Club Safety
05-22-2002, 05:24 PM
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Club Safety
I've posted on this subject before but I strongly feel that it needs to be readdressed. I'm in the military and I travel often and have flown at many clubs across the country. Unfortunately, some of the things I've witnessed have left me wondering if we, as a RC Hobby as a whole, understand the potential safety issues that our airplanes can present if we let down our guard. The military has a saying that EVERYONE IS A SAFETY OFFICER and that anyone witnessing an unsafe act should bring it up to the attention of the individual who commits the act. I'm not saying that everyone should be extreme about this--we all can't stand the club individaul who makes it his full time job to enforce rules--but everyone who has at least several years of experience in his hobby should be vigilant to ensure that newcomers in this hobby are taught properly.
Here is what I witnessed and experienced yesterday while flying at another club several hundred miles from home.....I will not name the club's name but feel my observations should be shared to encourage greater awareness in our hobby. I intend to email the club's president privately but feel that my comments would benefit more than just one club.
I've been flying away from home in another club for the past week and a half. Yesterday the winds were blowing at 20mph with a gust spread of 5-10 knots. It was trainer day and besides the usual buddy boxing occuring, there were at least 2 pilots who appeared to have recently soloed flying in the strong cross wind conditions. Both incidents occured during same day at the same club.
Incident 1
Pilot C, an apparent novice pilot with 2-3 months total flight time, had difficulty controlling his avistar on landing due to the high cross winds. He flew behind the pits at least once and on his last landing attempt, he crosssed over into the pit and his airplane headed directly into a small group of 4 individuals who were chatting. 2-3 got out of the way, one had to drop to the ground to avoid a direct hit. The trainer hit the fence with engine running.
Observation:
Pilot was not adequately trained to react to an "inflight emergency". Pilot made no attempt to sacrifice his airplane in order to prevent the possibility of bodily injury to the other pilots in the pits. Pilot continued to try to maintain flight even though airplane was headed directly for the small group. The full throttle and full right aileron did nothing for the right trailing cross wind affecting the highwing/high dihedral, trainer.
Pilot made no attempt to kill engine and made no verbal warning of to the group that his airplane was headed his way. Killing engine in an out of control situation greatly reduces the risk of injury from an out of control aircraft. Given the choice, I'd prefer to be hit by an airplane with the engine not running than being hit with an airplane with engine running.
To add injury to insult, pilot made no apologies for his actions and got a spare trainer and went back up again. Not surprisingly, everyone stood behind the fence when he flew. I also cut two flights short to stand in a safe place when he flew. There were club officer's present and it didn't appear that any of them took the time to provide some on the spot training/advice. I am not exaggerating when this could have been another fatality for this hobby.
Incident 2, 1 hour later:
Another pilot who also appeared to be a novice flier took his trainer out in the high cross winds to fly. His flights were erratic and appeared to be out of control 30% of the time. One one of his landing attempts he flew over the pits where I and 2 other people were standing and he then proceeded to lose control of his airplane about 20 feet above me which resulted in 2 erratic and out of control loops that that came dangerously close to me and others. Pilot's solution when the cross wind blew him into the pits was to add full throttle and full up elevator (hence the loops). I ran out of the airplane way and took cover in a shelter, the two individuals standing next to me took cover under the setup table they were standing next two.
Observation: Novice pilot should be aware of cross wind airspeed limitations for trainers. Full scale aircraft have airspeed limitations for cross wind components and RC should be no different. Pilot 2 was obviously flying outside his skill level with such high winds. His actions are partially a reflection of the training he received. Pilot did not verbally warn anyone when he lost control and offered no apology for his actions.
General Comments:
Novice RC Pilots should be taught about aircraft limitations and should be trained how to land an airplane in a cross wind condition (neither pilot appeared to use their rudder to compensate for the wind).
RC Pilots should mentally rehearse actions if they lose control of their airplane due to flyinb ability/wind conditions. Shutting down the engine should be one of the first things you do in this particular situation.
RC Pilots should be taught to verbally warn other pilots if they are having problems, especially when their plane is headed on an impact course with a small group of people.
Other non-related Safety issues I noticed and will be addressing to the Club President via email or in person if I see him before I leave the area.
Pilots at this club do not call out that they are taking off, or landing. No communication is made to other pilots who are flying that someone is on the runway picking up a deadsticked airplane Every AMA club I've flown at had general rules to shout, "I'm on the runway, I'm taking off, I have a deadstick", etc..etc...
Many pilots oberserved ran their engines at full throttle standing in front of the prop. Engines do backfire and throw props.
Many of the pilots reached over their props to remove glow driver. I have personally seen someone slice their wrist in half by doing. This may work ok with a 10x6 prop but when a novice moves up to the big stuff, a 18 inch prop can do damage. Positive habit transfer can avoid the dumb mistakes of reaching through a prop to remove a glow plug or adjust a carb.
Backtaxi to the pits is an unnecessary risk. All it takes is one radio glitch or an inadvertant throttle application and an airplane can hit you or someone else in the pits. Kill the engine while airplane is on the edge of the runway, pointed down the runway. The 10 foot walk won't kill you.
I'm off my soapbox. I am glad that no one was hurt yesterday. I enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends while at this club. However, this experience yesterday, left me a little worried. I am posting this to highlight the need for safety vigilance. We cannot take our airplanes for granted and become complacent. Complacency is often a contributing factor in real avaition incidents/accidents and we are not immune in RC.
