Tarasdad

I speak from experience when I say work through the pain and do your physical therapy exercises. It may hurt like you-know-what now but it's worth it in the long run.

kenh3497

You hit the nail on the head. I've been there and done that before and it paid off. Besides, If they make me go to physical therapy, it will hurt worse[:@]

Ken

kenh3497

I went to the vet (doctor) today. He is concerned I don't have the motion in my index finger he thinks I should have. He had to repair the cut extensor tendon. The finger is still very swollen. I think that is the limiting factor. At first he wanted me to move the finger to keep the tendon from growing into the surrounding tissue. Now he put it in a splint so I can't move it. I wish he would make up his mind..... Might have to have more surgery to fix the tendon if this doesn't work Oh well, in a hundred years, I won't care any more On the bright side, all the stitches are out and the skin graft is taking well!!

Ken

rcbadger

My Feedback: (14)

APC's are sharp, but are likely the most efficient props on the market for the .40 to 1.20 sized planes. I used to use Insignia White Testor's model paint on the tips, more on the lighter side of the prop to balance it. The white is easily seen with the engine running, and helps to keep you aware of where the tips are and avoid them.

The same day as the Columbine shootings, I was preparing to put in my last flight of the day. There was only one other guy at the field. (I never fly alone.) I'd started the engine, and was holding the plane by the turtle-deck, and picking up the Tx when the only other guy still there, walked behind the plane and accidentally kicked the rudder or elevator. The plane spun around and the prop hit me on the inside of my forearm 6 times in a fraction of a second. The propwash blew blood all over the pits, and the next day people said they thought someone had been killed there. I took 13 stitches. I can't even guess how lucky I was, as the blades cut right to, but not into that milky-looking tissue just covering the muscles... It could have hit, but missed several veins/arteries, nerves, and muscle.

My scar is still clearly visible today, just over 12 years later...

Best of luck on your healing.

Mary_Lachlan

Oh my...and who would have thought that this hobby would be so dangerous. Ouch!

kenh3497

Back to the vet today......

I have to go back for more slicing and dicing[:'(] It appears the tendon repair failed. The swelling is almost gone and I can't straiten my finger like I should. It's looking like next Wednesday is the fateful day. This time he is going to splint it so I can't move it. I'm not sure why that didn't get done the first time around, unless it had to do with the skin graft on the tip of my finger. The graft could not be disturbed for fear of it loosing it's very fragile blood supply. At least I won't need to worry about that as it is looking pretty good. Still a ways to go, but over the hump.

Ken

Iflyglow

My Feedback: (79)

I had a bad experience a couple of years ago too, but I was flying the next day.

rcbadger

My Feedback: (14)

I Fly Glo,

That's really close to where I got my "tattoo." Bet that smarted.

Something worth mentioning: Most fields (but not all I've found) don't permit taxiing in the pits. If you don't have rules to prevent this, get one passed, if you do; enforce it! Twice that I'm aware of guys were seriously injured by an unrestrained aircraft in the pits. One was taxiing (though there was a rule against it) and had someone else turn on on his freq, the other tripped over his own shoelace and shoved the throttle open. In the latter instance, the plane was powered by a 50cc gasser, which scooted across the pits and got another flyer in the calves as he tried to run from it.

Some of the long-time flyers have balked about this rule saying they knew what the were doing. Personally, if someone is arguing for the right to endanger others, they don't know what they're doing at all.

kenh3497

All I can say is OUCH!

I wish I knew what the heck I was doing when I had my incident. I thought long and hard and I have no clue as to why. I know I was going to adjust the high speed mix. I was off to the left front of the plane and my TX was behind the prop disc. The only thing I can think of, I was reaching for my TX????????

I guess if I knew what I was doing, this would not have happened. I'm sure complacency is part of it.

Ken

Iflyglow

My Feedback: (79)

Mt plane was idleing, and I was holding onto it when a friend called my name. I turned my head and must of let my arm drop a little.[X(] This was .60 size plane with an APC prop. Needless to say I nolonger hold my plane the same way. I will not start it unless a have a retraint and I stand up and start it, not kneel in front of it.

jayjay283

man thats gross, looks like freddy krueger got you and you escaped

kenh3497

It's been a week and a couple of days since the second surgery to repair my cut tendon. I don't know if I was too active or the first repair just failed. This time around the finger will be in a splint for six weeks before any kind of therapy will begin. Last time I was to "wiggle" the finger (after the first week) gently so the tendon didn't grow into the surrounding tissue. Tendons take 12 weeks to heal unlike a bone at six weeks. I'm going to question the doc a bit about this to see if we can start a bit quicker with the therapy to lessen the issues by waiting so long for therapy to begin.

