wisebob Senior Heliman Location: US
| To avoid any speculation and rumor about a pet Macaw hitting a T-Rex 450SE, here's the facts since it has generated interest so quickly from this thread in less than 24 hours from when it occurred (kind of shocking to me).
First see http://www.runryder.com/helicopter/t351011p1/ for background.
First of all, the owner of the bird occasionally brings her pet macaw to the state/AMA sanctioned model airplane field and lets it fly. I don't know the legality of this but I personally do not believe it is safe.
Anyhow, my friend (who is an excellent 3D pilot) was flying his T-Rex 450SE in the helicopter area. When I started my helicopter from the pit area to go to the flying area, I asked the owner of the bird whether or not it was safe for the bird since I saw it near my friend and I was going to go up with a bigger heli. She replied by saying that the bird was ok (I guess it had always avoided the models in the past).
Just about 15 seconds after I asked her, the bird went flying into the 450SE, got hit, and flew towards the mountains.
We (the pilots) felt very bad for the bird but we know it was not our fault. The T-Rex 450 broke of course. As for the cost of fixing the helicopter, my friend was nice enough to not pursue it. |