Oops, Notes to self 4

[Lance Van Nostrand]

The unfamiliar faces at the field thought my Symphony was so cool.  It was blowing hard on Sunday, about 30 mph.  Most were standing around but I was flying.  The plane gathered attention, so much so that when I began to do some work on it (change a glow plug) the guys generously decided to shield me and my plane from the wind.  They took the steel topped, steel framed 8 foot table and laid it on its side as a wind screen.
   What nice guys I thought.  After the maintenence I stood up and talked about pattern.  Out of the corner of my eye I could see it happen.  The tables had been laid with the legs away from me and the plane.  In other words, on the upwind side.  it was all in slow motion.  the table began to roll over, I screamed and made some uncoordinated lunge toward it but I was too far away. 
   I guess the shattered plane stand and smashed canopy weren't able to slow the force of the table. But the fuse and engine held better than expected.  I now have stress cracks all over the nose of the plane and a piece of table in my Mintor head fins but it is not ruined.  Fill sand and paint can restore the beauty, but I don't have that many ounces to spare in a Nats plane.  
   Note to self: even well meaning people can make mistakes around pattern planes.  Do not ignore their gestures, no matter how considerate.
--Lance
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