Safety Comes First!
BY THE TIME most of you get around to reading this column, the Summer of '83 will be about over. However, I'm hastening to finish and get it into the mail before leaving for a long Fourth of July weekend at the beach. Those of you who know how hot and humid summers in the Washington. DC area can be, will appreciate how much I'm looking forward to this chance to get away from it all. There used to be a time when such weather didn't bother me, and I'd willingly stand in a field in 90ºF (or higher) temperatures and sweat buckets over my latest RC creation. Somehow, that doesn't hold much fascination anymore-must be getting old! Anyway, on with this month's offerings. The first one comes from Lee Taylor and was originally written for his local club's newsletter. Lee, as many of you will be well aware, was the founder of the IMAA, but the point he is making in the following article applies to the pilots of all RC models-not just the Giant Scalers. Over to Lee:
Safety Comes First!
SOME time ago, this column listed a host of Flying Field Safety Rules that had been extracted from a number of club newsletters from around the country. Among these many rules was one that stated: "Never Fly Alone." Some readers objected to this rule and wrote to tell me that they felt that this was the safest way to fly. These writers were under the mistaken impression that rules are intended to prevent injuries to third parties only. Perhaps the following story of an incident that happened in Denver, CO will be self-explanatory in pointing out the reason for the rule against solo flying. It comes to us from Paul Samaris. Safety Officer of the Jefco Aeromodelers and George Ulrich, the club's newsletter editor. The story is told by the victim, Jim Coy, whose accident could happen to any of us who operate engine-powered model aircraft. Over to Jim:
Safety Comes First!
PROPELLERS-wood or plastic: which is right for you? Injuries associated with whirling props continue to occur. So, please forgive me if you think I'm spending too much time talking about the hazard of those blades on the front of your engines. . Two letters received during the past month came from manufacturers of so-called "plastic" props, and both contained some safety information.
Safety Comes First!
DESPITE the fact that a humorous cartoon accompanies each Safety Comes First column, the consequence of being lax about safety when operating a model aircraft is seldom likely to be laughable. So, it isn't often that I get a chance to reprint any funny stories. Such a chance did, however, arise when I was writing the column for the September 1983 issue. I'm referring to the "Ultimate Frequency Control System" that was dreamed up by Col. Art Johnson who edits the Gold Coast Flyer newsletter.
Safety Comes First!
FOAM plastic as a building material poses some potential health/safety hazards. Right from the outset, I want you to understand that "Styrofoam" is not a generic name for all foamed plastics-it is a registered trademark (more on this, later). Some of our long-time readers may remember that "Safety Comes First" addressed this subject some two years ago-but many readers will not have been with us that long, and they need to know about this, so please forgive the repetition. The thing that set me to address this subject, again, was a letter received during the past month from Jim Riggle (Gladstone, OR), who described some problems associated with the use of foam plastic as a model-building material. Jim wrote:
