Dangerous Cattle and Signal Loss

...pondering the cause of so few landings

At work, I did a web search on the dangers of cattle, and you may be surprised at the results, Agriculture is regarded as a dangerous occupation, with cattle being the second highest cause of injury, second only to farm implements. The article read that encounters with cattle might lead to minor injuries such as broken bones or more serious maladies such as punctured organs or broken neck. Two things became immediately apparent - these people had a fundamentally different perspective on the seriousness of various injuries, and I was definitely not going to be foraging for my plane in the midst of a herd of devil cows.

Nontheless I could not relinquish the Floater so vapidly, so I determined to return during my lunch break and reassess the situation. In the meantime I had opportunity to ponder what had happened that morning and, so it now seemed, also on the Floater second maiden flight. However it must be said that disorientation, although not responsible in these cases, is remarkably easy to suffer from and can be very difficult to recover from.

It seemed certain that there really was a signal-loss issue, as opposed to ignorance or gross incompetence, so I set about considering what should be done. There were several potential root causes. For now I discounted the transmitter - although budget basic it's new and the only "reputable" brand item I have (boxed with the flight simulator).

The second was the speed controller, a unit supplied with the Phoenix and, judging by reviews I'd read, a potential candidate. Speed controllers also supply power to the receiver, so it stands to reason that a dodgy power supply would equate to interrupted reception.

The final suspect was the receiver, a budget unit bought online. However this unit had the facility to connect a satellite receiver which could be a possible solution. As I happened to have a spare satellite receiver sitting around I decided to go this route. For now, however, I decided to return to the flying filed during my lunch break and hope that some miracle might happen to allow me to retrieve the Floater without flouting with death.

Arriving at the field, now bathed in sunshine, I was amazed to see the paddocks devoid of any cattle whatsoever. Amazing! Looking around I spied a hillock perhaps half a kilometre away, now dotted with the black forms of grazing cattle. How good was that. Wasting no time I hopped through the fence and dashed off in the direction where the Floater was last seen heading. Having got about halfway I easily spied a white wingtip above the grass - a definite bonus of having a large foam aircraft is they are so easy to spot.

A quick look around confirmed the cattle had not returned, although my behaviour was being anxiously observed by the resident kangaroos who, upright and with ears pricked, weren't going to let down their guard until I was well away. So, before the cattle decided to return and to allow the kangaroos to return to their lunch in peace, I turned towards the fence and headed for the car...