HI EVERYONE! Thanks for checking out this month’s column. We
cover the coolest aspect of RC aviation. I am referring to helicopters.
This is the place where we cover all things rotary.
If you are new to the helicopter side of RC, you have an exciting
world of discovery ahead. It takes a long time to gain enough
knowledge and skill to control these machines. As experienced
helicopter pilots know, there will be many roadblocks to becoming a
successful flier.
How would you define a successful pilot? Would it mean that he
or she could fly a great 3-D routine? Or would you say a pilot who
can merely hover is successful? I think a successful pilot is one who
flies in a safe manner and can bring his or her helicopter back in one
piece.
A number of factory-sponsored pilots push their flights to the limit
all the time. They pay for those daring flights with a number of
crashes. When you get all your parts for free, the wrecks are not a big
deal. For the average pilot, frequent accidents take the fun out of the
hobby.
Crashes are a part of all RC aviation. Minimizing them is usually
the goal, but you must accept the fact that your pride and joy may not
return in the same condition as when it last took to the air.
Wrecks damage our egos but, more important, they can severely
injure people too. Personal-injury crashes are on the rise in the
helicopter segment of RC. Statistically, our hobby is safer than ever,
but there are more helicopters being flown than in past years. More
helicopters equals more accidents.
I ask everyone to take safety seriously. Most pilots are safe in their
routines at the flying field. We need to help newer pilots understand
the real dangers involved with our machines. Whether you are a new
pilot or a seasoned flier, please help when you can to keep things safe.
AMA member Jack Martin sent me a note of concern about safety.
The flying season is in full swing, which means more helicopters
will be in the air than at any other time of year. Jack is going to tell
us a little about himself and share his experience as his club’s
safety officer.
“I am 56, a former dealership car mechanic, and later an EMT
and paramedic in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now we live in Washougal,
Washington, as we followed my wife’s career to Portland, Oregon,
just across the river. I am now retired for medical reasons.
“My wife of 22 years and I have two grown boys. My interest in
aircraft started at age three. I built models as early as four years of
age, then balsa and tissue rubber band power at 10. I struggled with
RC at 23 and could barely afford a Sig Kadet airplane.
“Back in those days, I would dream of how cool it could be to
have RC helicopters or real turbine aircraft. It was really not even a
dream back then. Now we have all these neat electronics. Back then
a proportional radio was the big thing.
“I left the hobby for several years for a career and to raise a
family. I would drop in now and then, testing the helicopter waters
in 1987, but I was never able to get the hang of it. I jumped back in
with both feet in the year 2000, settling on scale aircraft in general,
particularly scale helicopters. My careers have taught to me to think
about what if such-and-such happens as a normal part of my
everyday life.
“I am Safety Coordinator at my field, a CD, turbine CD, and I
fly fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. I hold a rotary turbine
waiver. I have a very real concern about helicopter pilots in
general. I prefer helicopters, so I am not picking on the ‘species’ so
to speak.
“In the last eight months, two people that I know have been
severely injured/maimed by helicopters. In both instances the pilots
fortunately had time to get at least one, if not both hands up to
protect their heads. These could have been killers. One was a true
accident, the other a mental lapse by the pilot.
“I have noticed that helicopter pilots in general have a very
dangerous tendency to be close to their helicopter while it is spooling/
spooled up. Things can happen so very fast with a helicopter.
“As a group, RC pilots tend to not consider the possibilities of
‘what if?’ This, along with being too close to the aircraft, is a
recipe for a severe injury. Those spinning things on the airplanes
may be at a faster RPM, and are just as terribly dangerous, but
other than starting and such, the spinning thing is way far away.
This is not so with helicopter pilots.
“I frequently have seen pilots spool up to ungodly speeds less
than 10 feet from themselves. I had to speak to a gentleman at my
field one day because I just could not watch him hover a .90-size
helicopter with the blades only three feet away! The dude got
mad at me when I confronted him!
