Safety Comes First
Dave Gee | [email protected]
Close encounters of the animal kind
Okay, so I kid around a little when I should be writing serious safety stuff. Longtime readers understand, and they weed through the frivolity to find the real modeling information. Sometimes people don’t get the joke when I write about the passing RC fad, that FF is how nature intended us to fly our models, that CL is circling back into dominance, or that rubber-powered airplanes are becoming rare because, after all, that stuff doesn’t grow on trees. Once in a while I get serious—but entertaining—complaints about my tech‑intolerance. I tell them the real problem is that in four decades I still haven’t learned how to make a good landing—with or without a radio.
Greg Alexander fell for it to the point that he set aside his foam aircraft and tried building one out of that quaint, old‑fashioned substance, balsa wood. He was “blown away by how forgiving it was,” compared to other materials. Greg apparently flies as I do, because he says he treed his model, bashed it into a fence, and hit a wall without doing much damage to the wooden‑stick structure. There is much to be said for a properly designed balsa model: the stresses of flying (and crashing) are dissipated throughout the airframe in a way that foam can’t match.
A whole new generation of RC pilots has never tried anything but foam and carbon fiber (actually, carbon fiber is pretty cool stuff!) and they have no memory of the old days of ribs and gussets. What a shame! As Greg said, “If only they could invent a building material that would keep me from running my plane into vertical objects.”
My good friend Richard Cline slithered up to me and said he had a story for this column. I said, “I’ll bite,” so he showed me a photo of a large rattlesnake that attended a recent FF contest. The pilots normally welcome any warm body that shows up, but since the rattler was cold‑blooded (and poisonous!), it was asked to leave. As a scale modeler, I was impressed by the snake’s effective camouflage paint job. It would be easy to miss such a viper if someone was concentrating on tracking an airplane!
When I read statistics on modeling accidents, a great many of them have nothing to do with models. People trip and fall at the field, or get hurt in ways that could happen anywhere, such as getting bitten by a snake. That serpent has thousands of relatives across the country on and near flying fields. The anti‑snake rules are simple: watch where you step and don’t put your feet or hands where you can’t see. The gentle creatures of the wild must be treated with respect.
Robert Moore had his own story—a close encounter of the feathered kind. He wrote, “At our local ballpark flying area there has been an increase in the hawk population. These birds are territorial. One of them flew up behind my model and tried to attack. There was a brief circling fight before the hawk, being outmaneuvered, took off. What should be done to prevent harm to these animals in our hobby?” Robert was worried about the bird—he’s a kind‑hearted guy. If some foul fowl tried to claw my nice new airplane, I’d be thinking Shake ’n Bake, not PETA.
Bird vs. model airplane incidents have been reported since the earliest days of modeling. Until recently, the model usually got the worst of it, but now (as Robert found) there is a possibility of out‑flying and escaping a confused raptor. In my experience, local wildlife soon becomes accustomed to models and mostly ignores them. A newly arrived predator or the excitement of mating season is usually involved in these conflicts. And to reassure Robert and the animal lovers out there, the bird almost never gets hurt: they attack from behind, and the model has no claws, so the predator is usually disappointed when dinner turns out to be an inedible wing rib.
Mick Van Kampen wrote in from Michigan about an upsetting moment. He wrote, “I was tuning an O.S. .46 on a swamp boat (not at a flying field). My dog was in the vicinity lakeside with us and before I knew it, her curious nose got cut by the prop. Both the dog and I were shocked. The injury was small but we learned an important lesson from it.” I’m glad Mick’s pal recovered. Pets, like little kids, are at risk when exposed to our hobby equipment, and we have to protect them from dangers they do not understand. No matter how loyal and true our dogs might be, they still can’t grasp the potential harm of a spinning propeller. By sending the information to me, Mick turned a sad incident into a good lesson for all of us.
If you have a close‑call story, news that needs to be shared, or better information when I get something wrong, please contact me through email or with a letter via AMA Headquarters. If you wish, your anonymity can be guaranteed through my Reader Protection Program.
I recently met a man who asked to remain nameless. It was a beautiful flying day, and I was wandering around an RC pit area admiring the neat models. This particular pilot had a tidy equipment setup and I offered to take his picture. He realized that he would have to hand his lit cigar to someone if he was going to pose next to the fueled airplane and decided that finishing the stogie was more valuable than mere fame. I like a man who knows his priorities! I photographed his immaculate model and toolboxes while he stood beside me puffing away safely.
Fire and battery safety
On the subject of fire, here is a report I received via AMA Headquarters. A modeler, an experienced electrical engineer, returned from a business trip to find that his electric‑powered helicopter had caught fire and caused a serious fire in his apartment. The helicopter contained a 3000 mAh six‑cell Li‑Poly battery, which had been left in the model. The smoke alarm did its job and alerted neighbors. Although the fire department had to break in, firefighters were able to extinguish the fire, which was contained to only one room, and rescue the apartment. The modeler said that the battery pack had been carefully cared for, but had begun to “swell” slightly.
There is conflicting information regarding “puffed” battery packs. Some experts say it is a danger sign, and others say the pack can continue to be used. Being neither an expert nor a gambler, I discard a pack when it begins to puff out on the theory that something in there wants to get out and will sooner or later. By the time the homeowner noticed there was smoke, the fire had a good start.
Basic Li‑Poly safety reminders:
- Never store battery packs in a model or on carpet.
- Charge and store Li‑Poly packs in a fire‑resistant container.
- Never charge Li‑Poly packs unattended.
- Check wiring for chafing and ensure the charger and battery are compatible.
- If a pack begins to swell or “puff,” retire it.
Final notes
Protect pets and children from exposed props and other hazards, watch where you step at the field, and be mindful of wildlife. If you have a close‑call, a safety tip, or a correction, contact me at [email protected] or via AMA Headquarters. Your anonymity can be protected through the Reader Protection Program.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
