ORIGINAL: 3dbob37n
Abel, I am curious about not allowing gas engines to be used because they present a fire hazard. Are they serious about this?
In your mind, do they really present a fire hazard or is this just someones conjecture?
If we didn't allow gas engines we would only have half the number of flyers.
3dbob
Hi 3dbob-
Yes, I think they are serious. The rule came about during the days after a meeting where I demonstrated a Ryobi 4-stroke gas engine conversion that could meet the club's 91 dBA @ 3 M sound level limit - part of my ongoing experimentation to identify powerplants suitable for noise-sensitive sites like ours. It was a decision made by "The Board" sans any discussion with me as the only member to bring a gas engine to the field, or with the general membership, so their rationale is a mystery. I went to AMA for comparative stats on fires started by gas vs. glow engines, to no avail - at that time (perhaps 6-8 years ago) AMA had never paid a claim for a fire started by an AMA insured's model airplane.
The engine might have been suitable for a trainer with a light wing loading, but didn't have the pwr/wt ratio that would make it practical for a typical sport model, and certainly not for 3D. Because it lacked potential in that regard, I didn't press the matter any further.
As for MHO, I have not seen any data nor heard of any incidents to indicate that gas powered models are significantly different from glow powered models as to the fire hazard they present. I do know of incidents where fires have been started by models, but they were due to short-circuits in damaged battery packs.
AFAIK, this is simply somebody's conjecture, perhaps based on the observation that gasoline is more flammable/burns hotter than alcohol. It matters to race car drivers, but I haven't seen anything to indicate that it should be of special concern to us.
Abel