Reactivated

[ustahfli]

Well..... sometimes you crash and then you find the plane isn’t all that bad!
Then, sometimes you land ‘hard’ and you find the fuselage is ‘fractured’!
That’s what happened to my Big Stick on Sunday. I was assessing the repairs when I decided that can be a winter project, so I got the LT 40 down off a shelf and did repairs to the landing gear. Just like the Air Force ‘boneyard’ there are plenty of flights in the old bird! Maybe I can fix one or two others that have been waiting ten or fifteen years to fly again.

[kdoughty]

I built The LT 40 kit, back in 1999 when I got back into the hobby. I bought it for $75 , now the Kit is $200.33 From Towers. I flew it for about 16 or 17 years till I got tired of it and Let Ron have it. It's like the energizer Bunny, It keeps Going and Going and It's not done yet. I'm sure Ron will get it going again. I think it's one Of the best trainers ever built.

[L82fly]

I had an similar experience like that with an Eagle 63, I think it was a Carl Goldberg model? I first joined the club around '84 and purchased the kit (that's a bunch of sticks for you younger guys) from Les who was working at Campbells Hobby House. I gave like $65 for the kit and of course spent probably another $85-$100 for covering, wheels, hinges, motor mount, fuel tank, fuel line etc. Then I had a bunch of time in actual labor getting it ready just to put the radio gear and engine in it. I then installed a Futaba FGK 7 radio that set me back about $450...Man they were expensive at the time!! The engine I bought which to this day I believe was under powered was a McCoy .29, forgot how much that cost but I'm sure it was pricey. I flew it for a time then went off to tail draggers and it just sit in the garage for a few years. I sold it when leaving the hobby 4 or 5 years later as we started on a family. As you all are aware kids are more expensive than airplanes so something had to go!

Well '03 or '04 rolls around and I decide to get back in the hobby but didn't have any equipment So I pondered where to start, thought it over and bought the exact same plane but as an ARF. My only experience with an ARF was with an old military schemed box fly that was the hot thing right before I left the hobby earlier. It was basically a built up balsa model covered in what looked like sticky back shelf paper and although it didn't fly horribly they were way too heavy for that size of a model....Oh how I digress!

Ok back to the Eagle! I was amazed that even though I gave $119 for the eagle 63 ARF I believe it was overall less expensive to build since almost everything came with the plane! Even as slow as I build the new plane was air worthy in a fraction of the time of the kit and actually flew better than the one I originally had, so much for my craftsmanship

Ahhh the Memories, as seen through CA fog...

[L82fly]

Ok my train jumped the tracks on that last post!

I forgot to mention that I successfully learned again how to fly (somewhat limited I might add) with my Eagle 63 ARF but sold it within just a few months to a guy in the city.

But back to my monologue....I found my original Eagle Kit at a swap meet a few years later and although it had been partially recovered and had some battle scares I just had to have it back! One might ask how did I know it was my faithful '63? Well back in the day we religiously would buy these AMA stickers from the club that listed your name, AMA number and a phone number mounted in your plane, as I remember it? Apparently when I sold it I never tore it out. So I took my swap meet prize home and did a little refreshing, recovered most of it and set out upon the so called "Flight of the Phoenix". It was a great morning and although one would think this story was going to end happily forever, it actually was more like a flying version of the Titanic! I had installed an O.S. 46FX which was a screamer in its day...started my takeoff run and easily cleared that pesky South fence line with tons of room to spare, she was airborne again, Briefly! I got cocky and proceeded to do a roll but in my hast to get back in the air I had forgotten to adequately secure the fuel tank!! CG abruptly shifted, which created pilot panic followed by pilot error than lastly to my anguish the 20 yr old plane smacked the ground! Again just as in '84 just a bunch of sticks , The only thing I was pleased about is no one happened to be at the crash site until later in the morning after I'd flown another plane I had brought.

Moral of this story:

A: Don't be stupid

B: Verify all glue joints, electrical connections etc.

C: Always have a flying buddy around

D: If you crash and didn't follow item "C" keep your mouth shut!

E: Lastly but most importantly, Always refer to item "A"


Note: This is an actual true story but doesn't count due to the R/C Statue of limitations

[ustahfli]

Ok. Been successfully flying the good ole’ Big Stik 60 all month and having fun!
The Sig. LT 40 is back on reserve status, in case the Russians attack!