News and views from AMA Convention 2007
Safety Comes First Dave Gee | [email protected]
Also included in this column:
• An oral preflight checklist
• Spread spectrum safety
thoughts
Having recovered from knee problems, Jeff Gee knows how
important a knee pad can be to have at the flying field.
Colonel Bob Thacker remembers when full-scale Peashooters
were in service. See text for his thoughts on lifelong education.
These Edjer rotary cutters are great for slicing fabric, covering material, and sheet balsa.
They are safer and faster than conventional blades.
I LOVE ATTENDING the AMA
Convention at Ontario, California! Besides
seeing old friends and new and all that
modeling stuff, I can gather enough
column material to last me several months.
First, the photos.
Joe Roberts was busy at the Edjer booth
demonstrating a variety of cutting tools
and accessories. Those rotary cutters are
slick! Joe sells many styles and sizes of
this gadget. It is just right for plastic
covering materials, fabric, tissue, and thin
sheet balsa.
Joe talked me into getting a new circle
cutter with a rotary blade. I have a much
harder time slicing my fingers with these
tools than with conventional blades.
The downside? I have to get two of
each because my wife Sweet Diedra
swipes them for her sewing and craft work.
Joe was unsympathetic since he made
money on the deal.
Notice the cutting mat underneath the
tools. A self-healing mat extends blade
life, and I like the helpful markings that
come printed on the top. Many hobby
suppliers carry Edjer products or you can
contact Joe at Box 1775, Hemet CA
92546.
The big guy in the photograph is my
little son Jeff. He’s not kneeling to show
May 2007 91
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humility; he’s kneeling because I asked
him to demonstrate the kneepad that is
available through AMA. Not only does this
foam cushion have the AMA logo on it
(which you cannot see when in use), but it
can help you avoid painful knee problems.
Smart fliers service their flying
machines on a worktable when possible,
but eventually they are set on the ground
and we bend down to fiddle with
something. How many times have you
seen someone put a vulnerable kneecap
directly on the tarmac? That is wrong!
The AMA pad is large enough to do
double duty as a fanny pad for those hard
benches at the field. One size fits all knees
and most fannies.
My day job involves appliance service,
and knee problems are an occupational
hazard for my co-workers. Injury to these
joints is painful and difficult to treat.
Surgery is not a guaranteed solution, but it
does guarantee a long and uncomfortable
recuperation. Take it from me: prevention
is the path to take.
I use a variety of knee-protection
devices in the hope that my knees will
outlast the rest of me. The AMA pad is
available through the AMA Web site
(www.modelaircraft.org) or you can get a
similar item in the garden department of
your local hardware store.
The gentleman holding my CO2-
powered Dumas P-26 is Colonel Bob
Thacker. Modelers may know him from
his many outstanding designs, and history
buffs might know about his amazing reallife
adventures in the air, such as when he
flew a P-82 Twin Mustang nonstop from
Hawaii to New York.
Bob stopped by the FF demonstration
area at the Convention to watch people
build and fly indoor models. I jokingly
asked him if he wanted me to teach him
how to make a model, and he graciously
allowed since he isn’t finished learning
things yet and might pick up some new
ideas.
That sort of thinking is mighty wise,
and modelers who adopt such an attitude
will be emulating a classy guy. Bob has a
10-page résumé of accomplishments, so
maybe a little bit of his coolness rubbed
off onto the Peashooter.
My friend Carl Rankin was also at the
Ontario show. He is known for his
fantastic, ultralightweight, unique RC
models. His giant multiplane with a sodastraw
framework amazed the convention
crowd.
Carl also flies full-scale aircraft (from
the inside!). He wrote me the following
note about safety procedures that could be
beneficial if used with our miniature
machines.
“I have been a licensed private pilot for
35 years and am familiar with lightplane
and airliner procedures. The full-scale
guys use preflight checklists, both written
and oral, to ensure that every step is
methodically covered.
“I thought this practice might be good
when working with the Li-Poly batteries in
our models. To prevent fires or other
problems I suggest we use an oral
checklist (i.e., saying it out loud) when we
charge our batteries at home or at the field.
“It may be a little embarrassing to talk
to yourself at the RC field, and the guys
may ask who you are talking to when you
say, for example, ‘Red to red, black to
black, this is a Lithium, two-cell, .6-amp,
7.4-volt’ when you are setting your
charger, but you have a better chance of
getting things right if you call each
checklist item.
“I also do my preflight check out loud.
‘Frequency flag is up, transmitter on,
model number, clear propeller, aircraft on,
control check (move each control and
check direction), look around.’ Then we
are ready to fly. It also keeps your friends
from distracting you when you are doing
these very important things.
“Make your own checklist and get in
the habit. We work hard to make our
miniature aircraft look and fly like fullscale
airplanes and helicopters. Let’s copy
the safety procedures too.”