“A few weeks later he came back and thanked me because he
had seen a failure when someone was doing the very same thing,
only that time there was safe distance. It made him think.
“So what is it we don’t consider? For one, servo failure is
often forgotten about. Helicopters abuse servos. Scale flight is not
as damaging as 3-D, but all helicopter flight is hard on servos.
“Have you ever seen what can happen if a servo goes hard
over due to a bad pot? I have had the misfortune twice. I never
knew a helicopter could get upside down so fast. No one ever
seems to consider the possibility of a servo failure. One of the
instances was with a brand new servo and
I don’t buy cheap servos either.
“Can you imagine how severely the
dude hovering three feet away would have
been hurt if his aileron servo failed? It
would have taken the top of his head off
so fast, I shudder. I guess if you have to
go, then that is a fast way!
“Here is another scenario that
happened to me: resonance. I was
spooling up a large 1.8-meter turbine
helicopter and it went into ground
resonance and blew up on the ground.
Blades blew by me at knee level. I got
lucky. Some parts were as far away as 100
yards! I was 50 feet away from the
helicopter.
“Another friend was spooling up his
helicopter, testing a setup. He was about
40 feet away, maybe less. A tail blade let
go, he heard it whiz by his ear. It went
through some ply siding on his garage. A
120-mm tail blade!
“He always spools up with the tail not
pointed directly at him. Good move, my
friend. So, don’t spool directly inline with
the tail either guys or gals. Blade grips
can let go. This dude spooled up and took
off at too high a head speed. His grips let
go at about 20 feet up.
“I was 100 yards away and one blade
went past me and landed on the grass,
undamaged. The other blade was found
two months later and it also was pristine,
almost directly below where the
mechanics went.
“What was interesting, I watched the
one blade as it made its traverse. It was
spinning on its long axis giving it a
ballistic effect, and made a sweet arc,
burying the tip into the soft, wet sod about
20 feet back. I inspected the blades, he is
still using them!
“Another person I know is a very
lucky you know what. He thought he
could land a gasser on the stern of a boat
traveling on the ocean. It was a small
pleasure craft, and he was on the boat too.
Well, things didn’t go as predicted and the
helicopter came into him. There was no
room for error, no room for escape, and
no thought to the possibility of ‘what if?’
116 MODEL AVIATION
“This type of incident can give the
whole hobby a bad name and we need to
think about that. Even if it is not at a
sanctioned field or event, what we do can
have a serious effect on the entire hobby.
He was able to use his hands six months
later, [after] several surgeries, loss of
work, and so on. He does still fly, but
never close to himself any more.
“We helicopter pilots, as a group, need
to be more aware of the dangers we face,
consider them, and incorporate them into
greater safety margins on the ground. I
don’t want any more of my friends to
show me how they saved their lives with
their hands.
“These incidents are going to happen.
When they happen is a big if. Therefore,
the only common sense approach is to
start looking out for the ‘what if’ scenario
so we can prevent it or decrease the
severity of it.
“All of these lucky instances were the
result of adequate distance from the
helicopter. They happened to competent
pilots. I hear these types of stories all the
time.
“Pooh happens folks; prepare for it.
Give yourself some distance. Save
yourself from maiming. Physical therapy
is costly, being in the hospital is costly,
and losing income is costly. Injuring your
ego—priceless!”
Thanks for the provocative stories and
information, Jack. You have been on the
front lines as a paramedic, seeing things
that most of us are not exposed to. I find
it interesting to hear from people who
work in the medical community. You
have a different outlook on life and you
know that accidents do happen.
Thanks to you for reading what Jack
wrote. Safety is not something we want to
think much about, because it seems to
take some of the fun out of our flying. We
all need to be responsible pilots and not
lose sight of safe flying practices.
I encourage you to e-mail me with
suggestions or ideas about how we can
make our hobby better.
