Safety Comes First
RESPONSE to Reader Questionnaire. In the March 1986 issue, I included a questionnaire that might improve the safety of RC flight operations. These suggestions were made by Dave Abbe, a California modeler, in a letter he wrote to Bill Northrop, publisher of Model Builder magazine. Bill published Dave's letter in his "Workbench" column in the November 1985 issue of MB. Compared to other solicitations for readers' response to questions that I've had in previous columns, there has been an outstanding number of letters for this one. As I write this (February 28, 1986) they are still trickling in. Since I wrote that March column, I've received both a letter and a telephone call from Dave Abbe. He has asked me to correct the impression that you may have received by reading the March column that made it seem that his letter was being critical of the AMA. In my opening paragraph I had stated: "Dave cited a number of reasons for the criticism that he aimed at RC equipment manufacturers, the news media, and our national organization."
Safety Comes First
SPONTANEOUS IGNITION. A prerequisite for starting a glow engine is a battery to light the glow plug, right? For the most part the answer is-yes, but I continue to receive a steady trickle of letters from modelers who have had glow engines start unexpectedly without a battery connected to the glow plug. Some of these letters have asked how this can happen, so I thought that a discussion on this topic might be beneficial to readers. A recent letter from Harold Christy (Kannapolis, NC) described an incident that required a visit to the emergency room of the local hospital to fix his engine-starting finger. Harold wrote:
Safety Comes First
RC FREQUENCY SCANNERS. A couple of months ago, I received a letter from Ben Trapnell, a modeler from Corpus Christi, TX, who also happens to be an (full-scale) Aviation Safety Officer. Ben stated that he was interested in purchasing a frequency monitor that would scan all of the frequencies we are currently permitted to use. However, he had only seen frequency monitors, such as used to be produced by World Engines and Airtronics, that scanned the older frequencies. His question to me was, "Is there a new one on the market which will monitor the new frequencies and not set one back a few thousand bucks?"
Safety Comes First
PTEROSAURUS WRECKED by radio interference. I'm sure that most modelers have heard of the project sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and Johnson's Wax to build and fly a radio-controlled replica of a giant prehistoric pterosaur (pterodactyl). With Paul MacCready in charge of the project, it seemed that success was likely. I became aware of the project over a year ago when several readers sent me clippings from newspapers that announced that this giant reptile model was to be flown on the Mall in Washington, D.C. in front of the buildings housing the Smithsonian's various collections. The general opinion of these readers was that an attempt at flight in such a location was a hazardous undertaking. At that time I tended to agree and, in retrospect, I certainly agree.
Safety Comes First
BOOM! Since writing the last Safety column, I received three letters concerning fuel can explosions or ignitions. Two letters described actual incidents, and the third contained a warning concerning such incidents. Strangely enough, two of the letters arrived in my mailbox simultaneously. First, the explosion. Those of you who read Model Builder magazine may have read an account of a fuel can explosion in Al Alman's "Big Birds" column. Al sent me a copy of his draft column together with a letter suggesting I include all or part of it in this Safety column "to be sure that everybody gets the word" about the potential fire/explosion hazard that may exist when fuel cans are placed close to an electrical power source such as a battery in a flight box. Al's entire column follows.
