Attention deficit leads to disorder
Dave Gee
safetycolumn@cs.com
I’ve recently been involved in an industrial safety project: trying to stop a rash of motor vehicle incidents. These professional drivers hit stationary objects. It’s tough to explain to your boss why you drove into a tree or a wall! Such minor, but expensive, crashes happen too often at my company. Of course, each one is completely preventable (and no, I’m not one of the perpetrators … lately).
One theory is that the drivers are concentrating on the wrong things. As they park, their minds are on whatever tasks will be performed at the job site. Then, at departure time, they are either mulling over whatever work they just did, or are thinking about the next stop on their schedule.
Either way, they are paying insufficient attention to the objects around parked vehicles. That’s where a driver’s mind and eyes should be focused when the vehicle is in motion. The result is a bunch of bent trucks and flattened mailboxes. A solution has not been found, and the struggle continues.
Shifting Gears
This situation translates directly to our hobby. Working with miniature aircraft involves a variety of skills! We need to shift our mental gears each time that we start new work on our models. It’s hard to maintain the proper level of concentration for every task.
After tightening a mounting screw (low level of attention required), for example, we might pick up a power drill to make a hole for the next fastener. All of a sudden, the risk level has jumped. Eye protection is now needed, along with more attention to the task at hand.
After that, we might sit down and study the instruction manual again. Not much danger there! The minor perils of model building change from moment to moment, and we need to adjust our concentration to match the work.
Imagine the mental jump we must
do when going from wiping down a cowling to starting the engine. Holding a rag is different from picking up a live transmitter, and our minds need to make a fast change from relaxed, daydreaming mode to full attention on a soon-to-be-spinning propeller. Sometimes, someone fails to have the appropriate level of concentration, with painful results.
It might be possible to consciously help ourselves focus on the right things. If we are aware of the changing need for attentiveness, we take merely a second to plan ahead and prepare for the next part of our flight preparation routine. “Okay, the hatches are secured. It’s time to pay attention to engine startup. Let’s get serious now.”
I experienced this mental gear-shift phenomenon on National Model Aviation Day, during a Black Sheep Squadron club model-building demonstration at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Even constructing a simple aircraft requires several skills and tools. Many people who passed by became spectators when they saw what we were doing.
I had the opportunity to screw up many times, depending on what I was working on when a question was asked. Multitasking is difficult for me. I can safely operate sandpaper while chatting, but I need to say, “Excuse me for a moment” when using a rotary tool, or there might be an entertaining mishap. Adjust to the proper attention level or else!
Non-modelers are amazed at the many skills required to construct even the simplest model. Learning to safely master a variety of tasks and tools is part of our hobby’s appeal.
The models that we built were 13-inch profile replicas of air racer and test pilot Tony LeVier’s full-scale Monocoupe, which was on display
overhead. Talk about a pleasant way to spend a day!
Promoting our hobby by showing interested kids and adults how we construct a flying model was quite satisfying. A batch of the finished model airplanes was donated to the museum—each in a tidy storage box.
Mystery Airplane Contest
You can win digital plans for that same Peanut No-Cal Velie Monocoupe model by guessing the mystery airplane. The prototype flies well. We demonstrated it in the museum atrium all day.
Only the nose of the mystery airplane is shown this time. It’s an easy one to identify, so don’t expect any hints about this famous and popular aircraft. You can use my email address at the beginning of this column to send me your guess. I’ll email the plans right back to you. If you are stumped, ask and I’ll send you the plans anyway.
Battery Storage Update
More comments about containment methods for LiPo batteries have come in. Many modelers have favorite containers for storing and charging these cells. There are a variety of opinions and viewpoints about which type of box, bag, or can is best.
The issue is that failed or damaged LiPo battery packs are capable of releasing their energy in a violent, fiery way. Although this rarely happens, the consequences can be serious if the fire is not properly contained.
