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Most of our District does not have a flying and a building season. Generally we fly and build year round. Therefore flying and shop safety are both important year round. Sandy Frank has a very good article on battery safety in his Model Aviation Column this month. Everyone should read it and follow his guidance in every way when dealing with chargers and batteries.
I have said before that Safety is everyone's business, not just the Club Safety Officers'. However, the club Safety Officer is a valuable resource for all club members and especially for your board of directors or executive council. He (or she) always has an eye open toward safety concerns because we have tasked him to do that. He has an ear open toward safety discussions in case there is a place to interject a thought or hear a new idea. Safety Officers should be voting members of your Executive Council. It will give them credibility with the rest of the club members and council members and provide the council with another dedicated volunteer to help in the planning and decision making process.
Now to some Safety Issues I have seen in the past month. One was me. Yes I sometimes do stupid things and occasionally find myself being unsafe too! I was test flying an old airplane that had not been flown in over 5 years. I put new batteries in it and a new receiver but did not change switch or servos. It range checked and seemed fine on the ground...¦. even with the engine running. After take off, it flew well for 2-3 minutes but then started rolling one way and opposite aileron correction started a roll in the other direction. It never stayed level but just rolled one way then the other. There was a strong cross wind and as I fought it, it turned down wind and continued rolling left then right. I kept thinking I would get it level and then take off the power. It crossed our dead line but way away from the pits and parking so I fought it another second or two and finally decided that it was impossible to save and I didn't want to leave the confines of our field so I pulled the power and it rolled into the ground. When we went to retrieve it, it was off of our property by about 50 feet and only 150 feet from a busy highway. The airplane and its radio and engine were destroyed. It was only a .36 so it wasn't very big but it was traveling down wind pretty fast. I waited too long to decide to bury it and almost caused an incident. As I reviewed the flight, I could remember consciously deciding that since I was away from pits and parking I could wait another couple of seconds to try to get it level... Mistake 1. I took the power off when I decided it was getting too close to the edge of our field that was about a second too late... Mistake 2. I did not give it full down after I pulled the power and it continued a little further down wind, resulting in impact off of the property and nearly on the highway... Mistake 3. I don't think, even after review, that I would have done any preflight actions different. It was just time for that servo to give it up and it could have happened on the previous flight 5 years ago or 2 years from now. I thought at the time I was using good judgment while trying to save an old airplane. Turns out, I should have quit while I was ahead. Give up the airplane in the interest of Safety!
The other issue that concerned me was a dead stick on a high wing loading airplane that was at the midpoint of the field on an upwind pass when the engine quit. I knew the airplane was dead stick but either the pilot didn't know or he reacted slowly. He traveled another 100 yards upwind before he decided to turn around for a down wind landing... Mistake 1. Then he turned toward the pits, to downwind with little altitude and airspeed and a fairly high wing loading... Mistake 2. The airplane came within 30 feet of the pits area, stalled a little then dropped the nose, gained airspeed and recovered making a nice down wind landing on the edge of the runway area... Lucky! He or his spotter should have recognized the dead stick sooner, decided to turn around or go straight into the wind... either of which would have saved the airplane, and then if turn to down wind was the choice, turn away from the pits. The good news is the airplane and all present were fine. However, several people and airplanes were endangered by the action. You should always have a plan for a dead stick that creates safety for the pilots, spotters and pits. Even expensive airplanes are not worth a person's life or limb.
As I was finalizing these notes, I travelled to Lake Jackson and visited their field. I observed a very smart safety action and felt I should report good as well as bad in these notes. A gentleman was preparing to test fly a 40% airplane with a 150cc engine on it. As I looked into the airplane he very openly said please look it over and tell me anything you see. He was asking for a 2nd set of eyes to help ensure that all was well before he buttoned it up. That is always smart to do. But the best was yet to come. He distance checked without and with the engine running and then was ready to take off. As he hooked up his neck strap, his friend stopped him and said "Look around before you take off. We have torn up some cross runway on both sides and the field is soaked and standing in water. If you have to make a dead stick, be ready to avoid all of these obstacles." He proceeded to advise where he thought the safest emergency areas were. I was impressed by all of the efforts and can gladly report that the test flight went off without incident... thanks to Randy and Randy. Fly Safe and Have Fun! Safe Aeromodeling is No accidEnt (SANE) If you have comments or input for me, please direct it to
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