It started with the discovery that someone I thought was a gentleman and a friend was really a bully. Turns out he reacts like this when he doesn't get his way, I am told... We had the Piratey Flag for the Pirate Squadron flying below the American flag. I came out of the clubhouse having done some solder work, and he acosted me in front of a large crowd, including Bob Miller (see below), asking me if that had been my Pirate flag. I said yes, and looked realizing he had used past tense. He told me I could find it in the garbage where it belongs and proceeded to berate me angrily for flying it. I pulled it out of the trash, a bit bewildered why it merited such a spirited yet childish reaction. I calmly though shocked asked him why I deserved to be treated this way, and that I thought him a reasonable man, and was bewildered by this very unreasonable action. I knew this was not the place for a confrontation, but am saddened that the other members present we're cowed by this man and said nothing. I folded it, put it away, and let it go without further challenge, apologizing for any offense ("Apology accepted!"). I was ashamed for Mr. Miller, who had not visited our field, his field, for many years. I let the bully be. A member of Mr. Miller's group told me moments later they thought I handled the situation well, noting "You can't let the bullies win." Even they knew the situation for what it was. Unfortunately, the bullies are winning... if I had done this to him, I would have been told to leave and never come back.
But, it was another day with flying conditions beyond belief! Cool temps, light breeze. And I did get to meet the Bob Miller, for whom our field was named in respect to his efforts in establishing it. He is retired and lives near his family in Dallas. It was nice to meet a legacy who has given us this great place to play.
I flew my entire hangar of aircraft today, sort of, if we don't count the Super Cub which Ron helped me troubleshoot today. We think we are getting close to solving whatever the problem is. He took it up as we tweaked it, and when we did get it off the ground I am glad he was at the controls as it was really unstable. He managed to get her back down. Made some tweaks, but ran into a battery problem. My 3S 1000 mAh battries, some of the oldest and highest cycled batteries in my locker, would charge, but not discharge fast enough. No power. So I ended up retiring them one by one today. On my way home I dropped them off in the recycle bin at Home Depot. A couple of "corrections" to make to the Cornell and Stearman, but other than that, the planes handled the day well. And so did the Pirate flag, which, being a gentleman I will no longer fly on the flag pole, but reserve the right to display on my bench! Avast ye bully, hands off me property!
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