See you all next month. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/07
Page Numbers: 114,115,116
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/07
Page Numbers: 114,115,116
HI EVERYONE! Thanks for checking out this month’s column. We
cover the coolest aspect of RC aviation. I am referring to helicopters.
This is the place where we cover all things rotary.
If you are new to the helicopter side of RC, you have an exciting
world of discovery ahead. It takes a long time to gain enough
knowledge and skill to control these machines. As experienced
helicopter pilots know, there will be many roadblocks to becoming a
successful flier.
How would you define a successful pilot? Would it mean that he
or she could fly a great 3-D routine? Or would you say a pilot who
can merely hover is successful? I think a successful pilot is one who
flies in a safe manner and can bring his or her helicopter back in one
piece.
A number of factory-sponsored pilots push their flights to the limit
all the time. They pay for those daring flights with a number of
crashes. When you get all your parts for free, the wrecks are not a big
deal. For the average pilot, frequent accidents take the fun out of the
hobby.
Crashes are a part of all RC aviation. Minimizing them is usually
the goal, but you must accept the fact that your pride and joy may not
return in the same condition as when it last took to the air.
Wrecks damage our egos but, more important, they can severely
injure people too. Personal-injury crashes are on the rise in the
helicopter segment of RC. Statistically, our hobby is safer than ever,
but there are more helicopters being flown than in past years. More
helicopters equals more accidents.
I ask everyone to take safety seriously. Most pilots are safe in their
routines at the flying field. We need to help newer pilots understand
the real dangers involved with our machines. Whether you are a new
pilot or a seasoned flier, please help when you can to keep things safe.
AMA member Jack Martin sent me a note of concern about safety.
The flying season is in full swing, which means more helicopters
will be in the air than at any other time of year. Jack is going to tell
us a little about himself and share his experience as his club’s
safety officer.
“I am 56, a former dealership car mechanic, and later an EMT
and paramedic in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now we live in Washougal,
Washington, as we followed my wife’s career to Portland, Oregon,
just across the river. I am now retired for medical reasons.
“My wife of 22 years and I have two grown boys. My interest in
aircraft started at age three. I built models as early as four years of
age, then balsa and tissue rubber band power at 10. I struggled with
RC at 23 and could barely afford a Sig Kadet airplane.
“Back in those days, I would dream of how cool it could be to
have RC helicopters or real turbine aircraft. It was really not even a
dream back then. Now we have all these neat electronics. Back then
a proportional radio was the big thing.
“I left the hobby for several years for a career and to raise a
family. I would drop in now and then, testing the helicopter waters
in 1987, but I was never able to get the hang of it. I jumped back in
with both feet in the year 2000, settling on scale aircraft in general,
particularly scale helicopters. My careers have taught to me to think
about what if such-and-such happens as a normal part of my
everyday life.
“I am Safety Coordinator at my field, a CD, turbine CD, and I
fly fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. I hold a rotary turbine
waiver. I have a very real concern about helicopter pilots in
general. I prefer helicopters, so I am not picking on the ‘species’ so
to speak.
“In the last eight months, two people that I know have been
severely injured/maimed by helicopters. In both instances the pilots
fortunately had time to get at least one, if not both hands up to
protect their heads. These could have been killers. One was a true
accident, the other a mental lapse by the pilot.
“I have noticed that helicopter pilots in general have a very
dangerous tendency to be close to their helicopter while it is spooling/
spooled up. Things can happen so very fast with a helicopter.
“As a group, RC pilots tend to not consider the possibilities of
‘what if?’ This, along with being too close to the aircraft, is a
recipe for a severe injury. Those spinning things on the airplanes
may be at a faster RPM, and are just as terribly dangerous, but
other than starting and such, the spinning thing is way far away.
This is not so with helicopter pilots.
“I frequently have seen pilots spool up to ungodly speeds less
than 10 feet from themselves. I had to speak to a gentleman at my
field one day because I just could not watch him hover a .90-size
helicopter with the blades only three feet away! The dude got
mad at me when I confronted him!
