President’s Perspective - 2004/05
Dave Brown, AMA President
Prepare for those emergencies, and hopefully they will not become disasters.
By the time you read this, the flying season will be here in most of the country. (You people in Florida and California, you can point fingers and laugh, but you still need to listen up.)
I know some clubs that hold an official opening day, somewhat like the tradition in baseball. It's enjoyable and can accentuate the beginning of a new season of fun.
Obviously, your flying site will have to be brought up to speed after the ravages of winter have taken their toll. Ironically, this will be a bigger project if you have continued to fly most of the winter.
The opening-day ritual gives the club some motivation to get the field into pristine condition because it is generally an event that involves families. In some clubs, it is the day with the greatest attendance at the field. Opening day offers a chance to see friends you may not have seen for a few months, hold a cookout, do some flying, or show off that winter project.
Field safety walk-around
Before opening day, the most important thing you can do at your flying field is a safety walk-around. What is a safety walk-around? That's simple. It's a slow stroll around the field, looking for anything that could become a safety hazard.
There are always the obvious things such as a broken hinge on the gate, a tree limb resting precariously on the roof of the clubhouse, or the gap in the flightline fence that you cut last fall to drive the maintenance vehicle onto the runway. All of those are important and should receive attention.
This walk-around—which can involve people who don't even fly, as sometimes they will see things the modelers are so accustomed to seeing that they miss—should also focus on less obvious things such as holes into which people can step or a dead tree that is just waiting to fall.
Pay particular attention to checking emergency-response equipment: ensure a first-aid kit is available and filled, and check that fire extinguishers are where they should be and in working order.
Emergency contact information
One thing I am personally critical of is whether emergency contact information is on the bulletin board or somewhere quickly available in an emergency.
What kind of information should be available?
- Location of the closest telephone (in case there are no cellular phones on the field when that need arises).
- Telephone numbers for all types of emergency services: police, fire department, ambulance service, and any other local emergency numbers.
- Location of the nearest hospital and a map to it.
- The specific location of the flying field (address and any identifying details). Many modelers know how to get to the field from home, but may not be able to quickly tell a 911 operator their location.
- Latitude and longitude of the field to help an emergency helicopter find you if needed.
It's a good idea to visit the local fire and police departments to make sure they are aware of your location and to help you define that location to other emergency services.
I saw a clever idea at a club awhile back. They had all of the necessary information on the bulletin board and had added a smaller, easily removable plaque with the same information on it. The idea was that whoever went for help would have all of the information available when they got to the telephone. Pretty clever!
Reducing accidents and claims
I have been reviewing the claims we receive each month and have noticed a couple of items that could noticeably reduce the number of accidents. First, understand that there are medical claims where we hurt ourselves, and liability claims in which we hurt someone else—including other modelers.
It should be obvious to most people that many medical claims involve propellers. While not unexpected, I have been surprised to see how many accidents happen when a modeler starts his model without anyone else holding it. It is obvious that you should have another person holding the model, but apparently some don't realize just how important this is.
Believe it or not, some people start their 1/4-scale models without anyone or anything holding them back. When starting any model larger than 1/2A, don't do it without some form of restraint. This can be someone holding it or a mechanical restraint, but have something holding the model. The larger the model, the more important this is.
Along with this, always adjust an engine with your entire body behind the arc of the propeller—this typically means behind the wing. Following these two precautions would substantially reduce many medical claims.
Field layout and pilot separation
Look in the current edition of the Membership Manual (http://www.modelaircraft.org/templates/ama/PDF-files/manual0043.pdf) for the suggested flying-field layout. Keep in mind that these are "minimum" recommendations; try to tailor your field to fit as closely as you can.
Of particular importance is the separation between the near edge of the runway and the pilot stations. That specified 25-foot distance can serve to avoid many accidents.
A number of accidents involve models veering off the runway on both takeoff and landing and hitting other modelers on the flightline. Having a specified distance between models and people will serve as a reminder when you are too close.
Even if you cannot adopt all of the suggestions in the recommended field layout, this is one you should make every effort to adopt. Could we mandate it with additions to the rules? Yes, we could—and we might in the future—but every rule of this sort will cause the loss of some flying sites.
There may be alternative ways to achieve a comparable level of safety, such as full-height barriers, netting, or other methods. But if you do not have a method to protect the pilots and the public, you should plan on the specified 25 feet. The accident you prevent might be the one you are involved in—either as the pilot or as the victim!
Till next month, fly safely.
Dave Brown AMA President [email protected] May
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
