[NSRCA-discussion] Matt Finley ( Arming Plug )

[Ronald Van Putte]

I use an arming system on my competition airplanes.  That doesn’t make my system foolproof, but I fail to see that it introduces safety issues.   Maybe the wiring could fail and the motor not start when commanded, but any reasonable wiring failure I can think of would not result in the motor running.  

Of greater concern to me is that many pilots either have not or have improperly set up the failsafe for when the transmitter is turned off.   I witnessed an accident that resulted in the destruction of one airplane and severe damage of another when the pilot turned off his transmitter.  Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

I am tempted to ask the Nats event director (Bob Kane) to have the line chiefs request that pilots demonstrate their airplane’s failsafe operation prior to their first official flight at the Nats.

Ron Van Putte

> On Feb 23, 2015, at 11:05 AM, DaveL322 via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:
> 
> How many runaways have happened with electrics at pattern contests?  Since maybe 2008 when substantial numbers of electrics were being used?  Personally,  I have never seen one.
> 
> How many IC engines have I seen inadvertently started at half or full throttle since 2008?  I have personally seen several.
> 
> Have there been instances of of arming plugs and wiring fail?  Yes.
> 
> A lot of things could go wrong resulting in a potential safety hazard with IC or electric patterns planes.  Having a safe procedure and sticking to it 100% is the issue.....accidents happens when procedures are not followed.  Arming plugs themselves do not make electrics safe....they do introduce another failure point.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Dave
> 
> Sent on a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note® 3
> 
> 
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Budd Engineering via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org <mailto:nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>> 
> Date:02/23/2015 11:50 AM (GMT-05:00) 
> To: Matthew Finley <rcfin02 at msn.com <mailto:rcfin02 at msn.com>>, General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org <mailto:nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>> 
> Cc: 
> Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Matt Finley ( Arming Plug ) 
> 
> At nearly every contest I've attended since I started flying electric in pattern (the 2004 Nats in Masters) I've seen at least one occurrence where someone retrieved a plane without removing an arming plug first.  Usually the pilot reminds the person to do it while they're carrying the plane back or as they're setting it down somewhere.  It happens with my planes too and I make sure they switch the receiver off and then I remove my canopy and disconnect the battery directly.  But before they even get that far I've taken the other steps to make sure there's virtually no chance the motor is going to run.
> 
> My point is this.  A layered approach is the only way I've found to effectively mitigate this particular risk to the levels of safety that you claim.  Relying on someone to remove an arming plug is not a complete panacea and may lend a false sense of security that the motor system has been de-energized, when in fact it may not have been.  There's many ways to manage the risk to the desired level, the use of an arming plug is one, and may not necessarily be the best.
> 
> Jerry
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Feb 23, 2015, at 5:29 AM, Matthew Finley via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org <mailto:nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>> wrote:
> 
>> I use the Ultra Deans stlye Arming Plug from F3A Unlimited, and It works very well. I would gather it provides you with a 99 % dagree of confidence that your caller , plane carrier , yourself, or anyone else will not be harmed. Yes... I do agree that there is a miniscuel chance that a pilot / caller could forget to unplug the safety, however I feel most pilots that have been doing it a while is like tying your shoes, or etc.... On all of my electrics except for indoor ships, I have some sort of disconnect. I for one would like to see it an inforced rule at all sanctioned meets not just pattern meets, that any plane over a certain size or weight must have one in order to fly. Just my three pennies 
>> 
>> 
>> Matthew E. Finley
>> QCI - Technology Assistant
>> 614-557-3846 Mobile
>> mfinley at quadcityinnovations.com <mailto:mfinley at quadcityinnovations.com> 
>> 
>>   
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