Another finger - gone

Sorry to hear that.

Wayne

its members have an

Not good, my condolences. Took a good whack a few months ago myself. mk

I thought that what chicken sticks and electric starters were made for (that is if the person was trying to start an engine).

I watched my latest DVR recording of the newest episode of Inside R/C on Outdoor Life Network (Tuesday morning @ 2:00 AM CST) and do not recall seeing an electric starter at all. I cringed at several engines that were started by bare hand.

The message from "Mark Daughtry, SR" contains these words:

When at school we used to fly diesel engine control line a/c and I collected 14 scars across my thumb and first finger of my right hand in two years, still got one or two of the best ones fourty years later!, those were only smallish engines but those nylon props were like chainsaws,

regards, Terry

I watched the AMA promo disc. They didn't even restrain the plane when starting. The story I got on this incident was that he was tinkering with something, he had the plane in one of those forks, but he had pushed the plane rearward. He started the engine at half throttle and it jumped forward and got him. A lot of guys start the big bore engines by hand with no restraints of any type. A couple of fliers Markham Park got injured seriously also. A few years ago a guy at the Tri County Eagles almost lost an arm. Surprisingly, it didn't seem to change much. They just kept on hand starting by hand without any restraints. I guess it's the human philosophy "it can't happen to me". Everyone - take care.

| One of the ex Tri County Eagles. Finger chopped off in SC.

Unfortunate. On the bright side, the guy probably has at least seven or eight others ...

`ex' ? Is the club no-more, or is this just somebody who used to be a member of the club and isn't anymore?

| That club and its members have an unusually high injury rate.

Yes, so you've told us before. As I understand it, the president `and his cronies' were the worst offenders (or at least they were the ones being unsafe.) Was it one of them who lost a finger?

What kind of restraint are you talking about? When I hold my plane with my off hand while I am starting it, the plane is restrained. Not holding it is just plain stupid, and there are folks that fit that description.

The story I got on this incident was that he was tinkering with

Almost every single accident I have seen or heard about involving our models could have been prevented by some user not being stupid or careless. Unfortunately we cannot legislate against stupidity because stupid folks would find a way around the laws to exercise their stupidity. Even Mark Twain knew that and said as much when he stated that common sense isn't.

"Six_O'Clock_High" > just kept on hand starting by hand without any restraints. I guess it's

The thing that really makes me cringe is if the CSPC (Consumer Safety Product Commission) might get wind of this as being a problem. These are the same people that gave us riding lawn mowers that kill when you get off the seat (albeit easy to defeat with a little electrical rewiring) and push mowers that kill when the handle is released (again defeatable with a little duct tape or a nylon cable tie) and other inconvenient "innovations" meant to keep stupid/careless whole and protect them. They just don't realize how resourceful stupid/careless people can be. This is why the Darwin awards are a popular and interesting read.

Famous last words of a stupid/careless person (I would use the term "red neck" but that might enrage my fellow red necks): "HEY Y'ALL WATCH THIS!"

Regards, Mark Daughtry, SR AMA 872624

Mark,

Those planes wouldn't have been giant-scale gassers, would they?

While not 100% safe (what is?), it is safer to hand-start gassers because the electronic ignition retards the timing when the engine is not running. It virtually cannot backfire and take your finger off, which is how most glow prop cuts happen.

He moved fromwhat I'm told. Many others fly elsewere.

He is friendly with the pres. In fact the pres was present when it happened. Go figgure.

I went back and watched it again. While the planes were large in scale (~40%) everything I recall (except a small electric bipe) had a cowl on it so I could not say for absolute sure whether they were glow or gasoline. Wish I had more experience with engine soundings as the only engines I have had experience with are .20 or less.