Safety Comes First - 2007/11

76 MODEL AVIATION
I HAVE A trio of “pit” stories to start things off with this month.
Louis Goldberg had an exciting afternoon, and he asked me to share
his tale with you.
He flies a CAP 232 with a Moki 1.80 engine. It’s a reliable machine
and has had many successful flights. The radio has a throttle-lock
feature so preflight work can be done safely.
The Moki was idling along with the throttle lock engaged when
suddenly the engine went to a ragged full-power setting. Louis was not
ready for takeoff, but he managed to get the airplane off the ground
safely and avoided hitting anything or anybody.
After some difficult flying, with the power level random and
unresponsive, the engine quit and Louis made a safe landing. A close
examination showed that the tip of the locking screw on the engine
venturi barrel had worn or broken away, allowing the carburetor to
ignore the servo linkage and run as it saw fit. This is an unusual failure!
Louis installed a new screw and things were back to normal,
but you can bet he will inspect that part
regularly. We both suggest that you do the
same to avoid a wild ride such as the one
his CAP took.
Please take a look at the picture of the
model with a broken propeller and engine
mount. Kermit Wilkins wrote:
“No one was injured in this case, thank
goodness, but it could have been a very
Safety Comes First Dave Gee | [email protected]
Hazards in the pits: three exciting stories
Also included in this column:
• Aeromodeling: the fountain of
youth?
• Can’t we all just get along? A
field-etiquette essay
• School kids write about Indoor
models That same look of delight as the school kids’ is on these OFFC members’ faces. A mix of
lifetime modelers and newbies enjoys a good Pennyplane contest.
Bad photo but great expressions. A No-Cal Rubber J-3 on a low
pass over school kids might spark a lifetime interest in modeling.
This propeller broke during an engine test. The pilots were in safe
places and caution prevented bloodshed. Check propellers for
cracks!
serious injury had the pilot not been standing in the safety zone.
“Dennis McKenzie and I were preparing to enjoy flying.
During the warm-up on high RPM I heard a loud bang and looked
around to find out what had happened. Dennis was OK but his
prop had broken in half and the engine had pulled the firewall
half out of the aircraft.
“I thought that AMA might want to know about this.
Hopefully this will help other RC members to play it safe around
aircraft during runup.
11sig3.QXD 9/21/07 10:40 AM Page 76
“During inspection of the prop
afterwards it was noted that the prop
(which was old) did have an old crack near
the center, running from the leading edge
half way to the trailing edge of the prop.”
According to Kermit, the model was
mounted safely on a pit stand and everyone
was standing in safe areas in case
something such as this happened. It’s
worthwhile to stay aware of the extended
“prop disc” and the possibility of a thrown
blade.
And take a good look at your propellers.
If you see cracks or other signs of
impending failure, toss ’em!
There’s one more. I received a note
from Dan Reiss about his exciting
encounter with engine compression. He
wrote:
“While flipping my Brison 3.2 the
engine backfired and knocked the chicken
stick out of my right hand into the back of
my left hand. The stick was traveling at a
very high velocity because the pain was
severe. In no time my hand was swollen
like a medical glove that was blown up.
“No bones were broken and after a few
days of icing the swelling began to subside
but my hand turned purple to two inches
below my wrist. It was stiff for about six
weeks. Now, I start my engines with my
left hand behind my back!”
Harvey Cappel, a club safety officer, sent
me a fine essay reprinted from his local
newsletter.
“Our Hobby/Sport is changing very fast
these days. We no longer simply take off,
fly a regular model airplane in smooth
circles and land. Today it’s all about overpowered
airplanes, helicopters, electric do
it all monsters and full-bore 3D.
“The helicopters, hot rod fast flyers and
3D folks all have in common a need and
desire to use the runway for activities other
than normal takeoff and landing. This is
the rub. Obviously if you are flying you
don’t want a helicopter or stunt flying
airplane in your face. Besides being less
than courteous it’s in most instances
unsafe.
“So what to do? In a normal world it’s
obvious: just don’t do it if it’s going to
bother or endanger another pilot or
spectator. But we ain’t normal, at least not
all of us, so here are some guidelines to
remind us how to be normal and safe.