“A few weeks later he came back and thanked me because he
had seen a failure when someone was doing the very same thing,
only that time there was safe distance. It made him think.
“So what is it we don’t consider? For one, servo failure is
often forgotten about. Helicopters abuse servos. Scale flight is not
as damaging as 3-D, but all helicopter flight is hard on servos.
“Have you ever seen what can happen if a servo goes hard
over due to a bad pot? I have had the misfortune twice. I never
knew a helicopter could get upside down so fast. No one ever
seems to consider the possibility of a servo failure. One of the
instances was with a brand new servo and
I don’t buy cheap servos either.
“Can you imagine how severely the
dude hovering three feet away would have
been hurt if his aileron servo failed? It
would have taken the top of his head off
so fast, I shudder. I guess if you have to
go, then that is a fast way!
“Here is another scenario that
happened to me: resonance. I was
spooling up a large 1.8-meter turbine
helicopter and it went into ground
resonance and blew up on the ground.
Blades blew by me at knee level. I got
lucky. Some parts were as far away as 100
yards! I was 50 feet away from the
helicopter.
“Another friend was spooling up his
helicopter, testing a setup. He was about
40 feet away, maybe less. A tail blade let
go, he heard it whiz by his ear. It went
through some ply siding on his garage. A
120-mm tail blade!
“He always spools up with the tail not
pointed directly at him. Good move, my
friend. So, don’t spool directly inline with
the tail either guys or gals. Blade grips
can let go. This dude spooled up and took
off at too high a head speed. His grips let
go at about 20 feet up.
“I was 100 yards away and one blade
went past me and landed on the grass,
undamaged. The other blade was found
two months later and it also was pristine,
almost directly below where the
mechanics went.
“What was interesting, I watched the
one blade as it made its traverse. It was
spinning on its long axis giving it a
ballistic effect, and made a sweet arc,
burying the tip into the soft, wet sod about
20 feet back. I inspected the blades, he is
still using them!
“Another person I know is a very
lucky you know what. He thought he
could land a gasser on the stern of a boat
traveling on the ocean. It was a small
pleasure craft, and he was on the boat too.
Well, things didn’t go as predicted and the
helicopter came into him. There was no
room for error, no room for escape, and
no thought to the possibility of ‘what if?’
116 MODEL AVIATION
“This type of incident can give the
whole hobby a bad name and we need to
think about that. Even if it is not at a
sanctioned field or event, what we do can
have a serious effect on the entire hobby.
He was able to use his hands six months
later, [after] several surgeries, loss of
work, and so on. He does still fly, but
never close to himself any more.
“We helicopter pilots, as a group, need
to be more aware of the dangers we face,
consider them, and incorporate them into
greater safety margins on the ground. I
don’t want any more of my friends to
show me how they saved their lives with
their hands.
“These incidents are going to happen.
When they happen is a big if. Therefore,
the only common sense approach is to
start looking out for the ‘what if’ scenario
so we can prevent it or decrease the
severity of it.
“All of these lucky instances were the
result of adequate distance from the
helicopter. They happened to competent
pilots. I hear these types of stories all the
time.
“Pooh happens folks; prepare for it.
Give yourself some distance. Save
yourself from maiming. Physical therapy
is costly, being in the hospital is costly,
and losing income is costly. Injuring your
ego—priceless!”
Thanks for the provocative stories and
information, Jack. You have been on the
front lines as a paramedic, seeing things
that most of us are not exposed to. I find
it interesting to hear from people who
work in the medical community. You
have a different outlook on life and you
know that accidents do happen.
Thanks to you for reading what Jack
wrote. Safety is not something we want to
think much about, because it seems to
take some of the fun out of our flying. We
all need to be responsible pilots and not
lose sight of safe flying practices.
I encourage you to e-mail me with
suggestions or ideas about how we can
make our hobby better.
