Dumbthumbs and Duraplanes

by Mark
(Coulterville Il)

I own several Duraplanes, they are tough but very breakable. Coming in for a landing I was bringing it in toward me and made a rookie mistake; a gust of wind had blown my bird off the center of the runway, and when I went to correct I forgot that left is right and vice-versa when it's coming at you!
I wanted to correct to the left but dumbthumbs set in and I corrected right, right into a tree that had just shown up, putting it right into the very top!
With no apparent damage I got my ladder out but it would not reach so I got a rake handle and knocked it out of the tree and it managed to hit EVERY branch on the way down and busted on impact with the ground... serious damage!

My buddy has a saying the chances of you doing something stupid with your plane increase with the amount of people watching you fly! My wife, kids, buddies and even the dog were very entertained that day; not so much by the crash
but the recovery effort that followed!

The lesson here is to remember that the rudder and the ailerons are reversed when the plane is coming at you on final approach - make sure you know this! It's embarrasing to have a good flight and blow it on the landing!