One of the big problems is that "common sense" is different from person to person.
True, and some folks get a little carried away with their flying and do things that even I don't think are safe.
My common sense tells me that if I slip, either on the transmitter or the plane, I'm lunchmeat!
The same thing or worse could happen while simply starting the engine on a model. When I do a hover catch I'm as much in control of the model as when starting it and also I'm typically behind the arc of the prop.
Then there are hundreds of factors beyond my control that could cause that plane to do something totally unpredictable.
True, I could be hovering right in front of me and have some type of failure that could possibly cause the aircaft to come towards me or someone else. Only catch to that is the fact that it can happen at any time to any aircraft anywhere at any altitude or attitude. It such case I had rather have it happen to an aircraft hovering a 0 airspeed right over the ground vs. up high at speed going down who knows where.
Just recently, I've seen what an engine as small as a .15 can do to human flesh. The man could've bled to death very easily had he been there alone. Can you really say that there is a difference between a .40 and a 40%? I'll agree that there is certainly a difference between an 8oz electric park flier and a 40% as far as inherent danger goes, but is getting slashed open really all that different from getting parts hacked clean off? Either way, you're severely injured and bleeding.
I know that you can get some serious injuries from most any size prop. I think I could handle a cut finger a little better than the loss of a limb though.
Where I see danger at is heavy aircraft flying a high speeds or even relatively light aircraft at really high speeds. The cut from the prop would be the least of my worries if I were to be hit by a 50lb plane doing 80mph, or a 5lb pylon racer doing 150mph. Both of those would have some serious impact energy compared to something lightweight going slow.
Hi Matt,
What I'm seeing around here is that these situations are pretty much ironing themselves out. I was at an IMAA event in Chenango Bridge a few weeks ago where it looked like a problem was developing. The CD stepped up and set flight times for each type of flying style. The Warbird and "conventional" guys got their flight time and the 3Ders got theirs. The different styles didn't fly together and everybody seemed happy. I agree that flying both styles together is asking for trouble but if the pilots are uncomfortable they won't come back and that'll spell the end of the event or at least limit it in size. That alone gives the CD a little incentive to find a solution.
Dave
That's what I'm seeing as well. Recently at a large electric flight event (SEFF) held here in GA, the flightline was split up into 3 sections. One for 3D, one for sport type flying, and one for parkflyers. It wasn't perfect due to the long walks and aircraft ocasionally flying beyond their area, but it was much better than banning some types of flying or just letting everyone do what they wanted. At large events there just simple isn't enough sky and runway for everyone to use without some issues coming up. I've got a feeling that specific events will start being held for 3D flying, much like what has happened to Helicopters. I remember dealing with that years back when Helicopters first got popular and wide spread. A lot of fixed wing fliers were not sure about heli's and it didn't take much for helicopters to get where they were not welcome at some fields and events. So, us heli fliers ended up with our own events seperate from fixed wing events. At least with helicopters there were never any safety codes that effected heli fliers directly. It doesn't seem the same for the growing 3D segment of RC.
Regards,
Bill