Hole in One!

Hello all,

Had to share the experience from the circle last night. Went to the school field with the whole “fleet” of 2, i.e. Ringmaster Jr. with OS .10 and no name Trainer with Fox .35. Slightly windy, but a real nice night. Flew the Ring Jr. 3 times, still working on my limited repertoire of level, dive, climb, wing-overs and loops. All went smoothly.

A friend of mine who is not a flyer had come along as a part of the gallery. He had been out with me once before and I had been slowly convincing him to give the trainer a try. It’s big, heavy, and fairly docile once you get it in the air. He said OK let’s give it a try and I’m ready to do my part to get another flyer in the ranks. This is really the blind leading the blind.

I get out the .015 lines and handle and set up to the trainer, set the Ring Jr. with lines and handle off to the side, and go through a “walk-around” with my friend on the handle. I talk him though takeoff, couple of backwards steps to keep the lines snug, flying, straight arm up and down, focus on the plane to avoid the dizzies, be aware of the circle center point marker on the ground, lean out at the end, landing etc. He seems pretty cool and ready to go.

I start with one ounce of fuel, figuring to get 6 or 10 laps, after some courage building time before the actual takeoff. He gives the signal, I release, nice taxi across the infield, to a nose-over in the grass. Very good for starters! Re-start with no additional fuel and success! Nice level take off, 5 good laps with minimal “porpoiseing”. I hear it start to lean a little and I’m thinking “good, he won’t be too dizzy”.

What I haven’t noticed is that during the flight he has been walking toward the outside of the circle on each lap. I suddenly notice that he’s flying over, then out past the flight box. You may have guessed by now. As soon as the engine dies, he gives it DOWN and plants it squarely, and I mean squarely, nose first, at 90% of full speed, directly into the inboard wing on the patiently waiting Ring Jr. What an explosion! Save all the pieces is more like save all the miniscule fragments. The wing of the trainer (1/2” hardwood dowel leading edge) cracks the Ring Jr. fuselage like a meat cleaver. Leading edge of the Ring Jr. wing is separated in 3 places, trailing edge in 5, was there a spar?, and the ribs are a jumble of confetti. Little “Cheerios” of the ribs are hanging on the lead-outs. Amazingly the controls under the center sheeting are untouched. The trainer is sitting there like a Pit Bull that just ate a miniature Poodle. No real damage, just a little debris around the “mouth parts”.

Of course my friend has gone from “Yeah, I did it!” to “@!*, I did it!” in about a millisecond. I’m trying to convince him (and me) that it’s repairable, no problem, could have happened to anyone. At the same time I’m calculating the odds, “Let’s see, the circle is roughly a 60 foot radius, add another maybe 20 feet to that for walking towards the Ring Jr. and not staying in the center of the circle, the Ring Jr. can’t be more than a couple of square feet…….??????” Well the odds are a lot smaller than the lottery, but still seemed reasonable at the time.

Bottom line lesson for newbies like me, that I should have know already: If you are going to have more that one plane at the field, make sure it is an extremely safe distance from the proposed, and possibly actual flying hemisphere. 20 feet or so may not be a safe distance. A short walk is much easier than a subsequent repair. Glad there weren’t any real people on the flight.

Clay

When I tried to teach our daughter to fly she had the same response (but no airplane underneath). We are so careful to expalin to the "newbie" about giving "up" control to bring it up and "down" control to bring it down that we forget they might actually be taking us literally. I had her flying along and doing quite well until the engine quit. Yup, she gave it "down" all right. Figured that's what you had to to to land it.

It is surprising how few people actually make it that far on their first flight, so most of the time we don't have to explain to them how to do the landing. "Just keep flying" "It will settle all by itself." "Just keep flying" "Keep flying!!!" "Aw, pick up the pieces and we'll go home."

What are the chances? If you tried to hit that plane you'd most likely miss. Wonder if the carrier guys would consider a new "Kamikaze" event.

First off, I always do the takeoffs & landings for beginners, at least the first few times up. I take off with them in the center with me, (with a helper or a stooge, either one) then switch over & fly with my left hand out over the front of the handle (I use Morris handles) so they can get hold of correct part of the handle with they're right hand. (I reverse this for lefties of course.) I keep my hand on the handle with them until I show them how little input is needed to go up & down. If they appear to have control I let them fly until they get dizzy or in trouble, (with my left hand hovering very close to the handle) then I take it away from them until they're ready again. This way you can start with a full tank & they can rest until they get over the dizzies or nerve attack & they can fly three or four times per launch.
Second, if I'm not flying at a dedicated circle I always take out a towel or something & throw it in the center of the circle for a reference point so I (or my student) can glance down & see where we are in relation to the rest of the world.
Even with this method the first landing is probably going to be a dork if there's any wind, so plan on it.
Third, I use a Ukey 35 for a trainer, no matter how bad they crash they can be fixed in an hour or less (generally much less) with 5 minute epoxy, a new prop & sometimes a needle valve.
I really enjoy teaching beginners, I find it very rewarding when they decide to stick with it. Maybe one in 5 actually do, but it's worth it, to me anyway.
Nils

Funny you should mention Carrier Guys and Kamakaze. When I was flying in Pocatello, Idaho in the 70-75 era, I flew Carrier I using an Zero with a K&B .40. I crashed into the carrier more than once. The newsletter mentioned the item under "Kamakaze Cucci sinks carrier". Being Italian, in the US Navy, flying a Japanese fighter, sinking a US Carrier and winning the Blue Max at the end of the year was strange. We tried a kamakaze event once using old beat up models that would just barely fly. Take off, five level laps and a wing over into a 55 gallon trash can. Amzing how hard it is to fly into a 55 gallon drum. These were planes that had done yoeman service as trainers, but were not much use any more. We never wasted film on them, as cameras cost money, they were that ooggly.

