Mode Zero

Have you ever done something that seemed like a good idea at the time, but then immediately after it went pear shaped you thought to yourself, what on earth did I just do? or why did I do that? or more simply, "what the #?$!".......

Having had the ultimate 'brain fart' yesterday (still can't believe that I did it ) I thought I'd share my stupidity so we can all have a chuckle. Besides, they say confession is good for the soul, but unfortunately it doesn't fix the aeroplane

I had finally managed to have another fly of the Senator, and after a few minor tweaks, it was flying superbly. Since I was at my son's home which adjoins a working beef & sheep farm in south west rural NSW, I make use of a small fenced paddock adjoining his house block. There is no gate in the fence, so I use an aluminium trestle as a makeshift stile to get over the barbed wire. Since the Senator was flying so well and my knees were giving me a some grief, I decided to launch over the fence and then land in the small paddock. Sitting on the trestle in the back yard flying was very pleasant, so when I'd had enough, I got the bright idea to stay in the back yard and land the Senator there - why climb over the fence at all when everything was going so well? (1st mistake). Besides, it was dead calm, so why not just do it?!? (2nd mistake).

I stated on the downwind leg and by the time I was on mid-base I was feeling pretty chuffed 'cause the circuit was looking 'spot on' (3rd mistake). By the time I was on mid final I was thinking 'boy I've nailed this' (beware huburus! ). I was going to catch it, but changed my mind at the last moment when I thought about the brittle tissue and the holes I'd most likely make.

Then the final mistake - power on & go around & do it all again, just for the heck of it! As I turned around to follow the model upwind it suddenly became very obvious that I'd forgotten something. The rotary clothes line (the Hills Hoist for we Aussies) was only metres ahead & muggins me had completely forgotten all about it, as you do when you are feeling cocky. Well the inevitable happened as I looked on in utter disbelief. Did I really just do THAT??!? You idiot!!! Hills Hoist 1, Senator 0 & game over.

OK, we've all done something stupid in our modelling careers, I've fessed up - now it's your turn.. ...

Nice one Wayne. Clearly not your fault though, obviously that clothes dryer is like all the trees around our flying field. capable of growing legs and moving sideways!

I have to fess up to launching my s/c Mercury Magna without it being switched on ........

'Twas a perfect summer evening with little wind and I was practising spot landings. The little Redfin .030 only has a small tank so I was filling the tank, starting, launching, having a short flight and then landing in quick succession without bothering to swich off between flights......... I had mounted the switch inside the fuselage to keep it safe from oily residue and arranged it as "Pull for ON, Push for OFF". By the sixth flight I guess I was getting a bit blase and though I usually check the controls just before launching, on this occasion it seems that I didn't . I must have knocked the switch to OFF either when I picked it up after landing or when I picked it up to launch it ......... Only those who have done it can know the feeling of utter helplessness as the model sails off gently into the wide blue yonder, steadfastly refusing to obey your commands and it slowly dawns on you what has happened. First you admire your skill at getting it so perfectly trimmed. Then you realise that perhaps there was a bit more wind than you thought and you try to remember if you had put your name and phone number on this one........ and then you start wondering how much longer the engine can possibly keep running on so little fuel....... and then you start walking!

The story has a happy ending in that I eventually found the model three fields away sitting under a large tree, on it's wheels, UNDAMAGED! I didn't deserve it .

Paul

Free flight models do what they do best! Fly free!
I wonder, and this may be a 'blonde' moment, if the engine has to do less work flying than it does on a static run, as the effect of the oncoming air helps the prop round, resulting in the engine having to do less work and therefore running longer? This may account for the 'burp' at the end of a run, rather than a sudden stop?

Stew.

Airplanes learned to fly long before we learned to disrupt their flight!

Well Wayne, it looks like stupidity is catching. I was out last evening enjoying a session with a few models in very pleasant conditions. A couple of aerobatic flights with the 300 watt Extra 260 hot rod, a nice 25 minute soaring outing with the electrified Lulu II and a couple of flights with the Metro Gnome using the 2.4 converted MacGregor Tx. By now, as dusk approached it was dead calm so out came my old indoor SE5A which I had brought with me in anticipation of a calm window. This one is twenty plus years old, still equipped with a 35 MHz Rx and uses my old Futaba FF8 Tx. A quick control check and off she goes, smooth and slow as always until, thirty yards out, all hell broke loose and the SE hit the deck hard breaking the lower wing. What the ???. Well, 35 MHz equipment works better if the Tx aerial is extended, that's what!! Having just flown five flights with three models all equipped with 2.4 gig I suffered the ultimate brain fart and launched the SE with the FF8's aerial completely retracted. Doh!

Sundancer wrote: 22 Aug 2018, 11:24 Well Wayne, it looks like stupidity is catching.......
Having just flown five flights with three models all equipped with 2.4 gig I suffered the ultimate brain fart and launched the SE with the FF8's aerial completely retracted. Doh!

Bugger, hope the SE5 is a quick repair. At least you didn't also bend the antenna over ala 2.4gig practice

Well given the lack of brain process taking place probably the only thing that avoided the aerial bending was the fact that my DX6 doesn't have bendy aerial! As to repairs; maybe, but it is a bit of a mess, repairing the very thin highly undercambered wing would be tricky so as it is long in the tooth and I have a spare set of foam components that were cut at the same time as this one I will maybe just salvage all the tricky scale bits - guns, wheels, radiator front, struts etc together with the motor, ESC, servos and lightweight pilot and build another airframe, fitted with a Lemon 2.4 gig Rx this time!!