[NSRCA-discussion] Stupid accident

[Atwood, Mark]

Hey All,

Had a bad morning this morning because I got careless, and because I altered my normal habits. I normally have my neck strap tucked into my shirt starting the airplane, but this morning I simply clipped it onto the Tx while it was sitting on the ground.   Started my primary Black Magic, had it sitting on idle, picked up my Tx and somehow turned the Tx funny such that the strap bumped the throttle...enough to make the plane jump forward startling me.  In the split second that I moved to catch it, the strap moved the throttle higher and before I could recover it, it slammed the wing into the table next to me hard enough to snap the entire fuselage into two pieces.

I was very fortunate that no one was injured and that no other equipment was damaged, but I was crushed to watch (in slow motion of course) such catastrophic damage occur to the plane.  They're just not meant for that type of abrupt side load.

Anyhow, just wanted to throw out the warning.  I've picked up my tx 1000 times without incident, but seldom do I have the strap attached.  Just not my routine. But one odd movement can make things go VERY wrong, VERY fast.  Be careful, be methodical, and don't change your habits.

Mark
PS, probably repairable over the winter.  Fuse is in 2 pieces with a lot of damage, and the wing that hit is pretty messed up.  It'll be a project for sure.
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