yikes......my thumb got in the way of the prop.

Well I forgot that a full sized motorized plane would be a different suituation. The prop would be in front of the wing so it couldn`t have happenned like the way it did with the electric. Anyway.....what would happen to a finger or whatever other part of your hand if you got it in the prop? Dan.

| > I wonder what would have happenned it this was a full sized | > motorized plane? | | Well I forgot that a full sized motorized plane would be a different | suituation.

Well, I assume you mean something like an 0.40 glow plane, and not a full scale plane that seats two people :)

| The prop would be in front of the wing so it couldn`t have happenned like the | way it did with the electric.

There's plenty of pusher glow planes out there too, you know. Of course, they don't usually roar to life without the application of an ignitor and some turning of the prop like an electric can.

| Anyway.....what would happen to a finger or whatever other part of | your hand if you got it in the prop?

Depends. An 0.049 engine could just throw your finger back out and not hurt you at all, or could cut you like the electric did. If it was running at full throttle and you put your finger in just right (wrong), an 0.40 could possibly remove your finger from your hand -- requiring a lot more than just stitches.

People have certainly lost fingers (as in have them completely cut off) in props before, and lots and lots of people have had their fingers cut up bad enough to have permament nerve damage. And a few people have died due to props hitting them, usually due to blood loss (those hits usually aren't in the hand, but you get the idea.)

Even if it's a small electric, respect that prop -- even a park flier can give you quite a nasty scar. If it's a glow plane, secure it (or have somebody hold it) before you start it. Make sure the throttle is at idle!

If possible, paint the tips of your props white or some bright color

-- it makes them much more visible, so you're less likely to not see it and put your finger through it.

As you have discovered, Dan, nearly any motorized model is capable of inflicting a wound. It would amaze some people to learn just how serious a wound can be generated by such little power. Glad it wasn't more serious.

Ed Cregger

I remember about 10 years ago I was cleaning out an old diesel. Unfortuantly it kicked into life momentarily in my hand, the prop cut the base of my thumb right to the bone. I needed 8 stitches and I still have a hard lumpy bit there.

Unfortuantly

Some of the hardest "thumps" that I received on my fingers were generated when I was learning how to start my McCoy .09 diesel engine. The prop was way to small for a diesel (8x6), but was just right for a .15 glow, which is where the prop came from.

Some years later, I had given the engine to my father. While I was gone in the USAF, my father had mounted the engine to the backyard fence and tried to start it. His yelps of pain and profanity (he normally did not use profanity) kept the neighbors in stitches all afternoon, or so I was told when I came home on leave.

Ed Cregger

My first engine (20 years ago) was a Picco .45. For those who don't know Picco, they primarily make boat engines. This aero engine was of the Rossi design: big, heavy, and HIGH compression. One day, while attempting to start it (by hand, no chicken stick), it backfired and whacked my thumbnail with a Zinger 10-7. After much jumping, loud swearing, and thumb-holding, I went out and bought an electric starter and battery. It was cheap at $40. I was lucky, all I lost was a thumbnail. I've never stuck my finger in a prop since. I ALWAYS use a chicken stick or electric starter. Even when walking around a plane with the engine running, I keep my eye on the prop circle.

I got my first power tools (8" table saw and 12" wood lathe) at 12. I still have all my digits, and I intend to keep them until I die. :)

Moral: ANY prop can get ya!!! Smaller props may not have the mass impact, but they whirl like a food processor and slice accordingly. Larger props have mass and a lot of energy to maim. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

My first engine, 35 years ago was a Frog 80 diesel, if we are going to indulge in 'how I hurt my finegr as a tenager' stories.

Sounds like I was flying RC before you were then.

For those who don't know

Stick with the itty bitty electric stuff until you learn to pay attention.

A decent .60 glow engine makes on average about two horse power.

That's the same amount of power needed to run a garden-variety bench top table saw.

Would you use a table saw without paying much attention ? Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

What is bolted on the engine, or motor, is CALLED a propeller, in reality, it's manufactured under license from Ronco and more commonly known as the "Vegi-matic" It slices, dices, and will make French fries out of anything that comes into contact with it. It's specialty is fingers. Best avoided at all costs.

I have been told that electric motors are more dangerous than glo, something about the motor reacting to load and trying to push the prop through, instead of the load (Your finger) causing the engine to slow down. ;>) Careful out there. Bill

ON the other hand, you don't need to put yor fat porkies antywhere near them in order to get them to do the 'rotating knives (TM)' trick...

There are two kinds of modellers: Those who have caught their fingers in a prop and those who will catch their fingers in a prop. My scarred hands are a good witness to that!!!!!!!

NEVER underestimate the power of a whirling prop!!! Since we are indulging in "sea stories", my first experience was with the venerable Cox .049. Yes, they will slice you up good and if the conditions are right, I believe they will relieve you of a finger if it is fed through at full throttle which was the only way ours ran with the C/L planes I grew up with. I have scars on my fingers to prove that they will cut you up quite well. Still have all my fingers and thumbs though.

It is quite possible that you would no longer be able to count to 10 if it had been a .40 sized glow engine or larger. A good cobalt or brushless electric would have taken that puppy right off also. In my early days of RC I got an interesting "railroad track" pattern down the inside of my right arm with I lost my grip on my Cermark Easy Electro.

I used to get nailed by my .049 cox engine on nearly every outting but never did it with the engine running full speed. Generally was a back fire kind of thing and it just stung like the dickens. POP! OUCH! Those old white nylon props werent as sharp as the black MA or any APC prop.

A full sized motorized plane is usually started by the pilot from inside the cabin. They have electric starters in em. Seriously, since many guys use electric starters to fire their engines and use a remote glow igniter, there is usually a point where the left hand is on top of the plane and the right is reaching over the prop to remove the igniter. Prime time to get prop bit. My worst prop bite was hand flipping an engine to prime it completely forgetting that APC stands for All Parts Cut. Sliced that finger to the bone.

Well, MY first engine was a WenMac .049 Beech Bonanza..... in 1958. So PPPPPPPPPPPBBBBBBBBBTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.

Second engine was a Cox .049 Golden Bee P-40.... in 1959.

Third engine was a McCoy .35 Redhead in a Sterling P-51 profile... in

That's why I LOVED the spring starter.

David

Spring starter?!?!?!?! THPTHPTHPTHPTHPT!!!!!! Only sissies used spring starters when I was a kid! (1969) Us cool guys took those off right away and displayed the neato scars on the backs of our trigger fingers like the proud badges of stupidity they were. :-Þ

This being rec.models.rc.air newsgroup I assumed people would know I was talking about a full motorized model plane. I know there are different sizes of RC planes also. Dan.