I attended the Weak Signals’ Toledo
Show, and a feature of that event is the
Electric Tournament of Champions held at
a nearby indoor site on Saturday evening.
The buzz throughout the hall on Sunday
was about the winner of this year’s event
who used reverse pitch to allow hovering
the model nose down—a new twist on a
trick that has become old hat. That got
peoples’ attention, once again raising the
bar.
I’m sure it won’t be too long before
someone is trying to duplicate that
maneuver with a gas model outdoors. The
need for a thrill is so powerful that it can
overthrow other instincts. A crash can
reduce the need for doing the extreme, but
it is usually a temporary cure for the need
for excitement.
The desire for a thrill is human nature,
and we will not be able to overcome that
instinct. We must deal with it. Occasionally
someone develops the skill and the
confidence to attempt tricks in places or
circumstances which can create an
unreasonable risk to others, and that
threatens our activity. Demonstrating our
skills and bravery are a normal part of
being human, and we will never evolve
beyond that instinct but we do have to
handle it in a reasonable way.
None of us is immune from this
syndrome, and anyone who says he or she
has never done something dumb with a
model airplane to show off is lacking in
memory. We have all done something that
we wish we hadn’t done, and most often
we have gotten away with that
transgression.
Tempting fate is a part of aeromodeling;
we need to tempt fate wisely. I can tell you
from experience that this is not a situation
WOULD YOU DESCRIBE yourself as a
risk taker? I doubt if very many of us
would describe ourselves that way. When
I think of being a risk taker in today’s
context, I think of the X Games or
extreme sports such as street luge and
competitive skateboarding.
In that context of personal, physical
risk, we are not risk takers, but how many
of us have heard someone say we are
crazy for actually flying our models?
Have you ever heard someone say, “If I
put that much time or money into a model,
I’d be afraid to fly it” to you? If you have
flown for very long—even only two or
three weeks—I’ll bet you have heard
someone say it.
Most of the rest of society would say
we are slightly nuts, spending hours
building a model only to risk destroying
the aircraft by flying it. I never heard that
said about model railroading.
The bottom line is that we are risk
takers. We need to accept that fact and
deal with our own makeup. The difference
between our activity and extreme sports is
that the risks in those activities are
primarily—but not limited—to the
participant; our activity involves little risk
to the physical well-being of the pilot, but
a crash can deal a gut-wrenching
psychological blow.
It’s easy to become lulled into a feeling
of invincibility when the risks are not to
us but to our models and to others. For
many of us, the “risk” becomes somewhat
addictive and we become more daring in
order to get a “fix.” We need that thrill,
and we will go to great ends to get it.
Another way we get our thrills is to
take these risks in front of a crowd of our
peers. How often have you seen someone
make a low pass and heard the other
modelers yell “lower” to the pilot? The
most skilled ones fly lower than the mere
mortals among us, enhancing their status.
We have improved the technology of our
equipment, and today’s models are
capable of doing things thought to be
impossible in the past, creating new risks
as well as thrills.
Dave Brown AMA president
President’s Perspective
June 2005 5
that becomes easier to resist when one
becomes a top-level pilot. I was a
National Champion and World
Champion medalist, and I have done a
few things that I shouldn’t have done.
Sometimes those we look up to in
terms of skill level can do things they
shouldn’t, and it is difficult to step up
and say anything. It’s difficult, but we
must be willing to do it. If we allow
anyone to do things that threaten the
safety of others, we risk that individual
being responsible for the loss of our
sport.
We must be willing to speak up and
put a stop to the activity that creates a
threat. If you feel funny speaking to the
modeler involved in the dangerous
activity, then talk to the other modelers
around you. If they also express concern,
then address the situation as a group.
Sometimes it’s easier for a group to
address a problem than an individual.
My experience has been that usually
the person involved in the disquieting
activity is willing to change the way he
or she is flying and may not even realize
that the activity is of concern to other
modelers.
Likewise, those who are the best
pilots—those who are looked up to—
need to be careful to set a good example
for those with less-developed skills. They
must ensure that what they do would not
be dangerous to other people if a modeler
of less skill attempted it in the same
situation.
The gauge cannot be that the pilot
involved is skillful enough to pull off a
particular stunt without having an
accident. The test needs to be “would the
average ‘wannabe,’ attempting the same
stunt, create an unreasonable risk to other
people?”
We risk our models every time we fly
them, and as long as that is the limit of
the risk, we can accept that as a part of
aeromodeling. What we can’t accept is
spreading that risk to others by showing
off in a foolish way.
Til next month. MA
SINCE 1936
Dave Brown
AMA president
[email protected]
Would the average
“wannabe,” attempting
the same stunt, create
an unreasonable risk
to other people?
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/06
Page Numbers: 5