Safety Comes First-2011/12

88 MODEL AVIATION
HAVE YOU EVER “let the smoke out” of
an electrical part? Some people say that
electrical components only work because
they contain smoke, and if you let the smoke
out they won’t operate anymore. I’ve proven
this theory many times, usually by touching
the wrong wires together.
Tom Soden emailed me about his
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
Dave Gee | Safety Comes First [email protected]
Pilots experience safety meltdowns
Another old saying is how a sharp knife is
safer than a dull one. I’m not so sure about
this anymore because 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 of her giggling about
how the “safety guy” (me) gets wounded
while writing my column.
The ceramic sharpener I used is a real
“pip,” and my punctured finger is proof of
how sharp it can make a #11 blade. Indoor
flier Ralph Ray sent me a set of these wandshaped
devices called Modern Hone to try.
They are smaller cousins of the ones used by
chefs to sharpen their restaurant knives.
The white one is for general use. I found
that it improves new blades and can quickly
Also included in this column:
• Onboard short circuit
• Sharp blades are safer, except
with Dave
• Birds attack
• First Person View irresponsibility
• Aircraft-identification contest
Below: Don’t toss out those dull, used #11
blades! The Modern Hone sharpener can
put a sharp, safe, new edge on them.
Right: Another non-safety-related aircraft-identification quiz. Name this airplane and win
a classic Marlow Shark FF plan in digital form.
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 fault short
developed within the switch on a plane I
had flown a number of time[s] with no
problems. I could just see this plane selfdestructing
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!”
Bill Kuhl took this shot of his Guillow’s Flyboy
climbing out. This fine Rubber sport kit has
been popular for decades.
December 2011 89
recondition dull ones. The black sharpener
is for a finer edge, such as trimming tissue
during covering work.
I tried the Modern Hone units on several
brands of blades and found that the results
vary. All benefitted from the treatment, but
certain brands seemed to “take an edge”
better than others. You should experiment to
get the best result.
These sharpeners can be obtained 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 also, but
he didn’t argue with his wife; he just wrote
to me about it. His email was about two
types of bird scratches. The first one was
when he plugged in the battery of his twinpropeller
RC airplane, and the motors
jumped to life although the throttle was
closed. Richard got a scratched leg and
finger, and also gained some wisdom. He
says he now always presumes that the
propellers will turn, and keeps his flesh out
of the way.
Richard said that his wounds have healed
nicely and now he is wary when plugging in
a battery.
Richard also wrote:
“The other bird was a turkey that
attacked my Rubber FF model, damaging
the horizontal stab. I was test-gliding the
plane for the first time to determine the
center of gravity, so I went across the road
to a field with tall weeds and grass and gave
it a toss.
“Unknown to me, there was a mamma
turkey with a bunch of babies in the weeds
and the plane glided directly toward them.
Being a good, protective mother she
immediately attacked. After some rebuild,
the plane flew quite well.”
In honor of FF 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 has an underlying
tone of responsible caution, to give kids the
proper mindset for safe enjoyment of
aeromodeling. If our sport survives into the
next generation, it will be because of people
such as Bill.
A sense of stewardship for aeromodeling
was mentioned in an email I received. The
topic was a video of a pilot flying a First
Person View (FPV) model with a moveable
camera in the cockpit, so he had the illusion
of being the pilot. Fun right?
Well, this modeler was flying all alone
with no spotter or buddy-box support, while
standing right on the stretch of highway he
was using for an airstrip, and flying over
commercial buildings and homes. It was like
a “Spot the Safety Code Violations” game.
Sure, it was an interesting video, as long
as his luck held out and all systems worked
perfectly. At the very least, the pilot could
have been run over because the video
helmet blocked his view of traffic.
Reports of dangerous antics such as this
come to me regularly, and most of the time
it includes the fact that the pilots in question
are not AMA members. The anonymous
member who sent me this particular video
agreed that such stunts can give us all a
black eye.
Those of us who are lifelong modelers
often feel responsible for the reputation of
our hobby, and try to conduct ourselves
accordingly. Someone who is in it for the
short term, as many pilots are, might not
share that attitude. They fly RC for a year or
two, before moving on to off-road ice cream
truck racing, and they might never gain the
experience to know how serious an accident
can be or how a publicized stunt that ends
badly can affect more than just the
perpetrator.
Because of the irresponsibility of a
single pilot, clubs have lost fields and
models have been banned from city parks. It
might never be possible to get a flying site
back. What a pity to deprive people of the
joy and benefits of a fine sport such as ours.
I’m the first to admit that AMA
members sometimes do foolish things. I am
the king of inattention (see my knife-safety
adventure), but it seems that a flier who
makes the effort to join the AMA might
tend to be a dedicated and responsible, longterm
hobbyist—one who wants to retain full
use of all body parts, rather than getting run
over by a truck while flying FPV on a
highway.
I held an aircraft-identification contest a
few months ago with a cropped photo
showing part of a vehicle. It was a bit of a
trick question because the “aircraft” in the
picture was a lifeboat carried and parachutedropped
by B-29 rescue airplanes.
I received more emails for the contest
than for any other topic I have written
about. Some readers found the answer by
taking the online virtual tour of the entire
National Museum of the United States Air
Force, since I had hinted that the photo was
taken there. Everyone who emailed me got a
digital set of the 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 roughly
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 FF model can teach us plenty
about aerodynamics, and it’s a shame that so
few of us start flying with such basic
aircraft. We’ve all seen pilots learning hard
lessons about weight and balance with their
big, expensive RC models. They could have
saved money and grief by experimenting
with simple models.
Small, rubber-powered airplanes are
great for showing the importance of
properly-aligned warp-free surfaces and the
effects of control surfaces. I’ve been to RC
club meetings where an informal contest for
indoor models is held, and the members not
only have a great time but often comment
on how much they learned from the
experience. A pilot who understands how
aircraft fly is safer in the air.
By the way, if you want the Shark plan but
can’t figure out the answer to the quiz, just
ask. MA
Sources:
Bill Kuhl’s website:
www.scienceguy.org
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
(937) 255-3286
www.nationalmuseum.af.mil
AMA Safety Code
www.modelaircraft.org/files/105.pdf
Smoky Mountain Knife Works
(800) 327-5871
www.smkw.com