Author Topic: Top 10 things that might make you panic in the circle.... (Read 9897 times)

bob whitney · « **Reply #50 on:** February 13, 2013, 09:01:53 AM »

2012 VSC i had been helping launch a trike gear Shark most of the afternoon, Jim Rhroades asks me to launch his beautiful new classis ship , i set it down ind i begin lifting the tail waiting for the front wheel to touch only to hear his only 3 blade buzz the ground ,after the flight you could hardly see where the prop had touched but i was crushed knowing i had done such a thing

Jim Kraft · « **Reply #51 on:** February 13, 2013, 09:41:55 AM »

You are out flying your new plane and your buddy comes over and asks to fly it. You say sure. Then he says " here, hold my beer and watch this".

Gerald Arana · « **Reply #52 on:** February 13, 2013, 10:34:47 AM »

How about this one: You're at your special flying field with a Buddy (Yes, you Carter) and he launches you for what you anticipate is going to be another practice flight only to have the lines snag on a dandly lion in the first 5 feet of the take off roll. The ship does a 90 degree left turn and goes airborn flying past you about 10 feet high and 15 feet from you. You then (me) try to correct the flight path by putting your arm straight out behind yourself so you can plunge it forward to lessen the shock that is going to occur when the plane hits to the end of the lines............. Didn't work. And that is how I got the scar on my right wrist. Yes, the plane (ARF Smoothie/B-40) crashed.

John Stiles · « **Reply #53 on:** February 13, 2013, 12:30:37 PM »

After thumbing through a list of things that happened over the last 40+ years, and even passing up the time I saw an arrow sail right under my P51[young son just learning to shoot a bow], I have settled on the one time I purposefully crash landed my favorite slow combat plane. It happened as a big thunderstorm was rolling up out of the bottoms, and I started felling all tingly. I was using an old red easy just handle on 65' steel lines and I felt a clicking in the palm of my hand. I looked down just in time to see a small blue arc from the loop into my hand

, and I decided it was about time I learned how to land under power!

Larry Renger · « **Reply #54 on:** February 13, 2013, 01:55:57 PM »

How about having the speed guys in the next circle fire up a Dyna Jet just as you hit the top of a wingover? Been there, done that.

Randy Powell · « **Reply #55 on:** February 13, 2013, 02:19:17 PM »

Tragic to think that most of this stuff has happened to me a one time or another. Gads!

Mike Ferguson · « **Reply #56 on:** February 13, 2013, 02:23:51 PM »

The flock of big, fat nasty geese that flies through your circle while you're doing overhead eights.

By some minor miracle both birds and plane and pilot survived.

Mark Scarborough · « **Reply #57 on:** February 13, 2013, 02:47:09 PM »

Quote from: Randy Powell on February 13, 2013, 02:19:17 PM

Tragic to think that most of this stuff has happened to me a one time or another. Gads!

really surprised you have not mentioned anything about oh ,, say flying lines snagging on a coat? or airplanes disintigrating in flight,, or,,,,,,,,

Will Hinton · « **Reply #58 on:** February 13, 2013, 02:52:16 PM »

Signalling your holder for release, starting what may be (of course) your best take-off of the FCM and having the inside wheel lock up, then watching as your ship does the Trostle "I'm looking at you" pose mentioned above while the PA grinds that fifty dollar prop down to a 3 inch diameter before Roger Wildman gets to the ship and shuts it down. (Roger was judging.)

Steve Riebe · « **Reply #59 on:** February 13, 2013, 04:41:53 PM »

I'm not a pattern flier yet, more of a sport flier, and I can say with no uncertainty that a properly trimmed magician makes beautiful , big, lazy circles around an airborn handle, while covering a fair amount of acreage, and almost makes it over the tallest tree in the area.

Clancy Arnold · « **Reply #60 on:** February 13, 2013, 06:47:27 PM »

My biggest panic came at the 1988 CL Scale NATS on Sunday morning.

I was flying my 76 inch WS C-7A Caribou, 14+ Lbs with two HB 40's. I was in second place in FAI F4B and went up trying to move into first place. BUT! The wing spar had apparently been cracked during transporting to the flying site. On the third lap the outboard wing broke. The Caribou made a 90 degree left turn, passed over my head in a shallow dive straight at the judges. When it hit the end of the flying wires (.027 x 2) the whole model exploded. The biggest parts left were the two fiberglass cowls.
Clancy

Pat · « **Reply #61 on:** February 13, 2013, 08:12:54 PM »

I don't know how this one will stack up, but when I first started flying back in the mid 90's, I went to the local high school to fly one saturday with my brand new Sig Twister(my first BIG plane). Got it fired, and in the air and was in the middle of a wing over when my leg was attacked by a VERY amorous Beagle who belonged to a lady who just wanted to play catch with her dog. Needless to say, my concentration was broken, and I lawn darted the twister. The poor lady was very upset and offered to pay for anything that was broken, but al I could do was laugh.

Pat

Dave Wenzel · « **Reply #62 on:** February 13, 2013, 08:38:56 PM »

Am a sport flyer and at a R/C field doing some C/L flying. It's a hot day and am in shorts. Friend launches plane, Smoothie, and am just doing some basic stuff until, WHAT THE #%^*. Am standing in the middle of a big Fire Ant nest. The guys under the shelter almost fell out of their chairs watching me smacking and dancing. Have to say, it's funny now. Had at least 50 ants on me, and if you know these little critters, they all start to sting after they climb on you at the same time.

