[SFDXA] The case of the flying antenna

[Bill Dzurilla]

Have you ever seen a telescopic mast that is raised and lowered pneumatically, with a bicycle pump or compressor?  Have you ever seen an entire mast and antenna fly into the air?  This summer at OM3BD, I am using a Russian military Magirus pneumatic mast. To fix a problem, one brave guy climbed up the mast while a compressor was pumping 
air into the Magirus. He fixed my 
problem, but apparently a tremendous amount of air pressure 
had built up while he was on the mast, because as soon as he jumped off, there was a loud explosion and the Magirus and yagi flew into the air 
like a rocket.  Fortunately, no injuries.  

See photos and full story at  http://qsl.net/nz5n/OM3BD2013.htm 

73, Bill NZ5N/OM3BD