Well I might as well tell you about my first RTH event. It was with my Standard, and I was flying in 20 mph winds trying to get to the top of a mountain to video a cross up there. It was actually the very first long flight I attempted. I had not yet learned about the little Radar screen, and what the blue triangle meant. I took off and started for altitude. I had to get up to at least 400 feet to clear the mountain. Soon the wind decided to have its way with the flight path. I very soon lost control as the aircraft moved farther and farther downwind. It soon reach about 800 feet downwind at 300 feet of altitude, and I could not for the life of me figure out which way it was pointing to get it back home. It just kept going farther and farther away in crazy circles as I over controlled. It never even occurred to me to look at the **** screen. I panicked, and decided to just get it on the ground wherever it came down. It was flat desert land, so there were no trees or buildings. Just some big bushes. With my lack of experience, I did not realize that if I just got off the controls, it would hover in place. I actually started running in the direction of where I thought it would land. At my age, that was not an easy task. But I was in full panic mode. . By that time I had chased it about 600 feet from the Home Position. I was out of breath and could not go any more. At some point, I remembered the RTH button and hit it hard. Soon I looked up and saw my $500 toy going past me over my head. I thought, where in the Hell is it going now. I'm getting too old for this crap! I just started walking back to the truck with the controller dangling at the end of my arm. I lost sight of the aircraft and wondered if I would ever see it again. When I finally got back to the truck, and Home Position, there was my aircraft sitting on the ground waiting for me. I swear I heard it say, "What took you so long?" Now I always use the RTH feature when returning from long flights.
