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having trouble breathing. That's when I knew I had an emergency on my hands. I took control of the glider, released and made an emergency decent
Unknown to me, this student was allergic to bee stings! After a previous sting, his doctor had prescribed an EpiPen to administer an intramuscular dose of adrenaline. The student had brought the EpiPen with him, but it was locked in his car. By the time we had landed and come to a stop, he needed the adrenaline and he needed it now! Since he had never used it before (and wanted to do it himself so that he would know what to do in the future) he had to read the directions printed on the side. This was all the more challenging due to the difficulty he had just breathing. Good thing that stuff works fast!
Both of us learned valuable lessons that day. He learned to carry the EpiPen when he flies -- while flying hyped up on adrenaline isn't good, it's better than passing out! As for me, I learned to wait a few minutes after a bee sting to see if there's going to be a reaction.
My thoughts returned to the situation at hand when I heard Joe radio that he was on final. I radioed back that he might want to keep the towplane windows closed as he taxied by me. Looking out at the wings, I could see the bees forming groups about an inch in diameter all over the glider. Joe said that with all the spots the glider looked like a Dalmatian. Dave Annis braved the bees to hook me up. A quick glance to make sure everything was clear, a rudder wag and off I went, leaving the bees behind in the cloud of dust generated by the tow plane. This was one time I was glad to be rid of "passengers." Now I could concentrate on a normal flight.
Wouldn't you know it, about the time we were at 1500 AGL, a stow-away made his presence known by stinging me between the shoulder blades. He must have slipped in before I closed the canopy. Remembering the earlier instructional flight, I didn't want to wait to see if I was going to have a reaction. I released, and soon was back on the ground.
The bees now had now congregated on the nose of a 2-33, where they had formed a mass around the tow hook that was about 6 inches wide and 6 to 8 inches deep, extending from below the forward skid attachment almost up to the maneuvering handle. Gary Bushouse, Dennis Barnes, Dave, Joe, and I were all standing there watching this mass move back and forth in the wind, wondering what to do. I had my cell phone with me, so I called 911 to see if they knew whom to call about a swarm of bees. They referred me to the "Killer Bee Hotline," where I was told that bees migrate at this time of year. I should just leave them alone (duh!), as they probably would move on once the wind died down and it got warmer. However, if the bees were still there the following day, they probably were taking up residence.
The following day, Dave went out to find the bees were still there, and had set up housekeeping in the 2-33. So Dave called the Hotline, which sent a guy out from Palm Springs to take a look. You guessed it, they were in fact "Killer Bees." What's more, they had made their way into the glider through the gap around the tow hook. Dave helped remove panels from the glider as the "Bee Guy" used a special vacuum to remove the bees. After vacuuming up the Queen, the rest of the bees went without much of a fuss. Then the "Bee Guy" sprayed the plane with ammonia to cover the Queen's scent just in case he had missed a few stragglers.
The moral of this story is that you might encounter something totally unexpected while flying. If you know your options and have a plan laid out in advance, you have a better chance of handling the situation appropriately (remember the "Emergency" item on your pre-takeoff checklist?). If you know what to do even before you start your takeoff roll, you will save precious time in the air, and have more opportunity to deal with the problem at hand.
Mike Havener is the Vice President, Chief Flight Instructor, and an all around "Mover and Shaker" of the Lake Elsinore Soaring Club.
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