Huh, I thought this forum was going to be pinned to the top of the heap, but I guess not?

Anyway, a SAFETY thought I've harped on a few times is to know how to shut your engine off (prior to launch!) in case something goes wonky or is about to. The electrical guys just push the button once more, as I understand it. But in either case, it might be good to discuss this with your pit person before starting things happening.

For glow engines:
1) Tip the nose straight down with the inboard tip lower than the outboard tip. Theory is that puts the fuel pickup above the fuel supply, but it does NOT always work on clunk tanks, but probably will work on most hard tanks. Problem is the engine goes lean before dying, which isn't ideal in some emergencies.

2) Closing the NV all the way, or richening the NV enough to make it quit rich. The least desireable methods, IMO.

3) Pinching off the fuel or muffler pressure hose. The first works, but isn't always an alternative, and isn't always a good thing to do. Pinching the pressure line might just lean the engine out and not make it shut down completely...ehhh...no.

4) Blocking off the exhaust. This is THE BEST way, IMO, but can vary from painful to easy-peasy, depending on the muffler or pipe, how long the engine has been running, etc. Tough with a tongue/chip muffler, but safe and easy with either a muffler or tuned pipe when fitted with a "rubber ducky" silicone rubber extension...unless you trim it off as short as possible. Stock length is good, because you can just pinch it off. This is a great way to go if your engine starts while you are getting ready to signal for an official. If the engine has only been running a few seconds, just blocking it off only results in a slight burn...ask me how I know! Lesson learned: Leave the rubber ducky at stock length and pinch it closed.

  Steve

That's just trading one potential hazard for another!

The rag is not a good idea for electric.  If you have a "prop strike" feature it may shut off the ESC but if you don't all you are likely to have is a chewed-up rag.  Electric props are for the most part lighter and more fragile than IC and they break easily, especially the expensive CF competition props.  I think the immediate stopping of an electric is something we have not addressed adequately.  Rules require an arming plug or disconnecting the battery as our primary safety but have you ever tried to do that with one hand while holding the plane with the motor(s) running?  A lot of us, myself included put the arming plug at a place where it will not show and most of them are really tight and take an effort to pull.  Then there is the on/off switch on the ESC which will kill the motor after a delay and is left off or shorted because of the arming plug.  It is like the nose down on IC. Whether or not that is good for the ESC is debatable, so I have a switch on everything including profiles.  Lastly there is the timer start which is an "instant" kill on most but hard to find in a panic unless you have a little red button like the Hubin.  There is a lot of discussion about remote cutoff but not much progress in implementing anything.  Anything involving timers means that the good folks developing them are going to have to spend time=$$$ complying with rules they didn't write, but what are the alternatives?

IMHO we need a "little red button" for all timers.  When the start button is part of the timer it forces the location of the timer in the fuselage to be where it can be accessed from the outside.  With a separate start button it can be placed anywhere and so can the timer.  Depressing the start button after the timer starts should stop it immediately.  The technology for remote off exists today but we have no guidelines and from what I read we have frequency issues.  All solvable.  The weight is minimal and the increase in the safety of an electric is well worth that weight.

And that is just me, and I could be wrong - Ken

Seconded - everyone usually has a rag to hand and fairly instant result! 

Since going electric I don't carry a rag or towel to the circle.  I don't recall any of our other electric fliers that do.  Personally I would NEVER throw anything, including a rag, into a powered up electric.  You don't know how the ESC/timer is going to respond.  It may stop, it may request doubling the current to the motor or it may just catch fire.  If you have a timer with prop strike you probably will be OK.

Ken

A local guy broke a chip off a three-blade prop while starting the engine.  One of us squeezed the rubber ducky, but the vibration had disconnected the pipe from the engine.

The probability of having an event where an added safety device is needed to save an airplane and then saves the airplane should be greater than the probability of that device malfunctioning and destroying the airplane.

Sorry, I read 'Engine' in thread title as an IC engine! Electric power use 'motors'! Pedantic I know but semantics! 

Sorry, I use the terms pretty much interchangeably.  My family on one side was from Detroit, you know, the "Engine City". 

Ken