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Abit Loco

On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:26:26 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Wednesday, February 11, 2015 at 4:39:40 PM UTC-5, John H. wrote:
On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 13:11:52 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Wednesday, February 11, 2015 at 2:11:10 PM UTC-5, John H. wrote:
Took my flight test today at the Prince George Radio Control club field. Passed it. I
won't add 'with flying colors', but no one was hurt, the take-offs were great, and
nothing got busted on the landings.

Now I've got my own key to the place and can go practice on my own.

Two things:
1. If you put it down without busting anything, you're over the last big hurdle. It only gets easier (and more fun!) from here.

2. Careful, because practicing on your own can be dangerous. That prop is sharp, and if you bump the throttle accidentally or something goes wacky with the radio or motor controller, you can sustain some pretty nasty cuts really quickly. I've been fortunate to never witness more than a minor finger cut, but there have been people that have nearly bled to death from an RC airplane prop. Seriously. I've flown alone, but I'm always really cautious when doing it.

I've gotten into the habit of hitting the throttle cut switch on my xmtr. Works well.
I accidentally hit the throttle when I had the plane on the family room The plane
roared into an ottoman, ripping big chunks out of the cover. Wife was not thrilled.

I wasn't going to go into it, but I read a report about a guy who was messing around with no assistance with a glow fuel powered airplane, with a .40 or .60 engine on it. He was in shorts squatted down on the right front side of the plane and had just started it at idle. He released his hold on the fuselage to grab the TX on the ground, and bumped the throttle. The plane was unrestrained.

Plane moves forward, hits his left leg, rotates around, and the prop chews up the inside of his left thigh. If there hadn't been someone else at the field, he'd be dead.

The largest gas I ever had, as a kid, was a .29. I'm sure it would take a finger off
easily. Now they make damn engines up in the 3-400 cc (and larger) range. Unreal. A
friend at the flying club has a plane with a twin cylinder, 260cc engine - at a cost
of about $3500 a pop. Unreal. But, he can do some great stunts with that airplane!
--

Guns don't cause problems. The behavior
of certain gun owners causes problems.