Although I said "don't add unnecessary things....."

I like the idea of opto-coupling the Rx to the Ign......

I need to think about this.....

ms

Hey Don, you should go over to that guy and suggest an inflight kill switch before he lands in the tall grass and breaks another prop


BV
wire brushing is better than abrasives!

Bad idea. One reason nobody mentioned yet is that such a safety regulation by AMA (or your AMA club) has one substantive effect - if you were to get into a liability situation and did not have an inflight kill switch installed, your liability would not be covered by AMA insurance. Who the heck wants another weasel hole for the insurance company? I think we already have a more than ample supply of them.

Abel

After thinking things over and re-reading what was said:

quote:
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Originally posted by Don T. - NN4S

My biggest concern is the size of the plane & that HUGE prop out there that would make serious mincemeat of the kids playing soccer on the fields just below the flying site (it's built on top of a landfill) where planes have been known to end up in the past.
__________________________________________________ _

I feel the real problem here is the inherently unsafe location of this field. If planes have a history of ending up where kids are playing the field should be closed ASAP.

Darn, I just blew right over that one. Thanks for catching it because it really is extremely important.

Endangering kids should be one of the worst things a club could possibly do.

I guess someone needs to require his club PROVE their safe actions, which must by definition preclude folks unable to kill their engines by throttle trim. Failure or refusal to do that should get the club shut down in the best interests of public safety, or in this case KID SAFETY.

Don, I think you just volunteered to make your club safe and stop people from endangering children. I sincerely hope you are able to get some positive action before one of your 'friends' hurts someone.

Thats a start but we had a 40 size trainer come in dead stick and ended up hitting the door of a members pickup. I was suprised at the size of the dent. What if that were some unsuspecting kid getting hit in the back of the head? The kid would not even hear it coming just gliding like that and it was stated that where the kids fly it is downhill from the field so the pilot may not even be able to see where his plane going.

I had a midwest cap 232 with a quadra 40xl. The throttle stuck a little over half open. The engine was running a little fast for normal flight so I started spiraling up and when I was high enough I would flat spin it back down careful not to get to low in case the engine would die and then just start over again. I am considering a self destruct mechanism so that I can destroy the plane before it gets away though (just kidding) Jon

Back in the 1980's the AMA paid someone to do some research into possible damage done by models in the speeds and weights typical modelers fly. The published result was that 6 pounds at 60 miles an hour was lethal force.

For several years I have quoted that and some have doubted me. However it has been proven in more than one case in recent history. Arizona was the most recent I recall on this side of the pond, but the Brits have had a couple also.

How fast do the dead stick birds this club is parking in the soccer field go and how much do they weigh? Wanna bet? What extra260flyer did not say is that rarely do kids playing soccer ever look up, and that makes the need for immediate corrective action important.


I suspect that this is one of those fields where they need to create some serious safety rules, and ENFORCE them or move to another site. I hope the new volunteer, Don can get the job done before he or his friends hurts someone's kid, or worse.

Dont forget to regulate the brakes on the wheels on them turbines. I mean if it comes in hot and they overheat the brakes trying to slow down it could ignite all that fuel they carry.

Joe

Which one of you guys fly's at a club that regularly fly over KIDS? Note I did NOT say near kids, but OVER kids? How about landing dead stick among a bunch playing soccer? You game for that? No? I bet you guys secretly keep score. What is going to happen when it is kid 0 and plane 1?

The original guy started hammering on us for being unsafe and not having enough regulations and yet he and his crew endangers children. Go figure.

I stated in the original post that I was made aware of something that happened at that field, not that I was there flying. I actually ceased to fly at that site four or five years ago after losing a plane to RF interference and having it end up in the parking lot of a golf course on the OTHER SIDE of the soccer fields! Nothing you can do when the radio link fails you; I never said that there was. Anyway, that was the first time I realized how close we were flying to all of these possible victims.

My plane ended up hitting a car low on the door, leaving a nice dent in the shape of the aluminum spinner in it. Never did find the engine, prop or spinner; figure a souvenier taker picked it up before the crash team could arrive. AMA never paid out anything on it, but boy did they require paperwork! My homeowner's paid it all without a whimper (although there was an awful lot of explaining the situation over & over to the uninitiated). I ceased flying at that time and started looking for a safer site to fly from. I don't mind stuffing a plane in the ground to keep from hurting someone if it's my only option, but I'd rather not be in that situation in the first place!

