Huntersville Today

Balogh, in October 2017, wrote:I just read this thread Rusty and wish you recover quick..it is bad to be distanced from our hobby in any way but I am sure you will fly again soon.

Wow.
I just re-read this old thread, from which I copied Andras' above quote, and started to append the following. When it developed into a story, I decided to go ahead and post a new one. So here's the story of today's adventure:

I was so excited right up until the final hours before the big October contest, and KABOOM! it all went. And time passed so slowly over the dreary and bleak winter while my doubts grew and spirits sank. Now in April, 2018 the Spring Carolina Classic and the Joe Nall contests are 2 weeks, 6 days, 8 hours, and 13 minutes away and I'm still walking on a cane... when I can remember where I last left it... Because I need it less and less.

So what am I whining about? Nothing! I was rereading this thread about how stoked I was last fall about the upcoming contest and decided to include today's story with it.

At our March MCLS club meeting, I proposed that we invite Samantha Hines and her Dad Steve to come down from Michigan and do their warm weather practice flying in Huntersville, so 17(or 18) year old Sam can prepare for her trip to France as the Junior representative for the American team in the 2018 Control Line Precision Aerobatics World Championships this July. They accepted and have been here all week. I decided to drive up and meet them in person. I've gotten to know Steve and have also met Samantha a few times on my Stunthangar weekly Web show, and wanted to meet them in person.

So I chucked my old Shoestring Stunter in the car and drove up to H'ville today. When I got there she had fried the motor on her electric Vector practice plane, and Steve was rebuilding it. The magnets had come loose. We chatted and had some lunch. I figured I could do some practice judging if she was okay with it. She was, and I was excited to get to see this world-class Expert young woman fly. But after her takeoff and reverse wingover, entering the three inside loops, the motor crapped out. They were out of resources and Samantha's week of practice ended just like that.

Now we had little to do but chat some more, and Sam's a very interesting and engaging lady. Fun to talk with. I offered to let her fly the Shoestring but she declined. It would have been of no value as a practice plane anyway, but Steve wanted to see it fly. I was dubious, having no handle time since the middle if October and not even sure if I could turn circles. I'd not even done any dry-flying in the house. Steve offered to rig the lines up and do all the footwork. I had preflighted the airframe, flushed the tank, and burped the Max-S before lunch, so what the hell, gotta try sometime.

After 2 years of hanging in the shop... Ron Cribbs was the last one to fly it, it needled a little funky, but we'd short-tanked it, so I went on out to the handle and waved it off. It took off like a rocket as I roller-coastered it for a lap before I finally relaxed and leveled it out. She must have been flying 4 second laps but surprisingly I felt no pain and was balancing pretty well as the trees and clouds zoomed by. Hotdamn, I was flying again, Yaaaazoo! I started getting a little dizzy, so I stood still and did some long 180 degree lazy 8s. Then some loops and about 5 laps inverted. More lazy 8s and loops, inside and outside. I dared not try any balance-challenging wingovers or the like, but I had no problems with the simple stuff. I was getting about ready for it to suck air and it did finally burp in a loop, so I leveled out and flew laps... and got a touch of dizziness. I didn't want to do anymore 8s over the tarmac, but I finally had to, and just when it was in the worst attitude for it to happen, it shut off and the lines collapsed. Crap! I have not even tried walking backwards, much less trotting backwards. No way I was ever going to catch it. But reflexively I trotted 4 or 5 steps backwards and it hooked up just in time for me to grease in a no-bounce rolling landing. WhoooHoo! I did it!

Three weeks ago, I was still having occasional 3 day stretches when I could not walk without a cane, and wondering that was as good as it would ever be. Three weeks from now I'm going to enter a contest, and I think there's a reasonably good chance I'll be able to fly a pattern for the judges. Maybe I'll get lucky and put up 4 official flights over 2 days. Yet another "Rusty Come-Back" story. How 'bout that!

Rockin' Rusty