Safety Comes First
LIGHTNING: a hazard to model fliers? In the May 1988 issue I briefly discussed the potential hazard of lightning striking a model flier when a thunderstorm is approaching. I asked if any readers knew of an incident in which a model flier had been the victim of a lightning strike. In response I received four letters, and one (from John Shaud, West Hempstead, NY) did cite an incident that John had come close to witnessing some 30 years ago at a Control Line flying site in Forest Park, Queens, NY. However, the incident that John recalls did not occur while flying activities were taking place. He had been flying at the park when an approaching thunderstorm darkened the sky and caused him to terminate his flying activities and go home. Later that evening he heard a news broadcast that a group of CL fliers, average age about 14 years, who also had been flying in the park, had not left when the storm approached, but had taken shelter from the rain under a huge oak tree. When lightning struck the tree, three of the boys were killed, and four were severely burned.
Safety Comes First
SOME of you missed reading "Safety Comes First" in the last two issues, and you have my apology. After 11 years of trying to make this an interesting column, I reached burnout and needed a break. However, your letters continue to arrive in my mailbox, so here is another attempt to save you from your own worst enemy-yourselves! If you think you may have read some of the following accounts in my previous Safety columns, you're probably correct. The accidents are similar, but the people who were the victims are different. I hate to say it, but if we could eliminate propellers from model airplanes my mail from readers would probably cease.
Safety Comes First
BATTERY PACK FIRES. In the June 1988 "Safety Comes First" column I mentioned a couple of incidents in which it was alleged that Ni-Cd batteries being recharged were the cause of fires which destroyed the houses of two modelers. In that column I asked if anyone else had experienced an incident in which a fire had resulted from Ni-Cds being charged. Several modelers responded with descriptions of incidents-none of which, fortunately, resulted in the loss of a home.
Safety Comes First
CYANOACRYLATE GLUE. This month's Safety column is a reprint of the one which appeared in the October 1985 issue of Model Aviation and was entirely devoted to the possible health hazard presented by the use of CyA glue. In the eight years that I've been writing this column, I have never previously "recycled" an entire column. The reason I'm doing it now is because of the many letters I received from modelers who asked for copies of that October '85 column when I mentioned in my January 1988 column that such were available upon request. To those of you who have been readers since before October 1985, I apologize for this repeat. However, I think the following material is sufficiently important to new AMA members (and those others who may not have seen it previously) to justify this rerun. Here we go:
Safety Comes First
STRUCTURAL FAILURE: Airplanes, both full-scale and models, require that certain vital parts have sufficient strength to withstand the stresses that they will be subjected to during flight. Full-scale aircraft designers go through a lot of calculations, and conduct extensive testing to ensure that the end product will perform in the intended manner without falling apart in the air. But what about those who design model aircraft that are to be sold to the general public in the form of a kit? Do the companies that produce these kits do any calculations or perform any tests to determine the necessary size of a wing spar or thickness of a sheet-balsa stabilizer to prevent breakage during high-G maneuvers such as the corners of a square loop? I don't have an answer to this question, and even if kit manufacturers do satisfy themselves that their products have adequate strength, who is to say that you, the purchaser of the kit, are going to do a sufficiently good job in building the model to prevent it from falling apart in the air?
