Hi,

Im posting this, i know its been said time and time before but i thought once more wont hurt anyone beginners and experts..............

BEWARE of the Danger of the Props................ you might think it will never happen to you and ur allways carful, but take 2 seconds more and think before you start your plane.

Ive started my plane 1,000 times and i go through all the checks, i flew my plane for a few flights, decided to go back up got a fellow club member to hold the plane whilst i started her, and for some reason when it started it lept forward, maybe he wasnt holding it tight enought who knows but what i do know the prop hit 3 of my fingers and luckly for me thier still attached, but cut very badly as ive spent the last 4 hours in hospital....

So the moral of this no matter how good you think you are or how careful you think you are just spare another thought about the potentional danger. Im only saying this for YOUR saftey and not to be a victim. I think from no on i will use a proper starting stand........[&:]

Even if I have someone holding the plane for me, I always place a hand on it just in case my assistant isn't paying attention.

Best rule of thumb in this hobby is to NOT let yourself become a victim of complacency.

The chief instructor at one club I know of keeps a rather gruesome picture of somebody's mangled fingers in his flight box. Everytime a new student shows up, he whips out the picture and tell them to take a good look at what the prop can do to you if you're not careful... certainly gets their attention!

Something that I've noticed is that it always seems to be the more experienced flyers that get the prop.Stick is right,when you are new your always mindful of the prop but as time goes on you feel more relaxed around it.I have'nt been bitten yet.I think its because unfortunately every couple of months someone is getting it at my field.The ones getting cut are the ones with 5 or more yrs flying.Don't forget the starter and glow plug cords if you use them,the props like those also.
Have fun and be safe!!![sm=cool.gif]

Whoa whoa whoa... have fun and be safe??? Your sentence contradicts itself... I'm just kidding

Lately I've twice seen beginners receiving instructions adjusting their engines while reaching over the prop from the front of the plane. While I certainly value my fingers, that places the artery in your wrist right over the prop. Incredibly the guy reaching over the prop turned out to be the instructor in one case. I've also observed experienced guys starting 100cc plus engines by themselves without even tying down the plane.

I am amazed at the carefree attitude many people have when placing body parts within inches of a sharp object rotating at several thousand rpm.

It always amazes me to see even very experienced guys trying to start their planes by hand and/or without good hold down.

I guess we should keep reminding ourselves - "Safety is an outmost goal". Without it our fun can be easily turned into tragedy. Not to mention it can take away this very ability to have this kid of fun.

DragonHeart I am glad to hear that even though it is serious, but not "really bad". I wish you good luck and farewell.

I nicked the tips of a couple of fingers this summer. Nothing serious but good wake up call. I use a simple tether 95% of the time(?) and always paint and repaint the tips of my props bright yellow. I wonder if there are any other "tips" that can help us stay out of harms way when those "dumb" moments happen. Maybe just the occasional word of caution/reminder amongst our group of fellow fliers.

I think the biggest "tip" is to just groom good safety habits. If you teach yourself to always go through the same safe motions, they can take care of you in those times when your mind shuts off (as mine will occasionally do).

For instance, if you NEVER reach over the propeller and ALWAYS get in the habit of getting up and moving behind the plane prior to adjusting needle valves, removing glow starters, etc...then that time that someone talks to you in the middle of a start, or otherwise distracts you...you won't subconsiously reach over it when you're you're not really paying attention. Break this rule even once, and it's only a matter of time.

There really shouldn't be that much of a hurry to get in the air anyway. Besides not reaching over the prop, I always have my plane tied down and always have a hand on it...no exceptions (as if any of this were difficult). Take your time!

this happended to me, but the damage to me was much minor. the motor was running at low throttle (as low as it can go) and i went to take the glow lighter of and it put a 2mm cut down the side of my finger

Something to consider is that if our engines are idling at 2000 RPM's or 33.33 Revolutions per second x 2 blades that means we are giving our engines 66 chances per second to cut our fingers or even our wrists. Maybe a gruesome picture taped to our starter would remind us of the danger that we face.

I've been around these spinning props for 15 years but have been away few a couple years. 1st time starting an engine again. While idling I was telling my son something about the steering or nose wheel and proceeded to point and stick my finger right at the wheel from the front into the prop. I got lucky and only got buzzed with no damage. "Wow, how could I do that. That was stupid." I would never had done that in my RC prime.

I have the scars from 19 stitches in my right hand to remind me. Happened 30 years ago, but was enough to keep me out of the hobby until last year. Most of it was mental anyway. I have a battery powered starter, use a stooge to keep the plane in place, and do not remove the glow starter until I am behind the wing. It has been said here, and is true in our club was well, some of the worst offenders are the experienced guys. (Not to mention one of our club officers that is training a newbie right now and has some of the worst safety habits of a lot other people.)

One of our club's safety requirements is to restrain the plane while startin. Most flyers wrap a cord / rope around the horizontal stab and secure the rope at the rear with a screw driver in the ground. There are other devices that also do this function that are sold commercially.

Leo

Lots of good advice here. Only thing I can add is don't let anyone speak to you when you are starting your model. Keep focussed and concentrate on the starting procedure. Especially if you are starting a new model with a prop. that is larger than the size you are used to. It's all too easy to let concentration slip.

I STILL CANNOT UNDERSTAND !!! WHY ARE YOU HANDS NAKED ??? ARE HEAVY DUTY GARDENING GLOVES THAT EXPENSIVE ??? JUST EXPLAIN TO ME WHY I SEE NO ONE WEARING THEM !!!! IF I WERE THE PRESIDENT OF ANY CLUB I WOULD ENFORCE IT SO THAT IT WOULD BECOME MANDATORY !!!


THEY WON'T PREVENT YOUR FINGER FROM BEING DAMAGED, BUT WILL DRAMATICALLY REDUCE WOUNDS.

We use elevated work stations[ old spolls from the electric co] and I have built a restriant right in place on the spool I use which I put my plane into at the end of each flight, so its always there when time to start again. It's always engaged and holds the plane firmly for starting and running-ajusting.When ready to fly I lift it ,idling off the stand and put it on the ground.

Sounds like good advice,

Check this out it may help:
http://www.wap.org/info/techstuff/disablecapslock.html

lol, I had to, no worries, j/k

NOPE IT DOES NOT WORK ! YOUR TIP IS FOR MAC USERZ !!!

More seriously, i simply wanted to emphasize the fact, but no one seems to understand ... until it's too late ...

Yea, I totally agree, it just seems as if ppl are not really inclined to take precautionary measures until AFTER they (or someone) get hurt, which really confuses me.