Safety Comes First!
GIANT SCALE. Recent AMA Executive Council action has established 55 lb. and 65 ft. as the figures that represent the new weight limit for any model seeking coverage under the AMA liability insurance policy and the distance separating spectators from the edge of the flying area when models over 20 lb. are being flown. The numbers were specified by the AMA Executive Council at its meeting in Arlington, VA on June 26, 1982. This action was reported in the September AMA News section on its first page. However, we feel that the subject is of sufficient importance to be discussed here as well.
Safety Comes First!
ANY READERS who have tried to attract the attention of the press or media to publicize a forthcoming contest or model airshow will probably agree that it's a tough job. Favorable articles about model aviation in any newspaper or periodical (other than the model magazines themselves) are not frequently seen. However, let something happen that puts modelers in an unfavorable spotlight, and all of a sudden we hit the headlines. Incidents involving the safety of model airplane flying are the most usual of such stories.
Safety Comes First!
TO READERS who may have been disappointed by the absence of a "Safety Comes First" column in last month's Model Aviation, we apologize. A trip to the CL Scale World Championship in Kiev, U.S.S.R. as the manager of the U.S. team interfered with our writing schedule. It may be a while before we catch up with all the mail that arrived during our month's absence. In the last Safety column, we published extracts of some newspaper articles that did nothing to enhance our image with the non-modeling public. Letters from several readers that arrived during our absence in August contained clippings of two more incidents regarding model airplanes that made newspaper headlines. The first concerns yet another electrocution death of a Control Line flier.
Safety Comes First!
WE REPORTED on an incident (in the November 1982 issue) that involved a "near miss" between a model airplane and a full-scale helicopter. This incident apparently made the headlines in newspapers in the Chicago area. A follow-up on this report under the title "Who Chases Helicopters?" comes to us via the newsletter of the Chicagoland RC Modelers, Inc., and was written by their 1982 President, Bob Berkley.
Safety Comes First!
AS WE BEGIN this column, 1983 is but three days old. However, since it will be included in the April issue of Model Aviation, which you will be reading sometime around the end of February or the beginning of March, it's a little late to be wishing you a Happy New Year. But spring is just around the corner, so we will wish you a happy (and safe) new flying season. For those of you who hang up your equipment for the duration of winter, perhaps a few reminders might be in order before you rush out to the flying field and try to destroy what you spent all winter creating. If you are an RC flier, when was the last time you had your radios checked by a qualified technician? At the very least, batteries should be cycled to determine their condition. Even those of you who were lucky enough to receive a new radio from Santa would be well-advised to run the batteries through a discharge cycle. Virtually nothing you buy can be guaranteed to be 100% free from defects. If your batteries check out OK, remember to jot down the time it took to go from a full charge to the point at which the discharger shut off. Use this as your baseline for future reference.
