Disaster strikes!!!

[Gary Brantley]

Although the "between-the-wars" period is one of my favorite eras of flight, I have only one completed build of that type. It's the old Impact/Lindberg Hawker Fury Mk I that I completed 20 years ago at least. I had never been satisfied with the radio aerial wires and removed them some time ago, planning to redo them at some point. I have only a handful of digital pics of this bird, taken with our first digital camera, a 2.1 megapixel Sony. These are all I have:







I had worked on the aerials several months ago, and came so close to fixing them satisfactorily but just at the end of the project, things came apart. Frustrated but not undone, I decided to put the Fury aside and finish it later. It sat beneath some shelves in my study, under a plastic-wrap "tarp". I knew the model was somewhat vulnerable where it sat but still I didn't put it back in the display cabinet, as I should have...

Last Sunday, I stood before the shelves above the Fury and for some reason known only to myself, decided to rearrange some new car model boxes. It happened so fast. The car model box, quite a heavy little package as it's a totally resin kit, slipped from my fingers. It fell directly upon the Fury. Oh sh*t, I exclaimed, already suspecting the worse. It could have been worse too. Every piece of rigging wire was knocked off and one leg of the starboard strut was severed. A few attachment points for the other struts were also loosened.







You know, what made it all worse was the fact that I could've so easily prevented the catastrophe by simply keeping her safe and sound in the display. Why, oh why, had I been so stupid!?!?! The dislodged rigging was mostly found in the bottom of the box that supported the plane, and I did find the strut piece as well. I do believe it can be repaired but it won't be easy. My eyes and hands are not as steady as they were when it was first built. I haven't even had the heart to take the wires out of that box:



Here's the kit that fell and caused the damage:



And here you can see how far it fell:



Maybe I'll eventually cobble it back together. I've been home with the flu all damned week, missing five days of school! And I still don't feel worth a tinker's damn. I have been giving some thought about the best way to restore/rehab the plane and the commodity that I'll need most will undoubtedly be patience. I guess it's a testament to the strength of the little bi-plane that there was so little structural damage. Please let my folly be a lesson for everyone; I wish I had heeded the little voice inside my head. Please wish we luck!
Gary

[BlackSheep214]

Ouch! I hope you will be able to fix her soon. We've all had incidents like yours happen at one point of our lives or another. Mine was a bit different than yours. Remember back in the 80s when the Budweiser wagon train with the Clydesdale horses kit? When I was a kid, I spent hours and hours building that monster. Once it was finally finished, I had it on display on a shelving in the living/dining room at my home.

One day while my mom was dusting (she did housework every single day - the same damn chores EVERY. SINGLE, DAY!) and she decided that shelving needed dusting. When she went to put it back on the shelf... yeah... you know what happened next... CRASH!!!!!!!

I was still in school when that happened but when I came home and saw the mangled mess on my bed in a box, I flipped!!! I did what I could but it wasn't the same. Eventually, I ended up tossing it in the trash. Oh yeah, I didn't speak to mom for a week after that. LOL! I wouldn't mind doing another one like it now.

[CallSignOWL]

awww man! I hate when something like this happens!

[LyleW]

I feel your pain. More importantly, you get to feeling better. Then fix it bit by bit. You can do it.

[KSaarni]

Oh no, so bad luck!

She was, but still is, even if a little bit crippled, a beautiful plane !


- Kari

[Tojo72]

Ouch......something like that hurts the heart for sure.

just two weeks ago I was working on my Tunisian Tiger,my wash badly affected my basecoat.I wanted to cry,I boxed it up and put it away.I recieved lotsa suggestions,but I can't look at it for now.

[Gary Brantley]

Thanks for the kind and sympathetic comments folks! Yeah, I felt so bad when I realized what had happened; it was a sudden shock, for the plane and for me.

Tojo, I hear ya man. I wanted to cry too, and I still haven't "looked" at her too much.

[Thomas_M]

Tex, first take care of yourself. Time will come when you have recovered to have another look at the Fury. She won´t go anywhere as long as you feel sick.
Then, maybe try some of those elastic rigging threads to replace the wires. Take your time, buddy!

[Duke Maddog]

Tex, I feel your pain as I've had numerous incidences like this. I am stunned at seeing just how much of this little plane survived. Way to go on building her so well all those years ago. You are a tremendous model builder if that plane survived that so well. Get yourself healthy again and when you are feeling better; things might not look so bad. From here, that looks eminently fixable.

Blacksheep, I have Budweiser Beer Wagon with Clydesdales in the stash. I do need to bring that out and start it someday soon. Thanks for reminding me I have it.

[Gary Brantley]

Tex, first take care of yourself. Time will come when you have recovered to have another look at the Fury. She won´t go anywhere as long as you feel sick.
Then, maybe try some of those elastic rigging threads to replace the wires. Take your time, buddy!

Thanks for the encouragement Thomas! And, for the suggestion as well. I may need a lot of both!!
Gary