Safety Comes First - 2012/10

Sometimes I am asked, “Don’t you
ever worry about running out of
safety topics?”
Unfortunately for us, (but lucky for
me), our hobby always has plenty of
ways for the unwary to get burned, cut,
bruised, gouged, stung, or inflamed. All
it takes is a moment of inattention for
a newbie or an experienced pilot to get
caught. The fact that this sport has such
a small injury rate is evidence that we
modelers take our fun seriously. Careful
pilots keep those numbers low, but even
lower would be better!
Thanks to alert AMA members, I
often get the latest information about
new things for us to watch out for. Jim
Cook told me about some television
commercials that put model aircraft
in a bad light. The ads showed models
being flown irresponsibly, or even in
deliberately harmful ways. This was
supposed to be funny and make us buy a
product. I wasn’t laughing, or buying.
It made Jim and me want to take
serious action against the jerks who
produced the spots, but that would be
the wrong response. They say that there
is no such thing as bad publicity, and an
organized protest would just get the ads
played for free on the evening news!
A better response is to write the
sponsor and say, in a polite and
diplomatic way, something such as,
“You dummkopfs better have plenty of
other customers because after seeing
your irresponsible ad, my family is never
spending another nickel on your raggedy
products.”
Every company has competitors, and
darned if I will support some outfit that
promotes dangerous model flying after
we all work so hard to attain such a safe
reputation for our sport.
Beware of Spam
Concerning supporting advertisers,
I recently received another wave of
email spam from unscrupulous hobby
marketers. These mugs buy lists of email
addresses stolen
from aeromodeling
websites, and
use them in lieu
of legitimate
promotion.
If you have ever
logged onto an RC
chat room with your
email address, or are
listed somewhere as
a club officer, you
might be targeted
as well. You’ll have
no way of knowing
whether a spammer
is aboveboard or just
a front for harmful malware or phishing
scams.
Watch out for that! Bad things can be
downloaded onto your computer, and/or
your personal information can get into
the wrong hands. No way am I going to
do business with spammers.
There have been occasions in which
the AMA presented third-party offers
to the membership as a fundraising tool.
The business partners are forthcoming
and honest. This is far different, and I
treat these deals as chances to support
the organization.
Blair Spray Clear
I occasionally do some marketing,
and here is another product plug. The
maker will be
surprised to find
modelers using
its products, since
the item is an art
spray designed to
protect charcoal
drawings. The
product is called
Blair Spray Clear,
and it comes in
gloss and matte
finishes.
It was once
possible to buy
clear dope in
handy spray
cans. Now, it is
forbidden (apparently because it was
destroying the planet), but the Blair
product is a good substitute. It is not
fuel-proof, but works great for rubber,
CO2, and electric models. I’ve used it to
finish domestic and Japanese tissue with
fine results.
If there is no specialized art store near
you, you’ll have to track it down online
and place your order with an Internet
dealer. It is worth the effort if you are a
stick-and-tissue builder.
Mystery Aircraft Contest
Neil Dennis (better known online as
Wombat) is a stick-and-tissue builder
from way back. He was familiar with the
famous Delta Dart model, and wanted
to further develop it.
His latest streamlined version is
called the Denny Dart Mk VI. This little
aircraft has less drag and weight than
the original beginner’s model. You’ll
find that it builds quickly and flies well,
especially when finished with Blair art
spray.
You’ll need the plans, and that leads
us to another mystery aircraft contest.
Guess the name of the flying machine
in this month’s cropped photograph,
and I will email you digital plans for the
Denny Dart Mk VI. Wombat drew it to
be printed directly onto tissue, but you
can also build it from the plans in the
conventional way.
If you can’t get the answer but want
the plans anyway, just ask. This is an
email-only offer; no printed plans are
available. The last mystery aircraft was
a Japanese Baka Bomb, although many
readers guessed a P-39.
Target Fixation Problem
Lance Novak sent me a story from the
good old days. He says it is funny now
because of the passage of time and the
fact that nobody got hurt. Lance said the
person in question was a great pilot.
“He started his plane and
immediately realized that the throttle
servo was reversed and it was at fullthrottle
with the stick down. He
immediately pushed the stick all the
way up and the glow engine went to
idle.
“He then let go of the plane, stood
up, and reset the throttle servoreversing
switch on the transmitter. Of
course, the plane immediately went to
full throttle and shot across
the pits. He managed to
stop it before anyone was
harmed. Everyone had a
good (nervous) laugh over
the incident.”
This sounds like a classic
case of “target fixation.”
The pilot figured out the
problem and a solution,
but became so focused on
implementing it that he
forgot his own temporary
fix. Losing control of a
powerful model can be
serious!
Gas models and electrics
are different in terms of
propeller hazards. The
gassers are inert unless
they are making a lot of
noise, and even so, we
still manage to get propeller strikes.
This seems to be an area where new
pilots are safer than experienced ones,
who are accustomed to the noise and
fuss of an internal combustion engine
in motion. That propeller disc is always
there—ready to cause trouble if we
forget about it for just a second. Fresh
trainees see little else, until they get
jaded and relaxed.
Mike’s List Grows
Remember Mike’s List, the growing
collection of wise advice based on a
suggestion by Mike Hausner? The nuggets
of wisdom have been rolling in, including
one from the man himself. Mike wrote:
“After priming a four-stroke motor with
glow heat on, I would move the prop
into position to give it a flip. On many
occasions, the hot glow plug would ignite
the fuel in the cylinder and kick the prop
unexpectedly. Ouch!
“So my tip is this: whenever positioning
the prop, grip it with your whole hand,
like you would a hammer. That way, if
it kicks it won’t have a chance to come
around and bite you.”
John Hudspeth from Amarillo, Texas,
contributed another gem: “My safety
suggestion is to wear eye protection when
starting an engine. Ordinary eyeglasses
or sunglasses are better than nothing. I
knew a guy who lost the use of one eye
when a prop touched the pavement and
shattered.”
Protect Those Eyes
Longtime readers know how strongly
I feel about eye protection around
machinery and chemicals, especially in pit
areas. Please consider getting some coollooking,
impact-resistant sunglasses and
put the odds in your favor.
I am partial to the Zurich USA line,
which is well-suited to outdoor model
flying. Zurich is not the only maker of
fine-quality eye protection products, but
I have been satisfied with my glasses.
Justin Poole wrote to me about eye
hazards; now is a great time for his story:
“Our sport is so much fun that it is
easy to forget that there are dangers
lurking. Many years ago I was using an
early cyanoacrylate adhesive and the tip
of the Teflon applicator tube became
stuck to the work. When I pulled it free, a
small drop of glue was flung into my eye.
“It required a trip to the eye doctor to
have it removed and probably accounts
for my personal interest in eye safety.
[It is also] the reason that I always wear
glasses when applying adhesives.
“When I do get something in my eye I
have tried to use my wife’s saline solution
(she wears contacts) but the bottle only
squirts when it is pointed down, not up
like an eye wash station. I separated the
nipple from the bottle and found that it
would be easy to insert a length of plastic
tube into the nipple from the inside.
“I found an appropriate size of tubing,
shoved it in, and trimmed it to just clear
the bottom of the bottle. Now the bottle
will squirt saline solution right into the
eye when held upright.
“After a short discussion, I went to the
store and bought my wife a new bottle of
saline so I could keep the modified one
with my medical kit.”
The idea of squirting saltwater into
my eyes sounds awful! Apparently, this
is only because I’m a wimp, since people
who wear contacts do it all the time.
Justin figured out an inexpensive way
to rig a portable eyewash system, but I
hope he (and I) never needs it!