The Collector1

My Feedback: (2)

Hi, Im a car guy but have a few helis but I thought this was an appropriate place to put this story. I have been to that area before with my 500 to test, but this person dying was just tragic.


http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...ork&id=9237643

poison

Sad story prayers goes out to his family.

avidflyguy

My Feedback: (48)

another link to the story, news station called it a toy helicopter. kinda ticked me off when they called it a toy, condolences to the family of the young flyer.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/Man-...o/-/index.html

Nitro-Tom

Same story here on USA today

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...opter/2773501/

Prayers go out as he was obviously a talented Pilot - not a beginner (Especially since one story said he flew "Turbine Powered" heli's)

Even then, Gas, Nitro, Electric, anything with 2' carbon blades moving at 400 MPH is no joke, and we all take safety in this hobby very seriously.

Sad that we have to be reminded of the danger

one article suggested his Dad was the Club President or the CD at the field....

mu2driver

My Feedback: (15)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/ny...park.html?_r=0

Very sad deal,

Altered1

Absolutely tragic accident. A real reminder to be respectful of spinning props no matter if they're on a heli, plane, boat or whatever. Our RC vehicles are by no means toys.

This made the news here in Australia:

http://www.news.com.au/world-news/ma...-1226712962922

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

Very tragic... my condolences to his family and friends, and especially to his father.

AFAIK... this is the third death by helicopter, one in Texas, one in Austria and now this one. Fly safely guys, these are not toys no matter what anyone might call them.

drdoom

My Feedback: (9)

Saw it on GMA. this morning. Very sad indeed. Reporter said the AMA told her this was the 2nd Fatality involving an R/C Chopper. I guess they were referring to US only.

049flyer

My Feedback: (18)

What a huge sorrow for his family, friends, community and the hobby. My prayers for his family.

Not many people understand just how dangerous those rotor blades are and how much energy they have. I have seen heli guys hover just a couple of feet from themselves and others. No thought given to the possibility of a blade separating from the aircraft. Have also seen heli guys crash, replace a few small pieces at the field and fly again with no thought given to the possibility of hidden damage to the rotor blades.

It's a wonder that tragedies like this are so rare.

warbird_1

My Feedback: (61)

We had a friend and heli pilot get seriously hurt in july and is finally out of his medically induced coma . apparently he was practicing for an upcoming 3d competition when something failed in his heli and he was struck in the arm and side. the modeling community here came very close to losing him. i mean close . the blunt force trauma to his side was horrible. as pilots and machines push the envelope the risk gets higher. my thoughts are with my friend " name withheld out of privacy for him " and the so young man that lost his life.

drdoom

My Feedback: (9)

30 years ago I had a GMP Pro I was dynamic balancing the rotors . it tiped up and the blades crossing on top of my legs caught my jeans on fire and burned my legs,, Not at all serious. but the friction of those glass rotors across my jeans got hot in an instant. Things can happen you don't even think of. Prayers for the family.

yard-dart

My Feedback: (35)

This is truly a sad situation. Too young to die, but he went out doing what he obviously loved.

Now, I'm going to play devils's advocate. I came on here to learn more of what happened, if there was any more than I've already heard about it. Helis are extremely dangerous. I fly large scale airplanes, and they can be dangerous as well, but helis are in a danger category of all their own. They've gotten larger, more powerful, and the pilots are pushing the envelope to historic extremes. They're flying faster, lower, and CLOSER! To be quite honest with you, I'm surprised we don't hear of more accidents like this. I admire theses pilots abilities, but if you play with fire long enough, you're gonna get burned. Pilots are human, and humans make mistakes. Helis are machines, and machines malfunction. Malfunctions and human errors involving helis are going to happen, but they should happen at a safe distance. Just go on YouTube and watch the videos of guys flying 3D with their helis. They fly way too close to themselves, and the pit/spectator area. As long as that continues, there are going to be more bad accidents, possibly more fatalities.

The same thing applies to airplanes and 3D pilots. Maneuvers need to be kept at a safe distance......away from the pilots themselves, and and away from the pit and spectators.

With all of this said, pilots need to remember that this hobby "can" be dangerous. It is not a dangerous hobby. But, if pilots be one complacent, accidents are going to happen.

