CHAPEL HILL — April 20, 1996, 4:27 p.m. EDT What goes up must come down, but in the case of airplanes that is best when done intact. But an Apex pilot counts himself lucky that while his homebuilt plane didn't come down intact Saturday, he did.

Bobby Cox was flying his aerobatic plane over Orange County this morning when he lost control. The red plane came down upright in a field, after tumbling across the ground.

Henry Webster, who was in a nearby field, said Cox said that although the motor was still running, he lost control of the plane. "He said it just wouldn't raise up," Webster said.

Cox was taken to UNC Hospitals where he was treated for a bruised knee and then released.

Cox was on his way to Virginia when the accident occurred