Stooge safety

[keith varley]

             
Yesterday , while flying alone, I held my tach up to the front of my carbon prop. For some reason the plane came loose and got me , (right hand). Spent the day in two different hospitals , including some time in the operating room with a skin graft surgeon.
Whatever the cause was, it certainly re-iterates the safety rule-----ALWAYS HOLD THE TACH BEHIND THE PROP. (Yes it smashed the tach)
I'll be as good as new in a couple of weeks but a little bit safer from now on. Keith Varley
ps   I started flying control line 62 years ago , and this is not the first time that a prop strike sent me to the emergency dept.  You would think that by now I would have learned.
  

[Peter Nevai]

Just goes to prove that stooges are evil..

Note: Unless you actually have a hold on the airplane then the only safe place to be is behind the airplane! Just holding the Tach behind the prop does not prevent the prop from slashing your leg, crotch, etc. Actually if it snags the correct spot on your inner thigh, it can hit a femoral artery and if that happens........well, let just say you will have bigger problems than just some hand surgery.

[Randy Powell]

Take reasonable precautions. Certainly staying behind the prop as much as you can is smart. Check a stooge regularly. They get grudded up and can get sticky. But don't perseverate about it. Accidents happen. You could walk out of your house and get hit by a meteorite and be splattered (about a one in ten billion chance, but not zero). So, you take reasonable precautions, use good safety practice and pay attention. But past that, things happen.

Glad you came through OK, Keith. Sounds not fun.

[Paul Taylor]

Glad you will live to fly another day. 
I was told to have a safe routine and stick to it.

I also read to always tach behind the prop.

I start the engine with a thick leather glove, walk behind the plane and remove the glow starter then tach and adjust if needed. (I have seen guys start the engine the reach over the prop and remove the glow starter. Does not look too safe.) I always walk behind the lines to the handle that is staked down with a screwdriver. 

[Tom Rounds]

Not to beat a dead horse on the stooge accidents, but the bottom line is that a stooge is mostly used so we can fly alone. That is the biggest problem as I see it. There is no good reason that we should ever fly alone. There is going to come a time when there is a stooge accident where the person involved does not walk away. If you get injured seriously enough that you cant drive to get help you could very easily bleed to death. No doctor here just an old John Deere Mechanic but I do know that there are a couple places on the body if you cut the vein you can bleed out an no time at all. I have used a stooge myself and have been lucky enough to just screw up a plane not myself. Think about it guys life is too short as it is.
Tom Rounds

[Paul Taylor]

Anything we do can have hazards. And stuff happens because of carelessness. That's the bottom line. Some of us just have to use a stooge because there is not anyone handy. We don't have a group at a flying site every weekend. So it's make the most of the little time we have.  If I don't use a stooge I would not get to fly much at all.

[Tom Rounds]

I understand just what you mean about wanting to use the time you have to fly. Been there myself. Its sorta like going diving by yourself though. Its just a good idea if at all possable to have someone with you even if its a non-flyer.

I will say this though, I went to the dark side for awhile. (Flying R/C) This may @#$% some off but so be it. I never have seen more un-safe practices used than by some r/c flyer's. I was around Giant Scale planes and they are using some large engines swinging some club size props. Some of these guys would stand in the prop arc to use a tach. Ever seen a prop sling a blade? It seems to me that a lot of us in control line started out young and leared the do's and donts of safety at a young age. A lot of today's R/C flyer's just saw someone flying and then went out and bought the works. Now I know this is not the case with all flyer's and I know that some fly both R/C and C/L. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Peter Nevai]

In my post I did not mean that stooges shold not be used, only as a reminder to use good common sense when using one. Just tachimg behind the prop is not enough. If you don't have a firm grip on the plane, then you should not be in front of it.

[keith varley]

Years  ago I was part of an incident that shows  that accidents can also happen in the most unexpected way. I was flying R.C. in those days , and had just packed up and was starting to drive away from the field.  The only remaining flyer was a good friend , an expert chopper pilot.As I drove away I looked back to honk my goodbye. He was just hovering , about 10 feet off the ground , and maybe 40 feet away from himself.All of a sudden , the chopper shed a blade , and it came straight as an arrow right at him, and struck him in the throat.Believe it not , this is the gospel truth.   He fell to the ground bleeding badly from the throat, with a long strand of his throat flesh hanging down like a necktie. We rushed to emergency , and luckily enough, they had the right staff on at that time and today , maybe 25 years later , it is just a memory.    he didn't fly for quite a while after that.   Keith

[Paul Taylor]

We had a lady at work roll out of bed and hit her nose on the night stand and she died.

