So I've come to that crossroad.

All year I have been flying something or other, 60-sized glow power, while diligently acquiring the usual stuff necessary to complete my first gasser, an 86" QQ. And all year, every slimer I've flown has met with an untimely demise, several of which have been chronicled here.

Yesterday I was out with my usual flying crony (since the rest of the gang is too PW or just not into it enough), and he flies the little sundowner. It's taken a beating itself this year, but he's managed to get through the season on two of them. I was flying my GP reactor, the little one, that I'd stuffed an OS 91 into. Some of you may have seen me plant it in the beans at Thistledown a few weeks ago

Anyhow, the reactor is a fast plane. A lot faster than anything else I've flown, at least. So finally I have a plane that can damn near keep up with that sundowner. So, inbetween inverted flat spins and poorly-executed hovers, my buddy comes up with a great idea. "Hey, bro," he says, "since you love to fly inverted, why don't we do passes with you inverted and me right side up, right past show center?" Sounds like a cool idea, I say. And it was, for days. Every time we went out this week, we would do lap after lap with me inverted and him right over me as we raced past us. And I gotta admit, the sound of his 2-stroke and my 4-stroke screaming past us, was awfully damned cool.

We got pretty close a few times to occupying the same airspace at the same time, and it always got us laughing and the spectators freaking out- just the kind of stuff that makes an ordinary day at the field, extraordinary and memorable.

And then it happened.

Making our turn into the upwind leg, he was, as usual, high. He's one of those guys that likes to fly low and fast as he comes past himself, but as he starts to turn out he always climbs and does the downwind leg really high, making a diving turn back into the upwind leg. Me, I go out of my way to fly at the same altitude. And I was, within a couple of feet. He made his diving turn, and wouldn't ya know it, flew that sundowner right through the tail of my inverted reactor.

We were around 50 or 60 feet AGL, and at the moment of impact he lost power- his prop had peeled not only the rudder, but the stabs and elevators as well. He had enough speed to pull up, gain a little altitude and make an acceptable deadstick (he lost his gear, but thats the norm for him.) Myself, all I could do was cut the throttle, hit the kill switch and wait for the inevitable.









I have to admit, I laughed, even before I hit the ground. That midair was the coolest thing I've seen in a long time, despite the fact it was my plane that was the victim. There was about 100 yards between the point of impact in the air, and the point of no return on the ground, and pieces of balsa completely littered the entire field along the way. I wish I'd had my camera or phone with me, but I had neither so the carnage shots were taken in my garage.

Couple of servos broke, no biggie, but the killer is that the impact completely crushed the cowl, engine (look at how compact my fuel tank is), and front end so thoroughly that the impact ripped the needle valve completely out of the carb- I scraped the carb threads from the needle with my fingernail. So now, I not only have no airworthy airplanes, I also have two broken engines

There are two good things to come of this, however- witnessing, and also being a participant, in the first midair collision I've ever seen, was the single coolest moment of the flying season this year. Yeah, call me crazy, but it's a memory I will never forget

The other thing is that now that I have no planes to keep flying, I can now focus all of my attention (and cashflow) on getting my 86"er built

Oh yeah- Craven, looks like I'm not gonna be able to make that trip to TORKS with ya to harrass Kitman

you're a good sport meat!!!!!!!!! get that damn yak done and never look back!!!!!!

matt

Man, I know exactly how you feel... I've crashed about 5 planes in the last month, all due to mechanical or engine issues! All I have ready to fly (except for a few planes I'm selling) is my .60 size Ultra Stick.

I gotta get a new job so I can have money

LOL thanks buddy I even told Jerry not to worry, I didn't hold him responsible. Yeah, he was the non-flyin' knucklehead that crashed into me, but *I* was fully aware of the risks involved, and therefore was equally responsible for the death of my plane. Sh!t happens, right?

And let me tell you- that damned sundowner is a TANK!! Holy crap, I thought for sure we were both done, but that thing really takes a licking and keeps on ticking! If I ever get another slimer it's definitely gonna be an H9 product. Beasts!

OK well, I have managed to pull off a few decent side jobs over the past month, and it would appear that my early retirement for the season is not going to stand. First off, my buddy Jerry felt guilty after all, and got me a GP Viper 500, since it will fit the only running motor I have left- an os 46. However, much to his chagrin, all but 2 of the servos from the Reactor are toast, and need rebuilt- and like I told him, my focus is on my QQ. (I didnt bother to tell him I snagged 2 servos from that reactor for my choke and throttle on the QQ, and that left me with only 2 good ones ) So he has no grounds to dog me for not getting the viper together since he knows the QQ is priority.

Those side jobs have me to the point where I will be firing up the QQ today! Everything is ready to rock and that 50 is finally going to get some fuel ran through it! Going to be a nice, cool day too. I wont be able to fly it though, as I am still waiting for my servos to get here (hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday), but at least I can get to hear my engine run and maybe do a little tweaking on the needles.

As much as I wanted to go to Atlanta this week, it was either get the plane in the air or use that loot for a road trip. I elected to fly locally So, while you guys are huckin it up in Atlanta, I will be putting the maiden on my yak, FINALLY!

And I will also begin shopping for a new airframe to drop everything into once the QQ expires