Again, this is a tragic accident, and my condolences go out to his family and friends.

rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

This is a real tragedy and my prayers go out to his family and friends.
Could it have been avoided? We won't know until more details are available.
However, given the propensity our "busy-body" gov't has for knee-jerk reactions, don't be surprised if someone attempts to make helmets and body armor mandatory when flying. ....and I'm not joking.

RJ

B.T.D.T.

It is a truly tragic accident to lose a fellow RC helicopter pilot. He was one of our club members.

We have setup two Paypal funds to those who wish to make a memorial donation to Roman Sr and Family.


[email protected]


[email protected]



Gene Yee
Treasurer – SRW Helicopter Club

Tluu

My Feedback: (85)

Let's not forget the 2 year that was killed by a trex 700 in Malaysia .

Tluu

My Feedback: (85)

I meant 2 year old girl.

mordock999

That's what I was thinking. Look for some Government Types to push passing a bunch of laws AGAINST Flying Helis ESPECIALLY in "Nanny States" like NY.

Altered1

Sadly the "Nanny State" knee jerk reaction to this sort of thing is not restricted to the States....

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

People get hurt/killed lots of ways, they haven't outlawed most of them yet and I don't think there will be much come of this.

If anything does come of it I hope it's that all of us take a look at what we are doing and evaluate if we are doing it safely.

This was a freak accident. He was a very accomplished team Align pilot flying top notch equipment at a club field. If it can happen to him it can happen to any of us.

mordock999

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

Agreed. One can't be too careful. Let's ALL Watch out for Ourselves. And the folks watching Us.....,

closet astronaut

Hello all, I'm a member of The Rocketry Forum and there has been a thread started there also concerning this incident. The NAR and whole Rocketry community are very safety conscious. The information I've heard was the pilot had posted videos of a trick of bringing the Heli down over top of himself then powering up just before it landed on him. Now I don't know if this is the case in this incident but if this kind of thing is ever attempted it's a lack of respect for the machine, and being over confident.

I also noticed another thread here concerning personal injury that was, surprisingly not fatal, that has 297 views but not a single reply,

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-h...-not-toys.html

This is a scary thought, but also seems on the surface to be a lack of respect.

MIXMASTER

My Feedback: (15)

I've been flying RC for over 25 years and this accident has gotten to me. I re-read the AMA safety code and (if I got it right, enlighten me if I'm mistaken)) flying (3D or not) in front of the pilot is not banned. The code mentions not flying closer than 25' from any individual EXCEPT the pilot and helper, excluding take off and landing. So you can hover or fly your plane close to yourself (or 3-D your heli)without violating any AMA Safety Code. However, now its clear that those blades ARE WITHOUT A DOUBT LETHAL, (most likely props too).

Nitro-Tom

not really sure there but there are safe distance notes provided by the AMA for some types of flying, and I suspect more will come.

Pylon is a classis example of that....they wear helmets and maintain minimum safe distance from crowd.......

I think this may cause more of that to come out, and justifyably some in some cases.......

MIXMASTER

My Feedback: (15)

Yep, safety will be the topic of the year after this accident. Maybe the AMA safety code was written before 3-D became so widespread. If Roman was hovering over his head, then that will most likely be on him, but if he was doing a regular 3-D routine in front of himself, like you see all the time, some rule changes might be coming. I witnessed for the first time last year an awesome 3-D display at a local club field, it was a heli pilot doing stuff I could't even imagine possible. After talking to him, he mentioned that he often flys with Bobby Watts, who's video went viral on youtube, just incredible 3-D skills and at night too. This guy kept the heli at least 15-20 feet away, I never felt in danger but now......

yard-dart

My Feedback: (35)

Guys, I don't feel safe around helis when they're 75 feet away, but that's just me. I'm not knocking them at all because I do love to watch them fly. But, while I'm watching, im also planning an escape route just in case something goes wrong. They have so many moving parts, and all of those parts must function properly in order for the machine to fly correctly, and safely. Several times I've witnessed helis go completely out if control after a malfunction. They don't respond like malfunctioning airplanes. 95% of the time airplanes hunt the ground quick, and mostly at a safe distance away. Helis are just the opposite. During a malfunction, they'll fly every possible direction, without notice! That scares the crap out of me!
The idea of a person flying a heli within 50 feet of themselves blows my mind. Why would someone want to take a chance like that? That leaves no room for error of any kind. Same thing goes for airplane 3D pilots.