DAVE

Bart Klapinski · « **Reply #63 on:** February 13, 2013, 08:56:18 PM »

Being in the middle of a great practice pattern when a pylon racer crashes hard only ten feet from you. This actually happened at Whittier Narrows in about 1978.

Tempest

Matt Colan · « **Reply #64 on:** February 14, 2013, 12:03:32 AM »

You signal to launch your ARF smoothie and after rolling two feet, it makes a sharp left turn and starts taxiing towards you...and it's getting faster, and faster. Then 25-30ft away from you it noses over.

You ask for a hand launch on the 3rd or 4th flight of your brand new Ares because it can't get off the ground in the tall grass. After launch, it takes a left turn in towards you. You run away from it then realize it's now flying away so you wait for the plane to do it's own pull test.

Sitting next to Windy at Brodak when he says, look he's going to spend 10 minutes fiddling with the needle and he's going to nose it over. Sure enough, there it goes over, then pulls up into a wingover, and then flies 3/4 of a loop and continues on with the pattern.

4 ounces of fuel on an OS 40FP lasts 12 minutes...and you find out on an official flight

Matt Colan · « **Reply #65 on:** February 14, 2013, 12:05:07 AM »

Quote from: Derek Barry on February 13, 2013, 04:50:09 AM

5. "Hey is that Rob Gruber at the edge of the circle?.......BAM......Yep sure was."

Clancy Arnold · « **Reply #66 on:** February 14, 2013, 07:23:42 AM »

I have told this story before.
I was flying about half way back in the cemetery entrance, right across the street from my house, when a funeral procession entered the cemetery drive. I would fly a half lap level and then a winover so that I never flew over the cars.

Questions: How much fuel remaining? How many cars in the procession? How do I land this plane if I run out of fuel before I run out of cars?

That was my last flight in the cemetery entrance by order of my dad.
Clancy

john e. holliday · « **Reply #67 on:** February 14, 2013, 09:41:46 AM »

Quote from: John Stiles on February 13, 2013, 12:30:37 PM

After thumbing through a list of things that happened over the last 40+ years, and even passing up the time I saw an arrow sail right under my P51[young son just learning to shoot a bow], I have settled on the one time I purposefully crash landed my favorite slow combat plane. It happened as a big thunderstorm was rolling up out of the bottoms, and I started felling all tingly. I was using an old red easy just handle on 65' steel lines and I felt a clicking in the palm of my hand. I looked down just in time to see a small blue arc from the loop into my hand , and I decided it was about time I learned how to land under power!

That sounds just like what happened to me and my son, JJ, at Pwnee Rock KS contest one year. Flying Slow combat and he was going up to see who would second or third place against Mike Talman. Mike had engine problems. I looked at JJ and could see something was wrong. So I yell at everyone to hold up. I go to the center and he is crying his eyes out saying it is hurting me. Needless to say took the handle and immediately yelled stay down. I put the plane in as smooth as I could. Static electricity with not a cloud in the sky. Was told that happens once in a while out there in western KANSAS>

Paul Walker · « **Reply #68 on:** February 14, 2013, 10:49:48 AM »

Taking your recent Nat's winner for a practice flight before a contest, in front of lots of people, and just after starting into the wingover feel and hear a click. It quickly becones apparent that I no longer have pitch control of the plane. Instant terror trying to figure out what to do, then the realization there is NOTHING I could do. Then I settled in to "enjoy" the straight in impact about to come into the very hard asphalt. Nothing but the wheels were left. Sad day!

I always hated quick links, and fortunately with ball links no longer have to use them in safety critical locations.

John Eyer · « **Reply #69 on:** February 14, 2013, 11:11:32 AM »

You realize after the 3dr lap your stooge line is wrapped around you ankles and you are about to fall.

Trostle · « **Reply #70 on:** February 14, 2013, 02:12:45 PM »

At least one more from me.

You are flying by yourself and using a stooge. This stooge is a simple device with no spring loaded release mechanism. The release, supposedly, happens when you pull on a string and it pulls a pin out of a loop in the tail wheel strut. So, start the engine, set the needle and start walking to the handle with the lines in your left had to make sure you have the lines untwisted, the engine is running satisfactorily, all is going well until about 1/3 of the way to the handle, then you hear behind you a sudden acceleration as the engine unloads and the lines in your left hand have an uncomfortable feel to them. Then you realize that the airplane has taken off and the lines will soon be and then are wrapping around you.

I could go on and complete this story, but it is almost too unbelievable. To make the story short, a recovery was made with no damage to the model. The lines were a total loss.

Keith

Dave_Trible · « **Reply #71 on:** February 14, 2013, 04:12:42 PM »

A couple times I've been practicing at my flying site/soccer field, nobody else in site when a school bus pulls up and (1)a whole soccer team unloads and just come straight on to the field and (2)a bus load of what looks to be first graders on a day trip do the same. The tots and eventually the teacher heard my screaming and backed off. The soccer team didn't and I practiced a new type stunt flying.

Dave

Clancy Arnold · « **Reply #72 on:** February 15, 2013, 08:27:24 AM »

We had a close encounter at our club flying field a couple of years ago. Our club field is a church parking lot that has two entrances, Steve Couch had parked his van blocking one entrance and the pits were right beside the other entrance. All safe until a woman drives across the lawn to get around Steve's van and drove right across the circle going from my left to right. I am flying CCW as I catch a movement in my peripheral vision and give it UP just before it hit her windshield. No contact but no extra clearance. Her excuse was that she was late for a meeting at the church!
Clancy