Safety Comes First
REVERSAL. In the November 1984 issue of MA, this column reported that incidents in which prop blades on large-displacement four-stroke engines had shattered may have been due to the presence of drive-pins in the prop drive washer. Such pins are intended to prevent rotation of the prop with respect to the prop drive washer so that, in the event that the engine backfires, the prop nut will not loosen nor will the entire prop be thrown off. It appears that the use of drive-pins to prevent such an occurrence may cause the prop blades to be thrown off during an engine backfire which, in my opinion, presents a far greater risk of injury.
Safety Comes First
THE FIRST TOPIC this month may be of value to all modelers who are interested in building the strongest but lightest model on the block. The subject is boron filaments. Is it wise to use this "space age" material, which I understand has a tensile strength of about 550,000 psi and a density similar to aluminum? A letter from noted Free Flight Scale modeler, Bill Warner, may cause you to think twice before you place your order. Bill had the following to say: "In the latest issue of Model Aviation (November 1984), Bud Tenny mentions that the Indoor crowd is thinking of banning boron filament. Other columnists have cautioned modelers to exercise caution in its use. Well, I would like to add my two cents and suggest that any modeler who has any sense will get rid of any he has by burying it in the back yard of someone he doesn't like. I am sorry I ever heard of the stuff!
Safety Comes First
ANNOUNCEMENT! In last month's safety column I mentioned that the month of May 1985 has been declared by the AMA Executive Council to be National Model Aviation Safety Month. I am not aware of the reason that the Council members elected to have a safety month, but I have to assume that reports of accidents received by AMA HQ must have been at least partially responsible. In a previous column (June 1984), I stated that ". . . the most frequent (insurance) claim for a bodily injury incident involved contact with a rotating propeller." If you wish to contribute to the campaign to improve modeling safety during Safety Month, May 1985, I suggest you do everything you can to remind yourself and alert your modeling buddies to the potential hazard of rotating props.
Safety Comes First
HARK! In the January 1985 issue of Model Aviation I summarized some of the topics that have appeared in this column over the past five years. One such topic was Flying Field Rules for RC clubs. For the benefit of those who were not RCers when that column appeared (May 1980), I have reprints available. All I ask is that you enclose a SASE with your request. As with all rules that are established to control our lives, there will always be some who ignore them. I've recently seen a number of articles in club newsletters that concern violations of club flying field rules. So, the first topic this month is enforcement of rules at the flying field.
Safety Comes First
AFTER I wrote the Safety column that appeared in the March 1985 issue of MA, I've received a number of letters concerning the hazard of handling boron filaments, which may be used to strengthen models for a minimal gain in weight. In the March column, I reprinted excerpts from a letter I received from noted Scale modeler Bill Warner, in which he stated that, according to Bud Tenny, "the Indoor crowd is thinking of banning boron." I recently received a copy of another letter on the subject of a ban of boron in models that was sent to John Worth by a California modeler. In this letter, the modeler stated: "WE DON'T NEED IT! Let's ban it from all modeling. What does it take to get a ban in AMA or FAI?"