What do you think of Carl’s
suggestion? As the poster boy for the
Absent-Minded Klutz Society, I am the
92 MODEL AVIATION
www.modelaircraft.org www.masportaviator.com
“On
the
Flight
Line”:
F-22
Raptor
A United States Air Force front-line
stealth fighter as an RC trainer? Is it
possible? How does it fly? Can I learn on
it? How can an F-22 be my first aircraft?
Sport Aviator’s online review answers all
those questions and more.
And for you sport pilots who are
looking for a jet, stay tuned; this trainer
is designed for hotdog fighter pilots too.
Visit www.masportaviator.com to see the
review.
“Flight-Tech”: Those Things
We Call Batteries
All battery technology should not be
created equal. Sport Aviator will show you how to maintain and choose the best battery
for the job.
Everything you wanted to know about batteries has been expanded into a three-part
series. Learn about all types of cells, from store-bought Alkaline to the latest in Lithium.
Visit www.masportaviator.com for the complete article.
Club Disaster Assistance Program
Did you know that AMA can provide
financial assistance to chartered clubs that
maintain flying sites that have been damaged
in a natural disaster such as a tornado,
hurricane, earthquake, or firestorm?
The Academy launched the Club
Disaster Assistance Program in 2005. Each
flying field stricken by a natural disaster is
eligible for a grant of up to $500. For more
information
and an
application
form, go to
www.modelair
craft.org/disas
relief.asp. ®
ClickOn!
AMA Walk of Fame
AMA members, would you like to
honor a loved one, celebrate your
club, or sponsor a symbol of support
for your national organization? If so,
purchase a commemorative brick for
the AMA Walk of Fame. For more
information go to www.modelair
craft.org/brickad.asp. ®
05sig3.QXD 3/23/07 11:42 AM Page 92
ideal test case and I’m going to give it a
try. Maybe it will improve my landings
somehow.
Please share your ideas, comments, and
suggestions with me via the E-mail address
in the column header or by mail at Box
7081, Van Nuys CA 91409. I can’t promise
to print everything that arrives, but the best
stuff you see here comes from MA readers.
There is a marvelous sign at the local RC
field. It reads: “You are entering a
frequency-control area, please ask for
assistance if you do not know what this
means.”
What an excellent way of putting it!
Hundreds of thousands of RTF RC park
flyers have been sold, and anyone who can
open the box can fly one. Flying it safely is
another matter, especially when you don’t
know the rules.
I’ve heard stories about new modelers
arriving at the field and testing their radios
in the parking lot, blissfully unaware that
an airplane has crashed because of their
actions. The wave of inexpensive models is
a benefit to our hobby in many ways, but it
also brings problems.
How we greet newcomers is important.
We want them to feel welcome, but we
also need them to understand how serious
we are about certain safety rules that
protect us from harm.
I’ve heard from savvy clubs that have a
94 MODEL AVIATION
plan for this sort of encounter, and I’ve seen
fields that are way too casual about it. Give
some thought to posting this announcement
or something similar in your flying area.
My pal Dave Edison asked a related
question. He is a professional comic who
usually has me in stitches within moments,
but his E-mail raises a serious point. Dave
wrote:
“Since 2003, I’ve flown RC electric
models at a sanctioned model aircraft field
or at a park (or indoor event) at least three
miles away. Now with the introduction of
the spread spectrum radio system, will the
AMA’s three-mile requirement change?
“The obvious double-edged sword of the
spread spectrum technology is that as more
fliers no longer need to wait for their
frequency to become available, the airspace
has become more crowded. An average day
of frequency fliers plus a few spread
spectrum users is all it takes for the air to
become hazardously thick with a wide
variety of slow and fast models.
“There’s a very large and often vacant
field about a mile from our model aircraft
field. Now that there’s no fear of being on
the same frequency as another pilot, can an
AMA member using a spread spectrum
system to fly a park flyer within three miles
of an AMA field?”
Dave wrote this to the appropriate AMA
authorities and sent me a copy. Since I am
inappropriate and not an AMA authority, I
can respond with my own politically
incorrect take on the matter.
It is my humble opinion that the
applicable AMA rules will not be changed
anytime soon because of the chance that
some well-meaning but misguided person
will operate a non-spread spectrum system
within the interference zone.
This will result in a bit of safety
overkill, but it is understandable given the
wide variety of fliers who purchase RC
equipment. Some are careful, experienced
people who could, in fact, fly a spread
spectrum-equipped model safely within
three miles of an RC field. (But you didn’t
hear it from me!)
It is the others I worry about. It is the
ones who buy their models at garage sales,
know nothing about them, and confidently
flip that transmitter on to begin controlling
their airplanes and yours also.
By the way, this is exactly why the
spread spectrum systems are selling so
well. And hooray for us all when
interference ceases to be a looming danger
for RC fliers.
Stand by for more AMA Convention 2007
stuff next time, along with some discussion
of field safety at large FF events. In
addition, an old-time flier sent in some hairraising
stories about how it was “Way Back
When.” MA
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