Roundout

I'm just now getting back into the hobby of r/c airplanes from a nearly six year hiatus (due mostly to location and not lack of interest). I flew back in college, was a member of a local club, and currently have a Funtana 40 sized kit and a new Saito four stroke waiting to be built ironed in as soon as I move.

I've never used any type of hand protection up to this point, but now that I'm a tad older and perhaps more conscientious (read: married), I have trepidations about placing my hands inches from a rapidly spinning prop (it would only take one trip to the ER before my expenditures on the hobby would be called into serious question; plus who wants to lose a finger or receive stitches?). My question is, does anyone here use hand protection and, if so, what type? Also, is this a ridiculous question to ask?

I can't remember if I've ever seen anyone using hand protection at the local club, but I do know of several guys that received some nasty nicks. I've tried searching and it appears no one makes specialty gloves for the hobby. I love the sport, and I enjoy tuning glow engines, but have always felt that surely there must be a safer way to work with this machinery.

Thanks for you help!

gearz

I use a prop starter. Back in the day it was a leather glove.

DIVERHERB

I use either an electric starter or a "chicken stick" to start my glow engines. As far as adjusting them I always do it from behind the engine and very carefully. Have had my knuckles grazed on occasion while adjusting but it keeps me honest. and reminds me to pay attention.

Minnreefer

The biggest problem with most hand protections are they, either are bulky and more likely to get caught in the prop or the don't allow you to use fine fingers for adjusting the engine. The good thing is many people use a starter to start and often times the needle is located father back on the engine. I don't know if there is anything that could really help stop a prop spinning at 10k rpm, kevlar????

Roxon

my friend is a huge midevil era fan and he makes his own chainmail from little circles of steel. chainmail gloves would protect you from a cut but you would still get a bruise. personally i use an electric starter and am extremely carefull around the engine when its running. just think of it as a woman on her period in other words something that can hurt you, bad, real bad. LOL!!!!

Villa

Hi Roundout
At our club we have 8 Engine Starting Safety Stands to place the plane on and start the engine IN COMFORT. That goes a long way in keeping your fingers out of the prop. In addition, I always use an electric starter and always walk behind the plane to remove the glow driver after the engine starts.

scooterinvegas

My Feedback: (1)

electric starter or...........

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I do wear a leather glove for hand starting my gas engines and I use an electric starter for my glow engines. I never wear a glove once the engine has started. If you play a guitar or are a surgeon you can go to any butcher supply store and buy a chain mail glove that butchers use when cutting meat. Welders gloves are pretty cheap at Harbor Freight and a number of the guys wear them when flipping over there gas engines.

Roxon

thats awesome advice. when you are in front and starting the engine once it fires your initial reaction is to reach over the spinning prop and pull off the glow driver and i have done it and got hit by the prop a few times and have learned my lesson. take off the driver from BEHIND the engine!!

red head

There's an old saying " the best thing that ever happened for McCoy ( engines ) is Sullivan ( elec. starters ). " Use one and tune from the rear. ENJOY !!! RED

ARUP

I chicken stick start my engines then adjust from behind the prop. I only use an electric starter if I have an airplane I don't want to risk scratching the cowl with chicken stick. Ask me how I know! I always bench run engine before putting it in an airplane. It'll start in a few flips every time and the needle will rarely need adjusting. I have a thick leather glove for hand propping big gasoline powered engines. I only place my fingertips on the prop to start. I prime the gas engine by holding the prop firmly so it can't start. In the CL circle I hand prop while choking carb and no glow plug lead attached. Use care for the engine could still fire! Then, after attaching glow plug lead, I firmly grasp prop and pull prop thru until I get a 'bump'. The next flip it will usually fire. On the glass props be sure to sand the 'flashing' off while balancing. Some may argue over it but I sand both edges. Lastly- wear eye protection in the form of polycarbonate lenses. Always respect model airplane propellors and you'll do just fine!

beepee

Glove/electric starter/chicken stick all help with the starting process, but my guess is that hand injuries occur more often after the engine is started ... no matter what you used to start it.

For hand protection I always follow the same routine. Once running I bring it back to high idle, make a wide reach over to remove the glo-starter, then turn the airplane around so that I am behind it. I make any adjustments after that, but then stand and get further from the prop as soon as practical. For my big gassers I use a stooge.

Bedford

Dzlstunter

Several good suggestions in this thread: heavy gloves, electric starters, removing glow igniter from the back. I'm a little surprised no one mentioned tuning the needle only after shutting down the engine. After all, the whole point of all these tips is to remove the hand from the vicinity of the spinning prop.

I know it's a little more time consuming, but once properly set a needle usually doesn't need to be touched very often.

I was tuning an engine new to me at the field one day using the start, stop, reset needle, start, stop, reset, etc. method and one of the guys' kids said "Dad, don't ever buy one of those engines!" I still fly that plane and engine regularly, and the needle is set just fine, thank you. Good luck, Dzl

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

For engines .61-size and smaller, you can hand-prop most of them very safely.  I just use a piece of garden hose on my index finger to flip the prop.  It protects the finger from the sharp trailing edge and also protects it from back-fires, where the engine will give it a good "bonk".  Years ago, we'd hand-prop with bare hands and get cuts, nicks, bruises, and so forth.  I even  had a nylon prop trim off the corner of a finger when it backfired on a cold day.  Talk about it smarting a bit!  After that, we got the pieces of hose.  You can usually buy pieces of clear tubing by the foot from a hardware store...just find one that's just about the size of your finger.  Cut a slit from one end so that you can spread it a bit to slid on the finger  you want to use.

Needless to say, this applies to glow only.  I'll use a starter more often, now, especially on engines larger than a .61 two-stroke.  A chicken stick works nicely on large glow, too.

cutaway

I pretty much hand flip everything unless its something I know can bite badly (ex old ST G21 .35), then I've got a leather glove. I also dress the leading and trailing edges of molded props with 220 paper to eliminate flash and make them more hand flip friendly. An APC or MA right out of the mold can be like a scalpel.

Roundout

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I appreciate the quick responses. Looks like my best bet is to use a hand starter and keep to a routine. Sounds like it might not be a bad idea to invest in a good stand, as well. I'm a little surprised that an enterprising inventor hasn't yet come up with a safer way to adjust/start these engines (after all, safety sells), but it won't keep me from enjoying the hobby. I figured it wouldn't hurt to check.  

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

They did, the electric starter and the brains to be behind the engine when making adjustments. The accidents seem to happen when we get complacent or have a brain fart then try to reach in through the spinning prop to make an adjustment. Last season one of the long time pilots did that, just a small brain fart and into the spinning prop went his hand. A couple of missing fingers and several surgeries later he still doesn't know what he was thinking??Seems the more we do it the less respect we give them??[&:]

cfircav8r

My Feedback: (1)

On all my 2 strokes I just snap the spinner backwards and they fire right up. This keeps the fingers away from the prop and is easy on the engine. The 4 strokes I just use a starter as they tend to be a bit harder to start and I value my fingers.

Villa

Hi Roundout
We built our own Engine Starting Safety Stands. You can download the free plans from http://www.wilsonrc.org/news.php . Just click on Downloads. Here is the one I built and donated to our club:

Lnewqban

Congratulations on your comeback, Roundout.

Since your engine is a new Saito, my advice is about body protection.

Read the following threads:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_98...tm.htm#9825973

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_40...tm.htm#4028480

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9043246

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_33.../tm.htm#338886

Lnewqban

Nice twin, Villa.

Probably one of your few non-canard designs.