Rode out to the flying field yesterday afternoon about an hour before dark. A new club member was there already fueling a new bird for it's maiden flight. He asked me to do a pre-flight on it before cranking it and and I glady did so. Everything looked 100% and I congratulated him on a job well done after he went thru all of the throw settings etc.
He proceeded to spin the engine over for several seconds to get the fuel flowing with his electric starter and then reached for his glow starter. I tried to interrupt his progress to remind him that his radio was still OFF but at the same time a kid came riding by with his car stereo blasting away. I started walking toward the pilot to try and get his attention but it was to late. The engine fired off at 2/3rd. throttle and the entire plane just leaped straight towards him. I guess by pure instinct he reached his hands straight out to try and stop the plane .... man did that prop tear his thumb and index finger up on his left hand !!! The plane was in a starting stand but I guess he just reacted without thinking.
Blood went everywhere, he was cut all the way to the bone in a V formation in both spots. I managed to get his engine turned off pretty quick and wrapped his hand up nice and tight with a clean cotton towel.
About this time his brother drove up, he took him to the emergency room, I gathered his plane and flight box and went right in behind them.
Luckily ... no bones were broken, it took 8 stitches on each cut to sew him back together though [sm=crying.gif]
For what it's worth ... this guy has been flying planes for over 20 years and I suppose this could happen to ANYBODY so be careful and never take anything for granted. I know it sure got my attention.

Man that sounds just like something I would do. Hope he gets ok.

simalar thing happened to me, except i was reaching across my tailgate to get something and hit the throttle and man did she come after me,left wing hit me in the gut and then it turned into me and i did the same reacrion as your friend, my left arm went to it and it bit me, i now have a safty cage for mine

Thanks for the story 2strokes. It's easy for me to get complacent so I like hearing about these mishaps....

Your starting your plane on the back of your truck?

Same question I had.

yes, there are no clubs here and i fly at the county mixing strip and ive learned everything by myself(sometimes the hard way ) but i have done well i think and have only lost 2 planes in 18 mos.

i do it mainly because the ground here is very hot and there is no shade so the back of my truck is really the only place unless you want to stand out in the sun and i dont, once you live in the desert awhile you really getr sick of the sun

are you trying to tell me something sturtz?

Just like a lady. You scounge and save to buy them the best you can afford, treat them nice, feed them well and still they will bite you first chance they get. People, be careful out there!

You need to get yourself an E-zup: http://www.ezupdirect.com

My pal one of the LHS owner was running in a ST51 ... we don't know why but he reached for the HSN from the front THROUGH the prop ... cost him about USD1,250 to fix the finger ... thinking of it gives me that quezy feeling in my loins!

Most of us, I am certianly no exception, have done similar things. These are dangerous pieces of equipment. After 23 years I have learned a routine I go through before every flight, but still I manage to get distracted at times and do something stupid.

I've made a few trips to the ER from R/C related accidents. The worst was from a Concept 30 main rotor blade that was thrown and got stuck in my thigh all the way to the femur bone. For some reason I jumped up a bit or it could've and probably would've been my groin that got hit. I no longer hover close to myself except to check blade tracking, course that has to be done and at eye level.

EEEEWwwwwwwwwwww damn man that had too hurt

This tells me he did no preflight checks at all, no checking of the flight controls surfaces. No checking the throttle settings, no nothing, just went their and cranked it up. If I were him, I would keep my mouth shut on it . If that is how he starts his flying day, I am sure that plane won't last long. You all better worry more about what damage he can cause when he he gets that thing in the air before he kills somebody than his poor fingers.

No ... a pre-flight inspection WAS done ( see original post ). I went over the bird from one end to the other with him and then he turned off the RX & TX. Afterwards, we chatted for a couple of minutes and then I started walking back to my truck to grab the camera when all of this took place. He simply got ahead of himself, spun the prop to prime the carb., turned the RX on, reached for his glow starter and simply forgot to switch his TX on ... the engine fired instantly and caught him by surprise.
All he had to do was let the plane settle into the start stand and he wouldn't have gotten hurt but out of pure instinct he reached out with his left hand to block the bird and got bit.
This post wasn't put here for anyone to be judgemental, it was to remind the good folks here to never take anything for granted or get in any hurry.
How many of us here do a complete walk around to check the tire pressure, fluids, etc. EVERYTIME we get in our vehicles. I don't, maybe once a month, but not everytime I get in my truck !
Human beings make mistakes and nobody is perfect, those that think they are will find out the hard way sooner or later.
This club member is a well rounded RC enthusiast who fly's everything from helicopters, a huge assortment of 3D birds down to his 10 year old trainer and all look well cared for. I'm sure he was just as much embarrassed as he was hurt physically.
Enough said IMO.

