Author: Dave Gee
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/12
Page Numbers: 88,89
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Safety Comes First

Dave Gee | [email protected]

Pilots experience safety meltdowns

Have you ever "let the smoke out" of an electrical part? Some people joke that electrical components only work because they contain smoke, and if you let the smoke out they won't operate anymore. I've proven that theory more than once—usually by touching the wrong wires together.

Tom Soden emailed me about a recent experience with this phenomenon:

"Recently I was exchanging receivers in my .40 glow plane and started to run a check for any problems. Lo and behold there was a problem! I had turned on the radio, then the receiver, and noticed the wire from my Du-Bro switch to the connector to the battery started melting. I immediately shut everything down and started to investigate.

"The connection from the switch to the battery was so hot it actually melted the plug together. The connector, as well as the battery, was too hot to touch. After replacing the battery and rechecking the systems, I again turned the units on and was greeted with a spark from inside the Du-Bro switch and again shut everything down. I replaced the on/off switch and replaced the battery and all was fine.

"Apparently, a dead short developed within the switch on a plane I had flown a number of times with no problems. I could just see this plane self-destructing in flight—first with smoke, and then flames shooting out as it crashed!

"I went over the electrical systems on all my other planes, especially the switches, and they checked out fine. I had always charged my planes overnight on my back porch for the next day's flying, but after this I will only charge them at the flying site. An item I took for granted showed me I can't take anything for granted!"

That warning about assumptions applies in many ways. Another old saying is that a sharp knife is safer than a dull one. I'm not so sure anymore: I got poked in the finger by a freshly sharpened hobby knife while posing my wife and lovely assistant, Sweet Diedra, for a photograph. She was unsympathetic and couldn't hold still for the camera because she kept giggling about how the "safety guy" gets wounded while writing his column.

The ceramic sharpener I used is a real pip; my punctured finger is proof of how sharp it can make a #11 blade. Indoor flier Ralph Ray sent me a set of wand-shaped devices called Modern Hone to try. They are smaller cousins of the sharpeners chefs use in restaurants.

  • The white Modern Hone is for general use. It improves new blades and can quickly recondition dull ones.
  • The black Modern Hone is for a finer edge—useful for trimming tissue during covering work.

I tried Modern Hone on several brands of blades and found results vary. All brands benefitted, but some took an edge better than others. Experiment to get the best result. These sharpeners are available from Smoky Mountain Knife Works. And yes, they also worked well on our kitchen knives—even when the operator had a bandaged finger.

Richard Ingold had a minor injury as well, but instead of arguing with his wife he wrote to tell me about it. His email described two types of "bird" scratches. The first was when he plugged in the battery of his twin-prop RC airplane and the motors jumped to life even though the throttle was closed. Richard ended up with a scratched leg and finger and a lesson learned: he now always assumes the propellers can turn and keeps his flesh well out of the way.

His wounds healed nicely, and he is now wary when plugging in batteries.

The other "bird" was a turkey that attacked his rubber free-flight model, damaging the horizontal stabilizer. He was test-gliding the plane to determine the center of gravity, so he went across the road to a field with tall weeds and grass and gave it a toss. Unknown to him there was a mama turkey with a bunch of babies in the weeds; the plane glided directly toward them and the protective mother attacked. After some repairs, the plane flew quite well.

In honor of free-flight models, I included a photo of a Guillow's Flyboy rubber aircraft built by my friend Bill Kuhl in this month's column. Bill is a great booster for our hobby. His excellent website draws kids into science and aviation by showing how fun and exciting technology can be. Bill's material also carries an underlying tone of responsible caution to give kids the proper mindset for safe aeromodeling. If our sport survives into the next generation, it will be because of people like Bill.

A sense of stewardship for aeromodeling came up in another email I received about a video of a pilot flying a First Person View (FPV) model with a moveable cockpit camera. He had the illusion of being the pilot and was standing on a stretch of highway he was using as an airstrip, flying alone with no spotter or buddy-box support, over commercial buildings and homes. It was like a "spot the safety-code violations" game.

Yes, the video was interesting—so long as his luck held and all systems worked perfectly. At minimum, the pilot could have been run over because the video helmet blocked his view of traffic. Reports of dangerous antics like this come to me regularly, and most of the time they involve pilots who are not AMA members. The anonymous AMA member who sent me this particular video agreed that such stunts give the whole hobby a black eye.

Lifelong modelers often feel responsible for the reputation of our hobby and try to conduct themselves accordingly. Someone who is in it for the short term—flying RC for a year or two before moving on to other pastimes—might never gain the experience to understand how serious an accident can be or how a publicized stunt that ends badly can affect more than just the perpetrator.

Because of one irresponsible pilot, clubs have lost flying fields and models have been banned from city parks. It may never be possible to get a lost flying site back. What a pity to deprive people of the joy and benefits of a fine sport like ours.

I'm the first to admit AMA members sometimes do foolish things. I'm the king of inattention (see my knife-safety adventure), but it seems a flier who makes the effort to join the AMA tends to be a dedicated, responsible, long-term hobbyist—someone who wants to retain full use of all body parts rather than getting run over by a truck while flying FPV on a highway.

A few months ago I held an aircraft-identification contest with a cropped photo showing part of a vehicle. It was a bit of a trick question because the "aircraft" in the picture was actually a lifeboat carried and parachute-dropped by B-29 rescue airplanes. I received more emails about that contest than any other topic I've written about. Some readers found the answer by taking the online virtual tour of the National Museum of the United States Air Force, since I had hinted the photo was taken there.

Everyone who emailed me got a digital set of plans and printwood for a Marlow Super Flea ROG model, whether they guessed "A-3 Lifeboat" or not.

Since that was such a hit, I have another photo to decipher. This one will be easier. It is a famous full-scale airplane, but there aren't many places other than the USAF Museum in Dayton where you can see one. Hint: this airplane often carried a pickle.

The prize is an emailed plan for the first model airplane I built. When I was about 10 years old my dad brought home a Len Marlow Shark kit and showed me how to build and fly the little rubber-powered airplane. The unique aircraft has a reversible wing because it has an arc for an airfoil.

A small free-flight model can teach us plenty about aerodynamics, and it's a shame so few of us start flying with basic aircraft. We've all seen pilots learn hard lessons about weight and balance with big, expensive RC models. They could have saved money and grief by experimenting with simple models.

Small, rubber-powered airplanes are great for demonstrating the importance of properly aligned, warp-free surfaces and the effects of control surfaces. I've been to RC club meetings where informal indoor-model contests are held; members not only have a great time but often comment on how much they learned. A pilot who understands how aircraft fly is a safer pilot.

By the way, if you want the Shark plan but can't figure out the answer to the quiz, just ask.

—MA

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.