Amoeba
RCTalk Addict
So today I'm out playing with my Redcat Monsoon. You know, the "cheap" "weak" brand that some people give me crap about. I realized I was running it too rich since the SH .28 temp never got above 200, which was still too low even with it being 40F outside. So I leaned it out slowly and tweaked a few needle settings and finally found the sweet spot and my GOD, this thing hauls ass now.
There I am, hauling ass and having entirely too much fun doing flyby passes near where I'm parked and the Monsoon comes screaming down the lane WOT and about 20ft from my car it hits a small bump, catches some air, and tilts off the line... and heads straight for me. I dive out the way and, just as I start to congratulate myself on my cat-like reflexes, I remember that I was standing in front of my Mazda. I frantically push on the brakes but this thing isn't stopping in the 5ft remaining gap. This is going to be a Bad Thing.
The Monsoon slams into my front bumper and plows completely under the car with a sickening *whump*... as if someone hit a watermelon with a hammer. I squeal like a little girl and run to see how bad the damage is and how many pieces I can recover.
Hrm, the engine is still running. Okay, at least the mill isn't totally dead. Uh, I can't pull it out, it's really stuck under there... and I can't reach the pipe or fuel line or anything to shut it down. I can't move the car without dragging the Monsoon, I mean this truggy is trying to become one with the Force if you catch my drift. After analyzing the situation with my amazing engineering skills I see that I'm going to have to jack my car up to get this mess sorted out.
I get the car jacked up like I'm manning the pit crew at Daytona and pull out the Monsoon to see just how expensive a screw-up this is going to be. The front end should be complete toast. I'm bracing myself for bits and pieces of Redcat gibbets everywhere. I see I lost a front body pin and there's a slight scratch on the left front quarter panel of the lexan. Flexible stuff that lexan. I pop the body off to see how bad this nightmare is going to be and... there is no other damage.
That can't be right. I turn off the engine (which was still humming along, idling merrily) and look closer. Tower is fine. Ditto the arms, steering linkages, servo, and everything else. There. is. no. damage. WTF!?
I check under the Mazda to admire the deep gouge left in the dirt by the Monsoon as it tried to burrow into the undercarriage and that's when I notice that my Mazda's bumper mud guard is cracked and a bumper retaining bolt is sheared off. I also find my Monsoon's lost body pin embedded in the bumper like some kind of retarded Ninja throwing star. The physics behind how that could possibly happen make my head hurt.
So instead of $100+ of Monsoon replacement parts and fix-up I'm looking at $150 in parts & work to fix the Mazda. Somehow I'm inordinately pleased by this and can't stop grinning. I ran a couple more tanks on the Monsoon giggling to myself while leaning against my Mazda, jack in place, front wheel still in the air. Yup, the Monsoon is just dandy.
RC of Steel, Mazda of Kleenex.
There I am, hauling ass and having entirely too much fun doing flyby passes near where I'm parked and the Monsoon comes screaming down the lane WOT and about 20ft from my car it hits a small bump, catches some air, and tilts off the line... and heads straight for me. I dive out the way and, just as I start to congratulate myself on my cat-like reflexes, I remember that I was standing in front of my Mazda. I frantically push on the brakes but this thing isn't stopping in the 5ft remaining gap. This is going to be a Bad Thing.
The Monsoon slams into my front bumper and plows completely under the car with a sickening *whump*... as if someone hit a watermelon with a hammer. I squeal like a little girl and run to see how bad the damage is and how many pieces I can recover.
Hrm, the engine is still running. Okay, at least the mill isn't totally dead. Uh, I can't pull it out, it's really stuck under there... and I can't reach the pipe or fuel line or anything to shut it down. I can't move the car without dragging the Monsoon, I mean this truggy is trying to become one with the Force if you catch my drift. After analyzing the situation with my amazing engineering skills I see that I'm going to have to jack my car up to get this mess sorted out.
I get the car jacked up like I'm manning the pit crew at Daytona and pull out the Monsoon to see just how expensive a screw-up this is going to be. The front end should be complete toast. I'm bracing myself for bits and pieces of Redcat gibbets everywhere. I see I lost a front body pin and there's a slight scratch on the left front quarter panel of the lexan. Flexible stuff that lexan. I pop the body off to see how bad this nightmare is going to be and... there is no other damage.
That can't be right. I turn off the engine (which was still humming along, idling merrily) and look closer. Tower is fine. Ditto the arms, steering linkages, servo, and everything else. There. is. no. damage. WTF!?
I check under the Mazda to admire the deep gouge left in the dirt by the Monsoon as it tried to burrow into the undercarriage and that's when I notice that my Mazda's bumper mud guard is cracked and a bumper retaining bolt is sheared off. I also find my Monsoon's lost body pin embedded in the bumper like some kind of retarded Ninja throwing star. The physics behind how that could possibly happen make my head hurt.
So instead of $100+ of Monsoon replacement parts and fix-up I'm looking at $150 in parts & work to fix the Mazda. Somehow I'm inordinately pleased by this and can't stop grinning. I ran a couple more tanks on the Monsoon giggling to myself while leaning against my Mazda, jack in place, front wheel still in the air. Yup, the Monsoon is just dandy.
RC of Steel, Mazda of Kleenex.
