Hello; No gory picture, but, I was starting my OS 90 fs, kneeling infront of it on my left knee on a pad. The OS 90 has a front mounted glow ploug and you have to use alligator clips on it so that it doesn't hit the prop. Spin her over with the starter, she fires up at full throttle. I drop the starter but I can't hold it from lurching at my right knee. 14 x 6 prop cuts through my lederhosen and into my leg between the knee and the hip, an the inside. One of the flyers there that day is an emergency room nurse, she's on me before the sound of the engine dies, another guy has taken off his belt to make a tourniquet. The nurse Shannon is barking out orders for her husband to get the van, collapse the seats, she then calls her hospital to empty out a bay for me and what the doctor wants to know about it all. We arrive at the Chemanius hospital, there is a warm wheelchair waiting, I get inside an examination room and the doctor is ordering the silk thread and they stich me up, 46 stiches. Lots of Zylocaine so I can watch. Apart from the embarrassment, I wasn't all that shocked to see inside my legs covering. I didn't belld all that much and went back to the field and my pals had packed up all my gear and losded my van.

Now when a new guy comes to the field, I'm asked to show the scar to re-inforce the safety message. It always works.

I actually very glad this post was made and let ride by the moderators. I know its nasty,but we've all had close calls and this post really reminds us to be careful. And we need to be reminded of that now and again,and this post really makes the importance sink in. In fact this weekend I was trying to start my 58cc gasser while kneeling if front of it flipping it after the motor quit. Thank god it didnt start and my buddy reminded me the plane was not being held by anything and could have started up and drifted right at me. Yep,good post...thank you!

When I brought my finger through the idling engines prop, I was only a mile from the hospital. I threw everything out of the way and was at the ER in less than 5 min. They immediately got all my insurance information and I sat there in a cubical for 4 hrs before they sewed me up. I guess it didn't really make any difference? I had called the ER that I was coming and they were looking for me when I got there.

While waiting, I called my wife to meet my friends at the flying field to get my junk. They had it all gathered up and packed away in my truck by the time she got there. One of them drove my truck home and after she took him back to the field, she came to the ER and eventually took me home.

Errr just be careful, I'd like to keep seeing you around at RCU. Trying to type on the computer with a sliced hand is not fun... hard to build a plane too.

It's amazing how much blood we can loose. That guy I wrote about was nasty. Plane... Prop and clothing was covered in blood, not to mention his car needed to be cleaned as well.