Warning Graphic Picture !!
11-22-2009, 12:29 PM
#76
RE: Warning Graphic Picture !!
Some people seem to think these photos don't belong in this topic, but should be posted.
I disagree. This type of photo should be in ALL topics, just to remind all of us, regardless of experience level, just what kind of rotating knife we play with.
Every time I see photos like this, I remember several episodes from my 60 years of flying. Two in particular stand out to help me remember to pay attention to what I'm doing around the engine, before and after starting.
First, standing in the pits when a flyer suddenly bent to tweak a needle valve. A loud THUNK!, a sudden silence from the engine, and a small cylindrical shape flying through the air to bounce against my chest from 20 feet away. Happily, it was a chumk of Master Airscrew, not what I first thought. But it cost the flyer 12 stitches on the hand and finger, and 6 months of therapy to restore the use of the hand.
The second is a bit more personal. A bit over a year ago, I was cleaning out a propellor cut (multiple cuts, actually) on my knee from an APC on a .40. I became ascinated by feeling, and seeing, the pulsing vein or artery that was exposed, but not cut. I got careless, pushed the plane back a bit from the restraint I use, and had the plane run into my knee.
My club has a couple safety items that make membership worthwhile. We encourage usng restraints, we maintain a first aid kit, and there are a number of regular fliers who have first responder or EMT training, as well as at leat one doctor.
I disagree. This type of photo should be in ALL topics, just to remind all of us, regardless of experience level, just what kind of rotating knife we play with.
Every time I see photos like this, I remember several episodes from my 60 years of flying. Two in particular stand out to help me remember to pay attention to what I'm doing around the engine, before and after starting.
First, standing in the pits when a flyer suddenly bent to tweak a needle valve. A loud THUNK!, a sudden silence from the engine, and a small cylindrical shape flying through the air to bounce against my chest from 20 feet away. Happily, it was a chumk of Master Airscrew, not what I first thought. But it cost the flyer 12 stitches on the hand and finger, and 6 months of therapy to restore the use of the hand.
The second is a bit more personal. A bit over a year ago, I was cleaning out a propellor cut (multiple cuts, actually) on my knee from an APC on a .40. I became ascinated by feeling, and seeing, the pulsing vein or artery that was exposed, but not cut. I got careless, pushed the plane back a bit from the restraint I use, and had the plane run into my knee.
My club has a couple safety items that make membership worthwhile. We encourage usng restraints, we maintain a first aid kit, and there are a number of regular fliers who have first responder or EMT training, as well as at leat one doctor.
