Just got back from the airfield and I noticed something I thought I would share.

As I approached the flight line I became aware of a heavy blood trail leading into the pits.. Whatever it was -it had to hurt...

OUCH!!!! A prop'll leave a mark for sure.

was it you or someone else? I have learned to use my chicken stick even when the engine won't start. I have started with my finger and cut it even with noe start

I've cut my fingers just digging through my toolbox looking for a new prop (on a prop)

I take all my new props and shave the sharp ends off (or sand) to keep from getting cut just handling them, and I never flip it with my fingers..!!!

twistr good idea... I never flip them with fingers with glow plug ignitor on

Thats if it leaves your fingers still attached [X(]. there has been some nasty pictures posted on here of people that have first hand experience of what it feels like to come in contact with a spinning meat slicer (prop) I dont even want to imagine it [:'(]

Don't rely on the false sense of security that using an electric starter creates. Analysis of the accident reports shows that the serious injuries are coming AFTER the engine is already started. Some people are thinking that the increased use of electric starters is actually leading to a reduction in awareness of prop safety.

[:@]Been there...done that...yep, it hurts!

Brian

We had a guy here slice his hand from one side to the other a couple weeks ago and got around 20 stitches. He was at his house and it happened on a test stand. He said he just reached over to remove the igniter. I just saw him the other day and he told me the story. He said it was a 25la with an apc prop on it. I jokingly told not to brag about it in public. With a wound that large from an dinky engine like that, could be embarrassing, you might want to tell people it was from a bigger engine.

I think the best way for we beginners to learn respect for the prop is to get bit.

It happened to me a few weeks ago. Still got a lesson in though, after a few minutes of first aid and some advice from the club members who all "know that sound".

I now employ very safe procedures when working around a prop, running or not.

A freind of mine who had just solo'd a few months earlier put his finger through the prop arc while trying to show something to the model's owner. I'll bet it never happens again to him either. (17 stitches is worth 17,000 words)

Cal Poly Motto: "Learn by screwing-up". I just hope most beginners have small engines at first and they don't get bit too bad.

Not that it will help much,

But back in the day when I started out I was told by one of the field "wise men" to take an exacto knife and use the back edge of it, (the flat non sharp side) and drag the edge of it across the sharp side of the APC prop (the trailing edge). You do this until it's no longer like a knife edge, and this is how I balance the prop, taking material off the trailing edge. I also make the tips a little smoother. It's not going to stop the prop from chopping your fingers off, but you wont cut yourself digging through your flight box, or simply turning the engine over. I have not noticed any performance decrease, you are not changing the airfoil on the prop, just taking the "edge" off the trailing edge. I have since done this to every apc I've owned, and I'm sure it's saved me a few cuts.

I completely disagree with this philosophy. There is NO REASON for anyone to be hurt (bit) by a prop. The BEST way to learn respect for the prop is to LISTEN to the combined experience of others. Some lessons just should not have to be experienced over and over and over again, especially when the consequences could be debilitating.

AGreed Chuck! Safety is best learned by being pro-active, not re-active!

Well all I know is, i got bit by A ST 51 sitting at idle.. It was swingin an 11X6 APC and it cut to the bone on three fingers... And Believe it or not, it hit my finger nail and sliced that dude right in half! At IDLE!
I didnt even know it til i saw the blood on my TX and the top of the wings as I was taxiing out.. Then the pain hit.. Let me tell you, I now run a ST 1.40 and that Menz 18X6 won't have a chance to cut me.. Im almost too careful around it. I always have someone holding the plane, never start it "ubnrestrained, don't reach over the prop for anything! And just recently I've gotten brave enough to work with the high-end while the motor's actually running! When you put your fingers on that ST Needle valve your like 1/4 inch away from a 18X6 Blade turning 9,500 RPM by a 3.7 horsepower engine that ain't gonna stop just caus u got hurt. I think I'm done now:>