See you all next month. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/07
Page Numbers: 114,115,116
HI EVERYONE! Thanks for checking out this month’s column. We
cover the coolest aspect of RC aviation. I am referring to helicopters.
This is the place where we cover all things rotary.
If you are new to the helicopter side of RC, you have an exciting
world of discovery ahead. It takes a long time to gain enough
knowledge and skill to control these machines. As experienced
helicopter pilots know, there will be many roadblocks to becoming a
successful flier.
How would you define a successful pilot? Would it mean that he
or she could fly a great 3-D routine? Or would you say a pilot who
can merely hover is successful? I think a successful pilot is one who
flies in a safe manner and can bring his or her helicopter back in one
piece.
A number of factory-sponsored pilots push their flights to the limit
all the time. They pay for those daring flights with a number of
crashes. When you get all your parts for free, the wrecks are not a big
deal. For the average pilot, frequent accidents take the fun out of the
hobby.
Crashes are a part of all RC aviation. Minimizing them is usually
the goal, but you must accept the fact that your pride and joy may not
return in the same condition as when it last took to the air.
Wrecks damage our egos but, more important, they can severely
injure people too. Personal-injury crashes are on the rise in the
helicopter segment of RC. Statistically, our hobby is safer than ever,
but there are more helicopters being flown than in past years. More
helicopters equals more accidents.
I ask everyone to take safety seriously. Most pilots are safe in their
routines at the flying field. We need to help newer pilots understand
the real dangers involved with our machines. Whether you are a new
pilot or a seasoned flier, please help when you can to keep things safe.
AMA member Jack Martin sent me a note of concern about safety.
The flying season is in full swing, which means more helicopters
will be in the air than at any other time of year. Jack is going to tell
us a little about himself and share his experience as his club’s
safety officer.
“I am 56, a former dealership car mechanic, and later an EMT
and paramedic in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now we live in Washougal,
Washington, as we followed my wife’s career to Portland, Oregon,
just across the river. I am now retired for medical reasons.
“My wife of 22 years and I have two grown boys. My interest in
aircraft started at age three. I built models as early as four years of
age, then balsa and tissue rubber band power at 10. I struggled with
RC at 23 and could barely afford a Sig Kadet airplane.
“Back in those days, I would dream of how cool it could be to
have RC helicopters or real turbine aircraft. It was really not even a
dream back then. Now we have all these neat electronics. Back then
a proportional radio was the big thing.
“I left the hobby for several years for a career and to raise a
family. I would drop in now and then, testing the helicopter waters
in 1987, but I was never able to get the hang of it. I jumped back in
with both feet in the year 2000, settling on scale aircraft in general,
particularly scale helicopters. My careers have taught to me to think
about what if such-and-such happens as a normal part of my
everyday life.
“I am Safety Coordinator at my field, a CD, turbine CD, and I
fly fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. I hold a rotary turbine
waiver. I have a very real concern about helicopter pilots in
general. I prefer helicopters, so I am not picking on the ‘species’ so
to speak.
“In the last eight months, two people that I know have been
severely injured/maimed by helicopters. In both instances the pilots
fortunately had time to get at least one, if not both hands up to
protect their heads. These could have been killers. One was a true
accident, the other a mental lapse by the pilot.
“I have noticed that helicopter pilots in general have a very
dangerous tendency to be close to their helicopter while it is spooling/
spooled up. Things can happen so very fast with a helicopter.
“As a group, RC pilots tend to not consider the possibilities of
‘what if?’ This, along with being too close to the aircraft, is a
recipe for a severe injury. Those spinning things on the airplanes
may be at a faster RPM, and are just as terribly dangerous, but
other than starting and such, the spinning thing is way far away.
This is not so with helicopter pilots.
“I frequently have seen pilots spool up to ungodly speeds less
than 10 feet from themselves. I had to speak to a gentleman at my
field one day because I just could not watch him hover a .90-size
helicopter with the blades only three feet away! The dude got
mad at me when I confronted him!
