[NSRCA-discussion] Stupid accident

[Keith Black]

Mark, that's a bummer, but as I was reading I was fearing you were going to
say you reached out to grab it and got something cut off. I've heard of this
happening numerous times, even on this list. I'm so glad that neither you
nor anyone else got hurt.

Regarding the strap hooked to the TX, I did this when I was new to the hobby
and one time doing the same as you had a plane with an OS 72FS charge
straight at me at full throttle while I was on my knees in front of it after
starting it. Remarkably I was able to reach over the spinning prop and catch
the plane by the fuse before it hit me. I vowed right then and there I would
never leave the strap on the TX again.

The other thing that I find scary is when people start their planes with the
strap hanging down from their neck. That's a perfect opportunity for the
strap to get caught by the prop and yank the running motor and pilots
neck/face together.

Glad you weren't hurt, sorry about the damage to the plane.

Keith Black

On Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 1:45 PM, Atwood, Mark <atwoodm at paragon-inc.com>wrote:

>  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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>
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