Thats a good question about why stand so close.

I like to 3D myself and enjoying a lot. I fly low to deck for one thing I can control it better. I can tell what it is doing than if it is way up higher. To me when flying that slow and your up high I tend to gain altitude when I am not wanting to. If I fly it low I can put it where I want it with no problem.

Now as for walking out onto the runway and standing behind plane. I haven't done that since I first started out flying and had to do it to take off to keep from taking off sideways. Well now that I think about it I did try it once and all because I seen it on the videos here and where chip was walking around his plane. I was flying around close to myself like in the video and to be honest I felt like an idiot. I never done it again. For one you hardly have any peripheral vision because you are so zoned into the plane. Another reason which may sound stupid is what If I stumble on something while walking when doing this it couldn't be good. I also don't trust wind for anything! Wind can come out and do crazy things when you don't expect it. Matter fact it caused me to just about cut a finger off.

I got so used to standing behind runway barrier and to me I feel safer behind it. I have seen that barrier save a few cuts a couple of times. Walking out in front of it does not feel right anymore even if I am flying alone. I fly this way behind barrier and everyone in our club does also. I guess we are the few lucky ones that still stick to the rules.

The nice thing about standing close to my plane when hovering is that if I want to, I can stand further away from it. My choice. If a person decides to stand close to my hovering plane, his choice also. If the person is comfortable with it, then why worry. I more comfortable standing inches from my own hovering plane because I can at least see if it is going to hit me vs the guy doing low passes with his warbird that he is barely capable of landing. By the time I see his warbird that has lost control, I will be dead.

i think there are some possibly jealous people here? bitter?

Maybe my words were a little strong in my prior post and I apologize if I offended anyone who does this. But in my line of work I see people all the time get killed or injured doing things that are not safe. These same people also end up injuring others and yes killing others because they thought what they were doing was cool, or fun, or just displaying wondrous skills for everyone to see. I am not sure if the jealous or bitter was directed at me. I am sorry you feel this way, but just because someone does not agree with your way of thinking does not make them jealous. Yea maybe I am little bitter. I think I got this way from seeing the outcome of someones not so smart actions end up injuring themselves or others. Maybe I am a little jealous of the guys who get the free gear too come to think of it.

I love the jealous bit; it really shows a low level of maturity when you have to make that argument.

I can confirm that I'm jealous of the guys that get free stuff!!

I belong to three AMA chartered clubs and not a one allows
their members stand on the runway and fly...

It is at least, NOT RESPECTFUL of other flyers that can not
fly as YOU are ON the runway....

All I fly is 3d but I try and respect scale and other flyers...
If others are flying we should NOT say "Hog" all the airspace
directly OVER the runway and up...

If we try and respect others and the way they fly we can
ALL fly with out these problems and have a MUCH happier
clubs..

Those of you that want to continue to argue that it is ok to do this, you need to realize something. Just as in my example in an earlier post about Darren Eaton having his mishap, these mishaps can happen to anyone. The real issue is, there will be that one time when someone is standing on the runway admiring his own skills to hover low right in front of himself. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE HAS ONE OF THESE MISHAPS AND THE PLANE DISABLES HIM? Say the prop strikes your arm, you drop the TX and the plane is now headed toward other people, what do you do? NOT A DAMN THING! YOU CAN'T! yeah, it hasn't happened to anyone yet, but I guarantee you it will. When it does, it is going to bring bad publicity to the hobby. It will bring more regulations.

Fact of the matter is, I don't give a crap about you if that is the way you want to do things, but YOU need to be responsible when there are others at the field. NO MAJOR or MINOR event should allow the pros to do these things. Yeah it is cool to watch, but not worth the consequences. Do it when you are the only one at the field that way you are only risking YOUR life and noone elses. All of these manuevers can be done from a distance that is far enough away for you to "FEEL CLOSE", but have plenty of time to react.

Pretty simple explanation

Often it is not that the pilot really wants to be that close to the plane ok... occasionally... once in a while... OK.. rarely... but...
also pilots will walk away from the flightline/pit/pilot station area to put more distance between himself, his plane and others...
also... much easier to see up close... if you see it better, you correct better....

Think about this.... if you have a 30 to 45% plane and you are Torkin' at 3 feet, and the engine dies... you brake the plane...
.. if you are at 50 feet, that is just high enuff that the plane can flip over and hit on the expensive side!! (Engine!)...
so you don't want to hover over 3 feet or under 300 feet.... at 300 feet, torkin' really tests your vision!!

Another thing about "Danger" and risk...
life has risk. There are folks who ride dirt bikes... I bet that the rate of injury for Dirt Bike riders is a hundred or
a thousand more times likely then your average 40% huckin' 3D flyer... as long as I am not putting others at undue risk,
there really should not be any problems. (I bet even more spectators are injured/killed involved in Dirt Bike riding
then models!!!)
Oh... one other thing about the Down on the Deck in My Face Torkin....
It is Bad *****!!!

Lighten up folks... this stuff is fun!!!!

Though really no reason to be closer then 50 feet whilst hangin' either


There is only 1 rule you need observe whilst 3D on the Deck Huckin'..... COURTESY

the main point people are trying to make is that if you want to hover on top of your head you have every right to do it..but as soon as you have people standing around you/ you now have a responsibility to keep THEM safe..Its not even that we dont trust the pilots..there are lots of things that can happen that are out of the pilots control.

