

He had built a ruffy when he was 18 - and used some cement glue for the bellcrank - Obviously it was past its used by date - First flight - the bellcrank pulled through and the model landing with a thud and it was balsa confetti from there.

His brother said " You didnt build that right " Dad said in return " Well you taught me .. " 


Im seeing alot of early days stuff here - is anyone prepared to own up to crashing a full on STUNT SHIP - Or am I the only moron to have done that.. ( mind you i've only done it the once..)


Ted that was priceless thanks.

[PJ Rowland]

From Paul Walker :

This is copied from the As time goes by forum so I hope he wont mind...

My first "wood" plane was a Ringmaster Jr. Flash. Wooooooow...Was that a big plane way back then. I had only flown the plastic Cox planes prior to that. I was SURE that that McCoy .19 was in no way big enough to pull that giant plane.

I came upon that plane through a friend. He had a paper route. One summer I watched him build the plane, and was VERY taken by the entire process. His family went on vacation for a month, and thus he did as well. I did his route while he was gone, and I was counting the dollars (in my head) seeing if I could get one of these monsters. However, when he got back, he didn't have the money to pay me. He quickly offered his RJF, engine and all, and I couldn't jump at it fast enough.

The first flight lasted exactly the time it took to do a vertical climb into a wingover and then straight into the ground. The prop broke, the engine got dirt in it, and some covering broke. It was repaired and back in the air. It was all downhill from there. I was totally addicted. That determined my passion for my hobby and my careear for the rest of my life. Amazing to think about a single event that shaped ones life!

[Brian Browning]

As kids growing up the in late 60s-early 70s, we started out with Cox plastics (living in rural north Mississippi, there were no hobby shops--balsa, aerogloss, ambroid, piano wire, bellcranks, etc. had to be ordered from AHC in New York City.  Plastics were available from toy stores and drug stores--much easier to get.)

We conned our mothers our of some S&H green stamps (remember those?) and redeemed a Cox Stuka (the black one with the bomb drop).  I was chosen to maiden the ungainly beast.  Upon launching, the Stuka proceeded to porpoise uncontrollably.  Whether I was overcontrolling (I had the line spacing on the handle in the closest holes) or the &* 1/32 wire pushrod Cox put in those things was bending, I simply could not get ahead of it.  After about 3 laps flown at altitudes of 30" to 30', the Stuka nosed into the hard packed ground.  It BOUNCED!  The outboard wing broke outside of the landing gear, the .049 continued to run, and the Stuka rebounded into the air.  I had to maintain full up for the rest of the flight to keep it in the air, but successfully ran out the tank and put the crippled bird into a patch of reasonably soft grass with no further damage.  Our attempts to repair the wing were only partially successful. 

[John Leidle]

  Thanks for reminding me Brian. My first plane was a Cox Stuka green. It took off & went staight up & crashed .The thing was totaled.  1962.
  john

[Robertc]

Brand new Chipmunk, Sig CL-3.  Got into the air, pulled up for the wingover, it went over, gave up to recover and it went straight in.  Wheel pant was all the was salvagable. 
Found that the r/c type hinges pulled out when I gave it up - elevator went back away from stab and never up.  Learned a lesson.  I always pin my hinges now.

[John Miller]

I was 17, in my final year at high school. Sterling had recently released the Ringmaster Imperial. I had been flying my Green Box Nobler, and built a Thunder Bird 2, which just didn't fly right. (I knew nothing about trimming at the time, I just lucked out with the Nobler.) Based on our experiences with the Ringmaster profile design, I was convinced that the Imperial would be "The Best".

I built it, made some minor styling changes with the looks of the nose. I mixed silver dope into black, which gave me a gun powder silver grey with a slight sparkle. Trimmed with white, it looked great to my eyes. Possibly the best building job I'd ever done to that date.

When it came time to give it it's maiden flight, I hooked up the lines, filled the tank, and started the engine. My buddy Rex held the plane for the launch. I picked up the handle, made sure the controls moved the right directions, and signalled the release.

It rose smoothly, and attained level flight. on the second lap, the down leadout broke. There was a series of very tight loops, each one closer to the ground. All I could do was watch as it struck the ground, exploding into what seemed like millions of pieces.

I've always wanted to build another.

[Russ Danneman]

last one i built{smoothie profile} had wife launch(my fault   ) flying off hi grass so had piece of cardboard to takeoff of and tail wheel got caught on back edge of cardboard. dragged cardboard about 5 feet . old fox 35  got smoothie and cardboard air born! sort of a 2 foot high stall. while all this going on the wife is chasing plane and cardboard!!!! when cardboard finally came loose ,plane shot straight up and over stuck straight in. no real damage. of course it was wife's fault, that's my story and i'm sticking with it.rd

[Randy Powell]

PJ,

Came close at a contest when the line caught on my coat button. It was fun to have to try to control the plane AND had Dan Rutherford chasing me around with a knife (to cut the line loose from my coat). But of a wonder, I didn't hit the ground or the full sized planes parked around the field. Small miracle, that.

I did put my Ringmaster Deluxe into the pavement when a mistake made during construction came back to haunt me about 30 flights into it's life. Straight into the pavement doing a total re-kit. Shame, it flew better than the new one.

