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Revised:
10/04/2008
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 Member articles
These articles have been submitted by our members. SAC has not
performed research to verify the accuracy of the information contained in
these articles and assumes no liability or responsibility for
inaccuracy or
omission. |
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My Plane Is Down...Now What?
By Jerry Sciortino
(reprinted with the permission of RC Modeler Magazine.)
So...a gremlin sneaked into your airplane or radio and now the plane’s gone down. Where?
Far out in the cornfield or in that clump of trees? You can improve your chances of a successful
retrieval with the help of at least one other person and a couple of lightweight poles.
Tracts of corn, beans and other vegetation border many of our flying fields. When aircraft go down
in these fields, retrieving them can be as tedious and unrewarding as searching for a needle in the
proverbial haystack. Around our SAC (Sussex Aeromodeler’s Club) Base in Seaford, Delaware, aircraft
go down frequently enough that some of us joke about the local crops emitting some sort of “organic
pulse” that draws planes out of the sky. Trees too, have been suspected of suddenly extending limbs
far out to snag passing planes...like some huge Venus Fly Trap.
The fact is that most r/c flyers,
at some time or other, will have to fight our way into The Great Green World of the Model Eaters
to find and fetch our babies. Drawing from the experiences of SAC Pilots, who’ve flown for decades,
we thought that some of our newer friends might like to share in our methods of retrieval.
Generally, the tools required in most situations include: a pair of rigid, lightweight poles, tipped
with a handkerchief or a bright bit of cloth, a military style compass and, some inexpensive “walkie-talkies.”
Height requirements for the poles differ, as we will mention shortly. In addition, a director and searcher(s)
are needed. The director’s job is to maintain visual contact with the searchers and to guide them toward the
downed aircraft, whether by flag or radio.
The first actions taken when a plane goes down is for the pilot to: 1) Take a visual bearing of direction and
distance. 2) Turn off the radio and place it on the ground with the antenna pointed as accurately as possible
in the direction where the plane went out of sight. 3) Let other flyers know that the plane is down. When
someone brings out the compass, a reading can be taken on the direction indicated by the antenna. Visual
sightings of spectators may also be used to better refine the location of the crash site.
Maynard Spicer Sights in with the compass
If the height of the vegetation between the pilot’s position and the crash site is below shoulder level,
two poles, around eight feet high, should be sufficient. In such cases, no radios are required. The director
guides the searchers by moving his flag as shown by the stick figures below:
If it’s a tall cornfield that must be searched, then at least two people should go together;
one uses the walkie-talkie and the compass, the other, carries the longest pole available that’s
light enough to carry. We use a bamboo pole about fifteen feet high, topped with a two foot square
white plastic sheet. The director of the search party needs no pole; the searchers will not see much
more than cornstalks once they’ve entered the stuff.
The director (who has a compass or a good sense of direction) is perched high enough to see the searcher’s
flag above the corn. Noting the position of the flag and the direction of the crash site, the director may
successfully bring them to the spot with simple; “bear right” or, “come back this way” instructions. However,
it is easier to send searchers in the right direction when they too have a compass in their possession... and
are given good compass bearings to follow.
Some words of caution; those of us in delicate health or advanced age should not
venture into crop fields. Crossing a Soybean field can be as taxing as wading through a snow bank and cornfields,
like fighting your way through a dense, claustrophobic forest. Crop fields retain heat and moisture. On a hot day,
after a rain or watering, the air is hard to breathe and combined with the muddy ground; it can feel very much like
tropical jungle. For these reasons, even wise and healthy younger flyers avoid venturing out there alone. Oh, yes;
if you’re out flying alone and your plane should go down in a crop field, leave your radio, with the antenna extended
and pointed in the direction you’re heading. In that way, a later-arriving club member will know where you should be.
Just as we use mufflers on our engines to keep peace with the people who live nearby, so too should we respect
the farmer’s property. Crops that are trampled or broken represent a financial loss to the farmer. Taking care in the
way we cross the fields, following rows whenever possible, will minimize such damage. Farmers that aren’t used to having
model airplane pilots trekking through their tracts might take stronger exception to our trespass. Asking permission
before walking into his fields is always a good idea.
Good luck. We hope that your plane is found quickly...and undamaged!
To send the author a note click here
Jerry Sciortino
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