The arguments about being jealous, and the all-time favorite "Life has Risk" is pretty weak IMO..

This is really funny. I usually wait till all the people who complain are gone and then I have fun. I am usually doing the crazy 3d stuff when no one else is flying and when there is at least one person around to make sure I have a contact just in case.

Its common sense you dont do anything too crazy without calling your moves first or at least feeling out the crowd you fly with. I think if it were more common sense it wouldnt be an issue. Also if you fly around people who mainly fly 35-40% or just say giant scale then they are prolly gona be cooler with the fun stuff.

The most danger I have had at the field is from the smaller planes going out of control and nearly crashing into me or the classic running into the pitts and nearly crashing into my planes.

Its a hobby and its supposed to be fun. Make a lot of rules and it kills the fun. At the same time just be respectful of others and how they like to fly. Its why I wait till the afternoon to go out and fly when more or less no one is around.

Its funny how when heli's go up people get nervous too. Myself I have a blast flying 3D along with a Heli friend. We are really comfortable around each other and can have fun safely. Its not wierd for me to be hovering around his heli and such.

Funny when the big names in the hobby make videos of them doing fun stuff no one seems to mind. Again they also seem to do it when no one else is around to mind.

Again no matter what people first. If I knew I was having a problem and people were around I would take it out far and dork it in. Be it my foamie or the 35-40% they are just toys in that they hold no real value vs. keeping someone safe. I think there should be no question in which is more important; human life or a toy plane.

No one ever said anyone was hovering close to others, just close to themselves. It goes without saying that being courtious to others and following the rules is expected. The question was asked why anyone hovers close to their own plane. Why is that dangerous to bystanders? I see people ride motorcycles without helmets. In many states there is not a helmet law so why do I care? I think its crazy to ride a bike without one but who am I to worry about others endangering themselves. Now if someone is hovering a plane close to other pilots or close to spectators, then that is different. That's not what this thread asked originally.

It is the guys that go out and hold the Tx in the left hand and grab the tail of these monsters, that really put the scare in you

Nah, what really scares me is the warbird flyers hauling *ss down the runway 3 foot high with 12 dollar servos controlling the plane.

Alright alright..now you went to far..show me a 12$ servo nowadays other than a hs55!! LOL!!

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXH288&P=0

Yes, those get installed in warbirds.

Darn! I thought they were 13$..[8D]

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...rodId=JSP20050

JR Sport standard servo $9.99. Any other questions?

Nope..guess I been overpaying for my 8611's[8D]

I still question how dangerous hovering and especially hovering on the deck really is. Although Captin232 brings up a good point about the plane going any which way gravity makes it to go, when you are on the deck, it really doesn't happen that way. A wrong input sends it to the dirt. In the probros where 20 to 30 pilots all hover at one time right over the runway and try to hover until they crash or can't hover any longer, none of the planes end up in the pitts. They all simply tumble onto the turf seldom even damaging the plane.

That being said, I think a large plane hovering up about 20 to 50 feet over the runway could be a problem. When this pilot looses it, it's not going to just flop over on the ground, it is going to flop over and be heading down in some direction at full throttle. To me this is really not much different than any other aerobatic maneuver right over the runway...one wrong input and nobody knows what way it is going to be heading, the plane is not just continuing on the same path giving you time to get out of the way. It is just as "out of control" and as unpredictable as the hovering pilot that lost control.

With so much hovering going on lately, an accident will eventually happen. I just hope people realize that it really doesn't happen often, and certainly less often than say new pilots, inexperienced pilots, bad pilots, pilots who fly marginal planes etc. I have no doubt that there will be some that say, see I told you so, now we need rules to stop all that foolishness.

Simple:

List the accidents where people have been hurt by a hovering plane and then list accidents where people have been hurt or killed by a plane not doing 3D of any type. Warbird, Large Pitts in Hungary, Jet, etc...

whatever everyone thinks about this subject, i think we can all agree that we don't want anyone to get hurt with these things. i am going to remember this discussion and keep it in mind while i am at the field. i like all the people in this hobby i have met so far and i was only poking and proding with the jealous comment. this stuff is fun!

Man people have been huckin down on the deck for quite a while. Going on nearly 10 years with big planes. If you have some sort of kill switch that is TX operated then you have more safety then your average sport flyer. For me I will keep hucking them down on the deck. Blaine Austin has been a great promoter of 3D flying - safely.

Forget living somewhere when people tell me how to fly my toy planes. Some people have fun flying circles, some people have fun flying IMAC, some people have fun flying gliders and some like to 3D! I honestly enjoy all types and each can be dangerous if you are not careful.

I also wonder how many people that bash the large planes flying 3D either have large planes or can fly 3d. There is actual skill involved. Its funny that when I flew at an IMAA only field no one ever complained about big planes or how they fly.

Good point
besides a nitro heli is way more dangerous then a 3d plane
most heli guys fly within 50 of themselves not to mention the crowd that gathers
I don't believe one person has been killed in a 3d airplane incident
can't say the for regular flying or helis.
Is rc flying getting too dangerous ?
maybe it is ,,maybe it isn't,,, Do you want to fly or don't you ?

oh yeah there's a vehicle accident every 5 secs in the US so your more likely to get hurt or killed going to or from the field then at the field.

Where did this term "hucking" come from? It sounds dorky.