Scary story, Johathan.Â* Glad it worked out OK, but it's always best to
stay with the aircraft in a survival situation.Â* I'll bet you know that now!

On 4/3/2020 2:47 PM, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
On Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at 8:16:34 PM UTC-7, Steve Bralla wrote:
On Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 3:46:26 PM UTC-7, Bob Youngblood wrote:
What a surprise, just today my son brought me a great gift to fight off the flaming liberals at the gliderport. It is a Bulgarian AK47 with 2000 rounds of ammunition. Thank god that I raised this kid correctly, educated him and he achieved the status of a Structural Engineer, PE.
He advised me to be careful of the soft trigger, and he told me to take it with me at all times to fend off all the flaming liberals even at the gliderport. I told him not to worry, I carry two pistols in the 27 and Eileen has one in the 24. Nothing like a family of glider pilots being well prepared for the Flaming Liberals.
I was hoping to make plans to fly around Lake Okeechobee again this week, but the weather is not in my favor. I have never smelt anything better than Hoppy,s # 9 gun oil or flew better that a ASW. Bob
I stated flying XC 40 years ago in SoCal in hang gliders and now in sailplanes. I can't think of a time that I thought I needed a gun when I landed out. I don't care if you have a gun but wonder about your need to brag about it. Is that like the guys with the 4x4s with the big and stupid tires with small hands?
I also wonder about your need to have guns to defeat the "flaming" liberals at your gliderport. Can't beat them with ideas? We have both libs and cons where I fly, no guns needed. We all like beer.
I started to fly XC 30 years ago and have never even considered being armed in a glider, at a gliderport, or really anywhere for that matter. However, there was on time in a flying career that spans many thousands of hours over many types of aircraft that it might have been nice to have a gun, but I had the training and experience to be safe without one. Right at sunset, I had a NiCad battery run away in an MD520N helicopter in the backcountry. Had to do an E-landing in a deep ravine at sunset. Thought I was prepared for this and the biggest mistake of all was among the 5 flashlights I had on board, not a single one could shine white light!!!! I was grounded and the fire had been contained to just the battery box. Didn't really have an emergency so I didn't want to trip the ELT. I started stumbling around in the dark, very dark, trying to find a place I could get cell coverage. Started to think maybe not a good idea with such limited visibility. Took stock of where I was and started moving back toward the helicopter when I notice a large cat was paralleling my course. I stopped, it stopped and sat. I started walking, that cat started walking. The cat has built in night vision, and switch blades on the end of every finger. In addition a cat has cat like reflexes. Yeah, I was fully aware now. I stood as tall as I could with arms out walked on toes at a steady pace back to bird and when I had to turn my back to open the open my skin was crawling. I have always owned a domestic cat and I know when you turn your back that is when they bite. It all worked out and I bought an STC Gel Cell battery.

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Dan, 5J