Safety Thong

[John Carrodus]

On a stunt ship - why do we put the thong on the bottom.( A vague rule somewhere - ) Is it just an unwritten rule of thumb? Having experienced line breaks - like Kafin- he was able to keep looping till he belly flopped , thus retrieving his model as I was able to in my case. I often wonder why in stunt ( speed and combat is obvious ) we don't attach the thong to the top end of the handle to increase the chances of recovery from the model looping ? The other, straight in - no chance.

[John McFayden]

For a line-break the safety thong doesn't matter. You either have full up or full down.

The safety thong would matter if you let go of the handle only.

[Miotch]

In my case, it's so gravity keeps it out of the way of my hand.  I generally have my handle vertical when I'm flying.

[Brett Buck]

On a stunt ship - why do we put the thong on the bottom.( A vague rule somewhere - ) Is it just an unwritten rule of thumb? Having experienced line breaks - like Kafin- he was able to keep looping till he belly flopped , thus retrieving his model as I was able to in my case. I often wonder why in stunt ( speed and combat is obvious ) we don't attach the thong to the top end of the handle to increase the chances of recovery from the model looping ? The other, straight in - no chance.

    Bottom keeps it out of the way under normal circumstances. It doesn't help in cases of line breaks, only in letting go of the handle, at which point,  the model crashes almost immediately. It's about keeping people outside the circle safe in a very rare exceptional case, not about keeping the airplane from crashing.

         Brett

[Chuck Matheny]

I was impressed to hear that Kafin's plane did consecutive loops with "full up" until it finally "pancaked" in.
I think that shows he has the plane pretty well trimmed, the controls are set just sensitive enough.
This incident is a good endorsement for the model / engine / prop combo.
Not saying that a little luck didn't hurt...but flying a "good" plane isn't a bad place to start.
The safety thong has saved me during a combat match or two. It's hard to be discreet when you have to use your free hand to place the handle back into your "flying hand" during the match.
What's funny is that after the times I've had to do that I don't recall anyone who was watching the match ever commenting about that.
 

[Steve Helmick]

I recall seeing Jim Green (?) (the guy down the street from Howard's Johnson  in Olympia) having his handle escape his grasp during a match at the Bladder Grabber (combat contest). The model did a bunch of very small & quick loops at 100+ mph before the handle was re-acquired. Rather impressive, I might add. It can be done...not that I've ever managed to, but then I haven't ever let go of my handle.  Steve 

[John Rist]

When flying electric alone I place the safety thong over the stake in the middle of the circle..  It being attached to the bottom of the handle, it will cause the model to nose over if the motor starts before i get to the center of the circle.  I have the start delay set at 1 minute witch is plenty of time to get to the handle.  So far so good but electronics can and will fail.   

[Dennis Nunes]

Just a side point on the Safety Thong. It was at my first NATs in 2020 that you not only have a pull test for your plane, lines and handle, they also conduct a second pull test of your safety thong. It was surprising how often the Safety Thongs 'snapped-in-two' when tested!

Very rarely, if ever, have I seen that done at a local contest.


Dennis

[Chuck Matheny]

I recall seeing Jim Green (?) (the guy down the street from Howard's Johnson  in Olympia) having his handle escape his grasp during a match at the Bladder Grabber (combat contest). The model did a bunch of very small & quick loops at 100+ mph before the handle was re-acquired. Rather impressive, I might add. It can be done...not that I've ever managed to, but then I haven't ever let go of my handle.  Steve

Steve ...I think Jim is the most improved combat flyer I've ever seen or heard of. Last I checked he's a "force to be reckonned with" and a past BGer winner too...?
I used to fly 1/2A combat with the handle held loosely in my fingers because I felt it helped me to be flexible and quick. Notice that a lot of pro ball players hold the bat loosely for the same reason. A muscle that's "at rest" can respond faster I think.

[GERALD WIMMER]

On a stunt ship - why do we put the thong on the bottom.( A vague rule somewhere - ) Is it just an unwritten rule of thumb? Having experienced line breaks - like Kafin- he was able to keep looping till he belly flopped , thus retrieving his model as I was able to in my case. I often wonder why in stunt ( speed and combat is obvious ) we don't attach the thong to the top end of the handle to increase the chances of recovery from the model looping ? The other, straight in - no chance.

Hello John You missed the action late on Saturday after someone let go of the handle of a B Class team racer and we were reminded all handles used at Green rd need the 'Thong' but no requirement for it to be on the bottom, top or middle but a Thong on the bottom is normal now, and I don't think you need a picture. Some combat handles use a middle thong but it is uncomfortable.

Regards Gerald

[Jim Hoffman]

Putting the thong on the bottom of the handle is yet another thing that might keep you from picking up the handle upside down.

[Dan Berry]

The safety thong isn’t there to save the plane.
It’s there to save the humans.

[Miotch]

This post reminds me of when I was a kid, I was flying a 1/2A Goldberg P-40 in the culdesac up the street and I let go of the handle when a girl I had a crush on (wasn't quite sure what a crush was yet) came out to see what I was doing.  The plane took off on a slow arc and the strings (cloth) got caught on a power line pole.  When the engine stopped, I unwrapped the lines and flew it again.  Of course, in 1970, this 9-year-old had never heard of a safety thong.  Or a bike helmet.  Or a car seat.  Or a warning sticker on a dirt bike gas tank or a ladder.  I'll give you the car seats, safety thong and bike helmets, as I'm sure they have saved many lives.