Half Moon Bay
Flew at Half Moon Bay with Bruce and, later, Mike. Arrived at about 9:30 a.m. Weather: cold (high about 50 degrees) and sunny, with some clouds. Light winds, very good flying. This was my fourth visit to the field, managed by Peninsula Channel Commanders.
Also there: Paul Lum, an excellent flyer, Charlie, 80+, who still flies, and Hans, a talker. With Hans was a friend whose name I don’t know. Neither Hans nor his friend flew. Hans brought his dog, Kiera, a miniature pinscher, and Mike was accompanied by his dog, Bradley, a Keeshond.
I flew the Easy Star, the yellow OverLord wing and my Stevens Aero modified Slow Stick. I was in the air nearly 120 minutes.
Unfortunately, I crashed the Slow Stick when I misjudged its altitude. Flew it right into a hill, breaking the fuselage, maybe more. Bruce and I hiked to get it.
Next flight, the Easy Star abruptly spiraled down, behind that same hill, near the ocean. Bruce, Mike and I looked for it and Bruce saw it on an inaccessible beach by the water, pieces strewn for 20 feet. “I caught glimpses of it being tossed in this really thick foam at the base of the cliffs,” Bruce wrote later. “It would disappear for awhile and I would pan around with the binocs and catch another glimpse. It was very wild and storm-tossed, 18th century romantic.”
Otherwise, an excellent day. Left after lunch, about 3 p.m.
Tags: Airplanes, Crashes, Flying, Half Moon Bay, PCC, Radio Control, Slow Stick.