Hi frogman. My wife's name was Carmela. And she would be honored to ride along with you.
Just a bit of levity with a biking experience I had. A few years ago when I lived and worked in Ohio I used to ride my bike to work each day the weather permitted. Well, there was a Duncan Donuts shop on my way and I stopped to pick up a milk and a muffin. I didn't want the muffin to get smashed in the bags I had on the bike so I carried the milk and muffin sack holding on to it in my right hand as I gripped the handle bars. I think you know what's coming.
The sidewalk takes a downhill slope from the shop and then goes around a corner to work. I hit a bad bump in the sidewalk and it pitched the rear wheel into the air. I went for the brake with the only free hand I had. The left. That is the front brake. I know, bicycle 101. I ended up with the bike being flung over my head and me and everything else all over the street. I was mildly injured but otherwise ok. I can laugh about it now because it was such an innocent mistake.

RC aviation was a God send to me while my wife was ill. Without it and my dear friends at the field it would have been much more difficult. I hope they are the same for all of you.


Donald.

No Problem Planepainter. I will add her name to the list. It's just my way of giving back since I haven't had to personally fight the disease and hope I never do. I want to help those that are and did just a little.

And that biking thing....well I don't commute with my bike since I work from home. It's mostly fitness and I ride a hardcore road bike built for speed so I probably won't make the mistake of stopping for donuts. My biggest fear is an intersection and stupid drivers.

I can see how RC is therapeutic for many. It has been for me as well just not for health reasons...it's been sanity for me. I'm a video producer with my own little company and this year it has become really small....meaning I have very little work going on. Money is super tight and the stress of not knowing when I will have income takes a toll mentally on a guy. I go fly what I do have whenever I can to forget about it for a few minutes. The hard part for me is people always recommend this or that to make things better....that's fine if you have money to buy it. I have been trading and selling stuff to keep my favorite setups in the air. I just pray everytime I fly I don't break something that will cost major bucks to repair. I grew up around planes so this RC stuff is my way of flying even though I'm not in a cockpit.

Hey this thread has been seriously derailed but I don't care and since I'm the original poster I won't force it back on track...other than to say since I won a motor for my glider saturday and traded a 3D foamy setup for an ESC and possibly a few 4S batteries I can't wait to get it all installed so I can climb better and find better thermals. There....we are kinda back on track.

Thanks guys, I guess it helps just to talk about it. My wife, Brenda, is a very strong person and the Doc says she is doing well but she doesn't think so, so we'll see. I think the chemo is making her moody, along with the hair loss and being tired all the time.
Good luck with your gliders. They are absolutely amazing to see them climb with no motor or the motor stopped. Thermals are incredible devices, especially if you can experience them firsthand in a full size sailplane.

Randy

There is just something so gratifying to locate a thermal and start to "core" the thing and watch the plane climb. Whether electric or not it is just great to soar with the birds. Most of the time the buzzards don't even care that I am sharing the same thermal. Indeed, my plane has attracted birds while I have been in the thermal. Sometimes the problem is getting it to come back down especially if you don't have spoilers. I find that the problem of duration is usually not with the plane as much as how long I can go without a bathroom break.
It is an amusing thing to be in a good thermal and watch all of my soaring friends fly their planes from all over the sky to get to the same spot before the bubble drifts away. That is when a plane with good range ability comes in handy.



PP