[NSRCA-discussion] Matt Finley ( Arming Plug )

Mon Feb 23 12:13:35 AKST 2015

Should rules be made to potentially prohibit any of the below list from happening?  The below list points out exactly why the overwhelming majority of accidents happen......a good process was not in place or was not followed - ie, human error.

It is not the absence of an arming plug that makes an electric airplane unsafe.  All of our airplanes are potentially unsafe for a variety of reasons.  When good practices are followed, the potential for accidents is reduced.  An arming plug certainly could be a part of a safe practice....but it still relies on the absence of human error which is and always will be the biggest point of failure.

Regards,
Dave

Sent on a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note® 3

<div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Ron Hansen via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> </div><div>Date:02/23/2015  1:30 PM  (GMT-05:00) </div><div>To: Derek Koopowitz <derekkoopowitz at gmail.com>, General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> </div><div>Cc:  </div><div>Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Matt Finley ( Arming Plug ) </div><div>
</div>How many have witnessed one or more of the following events:

Taken off without properly charged receiver, transmitter or primary batteries

Forgot to plug in ailerons 

Forgot to insert wing bolts

Forgot to turn off transmitter or receiver at the end of flight 

Forgot to disarm batteries at the end of flight

Seems to me far too many responding to this thread suggest these things have never happen. Those folks are not being honest. 

Argue the merits of why an external visual indicator should not be in our AMA rules. Saying it isn't foolproof or adds weight or cost too much or it never happens in your experience doesn't carry weight with me. 

These things happen far more often than we care to admit. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 23, 2015, at 12:42 PM, Derek Koopowitz via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:

I think the failsafe demonstration should occur when the airplanes are processed - weighed and measured?

On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 9:38 AM, Ronald Van Putte via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:
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> 
Date:02/23/2015 11:50 AM (GMT-05:00) 
To: Matthew Finley <rcfin02 at msn.com>, General pattern discussion <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> 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 

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