A preventable accident
 

I just found out today that one of our newer guys had a serious accident Sunday at the field. It was one of those things, like most, that was the result of a number of bad decisions. His plane has a Saito four stroke, at least a 91 size, but maybe a bit larger. The guy never flys without twisting the needle valves a few times, not every day, but every flight. Problem 1. He had his stand set up, but there wasn't really any restraint to hold the plane. Problem 2. He had just finished his needle ritual and went to idle and was reaching to pick up the plane to take it to the flight line. He hit the throttle stick on something and the Satito being what it is, jumped to full power. Problem 3. As he was in front of the plane at this time, panic set in and he decided to stall the engine by grabbing the spinner. He missed. Hopefully, he will have use of his three damaged fingers in six months.

I'm posting this in the beginners forum as there are real lessons to be learned here. If you start your engine, make sure the plane is fully secured. There are many ways, but the loose fitting light weight plastic stands isn't one of them. A setup with PVC pipe securing the wings and preventing the plane from lunging forward is one way to go. My self, I use a parachute cord looped through the slats on our ready tables and around the tail fins. The only problem with my method is that if on chance the plane starts in reverse, there isn't anything to keep it from backing up. At the least have a buddy manualy restrain the plane.

Next, do your work on a running engine from behind it. That goes for picking up your plane while the engine is running also. Stay behind the turning prop.

Last, in his situation, it would have been better to jump to the side and let the plane crash off the stand. NEVER GRAB FOR A TRUNING SPINNER. NEVER.

Don

RE: A preventable accident
 

Feel sorry for him, although we all learn from our mistakes.

RE: A preventable accident
 

Campgems,
Good post. Restraining planes is definitely something everybody needs to do. Many people try a lot of different ways to hold back their planes, some expensive and some not. I use a very cheap one, and in my opinion it's one of the better ones. A tent stake and piece of rope. Cheap, simple, reliable, and easy to use!!!! :D

When an engine is running the area in front of the plane should be totally off limits. People need to start thinking this way so that it becomes habit. It only takes one thrown prop to seriously injure somebody.

Ken

RE: A preventable accident
 

This is a good thread and a great place to post it. The excitment of flying your plane as a beginner does often over shadow the established safety procedures and accidents do happen. Every accident is preventable and safety has to be top priority. I hope your club member has a complete recovery and can use his bad experiance as a tool to help others not make the same mistake. Good Luck, Dave

RE: A preventable accident
 

Sounds so much like the recent indicent in HK involving a top heli pilot. A buddy system is best ... sigh ... this is really not a toy.

RE: A preventable accident
 

I don't remember if it was on this site or another but i had read somewhere "Never stick your finngur where you wouldn't stick your d***"

Also just something id like to add to the diagram that ken posted, that black line between the red/green is probably the WORST place to be if i was a betting man and had to bet which way a prop blade would go should it decided to leave the hub its gonna be somewhere n that black line 90% of the time...

RE: A preventable accident
 

Roger that! And the majority of the time it will launch to the starboard side.

RE: A preventable accident
 

One of the reasons I no longer belong to a club that I have previously belonged it is because although they preached safety and had plane restraints at their field, many of the officers of the club did not follow their own rules. I saw many times where someone would start the plane, unrestrained, and pointed towards the pits. Even when I would bring it to their attention (according to their rules if anyone saw violations there were supposed to mention it) it would be ignored since the person "knows what they are doing".

Great post Campgems. Hopefully some newbies as well as old timers will heed this.

RE: A preventable accident
 

Recently a new person asked a question that I replied to and in my reply, I stressed safety when starting and tuning an engine. One point I tried to make was that you start from the front and do everything else from the rear. And, of course, a proper and strong restraint is an absolute necessity.

We have benches at our fields that have vertical 2 X 6's on both sides of the front of the stand that the leading edge of the wing rests against during starting. Unfortunately, this does not help for an engine that may start up backwards, but when they do start backwards, they usually will not accelerate. However, that may not be the case every time.

One of the guys at our club actually wraps a rope around the plane and the rear of the starting stand and holds his plane down that way. With the vertical 2 x 6's and this method of holding the plane down, would probably cover just about every circumstance.

When I was starting out, I got yelled at a few times for standing in that 'danger zone' while playing with the throttle. It became habit for me to just go around the rear of the plane to do anything and everything except starting, including tuning, removing the glow driver, and whatever needs to be done. It's just good sense. And instructors really need to pound this home during training.

Yet another reason for those that think they can be self taught to get an instructor. There is just no way that these self-taught people to get the message without losing a finger or getting a few stitches (at the very least.. or worse). And another reason not to fly alone.

CGr.

RE: A preventable accident
 

Thanks to all that replied to this site. I am relatively new to the hobby and I am mostly self taught but not necessarily by choice. I have learned allot about safety in this 5 minutes of reading here. And admittedly made every mistake mentioned here with by the grace of god no injuries.

Other than the stake and parachute rope (don't know were to get that kind of rope) what else works good to restrain an airplane on the ground in grass or possibly on hard surface?

I would like to see a few more tips listed here. As for instructors and clubs, I will check into some training (I know cart before the horse). Keep in mind though; there are probably bad clubs and/or trainers out there. If I'm going to learn it should be good information. That is why I like to learn here, you get a cross check on everything that is potentially wrong!!!!

RE: A preventable accident
 

You can use almost any kind of rope, but softer rope is better for your finish. At home, I've used my kid's jumpropes, looped around the tail of the plane, and tied to a tree.

Starting your plane on a hard surface is doubly tricky. It's tough to drive a stake into the ground, and also the plane will have little rolling resistance, so it will jump forward easier than on grass. If you have no choice, you should probably use a cinder block or something heavy, and tie your restraint rope to that. Just always make sure the rope is tight when starting. If you push the plane backwards while starting, it will be able to lurch forward when you let go.

