So, there I was, hanging like a Christmas tree ornament with my feet dangling

[Dave in Eugene]

So, there I was hanging like a Christmas tree ornament with my feet dangling 8 inches off the ground.  There was no way I was going to let go. Only seconds before I had noticed that the nose wheel was offset to one side not allowing clean entry into the gear recess.  So I had gently raise the nose kicked the tire into the correct position and in one unconscious moment taken a little peak underneath the fuselage to see if the angle was correct. I raised the fuselage just passed my normal lifting point. I heard the fuel sloshing to the back.  The nose started to rise to the heavens.  I grabbed the canard with both hands as a rose past my chin., Up, up it went.
 
My wife, only 15 feet away preparing our sleeping accommodations inside the tent, heard me calling her as my body swayed back and forth "Paam...Pam!  I could really use your help right now." From my tone of voice she knew something wasn't quite right and quickly assessed the circumstance, grabbed the nose of the aircraft and helped me ground it.
 
We were fortunate that we had the old football style wheel pants. Between my weight on the canard and the angle of the wheel pants in contact with the ground the full nose up experience was averted.
 
It's one thing to make a mistake like this in isolation. It's another to do it at the Arlington fly-In parked with no less than a dozen canard aircraft nearby. Joe Person, Tom Staggs, Dale Martin were quick to help me assess the damage to the wheel pant.  An aluminum mounting bracket had broken cleanly.  It was extracted, examined and then flown to an undisclosed location.  Joe Person fabricated and installed a new part before 10:30 AM the next day.  These guys are my heroes.  Not just because of their abilities but because of their generosity.
 
It was not long before I had heard several stories from other canard pilots of their experience watching their aircraft point skyward.  Most experiences and with broken propellers, bruised egos and fiberglass repair work to the back side of the aircraft.  One of the pilots consciously clocks his propeller such that it stops at the 3:00 and 9:00 position so that if this were to happen again at least he would not lose its propeller.
 
Unanimously everyone has had this experienced was taken aback about how quickly it occurred.
 
I wouldn't have guessed how quickly it went out of balance and that it could lift a 180 pound man off the ground and keep him hanging there indefinitely.

Thanks for the help boys (and girl).


Arlington was a blast.  Hundreds of aircraft, amazingly aerobatic demonstrations including aircraft doing aerobatic routines at night with fireworks attached to them.. .  Something Pam and I have never seen before.

Dave

[Bruce Hughes]

I had to laugh on this.      

Years ago I let mine get away TWICE.   Those were a year apart.   
Seems like I would have learned the first time.

Amazing how much noise it makes and how many people come to check out the noise.

I never had the wheel pants on so the Longeze went all the way.

Cost me 20 minutes per day for 4 days to fix it using materials on hand.

The same week a twin Cessna owner backed his into his hangar and bent the elevator.
Cost him $800 for a used elevator, plus air freight, plus hiring an A & P to fix it.

Bruce

[Bill James]

So Senor Jose gets to play MacGyver again! I hear that he can gnaw out a new bracket with his teeth   

[Joe Person]

Only if said bracket is made from dead soft 1100 Aluminum (which is what I made Dave's replacement bracket from...)  Kidding, of course, about the use of 1100 Aluminum.