west6008

Im having trouble typing this because of a bite my .09 took out from my finger yesterday.
I think spring is dangerous because we're anxious to get airborne after the winter.
Slow down!
Another thing....If you use reading glasses, wear them during engine startup.
I'll have a bad scar from this and I'll be surprised if the fingernail grows back.
Hopefully, this post will prevent other springtime accidents.

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

Hope your finger heals OK.

This is why there are "Chicken Sticks" and electric starters.

Just imagine (or maybe you shouldn't ) if that had been a 60 or larger engine.

Cryhavoc

My Feedback: (46)

Had me a springtime accident 2 years ago. An OS 1.60 took off the tip of the third finger on my right hand. Looks like, you know what. But hey, I'm married and she's stuck with me...LOL. Joking aside, he's right. Safety first, expecially when you're out of practice. Today was our first day back flying this year and we got 8 flights in, all successful, and we really focused on safety and as a result brought all our planes and digits home.

Hope your finger gets back to normal!

Safe Flying

50+AirYears

A turning prop is a meat slicer, no matter what's turning it. even a little 5.5" prop driven by a rubber band can give a decent cut.

AVGJohn

I've started a 65 H.P. Luscombe by flipping the prop by hand but I never tried to start my 1.5 H.P. lawnmower that way. With anything bigger than a 40 size engine always use a chicken stick or an electric starter. If necessary with 40 and under get that big mouth know-it-all fool at the club feild to flip your prop with his finger while you hold the plane.

Insanemoondoggie

Had one on the test stand, suck up my shirt tail once. I now tuck my shirt tail in.

50+AirYears

Had an OK Cub .049 shed a plastic prop blade some years ago. That blade stuck into the wood side of the neighbor's house, about 15' away. And the Cub was not a powerhouse.

I consider myself fortunate. I've only lost a bit of blood over the years to props, and all but a few of the newest scars have gone away, including a couple on my knee from an 05 electric on 6 cells.

Wish I'd had an electric starter 40+ years ago when I was hand flipping my Fox 59s. Had to make do with a GI Glove, Leather, Shell. Hurt like H to get hit, but at least the fingers didn't get cut. I don't think anybody had chicken sticks or electric starters back then, although Wen-Mac and OK Cub had a pull starter on their 049s, Cox had their coil spring starter, and occasionally since the mid-40s, there was an occasional attempt to make some kind of clutching spring or pull cord type external starter device.

Some of the worst pictures of cuts from models I've seen were those of the injuries a helicopter rotor can give.

cyclops2

Copters TAKE body parts.

And a rotor flying apart is ALL dumb luck if you are not hit.

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

Always think safety first as r/c can be very dangerous if you start to take things for granted. Use a chicken stick or invest in an electric starter. All you need to make a chicken stick are a bike rubber handle, a broom stick, and a thick water hose. Here's a pic of one I made myself. You may be able to see the cuts in the hose from APC props

cyclops2

A couple of my APC could cut meat when new.

DO NOT bare finger flip them. Efficient at making power AND cutting fingers.
Put a winter weight or work glove on to flip the new plastic props.
They are REALLY SHARP on a kick back.

Jigley3

Hi all

Here is a tip for the people that favour a heavy glove when hand starting an engine. Have a look at your local safety supply store and pick up a pair of “Power saw safety gloves�.
These gloves are what loggers wear when using a chain saw. The have ballistic nylon in them and will reduce the chance of being cut by quite a lot.
Another tip that works well is glue some 3/8 rope to the backside of your glove along the fingers and that too will soften the inevitable propeller whack….. bert

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

Respect that Prop!!

"I never thought I'd be sooo stupid as to do this" -> famous last words!!! <-

I was a little over confident, and decided to try and adjust a mate's engine with my left hand. (Wasn't about to put down the Ashton Cabinet Sungrown I was puffin' on [preemo cigar!])

The fingers [backs of] just got shaved, but bled!!

The thumb is the worst, lost the inside tip basically (Upper portion of the thumb print gone, lost about a 0.25" dia chunk. Just skin, but deep!)

The fingers have all but healed. The thumb is still bandaged, and is healing well. Been three weeks now..

I'm hoping to get back to building this week-end!! man I miss it sooooooo much!

It was a Super Tiger 0.46 spinning a Master Airscrew 10x6 (or somehtin close). Luckily I 'inserted' my hand close to the spinner, palm up, and the plane was idling, albeit roughly..

It coulda been much much worse!!! I stayed to finish off the Ashton before I drove myself to teh ER. My clubmates helped bandage me up & helped me relax.

The pic is the day after, so I'm nicely bandaged up from the Emergency room.

Make sure your club's 1st aid kit is up to date, and stocked! (we found out we have very little at our feild!)
Or alt least have a kit in your car / feild box.
"Better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.."

heli_Rod

WOW! dr_wogz...Man that hurts just to look at it.

I have a couple new twin engine planes to fly this year. It's been awhile since I've had a twin. I'll have to think twive before I reach anywhere!

