Not Flying....

Well, I haven't posted anything lately. That's because I haven't been flying.

My last flight didn't go so well, and with work and weather, I haven't had a chance to get back into the air.

I last flew a few weeks ago, and the flight lasted a little over 5 minutes. My friend Jack flew to my field in his Quicksilver Sprint and we were going to fly out to Stillhouse Lake. He took off and shortly thereafter, I followed. I think several things went wrong. I wasn't thinking of a little Sprint causing so much turbulence. Now I realize, with as much drag as it has, it probably produces more of a wake than most planes. Second, it was hotter and windier than the conditions I normally fly in. Last, I was over a freshly plowed field.

I was flying along, checking my instruments to make sure the engine was running well and the next thing I knew, my right wing fell down like it had an anchor on it. Due to the openness of the Airbike, I was looking directly at the ground and it was coming up fast. I was trying to put in left rudder and stick to get out of it, but that's hard to do when you're leaning out of the right side of the plane. I finally mustered enough strength to recover and found myself about 5 feet above the ground looking at a tree. As soon as I pulled up and got over the tree, the left wing fell, although not as dramatically.

I radioed my friend that I was going back and did a very gental 180. After landing, I got out and sat on the ground for awhile, wondering if I should be a pilot at all. In all my years flying, this is the only time I've been this rattled. I swore I'd never fly this plane again.

After calming down a little, I looked over the plane and found nothing wrong. I will fly it again, but probably won't be too comfortable for awhile. I think I took some pictures, but I really can't remember. I will check the camera and post them later if there are any.

I will probably fly this weekend, so I'll let you know how it goes.