WOW....Cyclic...take a chill pill. You think that just because he made a mistake, he is a danger to all around him? I have been flying for 19 years and have had stiches from a prop. But that does not make me any more a danger to others that if I had never made a mistake. Just the opposite. Now I am a safer pilot and an even better ground crew. The trick is to help others NOT do the stupid thing I did. I see by your comments that you have NEVE done ANYTHING that was not by the book or unsafe. You must be the best safty officer in the AMA.
2stroke. Tell the peson that hurt his fingers, I hope he is OK now, and I will fly with him ANYTIME. Jeff

Thanks Jeff for the kind words, I will tell him what you said.
He's O.K. and will be ready to fly early next week ( stitches will come out Monday). His pride is hurt more than anything else. I talked with him this morning and he's decided to leave the blood stains on his portable throw mat as a reminder

Naw,,, heck I have a black finger nail on each hand from prop strikes that happened to me a few weeks ago. S--t happens . And it's even worse when the sun is blasting away at ya and your working on a finicky motor. That repeated process of glow starter,, cranking the motor,,, adjusting the engine......... over and over in 90.deg heat with 90% humidity is where I have to watch out.
Firstly I feel for anyone who gets a prop strike of any kind. Not only does it hurt like hell it can ruin a good day's flying. Not to mention the cost of an emergency room visit if it's a deep cut.
I do go through safety and inspection routines while starting my planes and think it's a wise thing to do every time you start one up.
This thread is a good reminder for us all. I was just curious about why anyone would start a high RPM motor with a potentially leathal cutting blade on the business end from the back of a truck or anywhere besides the ground or test stand. My question was answered though........ The old desert Sun .

On all my transmitters I now do the following:[ul][*] Tie two #64 rubber bands together[*] Tie the end of one to the handle on the back of the transmitter[*] Wrap the rubber band around the bottom of the transmitter and put the free end of the other rubber band around the left (throttle) stick[*] Don't take the rubber band off the stick until I am ready to taxi/take off
[/ul]
This keeps the throttle "stuck" in the low position until I'm ready for it to be elsewhere.

Interesting idea. I may try that.

If you have been flying for a while and have yet to make a mistake your probably more dangerous to us than those that have made mistakes and have the experience to be reminded of it. I will be the 1st one to admist I probably have not made my last mistake. Lucky for me so far I have not hurt anyone else or damaged anyone else's property. I wish 37 stiches ago I can say the same for someone else hurting me. Even so his experience has probably made him a safer flyer. BTW, the person that caused me to have 37 stiches in my arm was an AMA instructor while he was teaching someone else on a buddy box.

I think Cyclic was suggesting something like what I do each and every flight. I check the control surfaces for proper direction and throttle operation as well. Then I prime the engine and reach for the starter and glow igniter. FWIW, I have never taken off with the servo direction reversed on anything as a result. I check the control surface direction and operation, maybe too often, before starting, after starting before taxiing, at the edge of the runway and again when I am lined up and ready to take off.

I have aborted flights on the runway after noticing control surface operation wasn't quite right even though 2-3 checks immediately prior showed no probs.

We all make mistakes and always will. We just need to be careful, or try to be.

No one wants to put their fingers or hand in a prop but it happens. Hopefully only once, and no permanent damage is done. Five or six years ago, I drug my hand across an APC prop at idle setting my bipe down from the top wing. Stupid, yes, hopefully I'll never do it again, especially now that I'm flying gassers. I ended up go to the emergency room and getting stitches. I taped my hospital wrist band to my flight box for 2 years for a reminder. Now EVERY time I start an engine, I say to myself "prop, prop, prop" over and over........... So far, no more cuts.

Hey we've all done these kind of things and learned from them. I think next time the guy will let the start stand do it's job. The thing that gets me is that he was caught off guard when the engine fired. Wasn't that what he was trying to do?

Darren

okay... so comes my gruesome tale.

i was flying three weeks ago or so. a guy comes with a 150cc 33 or 40% fiberglass bird sporting a huge carbon prop. he gets it fired up and starts to taxi out. the wind blows it off line and it starts to slowly head toward the crowd. i yell "be careful" and people take notice. he rushed out to stop the plane from plowing through the planes and the crowd. he reaches the wing as his helper scrambles to the back to catch the tail. by accident he nudges the throttle and the plane comes around to hit him in the arm. two cracks of the carbon prop on bone and it stops. the carbon props are shriveled, bent from the impact by at least quarter of an inch. his arm is cut in two places to the bone, each gash over 4 inches long. he's bleeding badly but luckily it didn't hit an artery. everyone's yelling at him to get to the hospital, he's looking at his plane and his tx to see if there's damage!!! we think he was in shock. finally someone takes his radio strap and ties it in a torniquet and they rush him away. he left a two foot wide pool of blood in the middle of the flying boxes. nice... real nice... i haven't flown since. waiting for the rain to wash it away before i go back. looks like this weekend's rain will just do the trick!

1st lesson - keep your eyes open. have a spotter so that you can still know what's happening without taking your eyes off your own plane

2nd lesson - if you're flying gas, in the face of potential danger, SHUT DOWN. i think this may have been this guys first gasser so he forgot that he could've just flicked a switch to turn of the ignition

3rd lesson - between you and the potential damage to plane(s), i'll take damage to planes anytime!!!

be careful, stay safe.