Originally posted by Hossfly
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1. Have the plane plane situated to where the person holding the plane for me can easily hold the plane back without having to reach across the table.
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7. Have assistant pick up plane, get tx off bench, extend antenna and warm engine up before takeoff.
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Am I reading this right?
You start the engie on a bench/table? Then pick up the machine with a running engine and transport it somewhere?
Believe me, I am definitely NOT one of those guys that are self-certified *safety-experts* however it appears you are setting up a dangerous situation.
I firmly believe that the engine should be started at the point from which you are to start the taxi-out.
While reaching over a spinning prop for any reason is not a recommended procedure, I do it all the time. OTOH, I never position myself or anyone in the extended plane outside the prop's arc, during the initial start phase.
When training beginners, I am rough on them to:
(1) Be certain that the entire area in front of the model is clear of cords, loose tools, etc that could be sucked into a spinning prop.
(2) Have the transmitter within adequate position allowing a quick shutdown of the engine if needed.
(3) Never get hurried. Watch everything, and stay CLEAR of that prop.
Maybe I wasn't being specific enough on step #7.... this is what I meant:
7)Have assistant pick up plane, I go around and grab Tx, then have assistant take it out to the taxi way, then he holds it and I run it up.
I agree that starting it on the table in the pits isn't safe, but since I've been in the club many people have been doing it this way, so I thought that it was the
right way to do it. What I need to do now is modify my field box so I can take out the battery portion of the box/power panel so it is like the caddy master or whatever that thing is that hobbico sells. Another point to mention is that my glow driver is corded. Maybe I should consider investing in a cordless glow driver, so i could pull it out once I've got the plane in front of me and not have to worry about cords from the glow driver also.
Thanks for the help!
-Brian