Safety Comes First
MOST of you will be reading this column during the first weeks of April. However, as I write it on January 31, my backyard still has most of the two feet of snow that was dumped on the Washington, DC area just a week ago. Even if you have a ski-equipped model, a trip to the flying field would probably require the use of a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Let's just say it's good building weather! I have a filing cabinet in my office that contains all of the letters from readers of this column and other material that I've accumulated since I first started writing for MA back in January 1980. For the most part, my files are arranged by subject, and the fattest one of the bunch by far is titled "Chemical Hazards." Under this category goes all the material concerning the effect on our health that may occur from use of glues, paints, etc.
Safety Comes First
PROTECTING the RC pilot: The first topic of disucssion that appeared in the May 1987 Safety column resulted from a conversation with J. R. Griffith, a committee member of the Austin, TX RC club. J.R. described a change to his club's flying field facilities in which concrete pads had been installed to serve as pilot flight boxes. However, because these pads project about three inches above the surrounding ground, some out-of-control models had sustained damage by colliding with them. I asked for readers' opinions on the suggestion by several of J.R.'s modeling friends that dirt ramps could be added around the concrete pads to prevent damage to models. The problem was that the ramps could result in a model colliding with a pilot's legs and possibly causing an injury. I had an overwhelming response to this request for opinions.
Safety Comes First
BIG MODELS. In the April 1987 issue of Model Aviation, this column outlined two plans that had been submitted to an AMA VP, each of which suggested a way in which models weighing more than the current maximum of 55 lb. (see "Official AMA Safety Code," General, paragraph 5) might be safely flown. In a nutshell, these plans were either: 1) Remove the 55-lb. weight limit entirely and allow models of any weight to be flown, provided they meet certain safety criteria; or 2) Keep the current 55-lb. weight limit but establish a special Experimental category which would not have a weight limit but would, again, require that models in this category meet certain safety criteria. I asked for comments from readers on the merits of these two plans.
Safety Comes First
SAFETY LOGO. Prior to the February 1985 issue of Model Aviation, this Safety column was headed by a logo that depicted a hand with a severed finger. The purpose of using this logo was to remind readers that the most commonly reported accident associated with the sport of model aviation results from getting one's fingers into the prop arc. Fortunately, severed-finger accidents are much less common than those which result in finger laceration injuries. However, I've had several letters from readers who are now missing part of a finger due to contact with a turning propeller. In the February 1985 and subsequent issues, the Safety column no longer carried the cut-finger logo, and until just a month or so ago nobody questioned its mysterious disappearance. Noting the absence of the cut-finger logo, a reader wanted to know why it was no longer used. Well, it was discontinued after a complaint was lodged by a major distributor of hobby supplies who believed it was not in good taste.
Safety Comes First
EPOXY ALLERGIES. In several previous Safety columns, I've discussed allergic reactions that readers have experienced after using epoxy glues or paints. A few weeks ago, I received a note from Virgil Pollock (McHenry, IL) to which he attached a copy of a letter on this subject that recently appeared in the EAA Magazine, Sport Aviation. The letter was written by EAA member Allen Kennedy, who claims to have found a solution to his epoxy-allergy problems. Allen's letter follows. "I am writing because I just possibly have run into something of importance. I have been building a Dragonfly for the past 4 1/2 years and have been fighting epoxy allergy. After the first few months, my hands (only below the elbow) would blister and peel as though they had been burned. As this was not an immediate reaction, and as I also had other factors to consider at the time, I did not blame it on the epoxy-particularly as the Safe-T-Poxy was advertised as `absolutely safe' at the time.