[Steve Helmick]

Um...three. When I was in Jr. High, I built a full fuselage model (inverted engine, even) based on a Ringmaster Jr. wing. First flight attempt, my dear brother let go of it before I got halfway to the handle. Curses and swearwords go here! I thought seriously about this event last October, when he was launching my SV-11 on that dry lake in CA. I made sure he knew I had the .357 under the seat of the truck...

The summer between my Jr. and Sr. year of HS, I built my one & only Ringmaster (early Veco .29). The first flight was going well, so I whipped it over inverted, to give that a try. Didn't work for me at the time. A few years later, I flew inverted with a combat model at 100+ mph, and haven't crashed inverted yet...as long as outside loops don't count!

A few years later, my #2 .29 proto speed model disintegrated on the first flight. I'd used an H&R Torque Unit instead of a Stanzel. The elevator was too large and fluttered, giving zero control. It never got off the ground, but was one very fast 2 wheeled car for about 20 laps. It had a lot of potential, and that loss was very regrettable.  I built two more .29 protos before I had to quit flying speed ($$$$), and had good results with them, including plenty of dust catchers.  Steve

[PJ Rowland]

Priceless Randy.. least you didnt get it caught on your Mo !

[louie klein]

I built a Renegade back in the day, My first silk job, all light blue see thru. It was sweet I must say. It had a 35 Fox Rocket and I had no idea how fast it was going to be. Started fine and when my buddy let her loose she went up and came right in at me! I ran like hell whilst the Rengade buried itself in the dirt! All gone real quick, It turned out to be that old nemisis "No outboard wheight". So I forgot! I guess the beginnings are always a learning curve!--LOUIE

[Joseph Lijoi]

Yes. A few times.

I had one of those black Cox Stukas.  I sold Christmas cards out of a catalog to get it.  I thought it was (and it turned out to be) the bomb!  My old man didn't like it.  He said the real ones were really black and that this one wasn't "black enough" and that it shined and was too pretty.  He obviously had been on the recieving end of one of those things.

We went to the bank parking lot and cranked that baby up.  Joe Panella launched the beast.  Half a lap later that Stuka was possesed by the ghost of Hans Rudel or something and suddenly I was my Dad!  I looked up and the beast was in a dive bombing mode headed straight for my head.  I dropped the handle, ran out of the circle and watched that thing go straight in, screaming into the asphalt at exactly the place that I was standing.

To this day anything in Axis colors makes me nervous.
   

[Tim Wescott]

I learned model airplane design and model airplane flying simultaneously.

Need I say more?

[Dick Pacini]

I can't remember the first or last plane I stuffed in on the maiden flight, but I remember running a club contest in Saginaw MI, circa early '70s, where I insisted we abide by AMA rules and do the pull test.  (I was the only AMA member.)

A young man and his dad had just finished an airplane and the boy was going to fly it.  We hooked my trusty fish scale up to his handle and dad proceeded to pull the airplane.  All of a sudden, the lines went slack as the sound of controls being ripped through ribs announced FAIL to all within earshot.

The boy was in tears, asking why I broke his airplane, while his embarrassed father was muttering about how much glue he thought he used.  Never again.

[David Shad]

I talked my brother Steve into meeting me at KOI in 07...we had both been flying over on the dark side for nearly
40 years...I had been flying a Smoothie for a couple of months and was doing ok attempting the beginner
pattern so Steve decided he wanted to have a go too...well fortunately I gave him a Flite Streak ARF to
try first with...had a brand new LA 25 on it and 2 trim flights by me....Steve steps up and takes off fine and
then let the fun begin...lol.   I guess he got a little disoriented cuz the plane did a loop and instead of coming out right side up it came out inverted...then became a lawn dart...we had been getting rain off and on for days in
Starke so the ground was like mush and the plane just buried itself to the leading edge...the fragile fuse stayed
in one piece but the wing broke in the center...hosed off the engine and disassembled in and put it a bag
oiled up and took the plane home and fixed it in one evening...he has flown it many times since...we have not
had this much fun in many years..I am now flying a Vector in Advanced and Steve is flying a Ringmaster with
the same LA 25 on it just for fun.

Doc Holiday has reminded me many times to...Just go out and have fun....he is wise...the old Doc.

[john e. holliday]

Well David you did it and mentioned my name.  In various parts of this forum you will find my adventure with the A J Aircraft Firebaby.  But, the first big plane I built was the Super Ringmaster.  To me it was one beautiful plane I could afford.  The Veco kits were out of my league I thought at the time.  Put a used O&R .29 in it.   The engine would start easily.  Anyway my brother Bob was helping me.  Having to fly out of grass meant for a hand launch.   I thought with the big engine it would fly easier than the 1/2A's.  Was very successful with Scientific Sport Racer and OK Cub .049A.  But the Super Ringmaster left his grip after he took a short run with it.  It kind of sagged toward the ground and I gave up.   Big mistake, should have let it drop into the grass.  It started climbing and arcing into the circle.   Got almost to the top of the circle when it turned and went straight in about 30 feet from me.   I was heart broken, but big brother Bob said we will build another plane.

Off to Charley's Hobby Shop.   Came home with a Ringmaster and he had the kit called Good News.   If he was still with us I would let him relate that story.   All three of my Bothers helped me at one time or another with my modeling.   Miss them all and still remember the good times we had.