Homebrewer
Here is what I witnessed and experienced yesterday while flying at another club several hundred miles from home.....I will not name the club's name but feel my observations should be shared to encourage greater awareness in our hobby. I intend to email the club's president privately but feel that my comments would benefit more than just one club.
I've been flying away from home in another club for the past week and a half. Yesterday the winds were blowing at 20mph with a gust spread of 5-10 knots. It was trainer day and besides the usual buddy boxing occuring, there were at least 2 pilots who appeared to have recently soloed flying in the strong cross wind conditions. Both incidents occured during same day at the same club.
Incident 1
Pilot C, an apparent novice pilot with 2-3 months total flight time, had difficulty controlling his avistar on landing due to the high cross winds. He flew behind the pits at least once and on his last landing attempt, he crosssed over into the pit and his airplane headed directly into a small group of 4 individuals who were chatting. 2-3 got out of the way, one had to drop to the ground to avoid a direct hit. The trainer hit the fence with engine running.
Observation:
Pilot was not adequately trained to react to an "inflight emergency". Pilot made no attempt to sacrifice his airplane in order to prevent the possibility of bodily injury to the other pilots in the pits. Pilot continued to try to maintain flight even though airplane was headed directly for the small group. The full throttle and full right aileron did nothing for the right trailing cross wind affecting the highwing/high dihedral, trainer.
Pilot made no attempt to kill engine and made no verbal warning of to the group that his airplane was headed his way. Killing engine in an out of control situation greatly reduces the risk of injury from an out of control aircraft. Given the choice, I'd prefer to be hit by an airplane with the engine not running than being hit with an airplane with engine running.
To add injury to insult, pilot made no apologies for his actions and got a spare trainer and went back up again. Not surprisingly, everyone stood behind the fence when he flew. I also cut two flights short to stand in a safe place when he flew. There were club officer's present and it didn't appear that any of them took the time to provide some on the spot training/advice. I am not exaggerating when this could have been another fatality for this hobby.
Incident 2, 1 hour later:
Another pilot who also appeared to be a novice flier took his trainer out in the high cross winds to fly. His flights were erratic and appeared to be out of control 30% of the time. One one of his landing attempts he flew over the pits where I and 2 other people were standing and he then proceeded to lose control of his airplane about 20 feet above me which resulted in 2 erratic and out of control loops that that came dangerously close to me and others. Pilot's solution when the cross wind blew him into the pits was to add full throttle and full up elevator (hence the loops). I ran out of the airplane way and took cover in a shelter, the two individuals standing next to me took cover under the setup table they were standing next two.
Observation: Novice pilot should be aware of cross wind airspeed limitations for trainers. Full scale aircraft have airspeed limitations for cross wind components and RC should be no different. Pilot 2 was obviously flying outside his skill level with such high winds. His actions are partially a reflection of the training he received. Pilot did not verbally warn anyone when he lost control and offered no apology for his actions.
General Comments:
Novice RC Pilots should be taught about aircraft limitations and should be trained how to land an airplane in a cross wind condition (neither pilot appeared to use their rudder to compensate for the wind).
RC Pilots should mentally rehearse actions if they lose control of their airplane due to flyinb ability/wind conditions. Shutting down the engine should be one of the first things you do in this particular situation.
RC Pilots should be taught to verbally warn other pilots if they are having problems, especially when their plane is headed on an impact course with a small group of people.
Other non-related Safety issues I noticed and will be addressing to the Club President via email or in person if I see him before I leave the area.
Pilots at this club do not call out that they are taking off, or landing. No communication is made to other pilots who are flying that someone is on the runway picking up a deadsticked airplane Every AMA club I've flown at had general rules to shout, "I'm on the runway, I'm taking off, I have a deadstick", etc..etc...
Many pilots oberserved ran their engines at full throttle standing in front of the prop. Engines do backfire and throw props.
Many of the pilots reached over their props to remove glow driver. I have personally seen someone slice their wrist in half by doing. This may work ok with a 10x6 prop but when a novice moves up to the big stuff, a 18 inch prop can do damage. Positive habit transfer can avoid the dumb mistakes of reaching through a prop to remove a glow plug or adjust a carb.
Backtaxi to the pits is an unnecessary risk. All it takes is one radio glitch or an inadvertant throttle application and an airplane can hit you or someone else in the pits. Kill the engine while airplane is on the edge of the runway, pointed down the runway. The 10 foot walk won't kill you.
I'm off my soapbox. I am glad that no one was hurt yesterday. I enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends while at this club. However, this experience yesterday, left me a little worried. I am posting this to highlight the need for safety vigilance. We cannot take our airplanes for granted and become complacent. Complacency is often a contributing factor in real avaition incidents/accidents and we are not immune in RC.
Homebrewer
05-22-2002, 06:41 PM
#2
Club Safety
Good post HB, I admit that I'm the first to complain about those "Safety Nazi's" But there are some things that are just plain dangerous. Beginners, although they may have soloed, are still beginners. Look at full scale flying. Once you have soloed, you still have many hours of flying with an instructor before you are given a license. It would be wonderful if a beginner had the smarts to say "I'm not ready to fly in this wind", but unfortunately, many don't realize how much more difficult it is to fly in adverse conditions. Senior club members should take the initiative to stand next to a beginner whether he wants you there or not, because they don't know their limitations.
05-22-2002, 11:24 PM
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Club Safety
Senior club members should take the initiative to stand next to a beginner whether he wants you there or not
Doesn't always have to be a beginner. I have seen seasoned pilots get shook on a trim flight or a windy day and a calm voice can make all the difference in the world.
Mike
