Safety Comes First
CHECK IT OUT: I've been modeling for many years, but it wasn't until I began full-scale flying that I learned to appreciate the purpose of using checklists. In full-scale flying, checklists are used to ensure that pilots conduct a review of aircraft systems and/or procedures prior to each flight. Using them in this manner almost always guarantees an airworthy aircraft, in that anything deemed as not meeting standards during the preflight (general terms) either gets fixed or the airplane doesn't go in the air. How nice it would be if modelers followed the same path and taught similar values to newcomers.
Safety Comes First
CYA GLUE PRECAUTIONS: In my May 1999 and August 1999 columns, I wrote about the precautions one should take when using cyanoacrylate (CyA) glues, and described a few ills that could potentially develop if they're used haphazardly. The mail I received after the publication of the May issue (the mailbox filled up) revealed many modelers who had apparently experienced ill effects during the use of CyA. Most said that they had experienced one type of health effect or another, and some indicated that they followed label warnings. Well, most of the time. Common symptoms Fokker D. VII-the first time with CyA and accelerator since last year. That evening, I awoke with atrial fibrillation again. I will once more have to undergo an electrocardioversion. The cardiologist has done extensive testing and I have absolutely no cardiovascular disease; in fact, I typically jogged about three to four miles every other day before this.
Safety Comes First
MORE THAN You Can Handle: It's a common mistake made, even by those who have been in the hobby for years. Maybe it's the magic of size, the thrill of speed, or watching a specific type of model fly that attracts us, but the truth is that almost all of us have bitten off more model to build than we're able to fly. Developing safe-flying skills takes time and requires self-discipline. That doesn't mean that simply being involved with the hobby for a number of years makes you a better flier. But it does mean you're more likely to choose something to fly that requires more piloting and/or building skills than you possess.
Safety Comes First
IT'S BEEN JUST a few weeks since John F. Kennedy Jr.'s tragic plane crash; media speculation of what caused the crash seems to be revolving around pilot error. What actually caused the crash may never be known, but preliminary statements from a number of agency officials speculate that a chain of events was set into motion long before the actual flight took place, probably leading to the crash. People in general aviation and model aviation (especially Radio Control [RC]) share common ground; both kinds of pilots often learn only after an accident that if that one link in the chain hadn't been broken, the accident might not have happened at all.
