SAFETY COMES FIRST
PROPELLER BLADE NEAR MISS!
By Dave Gee | safetycolumn@cs.com
A READER KINDLY sent this story to me in the hope that it might prevent similar incidents. It left me shaking just a bit! The email reads:
“Thought I would share my non-flight incident. Went to the flying field yesterday to fly my large, electric Taylorcraft. Nobody else was there, so I eventually decided to leave, not wanting to fly alone.
“Back at home, I wanted to run the batteries down. I secured the plane to a patio table and set the throttle to 30%. [I] later pushed the power to about 3/4 throttle.
“It was at that point that the propeller sucked in the patio chair cushion, which was Velcro-attached to the chair back. I throttled down and surveyed the damage. The propeller had broken on one side near the hub. The tip of the propeller embedded in my patio fence 8 feet away!
“The resultant propeller damage and imbalance caused the firewall to loosen, and I spent all morning doing the repair. The plane is back in service now.”
This matter-of-fact story downplays a rather scary situation! Broken propeller blades can retain enough energy to cause serious problems. Unexpected things can happen, so please avoid being in the “plane of the prop,” where a thrown blade could fly. Under certain unusual conditions, the entire propeller can detach and fly forward, so that’s another spot to avoid. Make a habit of avoiding those locations so that if some oddball event occurs, you will be a spectator and not a participant.
Just Keep Typing
Twenty years of danger and excitement behind the keyboard? Yup, I’ve been doing this column for two decades now. You’d think that I’d be better at it after so much practice, right?
Becoming a model magazine columnist was a childhood dream fulfilled. I’m so thankful to the friendly and helpful readers who have made this a great experience. I also owe a big debt to my editors for overlooking so much folderol.
TSA Attacks Aircraft
In contrast to the usual stories of models causing danger, here is one about models in danger.
A 15-year-old modeler was at an airport enroute to the Indoor Free Flight (FF) Nats. Two wooden boxes with transparent sides protected the fragile models, but the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had other ideas. In a jiffy, the boxes and aircraft became matchsticks, with nary an apology. The traumatized youngster was
reminded that “TSA is not responsible for any damaged items due to inspections” and had to gather the scraps and board the flight. In my opinion, that is a very poor way to perform a security inspection!
The story was immediately shared on social media, which I hope caused embarrassment to the TSA. Meanwhile, modelers at the Nats mobilized and assisted the teen with major repairs in time to join the competition. Shame on the federal employees who caused such turmoil!
I’ve taken Indoor models on commercial flights many times and have learned not to underestimate the mistreatment that my model boxes might encounter.
Winterfling Catapult Glider Postal Contest
Those shadowy folks at Sky Battle are presenting another Postal Contest event, this time for Catapult Gliders.
Winterfling is an event for FF Catapult Launch Gliders with a 13-inch maximum
wingspan. Models must be all-wood, with no carbon fiber or folding wings. They are launched by hand from a 6-inch stick, with no limits on the rubber band. Most Flying Aces Club Jet Cat models are eligible, as are many Duration designs, new and old. The total of three best flights is your score.
The contest flight window is January 4-12, 2025. This gives you two weekends to find good weather. Put skis on your glider if needed!
Details can be found on the Sky Battle website, listed in “Sources.”
Twofer Plans Offer
Yup, there are two free digital plans available via email this month! Winterfling Postal Contest competitors can request Zipcat plans, and mystery airplane players will receive Big Dipper scans. Choose one or both.
Zipcat Glider
Bill Watson is a skilled and experienced model designer. He very kindly drew up a special Catapult Glider for the Winterfling contest. The result is the Zipcat, which combines classic features in a very modern-looking aircraft. New modelers will find the Zipcat easy to build, with the potential for high performance.
Big Dipper Rides Again
I love to collect old model kits and fly reproductions of them. The Testors Big Dipper is famous but very rare. A long search failed to locate an original kit for sale, but I turned up enough research material to build my own Big Dipper after all. Mystery airplane guessers will win a digital set of the parts scans and ads that I found, which are easily sufficient to make your own Big Dipper. Mine flies on rubber power like the original, but I’m considering a swap to electric. Enlarging the model just a bit could result in a very snappy micro-RC airplane. You could even build it from foam instead of balsa.
Mystery Airplane
This time, the mystery airplane is not really an airplane. This very early rotorcraft was the star of a temporary exhibit at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. I’ve seen drawings of this device, but I’ve never seen a built example that is perhaps ready to fly.
Send me your guess as to who designed this machine and win a set of scans to build your own replica of the Testors Big Dipper. My email address is at the beginning of this column.
SOURCES:
California Science Center
www.californiasciencecenter.org
What Can I Bring?
TSA
www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all