“A few weeks later he came back and thanked me because he
had seen a failure when someone was doing the very same thing,
only that time there was safe distance. It made him think.
“So what is it we don’t consider? For one, servo failure is
often forgotten about. Helicopters abuse servos. Scale flight is not
as damaging as 3-D, but all helicopter flight is hard on servos.
“Have you ever seen what can happen if a servo goes hard
over due to a bad pot? I have had the misfortune twice. I never
knew a helicopter could get upside down so fast. No one ever
seems to consider the possibility of a servo failure. One of the
instances was with a brand new servo and
I don’t buy cheap servos either.
“Can you imagine how severely the
dude hovering three feet away would have
been hurt if his aileron servo failed? It
would have taken the top of his head off
so fast, I shudder. I guess if you have to
go, then that is a fast way!
“Here is another scenario that
happened to me: resonance. I was
spooling up a large 1.8-meter turbine
helicopter and it went into ground
resonance and blew up on the ground.
Blades blew by me at knee level. I got
lucky. Some parts were as far away as 100
yards! I was 50 feet away from the
helicopter.
“Another friend was spooling up his
helicopter, testing a setup. He was about
40 feet away, maybe less. A tail blade let
go, he heard it whiz by his ear. It went
through some ply siding on his garage. A
120-mm tail blade!
“He always spools up with the tail not
pointed directly at him. Good move, my
friend. So, don’t spool directly inline with
the tail either guys or gals. Blade grips
can let go. This dude spooled up and took
off at too high a head speed. His grips let
go at about 20 feet up.
“I was 100 yards away and one blade
went past me and landed on the grass,
undamaged. The other blade was found
two months later and it also was pristine,
almost directly below where the
mechanics went.
“What was interesting, I watched the
one blade as it made its traverse. It was
spinning on its long axis giving it a
ballistic effect, and made a sweet arc,
burying the tip into the soft, wet sod about
20 feet back. I inspected the blades, he is
still using them!
“Another person I know is a very
lucky you know what. He thought he
could land a gasser on the stern of a boat
traveling on the ocean. It was a small
pleasure craft, and he was on the boat too.
Well, things didn’t go as predicted and the
helicopter came into him. There was no
room for error, no room for escape, and
no thought to the possibility of ‘what if?’
116 MODEL AVIATION
“This type of incident can give the
whole hobby a bad name and we need to
think about that. Even if it is not at a
sanctioned field or event, what we do can
have a serious effect on the entire hobby.
He was able to use his hands six months
later, [after] several surgeries, loss of
work, and so on. He does still fly, but
never close to himself any more.
“We helicopter pilots, as a group, need
to be more aware of the dangers we face,
consider them, and incorporate them into
greater safety margins on the ground. I
don’t want any more of my friends to
show me how they saved their lives with
their hands.
“These incidents are going to happen.
When they happen is a big if. Therefore,
the only common sense approach is to
start looking out for the ‘what if’ scenario
so we can prevent it or decrease the
severity of it.
“All of these lucky instances were the
result of adequate distance from the
helicopter. They happened to competent
pilots. I hear these types of stories all the
time.
“Pooh happens folks; prepare for it.
Give yourself some distance. Save
yourself from maiming. Physical therapy
is costly, being in the hospital is costly,
and losing income is costly. Injuring your
ego—priceless!”
Thanks for the provocative stories and
information, Jack. You have been on the
front lines as a paramedic, seeing things
that most of us are not exposed to. I find
it interesting to hear from people who
work in the medical community. You
have a different outlook on life and you
know that accidents do happen.
Thanks to you for reading what Jack
wrote. Safety is not something we want to
think much about, because it seems to
take some of the fun out of our flying. We
all need to be responsible pilots and not
lose sight of safe flying practices.
I encourage you to e-mail me with
suggestions or ideas about how we can
make our hobby better.
See you all next month. MA