The first year that Intermediate was held at the Nats Brett Buck and I were the judges on one of the circles. Because the event was held on the grass circles which had just been "created" and were in pretty rough shape yet at the time, the event director decreed right before the contest that we were to judge the landing only to the point of touchdown and not judge anything thereafter, (whether it bounced a dozen times, rolled over, whatever). So I turned to Brett and asked (since all we were judging now was the quality and smoothness of the descent) "If they dive it straight in after the engine quits, are we to give them a 40?"

Fortunately nobody did.

I probably wold have given them a 40, however.

So I turned
>to Brett and asked (since
>all we were judging now
>was the quality and smoothness
>of the descent) "If they
>dive it straight in after
>the engine quits, are we
>to give them a 40?"
>
>
>Fortunately nobody did.

I seem to recall one that closely approximated that, but it was also premature.

Speaking of Kamikaze, when we were kids, we use to lay in a ditch with BB guns trying to shoot down our planes as we flew around over the ditch. Never did any damage except when I put a Carl Goldbert 1/2A P-40 into a tree because I was getting too aggressive at "strafing" the guys in the ditch. This is sick, but I've always wanted to try Skeet-Planes. Ever since I saw an episode of Magnum PI where he shoots one of Higgins' planes down with a shotgun because it woke him up, I've had a desire to lay in the weeds near an RC field and shoot at the planes. I'd never do it, but, in some arrrested-development sort of way, it just seems funny to think of a plane flying along and exploding in mid air. I bet the owner of the plane wouldn't think it was too funny, however.
You know, I never ever thought of telling a first timer how to glide a plane to the ground after the engine quits. Most of us have been doing this so long, it's second nature. I guess I can see how a novice would try and give a plane "down" when the engine quits. "Up" to go up and "down" to get it back on the ground. I'll remember this next time I try and teach someone to fly. I've never been good at handing controls off. Too much movement and potential FUBAR results.

LAST EDITED ON Aug-22-01 AT 09:21 AM (CDT)

Back in the days when Byron Godberson was building his airplanes and having his fly-ins (He stil makes Byrons fuel, but the plane business is now gone), they would do an air show twice a day in which they would do simulated combat between a number of US planes and a number of Japaneese planes (these were 1/6 or 1/7 scale), all the while there was baby "flak" being shot off from the ground and exploding all around them. And then at some point they would shoot down one of the Japanese Zeros right in front of the audience. They had a charge inside and the plane would explode in mid-air right in front of the grand stand.

Now, you have to remember that these were planes that in kit form sold for about $1500 or so, plus the labor in putting them together, plus the radio which was destroyed. They were put together for one flight.

Kind of sad when you think about it, but then, there were thousands of people coming to the shows and paying their admission price. And I was one of them. (It didn't hurt that Ida Grove, Iowa was my home town and it was a "strange coincidence" that the big show was being held at the same time we would come back to visit my parents.)

Awwww, Clay! I'm cryin' for you, man! That's gotta hurt, especially the part where you have to keep a stiff upper lip so your buddy doesn't feel to bad. Sounds like a lot of work to repair, but my motto is, "If I built it, I can re-build it." I've seen some pretty bad damage so far, but I've been able to rebuild or repair each time. It helps to put the model away for a week or so, and come back to it with more of a clear head, then look at it carefully and plan out how to do the job. From what you've written, you're somewhat ahead of where I am in terms of abilities (flying, at least), so I'm sure you'll be up to the challenge. Best of luck!

LAST EDITED ON Aug-22-01 AT 01:22 PM (CDT)

Hey all,

Thanks to the group for all the responses. Many of them are humorous and make me feel better about the “hole” thing

Random thoughts:

Yes, tell them about landing! I never thought we would make it that far.
Yes, I think a kamikaze event would be great. Almost every time I fly I am practicing for that one. Maybe something like P.G.A. (Precision Ground Assault).
Yes, I agree that “hand-off’s” would be questionable. The way I fly alone I can’t imagine the story I would write about that.
Yes, I like the idea of flying into the 55-gallon drum. If I could get this thing to fly, I’d do it right now! How much tip weight do you need if you fly without an inboard wing? Can I have a beginner version where we just lay the barrel on it's side and fly right in?
Yes, Len and Brent would have given it at least 40 points. Maybe it could be 80 since two planes were involved?
Yes, we will rebuild to crash another day!

These are the events that will live for years in memories and stories. Bring ‘em on!

Best regards,

At the FAI world champs in the 80"s im Springfield Mass. I watched Hakken Ostman crash his first model into the lines of his second model. That was it he was done. To bad really as he was up by 2 or 3 cuts at the time and the down time cost him the match. I mean what are the odds?

At the Brodak meet a couple of years ago, Windy Urtnowski noticed a young kid who had just crashed his plane. You can imagine how the young fellow felt. Windy said he thought it could be fixed, so he and some of the other flyers started checking their repair boxes for materials to fix the plane. Repair became a team effort. The wings were covered with monokote and John Brodak even raided his shop to find some matching monokote.
Within a short time the plane was repaired and ready to fly again - and Windy managed to catch it all on tape.
A delighted kid, some smiling flyers, and a happy ending..that's what it's all about.
George