Location is the key. I fly a beach slope which is close to two "training" airports. This means it has a steady flow of new, full scale pilots showing off their new skills but poor judgement. Usually, I hear them coming and can make a downwind dash back to the slope edge which leaves them a horizontal separation of several hundred feet. However, if I don't hear them coming (because they are idling to reduce altitude), there's not much I can do other than pull a high bank (for them to see me) and dive for the deck. That being said, I have been under flown several times while at an altitude of less than 500'.\
Phil in Vancouver ps: By the way, my hats are off to you guys that fly at Torrey Pines. Flown there once, don't think I ever do that again. I fly for fun not adrenaline. -----Original Message----- From: Bill Johns [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: January 18, 2005 2:09 PM To: soaring@airage.com Subject: close encounters of the aircraft kind: was Re: [RCSE] High Altitude Glider I fly in rolling hill country. Last season I was out by myself with a 2M. I had the plane waaaay up but not too far out and was puttering about when I heard a serious sound come up very quickly, I glanced over my shoulder and was looking right at a big radial-powered ag plane. The plane was just over the high spots of the hills heading right for where my plane was. I was much higher than he was. I quickly turned to a flight path perpendicular to his and started a shallow dive to get out of the area. I paint all my tail feathers a bright yellow for visibility. I know he saw my plane as he immediately corrected so as to go in the opposite direction to my plane. It was over all so very quickly. After that I heard him in the area, but he stayed very clear of the field I was flying from. Yet another test of the ol' adrenaline pump. Bill Johns web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