It's been several years since my last knuckle slasher. It broke my right index finger's first joint and peeled the skin back to the bone. I never did get full use of it back. Got it reaching to adjust the needle valve of a K&B .61 from behind, standing up. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!

Rod

50+AirYears

Our previous club VP is a former Special Forces combat medic and is also a state certified EMT. He has checked out and restocked our field first aid kit a few times. I am one of several "First Responders" in the club with annual first aid and CPR training from where I work. Very handy to have when something goes wrong, like when an APC meat slicer equipped Fox 45 attacked my knee last summer. At least it gave me an opportunity to get some real life practice. A couple of the other guys have had juicier opportunities, like when a Max 91 got loose and ran it's way up the inside of a flyer's leg at our field a few years ago. Over 80 stitches, but the first aid trained guys who were at the field were able to control the bleeding and get him to the local hospital fast enough that the ER almost sent him home after stitching him up. Then they decided to keep him overnight for observation in case of delayed shock, just because he was almost 80 years old.

Even small electrics can give some nasty couts.

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

Actaully, it looks worse than it is.

Yeah it hurt, but it wasen't anything excrusiating. Just a dull throb. I think the adrenaline & shock kept the pain at bay..

rc-junkyard

The nail will grow back. I've lost a few toenails and eventually they come back.

chevypower1930

Hey all.... I don't have a chicken stick or an electic starter... I just use a screwdriver.. using the handle part to spin it... my screwdrivers hav ea padded soft handle so it won't mess up the prop... if i forget the screwdrive.. I use anyting else thats a sort of stick? has worked fine for me haha.. just DO NOT use my fingers aha

scratchonly

How did you get your toes in the propeller?????

LuftwaffeOberst

I have a chicken stick, but I prefer to start it bare handed. I don't play around or get careless... my club President 3 years ago was looking for a someones fingers in the field.

The man (who quit the hobby) was bragging about how he could adjust his low end while the engine was running, and he got side tracked by talking to the guy he was showing the trick to... and it all happened.


They found the 3 fingers and put them on ice. He had them put back on the hand, but it was never the same ever again.


All it takes is just one second of not paying attention or being careless. Don't take me the wrong way, I'm not pointing a stubby finger at anyone.


Luftwaffe Oberst
Radio Aero Modelers Club
AMA District II
Pulaski, NY

dmccormick001

It's almost impossible to adjust the low-end on a glow motor unless it is running, but the adjustment screws are usually so close to the prop that you can get a finger into the arc of the prop in a millisecond, so I devised a simple little tool to make the job safer. I use it at our club's field regularly, and the guys who've seen it have made their own. I'll share it with you.

Take a piece of 1/4" wooden dowel about 6 inches long. You'll also need a piece of 2-56 size metal control rod about 8 inches long. The lengths of both these items are not critical, all that's important is that the combined length of the two together is at least 12 inches. Flatten one end of the rod by tapping it with a hammer while laying it on a metal surface of some kind, like a small vise. Now use a file to shape it into a simple, flat-blade screwdriver shape, making sure it's narrow enought to fit into the small opening in your motor's carb. Make it wide enought to have the strength to turn the low-end screw, but narrow enough to get down in there where it needs to be. Now drill a small (1/16) hole in one end of the wooden dowel about 3/4" deep, and epoxy or CA the steel rod into the hole, with the screwdriver end out, of course. Now you have a long, small screwdriver perfect for the job.

This works great because it keeps your hands completely outside the diameter of the prop, away from danger. Be sure to make it long enough to clear a few inches more than your props' radius. When you use it, just be careful and don't let the tool drift into the back of the prop or it will scare the bejeepers out of you! Good luck!

digital_trucker

I'm gonna make one of those right away, can't believe *I* didn't think o' that.

Clockit

There's another safety factor most tend to overlook - NEVER FLY ALONE!!!

Last year one of our club memebers was flying his Edge alone.

Something went wrong when he started the motor and it sliced the inside of his upper left arm and cut through the artery!!! Fortunately for him, someone arrived about a quarter of an hour later to find him lying over the dustbin in a pool of blood and semi-conscious! Another ten minutes and he would have been a gonner!

SoCalSal

My Feedback: (16)

Why imagine? I'll show you what a 215 cc gas engine and a 32 inch prop can do if you decide to mess with it.

buzzard bait

Good reminders and tips, everyone. I've made the mistake of not having my plane up against the restraints. When the engine started the plane lunged forward. Fortunately the restraints did stop it soon enough, but it was a scare.

I made my chicken sticks from a big piece of hose from an auto shop. A 1/2 inch dowel fit perfectly inside to stiffen it. It's about 9 inches long and very comfortable to use. When I switched from finger flipping it took a little practice to get a good fast diesel flick, but now I can do it just as well with the stick.

Jim

UR10

You guys have a running engine...I cut my thumb up with an APC prop when tightening the prop nut while holding the prop!..durr....
That trailing edge is SHARP!