Safety Comes First
Dave Gee Box 7081, Van Nuys CA 91409; E-mail: [email protected]
"I value my fingers and my life above slightly better performance for my model airplanes," said Hank Riehl regarding carbon-fiber (CF) propellers.
Hank has strong reservations about CF propellers and wonders what their safety record is compared to wood and fiberglass units. I haven't heard of any particular problems with these newfangled, high-performance airscrews, so here's an official request for your expertise.
Please contact me with your knowledge and experiences with CF propellers compared with other types. I'm especially concerned with high-speed uses as opposed to use on indoor or slow-flyer models, but any data is welcome. I'll publish the results in an upcoming column.
I've got some swell stories this month, starting with one from Internet celebrity Ed Toner. His tale shows how the most mundane tasks can be turned into an exciting adventure.
"I'm a cigar smoker. I smoke big stogies, and they last for hours. I hate to stop building for that long, so I struggle through the process of enjoying a cigar and doing simple things like sanding, doping, etc.
"I was doping the rudder of my Cosmos R2 ROG, and I used some thinner to remove a decal that I didn't want. I've gotten quite absentminded in my dotage, and I put my wet dope brush in the dirty ashtray and my lit cigar in the open thinner bottle—Whoosh! It never got to the surface of the thinner—the fumes set off the lit cigar."
This seems to be yet another parable illustrating how smoking can be hazardous to your health. But according to Ed there was a happy ending, as follows.
"The good news is that I salvaged the brush, and the cigar is okay too. Ah, the joys of the Golden Years. (Over what hill? I don't see no hill. Hand me my glasses, son.)"
Subjects That Just Won't Quit
The rolling-hobby-knife question brought an excellent suggestion from George A. Plance of Florida. Secure a zip tie around the knife handle, and then clip off all but a half inch of the stem. George says that if you wrap it around twice, you can pull it tighter. Those plastic strips are also known as "cable ties," and they have a serration that allows them to cinch tight but not loosen. I think this may be the best solution of all!
In an attempt to wrap up this topic once and for all, I stick you with an anecdote from Ron Dietz. He wrote:
"While I was working at GE Aerospace some years ago, I was in one of the design labs when lab technician Bob Schultz had an X-Acto knife roll off the bench as he worked. In a moment of instinctive reaction, as the knife fell between his knees, he closed his legs to catch the knife!
"Those of us who saw what happened next were shocked to see the knife sticking at 90 degrees from the inside of his thigh! Then Bob, not saying a word, casually twisted and pulled the knife out of his leg!
"After everyone got their breath back, Bob explained and demonstrated that he was okay. The leg that was impaled was a prosthesis! None of us had suspected that truth even though Bob walked with a slight limp.
"He later explained that he had been wounded in his native land of Hungary during the uprising against the Russians and it had cost him his leg. He eventually became a citizen of the USA and was a good model maker and lab tech.
"Many times I kidded him about the knife incident and asked him, 'Bob, what would you have done if the knife had fallen pointed at the other leg?' He always replied, 'Vell, I vould not haf closed my legs.'"
How do you say "yikes!" in Hungarian? I'm now taking bets on whether this topic is finally finished or not. If you have an instructive or entertaining anecdote, or just a good topic, please send it in. Thanks to so many kind readers for contributing!
I've noticed that when I visit a strange flying field, my head is on a swivel looking out for models that are possibly headed my way. Why do I feel more complacent at my own site? Familiarity breeds contempt, perhaps? Wise modelers exercise vigilance at the field whether they fly RC or FF, because being struck by any gas model is bad news.
Look at the picture of the RC airplane taxiing out. It and FF models feature powerful gas engines in the nose, and either one could cause great harm if it struck someone. The radio system keeps the RC aircraft under control at all times (unless I’m trying to land it), and the FF craft is uncontrolled by definition.
So why is it so rare (throughout the years) to hear of FF models hitting and injuring someone?
There are several reasons, one of which is that there is less FF activity than RC these days. Also, RC models fly relatively close to people with the engine at full bore, whereas contest-style FF models zoom skyward with the timer set to shut off the engine after just a few seconds, after which it becomes a glider.
A big difference is that FF fliers know that their models are uncontrolled, so they keep a high level of alertness at the field just in case. Warnings are shouted and heeded.
I have seen the CD’s megaphone used when an earlier Old-Timer model declined to take off in favor of an extended high-speed taxi run. A visit to a different flying site is always interesting, and in my case it made me aware that I should be just as careful whether I’m on familiar or unfamiliar territory.
Some FF modelers brought this up in a recent Internet discussion. These experienced fliers were sharing stories of launches gone awry, where powerful gas models struck parked vehicles and sometimes people.
At flying meets in the United States, a flightline is used to keep launches away from pits and spectators. Someone mentioned that, "In the UK a few of the Power lads seem to launch straight out the boot of their cars."
A wailing Gas FF airplane could be dangerous, but thankfully these models seldom run amok. The power plants are timed for short runs, and the models generally climb away as designed.
Don DeLoach wrote, "In ’91 in Fort Worth I saw an F1C do a loop and recover at waist level where it plowed into a car door at full speed." Similar stories mentioned that damaged cars were sometimes left unrepaired, and the scars were worn proudly at later meets. Such crashes are quite rare, but such tales are retold to emphasize the need for a high level of awareness while at the flying field.
It is important to keep an eye out for models at the FF field; how much more important is it at the RC field, where airplanes pass relatively close to humans with the engines running full speed? Today’s radio systems and model designs are excellent but not perfect. Keep thinking "what if?" and you’ll be prepared for surprises.
A Couple of Quickies
- Don Lafferty uses inexpensive gardening-style clay pots and saucers to store and charge Li-Poly batteries. The cord runs through the hole in the pot! That’s a clever precaution. Stand by for some detailed information about the Li-Poly safety issue.
- I received a report from Robert Goldsberry of possible cell-phone RC interference. It is unconfirmed, and he requests further information on this situation. There have been no similar incidents as far as I know, and here in Los Angeles where nearly everyone carries and uses a phone (while they should be paying attention), we would be the first to see any problem. Please chime in if you have had experience in this area.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
