[NSRCA-discussion] Stupid accident

[Bill Glaze]

Well, I'll chime in with a new (to me) at least situation.  I was starting my Piedmont Sport on one of the new safety benches, (I'll bet those things have saved a few fingers already) and I had just started my Y.S. 1.20 FS.  It was running at, probably, 4-5K rpm.  For some reason, it backfired, and started running backwards.  Obviously, the prop is now trying to back the airplane up, which it did--too successfully.  The bench was narrowed about 18 inches or so back, and the plane backed up to the narrow portion, and both wheels went off the bench, dropping the fuselage, (with engine running) onto the bench.  The propeller converted itself into a hub and two flying dirks, that fortunately didn't hit anybody.  I was by myself at the time, so there was little danger of injury, (the airplane was, naturally, backing away from me) but I now feel that I'll secure the plane with a bungee or something so it can't move fore or aft.  Just thought I'd share this.
Bill Glaze
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: AtwoodDon at aol.com 
  To: nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org 
  Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2009 5:19 PM
  Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Stupid accident


  Mark, sorry to hear of the damage to your plane.  Thankfully you weren't 'damaged'.  I understand fully when you mention your routine.  I think we all have our routines for our planes.  I know I have an assembly sequence that is very important and when someone interrupts me while I am assembling my plane, I usually just stop, finish the conversation and answer, then start over from the beginning of the sequence just to make sure I didn't miss anything.  I have noticed recently that a few of the people I fly/compete with will actually tell someone to 'wait a minute' while they are finishing putting their plane together, then talk or answer questions.

  Keith, your comment on letting the neck strap dangle around the engine is right on.  I just cringe when I see someone doing that.  

  Don

  In a message dated 8/22/2009 1:57:16 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, tkeithblack at gmail.com writes:
    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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