Before 'n' After -- page 1        
The photos on this page show some of the planes I have loved and lost.

Big Bird (with nose job)

Died on its 169th flight.
Lasted 51 weeks.
One major repair.
Two engines.
Lots of fun.
No regrets.

The Super Sportster on the right is one that got away from me.
This is another gift from Mark Kriz.
After 265 flights, I sold it to a young fellow in Texas.
He damaged it slightly while unpacking it.
Never heard any more from him after that.

The Flying Brick

I had three crashes with this plane in 20 flights.
My fault.
I bit off more than I could chew.
But I now know a lot about:
Dutch rolls,
adverse yaw,
accelerated stalls,
snaps,
and
spins.

I can also testify to the holding power of
Zap-A-Dap-A-Goo.




Wall Flower

Cartwheeled.
Cracked mounting bolts.
Didn't notice.
Took off.
Flew.
Lost wing.
Wrecked fuse.


Bagwell's UltraSport

Dave had some trouble with this plane.
It got stepped on by some firemen.
He broke the first wing on a deadstick
at Thunder Over Niagara.

He sold me his OS FS 91 and plane,
with an uncovered wing, for $150.

I had fun with it for about 63 flights.
Then I was trying to show this
father and his sons how R/C
airplanes work while holding
knife-edge in a strong crosswind.

I showed them!



FOT: Fun One Two

After I destroyed my Fun One, Mark Kriz gave me his.
I put about five good crashes on this plane.
The most recent was June 16, 1999, on its 253rd flight,
one day after I came home from five months overseas.

LDM F 16

This airplane taught me a lot about stalling on turn to final.
I broke this one about three times.
Sold it to a club member.
He did some heavy damage to it after eight minutes
and hung the pieces on his Wall of Shame.


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