Safety Comes First
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY: As you read this column the long summer days, warm temperatures, and gentle breezes will have returned to most of the country, and most of us in the hobby will have already traveled to the flying field a dozen times or so to shake the bugs out of the new creations we made last winter. Hope all is going well with your new craft and/or the old standby, and that all the maintenance you gave it last winter is paying off. Question: Did you remember to go through the field box and throw out all those old rubber bands and broken props? Hate to see a wing come off in flight due to weak bands, or to have an injury occur from a separating prop.
Safety Comes First
I GUESS I MIGHT BE a little off base (OK, some claim more than a little), but I would bet most of you feel that there's no better way to spend an afternoon than flying a good-running airplane in nice weather, among the company of good friends. Having said that, I guess it's safe to say that I just returned from the field with an airplane that didn't work (the engine gremlins). The weather got bad (the weather gremlins), and no modelers I knew showed up. I bet I know what you're thinking-no, I didn't fly alone, and yes, I do have friends to fly with, at least every once in a while!
Safety Comes First
AS TOLD TO ME by longtime modeler and friend Charles Castaing of New Iberia, Louisiana: "Safety should be very high on our list of priorities and should be kept in mind at all times. It seems that most accidents occur when we don't concentrate and/or allow ourselves to be distracted from the task at hand." How true that statement is, especially in our hobby! Anytime you engage in a hobby that is as dynamic as ours, the opportunity for error and injury goes up. Given all the safety information that is available, one would think that the common modeler would be more immune to error-but we all know that isn't the case. If we were able to measure our risk level the same way companies measure their employees' occupational risk, I believe we would find that modelers would need to possess a certain level of knowledge to safely accomplish the job at hand, and to understand the dangers involved when engaged in complex tasks. The common modeler, like the common employee, needs training to be able to work effectively and safely.
Safety Comes First
CHANGING OLD RUBBER BANDS? In my May '96 column I wrote a piece titled "Wing Away" in which an aircraft transformed itself into an air-to-ground missile when the four-year-old (or older) rubber bands on the main wing suddenly lost their elasticity-ouch! The post-mortem revealed slim pickings! Having read the story and formulated a few thoughts of his own regarding "the life of a rubber band," longtime engineer and modeler Tom Cater of Grand Rapids, Michigan, thought the rest of us might benefit a little from some of his personal observations:
Safety Comes First
AS I WRITE this column it's early July and the first storm of the hurricane season is churning its way through the Caribbean on what appears to be a direct course for the United States. Jumping out of the gate this year is Bertha, whose 90-mph winds and rain (the Weather Channel says so) are currently ravaging the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Having experienced several direct hits from hurricanes this past year, it's safe to say that those who live in coastal states are following this particular storm's direction with interest. I know I am!
