You ever watch that Monty Python skit on how not to be seen? I think that sums it all up.

It kinda really made sense when you had the Taliban or Iraqis shooting at yah.

"The first lesson in not being seen is not to stand up..."

So what you're saying is if you lose control and plow into others at the flightline, it was their fault for being there???

I dont think anyone was bashing 3d. The original question was why standing so close while hovering. Not 3d in general.

Now you've opened a interesting area.
I guess if the flier is following the clubs rules then I don't know if fault is the right term but it is a risk you except by being at the field
now if the flier is violating the rules he needs to get the boot.
I don't think clubs have really addressed 3d flying that much and as it becomes more popular then I suppose there needs to be either 3d time or an area set up for them
like helis at the clubs that allow them or just a rule for no deliberate stalled fight.
one things for sure 3d is not going away as the younger fliers seem to like it as do lots of other age groups
I say it better be addressed by the powers to be or it will continue to become a bigger issue
They will always want to fly close they just might have to find somewhere other the a club field to do it at

I agree that clubs need to clarify their rules & communicate them to the members. One club I belong to doesn't have any specific rules about 3D, so I do what seems safe to me & the others there at the time. For example I wanted to goof around with my foamy but didn't want to fowl the runway because there were a few planes in the air so I walked down at the end of our parking lot 100+ yards away from anyone & flew it in an open field area there, nowhere near the runway. Apparently some of the older guys didn't like that so they complained that I was flying behind the flight line. I guess technically they were correct, but in the spirit of things I feel I was being less intrusive & safer for everyone going where I was.
I'm going to suggest designating that as a park flyer area at our next meeting.

Tell them you'd be much happier to fly that dangerous foamy right on the runway when they are flying, since it would be following the rules more closely. That should get them to think reasonably.

I agree that there needs to be some sensible club rules and they should be followed; but if someone thinks that by following the rules that takes fault away that is ridiculous.

On my last trip to the field there were a group of guys there all packing up for the day. No one else was going to fly again (planes being disassembled so I figured it would be a good time to step into the field a bit and do some lower closer in 3D (plane was in front of me at least 30 feet at all times). I had a club member walk out to me and tell me that they don't like it when people step out into the field. I could not believe my ears. I explained to them that the only reason I stepped into the field is that everyone else was done for the day and that I was trying to make everyone else feel more comfortable by moving my lower flying further from them. This club happens to have the pit area right next to the flight line.

Hind sight is 20/20. Next time I will go to each person and tell them my plan before I step out into the field.

Not a lot of sports and activities, especially for guys, which aren't considered "inches from disaster". I could spout off 100 of them and post pics to verify, but why bother.

In fact RC must be the safest activity for me personally. It's the only activity or sport I've been involved in that I've only had to go to the hospital as an outpatient, just some stitches. Just about every other sport or activity I'm involved with or been involved with has left me in the hospital for at least overnite and up to two months.

There is a chemical reason, which I'm sure most of you already know, euphoria, why most guys want to live life inches from death and this is no different at all. Plus chicks really dig it. Ever notice how nice Chip's hair is while he's doing the walkaround? He's what they call a beta wolf.

Rules can only do so much when it comes to safety, a pilot is responsibly for his/her aircraft ,heli etc from the time he starts it till it is shut off.
a good reason to have lots of insurance.

AND COMMON SENSE [sm=lol.gif]

What i was trying to say, if i see someone on the deck "huckin" in real close.
i move as far away as i can,things can/do/and will go wrong.

As far away as you can? As in getting in your car and driving away? This might solve the problem. The 3D flyers will have the field to themselves....

Did you really just post this?

Pull Up, Pull Up, we're heading to the gutter...

Its an adrenaline rush, just like riding your street bike hard on the course, drag racing, rock climbing, diving, parashooting, stuff like that. I can certainly understand why you would ask such a question, especially if you've not done it before.

It is however amazing to me, how such a simple, honest, question can start a war like this.


Cheers

It is about choices & consequences.

The plane may have little or no energy, but that prop sure does.

MY weedeater cut my leg today so i quit cutting my grass and went flying[sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

Sure, but an aircraft going 60, 80 or 100 and swinging a prop 7000 (probably much more rpm in this case) has many times more energy. Also more time to react, with 3D aircraft generally, compared to other errant aircraft. 3d aircraft are much safer than the typical WWII lead sleds doing their impressive strafing runs or a jet burning some worms.

Just make sure your choices don't mean consequences for others at the field. You seem to have the idea that if someone else gets hurt because of your actions, that it is their fault for being there. That is a really bad attitude to have.

I watched a guy flying a diamond dust type plane at 175MPH+ doing on the deck flyby's probably 20 or so feet away from the pilot's stations (over the runway). I pretty much hid behind a small building and had my son go sit in the truck until he was done flying. Very impressive, but holy crap did I not feel safe. If that plane would have had a freq hit or flutter, nobody would have had any time to react. [sm=surprised.gif]

We've beat it to death, but no matter what style of flying you do, there are safe ways to do it and dangerous ways to do it.

Flyfalcons: You have it all wrong,i would never put others a jeopardy so i can get down on the deck & in close
obviously you think what i was trying to convey is i don't care about others safety at the field, WRONG
if your careless actions @ the field cause harm to others you should have you AMA membership revoked

I'm not here to say that 3D flying is BAD, or that it shouldn't be allowed at all clubs. But, There are some issues surrounding it that need to be addressed for the good of the club and all RC fliers.
I see guys standing on the runway doing their 3D flying all the time at my club. I've questioned other members that were there at the time about it,and got replies that. That's why he comes early before everyone else or He goes to the end of the runway.
I appreciate the implies courtesy, but He wasn't doing his flying before anyone else was there ( I couldn't have questioned it if I and the other members weren't there. And standing on the runway at one end puts him directly in the path of either landing approaches or any aborted landing.
Although the AMA rules apparently no longer state that you must establish a flight line and remain behind it. My club HAS established a flight line(and installed Safety fencing down it's length). Even if a pilot were at the field alone when an accident happens, I don't think the insurance report is going to get any further than the pilot was standing on the runway, in front of the safety fence any pilot needs to extend his level of courtesy to not only avoid standing directly in the path of other fliers, and not putting others in harms way; But also not creating Liability for others by jeopardizing their insurance coverage.

The AMA rules did change, but your club rules can be more strict than the AMA's rules. The AMA rules just set the "minimum" requirements. If your club does not want pilots standing on the runway, simply form a rules change committee, propose the change, and take a vote.

I like to stand on the runway and hover and fly in close if no one else is flying, but I never do it unless I have the runway all to myself. If there is any doubt that someone else wants to fly. I do not 3D in close.