I also got six stitched across the knuckle last summer from S/T 45. I then sent to Tower for a couple remote needle valves from their Tower Hobbies 46 and its easy and safe to adjust now.
TH was cheapest and its all metal. Jim

i have cut myself 2 times by the prop, one when the engine was a litlte above idle and the other the engine didn't start i just flipped it and it hit my finger

I tend to go along with "Agexpert" a bit. Not that it is something to promote and help avoid if possible but I find that many people like to learn things the hard way. You keep telling them over and over again. Finally the heck with it.

im still recovering []

It'll be interesting to find out exactly what happened. Bleeding has to be pretty bad to leave that noticable a trail in the dirt. Hope whoever it was wasn't alone. I totally agree with Piper Chuck. My feeling is, there is a discrete boundary that the prop stays within, and anybody who knows anything about planes at all knows where that boundary is. If you go inside that boundary, you ain't paying attention.

As far as it goes, Agexpert, I guess it IS "the burned hand knows best about fire", but to suggest that is the best way to learn about things is to suggest playing in the highway to learn about getting run over, or grabbing a running chainsaw bar to learn how sharp the chain is. Anybody that stupid has no business around running r/c engines; before you get your panties in a wad, in no way am I suggesting that you are stupid. My comments don't refer to you. There are things in life that should be obvious to anybody; but if there is a total absence of understanding about the most elementary rules of physics, then maybe another hobby, like reading, is in order.

It continually amazes me that it seems like a badge of honor, how some people brag about sticking a finger in a spinning prop. God help me, if I ever do it, I'm gonna hide 'til the wound heals, and then tattoo "stupid" on my own forehead.


A young boy watches a blacksmith making horseshoes. The smith finishes the shoe, quenches it to temper it and sets it aside to cool. The little boy wanders over, and with the blacksmith watching out of the corner of his eye, the boy picks up the hot shoe, and immediately drops it on the ground. "didja burn yer hand, boy?", says the blacksmith.

"Nope", says the boy, "It just don't take me long to look at a horseshoe."

And don't think just because you fly electric too that the prop can't do as much damage. Look at my pic below. This was from a 12x8 folding prop on a speed 600 w/3 to 1 gearbox. I was testing the motor and had my tx on the table. Plane system was on and all I did was just bump the throttle lever by accident. Prop bit my forearm. This was just at less than 1/8 throttle!!!! Still have blood stains on the basement floor. Took 4 stitches and a tetanus shot. I've also had a prop fly off an OS .46....damn nut came loose and prop and spinner flew off. Luckily it didn't hit anybody. I now check all my props and spinners for being loose. I think all new flyers should have a look at what a spinning prop can do. Picture is worth a thousand words.

Dave...

piper_chuck, I totally agree with you......but unfortunately, the reality is that many new flyers don't realize what a prop can do until it's too late. I think this is probably what agexpert meant. Once it does happen, you will ALWAYS be careful around the prop.....at least that's the effect it had on me!

YES!!!

I was pretty sure he was not proposing that someone should have to be hurt. However, I wanted to make a point, first for beginners who are reading, and second for instructors. Those of us with experience need to be sure we help new people develop safe habits while they are learning.

I see way too many people being slack when it comes to prop safety. At the field today one of the combat guys was sitting on the ground starting his plane by holding it in one hand and applying the starter with the other. Unfortunately, the prop arc was pointing right at his body. I thought about saying something, but I've been sensitized that some people don't want such "help".

Instead of "best" way to learn, I should have said. "most effective and memorable" way to learn. I mean it sinks in pretty fast when you blow it.

I did not mean to anger the Gods, but to clarify,....I do not support the encouragement of student pilots to hurt themselves for the purpose of learning a lesson. That would be ridiculous and frankly I don't get that when I read back my original post. I only mean that once it is learned that way, it usually sticks.

If you saw me around my prop, you would think I was doing "tai-chi" or some "interpretive dance". I may look funny, but all my fingers go home with me.

Keep your fingers in their original condition, but if you are careless once, I doubt you will be careless again. That's all.

Thanks guys!!

I get your point, Chuck. No worries at all. Just wanted to make sure you know what I meant.