Originally Posted by
Mpizpilot
At my recent club meeting I was basically singled out as the only guy flying gas motors and was told by the president that he is requiring fire extinguishers for gassers. Any one else out there have this rule in their club? I've been flying gas motors for years now, in many different areas and clubs and never had to deal with this.
Unfortunately, because of where I live (Long Island) I'm extremely limited in my club options. The truly good clubs are very difficult, if not impossible to get into. Between this new rule, the recent no low passes below 15 feet rule and a couple other issues, it's driving me out of the hobby. Shame some clubs have to ruin things.
Ok , So call me Mr. Safety nerd ........
Ever since I restarted my hobby back in 2006 when I retired , I have had a couple of those small , cheap "Captain Kidd" or whatever fire extinguishers in my field boxes . They very may well be a false sense of fire security , for all I know , but at least if there ever were a fire , I'd have the two empty extinguishers in my hands when the real firefighters showed up . "Hey , at least somebody tried to put it out" . I just figure that for the less than $25 they both cost me , at least I'd be able to prove I DID take all reasonable precautions , how many times have we heard , AFTER the fact , "ya mean he was messin with flammables and had NO extinguisher handy ?" making it sound as if the fire never woulda happened in the first place if the guy had just had an extinguisher ... I , myself , have em everywhere I am , they are in my car , my kitchen , my garage , and especially my field box , wouldn't be without em .......
Now , as to being told ya HAVE to have em ?
I can understand the "Helmet Laws" fight in each and every law bound intrusion into our lives and can say this is NOT the way the founding Fathers intended , for the law to protect everyone from everything no matter what . I understand that the helmet law may not be a great example cause the only one my lack of helmet is gonna hurt is me , whereas an out of control fire lit by my fuel powered model plane most certainly could hurt others . It it with THIS idea , protecting others from the possible harm that could come from my toy , that I carry my extinguishers .. Rather than loose the use of your nice , local field , throw the club safety officer a bone and carry the extinguisher , but make it palatable to your self with the thought that , God forbid there ever were a fire , you could truthfully say you took every reasonable and called for in the club rules preventative measure by carrying the extinguisher .....
(PS , The "Helmet Laws" fight I refer to is in the Motorcycling hobby and not RC . I was just using it as an example here)