The biggest problem is my middle and ring finger are still very stiff and I have very little grip strength. Some of that is not being able to close my fingers tightly to the palm. I assume that will improve as I get to using he hand more.

I urge everybody out there to review their starting and engine tuning procedure. I thought mine was "sound", but obviously it was not.

Take care everybody and keep your fingers out of the spinney parts.

Ken

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

Man what did you do to your knee?

ScottMcM

My Feedback: (66)

I'll second that....that end bites!!

Guitarman52

My Feedback: (2)

Man I feel for you Ken. Its been 2 years since my accident and all four of my fingers have healed. They had to do the same thing for me as far as the grafting. It took but is still numb today and shorter of course. I fortunately did not have any tendon involvement. We have guys in our club that don't pay any attention to safety while starting their planes. I hound them all the time but they just won't listen, "Oh that won't happen to me" thinking. Maybe I will bring in a picture of my hand after it happened and hold it in front of them. Its extremely hard to look at. Probably just make them mad, but may save their hand.... hope things work out for you.

jayjay283

There was this guy on the GSXR (motorcycle) forums who was oiling his chain, put the bike on stands and let the rear wheel spin slowly in 1st with the engine on and and used and oiled rag stationary instead of just spinning the wheel with his hand with the engine off. Sprocket & chain, he now has no fingers and a thumb. Gnarly pics <barf>

Teachu2

My Feedback: (133)

In my years of R/C, I've driven four guys home or to the hospital from similar injuries - me being the fourth. None were injured starting the engine - but the starter mount is still a good idea.

All were injured by being in front of the plane and attempting to tune the engine. All of us KNEW better, and all of us deviated from our standard practice to do so.

ALWAYs tune from behind the wing. ALWAYS MEANS ALWAYS.

kenh3497

I thought I give a quick update on my hand in prop indecent. Everything is healed and my index finger is a bit more pointy than the other due to the loss of a bit of it. The skin graft worked just fine and there is not even a scar. I don't know if there even should be one The tip joint is still not fully functional as it will only bend about 15 degrees. The middle joint has 95% of motion. The finger tip, while I have feeling, feels "woody" for want of a better description. It is still a bit tender when holding something. Trying to hold down a piece of balsa while cutting is an experience if much cutting is needed. Trying to pick up a penny or dime can be accomplished but it's not natural like the other hand. When I go outside in the cold, that finger is the first to cry "uncle' as it gets cold very quick. The vet says it will take three years for that to go away and may not leave completly

I've been released from the vets care for six or eights weeks now. I'm still carrying on with my therapy on my own to try to regain as much motion as possible. I'll keep it up for a year or until I fail to make progress. I'm kind of in that not making progress mode now but the exercise is helping to keep it limber so I'll continue for the time being.

The good news is AMA insurance ROCKS. Of course my primary insurance took care of the majority of the bill. The AMA insurance picked up the rest. I think my total out of pocket was less than $200. I will be re-upping every year for sure. The staff at the AMA headquarters was superb in helping with paperwork also. KUDOS to the AMA for providing this benefit.

Ken

init4fun

[8D] Hi Ken ,

I'm really happy to hear of your success with your recovery ! Yes , fingers that have been prop struck or otherwise severely damaged do feel cold before any of their non mashed brethren , I guess that's the reduced blood flow causing the injured areas to go cold sooner . I've got a couple of fingers myself that consider themselves lucky to be alive , and they do get cold in just the way you have experienced . In the case of mine , the least damaged one is the lesser affected by the cold , and the one that got really chomped still hates cold like it did 20 years ago when it got whacked . So again , I think severity of blood flow interruption and the numbers of those lil itty bitty veins that still work will determine how bad the finger's tolerance for cold will be going into the future .

Also , It's great to hear that the AMA took care of you . As a long time member myself , I like to hear of them (us) doing right . It's times like that when things like the insurance are nice to have , It's just a shame to have to test it by offering up a finger or two [:@] ....

flyingagin

Hi Ken.
Really happy to hear the good news. You were in our prayers when this happened.
My prop bites have not been any were near as bad. Some sowing by the Doc and a good butt chewing by same for driveing my own selve in.
Thanks for shareing at the start and up dating.

Ken