Since I also fly Radio Control Gliders, I subscribe to The Radio Control
Soaring Exchange. I thought this might be interesting and amusing
reading, even though some of these Radio Control planes can cost over
$1000.00. Ouch!

I had a Osprey attack one of my planes, fortunately I was able to out
maneuver it.

Jerry Converse
Grand Coulee, WA

Subject:
Red Tail Terror!
Date:
Sat, 08 Aug 1998 21:38:12 -0700
From:
Doug Blackburn/CrashMaster <annblack at sprynet.com>
Organization:
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/annblack
To:
silentflyer at uswest.net, wavahoo at uswest.net,
cmaas at powerparagon.com, ISR at compuserve.com

O.K. guys,
Befotre any of you get cranked up and say I am full of it, this time
there were three people watching.

Today a gentleman by the name of Dino showed up to fly with Mike

Wofford and myself. Dino had been up for a while and wanted to go grab a

sandwich before he started flying so Mike accomodated him and took him
to a sandwich shop. I went to the flying spot, put my Spirit 2m
together, range checked and tossed her out. After about five minutes I
noticed a red tail moving in about a thousand feet higher than I, so I
thought nothing of it. They are out there most of the time when we go
flying and will check us out, and oooooocasionally will come down and
bop the glider then leave never to bothered again. Today was different.
The last couple of weeks Mike and I have been flying we noticed two
hawks flying in tandem. I think they have parted ways after seeing what
happened today. As I was flying, Mike and Dino, and Dino's Marina drove
up. The red tail started really coming after my Spirit. I literally
needed to dive and turn to stay away from him. This went on for about
ten minutes and then it appeared as if the red tail was gone. He had
flown off with wings tucked and I lost site of him over the back side of

the hill. Usually when they are around, one of us will keep on eye out
for them just in case they decide to come after us. Typically a dive and

turn at the same time will get the plane out of harms way, today it did
not work. I was just coming out of a gentle left bank and heading back
out into the lift zone when all of a sudden Mister Red Tail came out of
nowhere and I honestly say he was going so fast that even after hitting
my plane, he was a blurr as he retreated. I yelled He nailed me, and
just as Mike, Dino and his wife looked up, you could see something from
my plane fluttering away with the breeze back torward the hill. I gave
input to the crippled Spirit and it went down to the earth straight as
an arrow with a sickening crunch.

It was about 250' up when it was hit. The hawks were circling
above
screeching as if they had just drawn first blood, (or should we say
monocote), and when I found the plane and started carry-ing it back up
the slope, they left. Interesting thing about the Spirit. The only part
of the plane that I had not crunched in previous crashes, was the left
side of horizontal stab. It was gone clean as was the left side of the
elevator. I can only guess that the Red Tail hit that part of the plane
and snapped, or tore it off with his talons. Anyway, the fuse was broke
in two from the impact, but the wings that I had repaired just last
weekend were all in one piece. The monocote was streesed a bit and
cracked in a few spots, but the wing suffered no damage from the impact.

Part two: Later I was flying the Highlander that belonged to
Dino, and
the hawks returend. They never bothered Mike or Dino, but as soon as I
took the controls they were back. This time they were literally pursuing

me. I was doing hard bank roll overs and pulling full up when inverted
to go the other way and they were chasing me down. I brought in the
Highlander and then they started gooing after each other. If it was'nt
for the three witneses there I would not have a leg to stand on, or is
it a wing to fly with? Anyway, that's what happened, and that's all I
have to say about that!

Doug Blackburn, Running Springs Ca.