The field where I fly now is a full-scale grass strip out in the county that's surrounded by cornfields & hay; no likelyhood of hitting anything except a fencepost or the ground! I was talking with a friend about coming fly at this site with me when he informed me of the gas bird incident at the other place. Yep, I'd definitely have been checking out the plane if I'd been there & asking questions about it (haven't seen one up close yet), but I wasn't there! I don't even go near the place since it holds bad memories for me. The plane that I lost there was a 10 year old scratch-built Terrier (anyone remember it?) that flew like a dream & the 48 Surpass that was stolen from the crash was a fair chunk of my modeling budget at the time. Nope, they'll have to find another safety officer there; I don't even go there to watch folks fly anymore!

The way that site is set up you don't even see the soccer fields or golf course; it's on the top of a landfill. As the high point of the surrounding area with a fairly large flat area past the runway, you get the sense that there's nothing around there but you and the others there flying with you. It's not until something happens that you realize the close proximity of the other recreational users in the area. There's also a running track past a stand of trees behind the place that is a possible (but not likely) site for lost planes to end up. I understand it's hard to find suitable land in the city for flying R/C; but how much risk should you be willing to take before you decide you're better off to drive a while to get to a better place to fly?

Sorry to ramble; I'll crawl back into my hole & leave it with you. BTW, I loved some of the ideas you guys came up with (especially Extra 260 flyer's self destruct upon loss of radio contact! ) I need to get busy working on the replacement for my beloved Slowpoke .40 that bit the dust this weekend instead of sitting at the PC! Yes, it was my own fault; should have known better than to be flying it inverted 5' off the deck but I was having fun. I pulled it straight into the ground when some turbulence from the fence caught me off guard & it peeled itself like a banana! There's nothing left of the fuse from the back of the cockpit forward; wing's not too bad except at the front mounting point. Oh well, at least there wasn't any danger of hitting any soccer players or golfers!

Sorry you broke your airplane Don, my new 30% Cap is doing fine. I got the airframe dialed in but now I have to work on getting the 3W70 to stay in tune. Think I might have to trim the needles because I think they creep.

I have to admit that I have seen enough body parts in other parts of the world to develop a dislike of blood and gore. That initial position makes me think you are you are walking away from a bunch of folks endangering CHILDREN. That is what you say you are doing and to MY feeble way of thinking that is W*R*O*N*G.

You say the field is unsafe enough for you not to fly, and yet you maintain friendships with people who wish to put kids at risk of serious injury? I think the only difference between you and your friends is that you have gotten an education that you have refused to share with them.

No, this is NOT a personal attack because I am trying to motivate YOU to save some poor kid a world of hurt. Or have you never been hit hard from an unexpected quarter? Or is it that you believe the kids have a responsibility to play targets for your friends? That is what your silence within your own community seems to indicate.

It's funny that you say that, Jim, because I did try (very hard) to bring this to the attention of the club back when it happened. I was poo-poohed and told that it wasn't a problem for anyone else & that I needed to let it go or the city might take the site away! Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled by the response I got.

However, I still try to get others to stop flying there and come out to the much safer & more relaxing (to me, anyway) site and fly with us. That was what I was doing when I heard of this incident in the first place form one of the folks that flies there. There have been a few converts, but most others consider it "too far to drive", "inconvenient", or "grass is just too hard on my planes" (I just love that last one & ask them how kind the pavement is to their props!). I doubt that it would ever be possible to convert everyone unless the city closed the field and forced them to find another site; it's just to convenient to most of the folks who fly there. It's convenient for all of the other recreational facility users as well & that's where the problem starts! I'll just keep trying to pick away folks one at a time and hope that that old shampoo commercial was right!

BTW, I am looking forward to one of our new converts to the site; I missed seeing his 50% Edge 540 Saturday as he was giving a good show for the owner of the field! It will be neat to check it out up close & personal to see all of the differences between it and his usual planes (all of which have been gorgeous, he's an excellent builder!). Our host was so impressed that he got out his RV-4 and flew around a bit for their viewing pleasure! He did this the last time I was out as well; it's making me think about building one of Hobby Hangar's RV-7 kits... So many planes, do little time!

Keep working on it and hope you are able to keep at least one kid from getting "thunked".