Safety Comes First
WHILE VISITING several flying fields during the summer, I became increasingly aware of the really dangerous things we do without giving them a second thought. Leading the pack in my neck of the woods are pilots who run engines at full speed while kneeling (or sitting) in front of their models. Although a few newcomers to the sport may be unaware of the danger, the vast majority of us are veterans who just plain know better.
Safety Comes First
AUTOPILOT ARRIVES! I indicated in my April and July 1994 columns that I had been introduced to a gentleman from Israel who represents a company involved in developing electronics for radio-controlled drones. I had observed a demonstration flight of an RC model with an autopilot installed. After watching the test aircraft fully recover from numerous violent spins, rolls, dives, stalls, and bad landings through hands-off use of the on-board autopilot, I began to visualize scenarios for which this revolutionary new safety tool might lend a helping hand:
Safety Comes First
THE FLY PAPER is an excellent newsletter forwarded to me each month by the hard-working members of the Remote Control Association of Central Florida (RCACF), Inc. Grabbing my attention in the August 1994 issue was a somewhat peculiar and unfortunate story regarding a glider pilot who apparently lost the tip of a finger while hand-launching his glider. How does one loose the tip of a finger while hand-launching a glider? Newsletter editor Jerry Truell provides the following answer: "About the time I finished typing up the Safety report for this month's newsletter, Ed Stone (well-known Giant Scale CD) told me he was at the field the other day with Phil Minnici. Phil had a glider with an engine pod on it and asked Ed if he would fly it. Ed agreed, and they cranked up the engine.
Safety Comes First
PREFLIGHT CHECKLISTS: Since this month's Model Aviation is aimed towards our modeling youth and beginner pilots, it seems appropriate to pass along a few safety tips. Mark Clifton of Port Orchard, Washington developed an easy-to-follow preflight "Everyday Flying Checklist." He decided it was time to use a checklist after he forgot to install enough rubber bands on his Seniorita's wing during a recent student training flight. Rubber bands hold wings in place on some models. If there aren't enough rubber bands (fewer than 10-12), inflight wing shifting usually occurs. In Mark's case, not using enough rubber bands resulted in a violent snap-roll and the near-loss of Mark's model as the wing shifted sideways.
Safety Comes First
MORE ABOUT RETRIEVING MODELS: Several informative letters arrived in response to a segment in my November column titled "Re-Tree-ving Models." These letters contained additional ways to solve this annoying dilemma. Clyde Wealand of Akron, Pennsylvania writes: "A few years ago, a young flier about 16 years old was flying a sailplane with a small engine. He flew it into a tree at about the 30-foot-level. Said tree was also covered with poison ivy.