Of course, the safest thing is to fly at a field that has safety benches.

RE: A preventable accident
 

I think that new guy was me! ;)

Excellent thread and yet another reason to heed the warnings.

RE: A preventable accident
 

mclina,

Thanks, I'll try this and steal my kid's jump rope tonight ha ha:D. Can you supply a diagram or even a picture of a good safety bench design? The ones at the club I just joined only have a 2X4 nailed down flat to the bench. Not to effective and I would love to upgrade one table into a nice safety bench as my first good deed to the club.:)

RE: A preventable accident
 

http://www.meroke.com/safetybench.htm

This is the bench design that most clubs use.

RE: A preventable accident
 

At our club, we have a half dozen benches, and a giant scale bench. Each bench is equipped with a foam padded, steel "pickle fork" that the fuse sits in, just in front of the tail group. Reasonably effective at restraining the plane, good in forward, OK if in reverse. We often have some wind, so many fliers will bungee the plane to the table until ready to fly.

Made a similar picklefork for my picnic table at home, where I do engine run-ups. Easy, made from 3/8 threaded rod and pipe insulation. I know someone at your club owns a welder.

You can also just jam the "handle" of the pickle forks in soft ground, if the plane's too big for the stands.

RE: A preventable accident
 

Actually, the black line is fairly safe. But just forward of the black line is the most dangerous.

It's true that a broken prop will spit out to the side, but it is also pulling forward with a lot of force (Face it, it's not going to break at idle - it will do it while turning high RPM)

So the prop will be pulling forward and when the centrifugal force sends it out to the side it will go slightly forward of the 90 degree plane.

But again, the basic rule of thumb is:

With the exception of starting the engine, STAY BEHIND THE BLACK LINE!!!!

RE: A preventable accident
 

If a starting stand is not available, I use an inexpensive slip type dog leash and screw driver. I stick the screwdriver in the ground through the small metal ring that`s on one end of the leash, loop the leash under one side of the stab, up over the top of the fuselage in front of the fin, and then back under the other side of the stab. Then just put the hand loop part of the leash over the screwdriver. Dirt cheap and works great.

RE: A preventable accident
 

[quote]ORIGINAL: MinnFlyer



Do you mean centripetal acceleration? ;)


Great thread guys, and frankly it would be great to have this in the clubhouse. We all need to be reminded of these dangers from time to time.

I hope his hand recovers fully.

RE: A preventable accident
 

At our club we used saftety stands as mentioned above and shown at http://www.meroke.com/safetybench.htm . We had to rebuild some of these stands a few times after a few years. I redesigned the safety stand and now have 2 of the new design at our field, and three more are being built by the membership. The new design we use can be downloaded from our website at http://www.wilsonrc.org/news.php and clicking on DOWNLOADS.

Have you ever started an engine when the throttle was accidentally wide open? It is rather stupid to do that so many might think they would never do that. It has happend to me 3-4 times. Having the plane strongly restrained is a must.

RE: A preventable accident
 

Yup, most engines will stall out as the throttle is increased as the porting and timing is off for reverse operation.

I WISH our club would install the vertical slats on our workbenches.

All too often I arrive to find people ( particularly we of the older group ) starting their planes on the workbenches, as this is easier on their backs and sight... The club prohibits this, but it occurs ALL the time... I've offered to install slats or build seperate startup tables myself... and this was shot down with "they should NOT be starting planes like this"....

RE: A preventable accident
 

Great Post! As a newbie, I have made a few mistakes. This serves as a reminder for me and everyone else to keep safety in mind at all times. Blue skies
Norm

RE: A preventable accident
 

Something that is important to note here is that the throttle was ACCIDENTALLY pushed forward.

I know that I take many precautions around a running engine, but I also know that I have had several times when that throttle stick can get bumped - this seems especially so for the guys who use neck straps.

So aside from being cautious as to keeping body parts away from the prop, also keep in mind where your throttle stick is, AND your antenna! (I've seen a few people bend over and stick the antenna in a prop)

RE: A preventable accident
 

Alot of great advice here. When iw as learnign to fly my instructor was very good about teaching me the in and outs of being safe at the field. I have been at this a long time but I am still in the habit of only starting the engine from the front then doing everything else from behind. I do not fly at a club anymore, just an open field really. So we have no run stands. I have a trick I use that may sound weird but works real well. I have an old cinderbock that sits in my garage and I use it as a weight during engine break ins. When i know I am going to be doing alot of tuning I just throw it in the truck to go out to the field with me. I have a thick bungee cord I wrap around the tail and it hold the plane really well. Since the plane is only about 1 foot from the block it really has nowhere to go. A bit unorthodox but it works really well.

RE: A preventable accident
 

To make a long story short: Just a couple months ago, a guy at my field was starting his 80cc yak. He forgot to check the throttle stick and it started up on full throttle. He had it held down with a tail retraint good enough for a 50cc plane. He immediately knew when he started it by the sound that it was at full throttle. He dove out of the way just in time for his legs to miss the 28" prop. The plane pulled out of the restraints and the wing cought his leg and turned the plane around (at full throttle).... well anyways all in about 3 seconds he had a 8" long gash in his leg from the carbon fiber prop. Had there not been another guy there he would have bled to death within the hour.

Just another reminder not to fly alone and always use a restraint that will hold your plane at full throttle.

Austin

RE: A preventable accident
 

Don-

Great post and a good lesson! I think there was actually a problem before Problem 1 and I think you have the same opinion: There is no need to be adjusting the needle valves on a Saito or any other 4 stroke every flight or even every day. Once broken in and low and high speed needles are adjusted, they are really "set it and forget it." I probably only adjust the high speed needle on my Saito once every 2-3 months.