“1) If you wish to use the runway for
other than normal takeoff and landing do
so only with consenting adults. Establish
this consent before you start your flying
machine. This is also the only time when
operating your aircraft while not standing
in a designated flying station may be
acceptable.
“2) If you are landing a helicopter do it
much like an airplane, stay in the center of
the runway until you reach the taxi way
and then taxi in below head high and as
slow as practical.
“3) Conduct all 3D and fast low flying
(below head high) off of and beyond the
runway unless alone and or with
consenting adults. This includes electrics
and helicopters.
“4) When buddy box training is going
on, if you can’t wait a few minutes till it’s
done then fly at your own risk. The student
doesn’t know how to avoid your airplane
and the instructor is too busy avoiding
crashes from student mistakes to watch out
for your airplane.
“If, in this instance, you crash the
student’s airplane I’m going to vote for
you replacing it. Obviously the student and
trainer that goes onto the field with aircraft
in the air accepts the responsibility of all
pilots (i.e., look out for other aircraft).
“5) And remember all things potentially
unsafe (running motors/engines, hooking
up batteries to electrics, starting helicopters
etc.) are to be done in designated pit areas.
“We all know our hobby/sport can be
very harmful, even deadly. Seems to me to
be a given that we should be thinking,
caring, courteous, safe adults.”
Harvey seems like an old-school RC
man who wants to get along with a new
breed of pilots so everyone can enjoy the
local field. I’ll bet he isn’t the only person
in that situation!
Harvey sent me an E-mail at the address
listed in the column header, but I like to get
paper mail as well. Please send it to me at
Box 7081, Van Nuys CA 91409. I’m
always glad to get stories of near misses,
topic suggestions, and the benefit of your
experience.
Someone with much more experience (and
talent) than I have is Bill Hannan. He sent
me a note about performing model-airplane
demonstrations for school kids.
Bill wrote that during the question-andanswer
portion the intelligent questions
often came from the girls, and the boys
asked only “Where can we buy one?” I’ve
seen this phenomenon many times.
There must be some deep psychological
explanation for why girls so often do better
with their first models, but boys more often
have the motivating interest to continue as
modelers. I don’t know the science, but I
can see which kids in a group have the
“spark” to become model hobbyists.
Flying models for groups of kids is
terrific fun. My father and I have taken our
indoor air show to schools, Scouts, church
groups, and science fairs, and we are
always gratified by the youngsters’ thrilled
faces when they see their first model flying
machine.
Our hobby has many benefits and can
bring joy throughout a lifetime. That
interest and delight are helpful things, and
they make our lives richer. The
professional safety-industry people would
call it a “wellness program”—the sort of
thing that brings longer, happier lives. And
you thought they were just toy airplanes!
Look at the pictures of the kid looking
up at the Piper Cub No-Cal and the group of
guys posing with their contest models. The
same delight shows on all of those faces.
The men are members of the OFFC, and
they make no secret about how their shared
interest in model aircraft keeps them
mentally and socially active. They are a
group of mostly retired modelers who meet
and fly together Wednesday mornings.
Those club members are as interested in
the latest model product as they are in some
kit from 1938. Their enthusiasm is the same
as that of a kid launching his first model,
and it is refreshed with every flight.
The picture of the kid was taken at
Miller elementary school in Burbank,
California, during a model-demonstration
session. My father Ralph and I flew
airplanes in the auditorium and gave the
kids some information about aviation
history and the hobby of aeromodeling.
The class wrote the nicest thank-you
letters afterward, and following are some
quoted lines from the kids.
“Dear Dave and Dave’s Dad: Are you
going to come back next year? If not, it’s OK
because I might not be here.”
“Guess what, the airplane you gave us
worked! I like it!”
“My favorite airplane that you flew is the
one that hit the lightbulb. It was tight. I
learned that plane models aren’t as stupid as
they look.”
“Thank you so much for the fun airplanes
that crash into the walls. Thanks for my
airplane, too. It doesn’t fly yet but I still love
it!”
“I also didn’t know that some planes have
plastic wings. I thought every airplane was
made out of wood.”
“Take care of your dad. He cares about
you.” MA