[Peter Nevai]

We had a lady at work roll out of bed and hit her nose on the night stand and she died.

I really can't fathom why you are criticizing safety tips and potential hazards. Sure stuff happens, but 99.9% of the time there is a cause to the effect. A model engine spinning a sharp CF PROP spinning at 10,000 RPM + commands respect, especially when relying on a temporary fixture to restrain the model. There is very little room for mistakes and almost Zero tolerance for mechanical failure. The #hit happens excuse is a fatalistic attitude that belittles careful maintenance and safety measures, in favor a, it's beyond our control position. While many things are truly beyond our control, the operation and maintenace of our planes and equipment are not.

[Tim Wescott]

Not to beat a dead horse on the stooge accidents, but the bottom line is that a stooge is mostly used so we can fly alone. That is the biggest problem as I see it. There is no good reason that we should ever fly alone.

I use my stooge when I'm flying in the presence of RC guys.  It takes me long enough to hoof over to the RC pits recruit a helper, chat, etc., that I can get in two or three times as many flights with a stooge as without.

Everyone's ears are attuned to thumps, sudden engine stops, meaty thuds followed by screams, etc., that I feel pretty safe.

[Leo Mehl]

Hope you are doing OK. I hate accidents like this and regardless of how careful we are things happen. I will say that age could have a part in this and some days I am aware tyhat I am not as sharpe as others so I to have had mishaps that5 weren't as serious as yours but knowing you this will be taken in stride and mentally you will recover and be more carefull next time/ I feel that flying without a pitman is an open invitation to other things that could go wrong. Hope you heal fast and remember we are all at the mercy of our own devises.

[Wynn Robins]

I really can't fathom why you are criticizing safety tips and potential hazards. Sure stuff happens, but 99.9% of the time there is a cause to the effect. A model engine spinning a sharp CF PROP spinning at 10,000 RPM + commands respect, especially when relying on a temporary fixture to restrain the model. There is very little room for mistakes and almost Zero tolerance for mechanical failure. The #hit happens excuse is a fatalistic attitude that belittles careful maintenance and safety measures, in favor a, it's beyond our control position. While many things are truly beyond our control, the operation and maintenace of our planes and equipment are not.

and yet the space shuttle blew up because of a piece of foam falling off.....@#$% HAPPENS - deal with it.  you cannot prevent an accident- that is WHY it is called an accident.
Incidently - anybody else shudder after watching the big bi-slob video and seeing Mike Palko put his foot on the spinner of that massive motor turning a 20" prop....now there is carnage waiting to happen

[Michael Massey]

Glad to hear you will fully recover.  Flying with a stooge is, at least for me, sometimes a "necessary evil."  I certainly agree with, and think about, all of the bad possibilities when flying alone.  All you can do is always attempt "best practices" so as to minimize your exposure.  In keeping with that thought, I have heard of pilots trying to chase down a plane flying away from a stooge while dragging the wires and handle behind.  With a decent stooge set up that really shouldn't happen, but has.  

I fly with a rather large, actually very large (much overkill here) weight attached to my handle thong, which is of course, attached to the down side of my handle.  If the stooge does prematurely release the airplane, the weight on the down line will end the flight very abruptly.  I am not sure how little weight could be used but having had dandelions cause that same abrupt end to a flight I would speculate a vary large fish sinker or the likes would be more than sufficient.

[Peter Nevai]

and yet the space shuttle blew up because of a piece of foam falling off.....@#$% HAPPENS - deal with it.  you cannot prevent an accident- that is WHY it is called an accident.
Incidently - anybody else shudder after watching the big bi-slob video and seeing Mike Palko put his foot on the spinner of that massive motor turning a 20" prop....now there is carnage waiting to happen

Yeah, the foam problem, was determined to be a design flaw, which groundef the shuttle program for years.It was not an accident that was unavoidable. When the roof of the cabin on a 737 peels off, that is not an accident.that was unavoidable. Why do you suppose they put thos big DANGER JET INTAKE STAND CLEAR. On military airctaft? Because avoidable accidents were happening. Accidents are called accidents because of unintentional events, and not because of fate. I'm sorry, excluding acts of god, all accidents are avoidable. By your definition, since you are going to crash and die anyway, why bother wearing a motorcycle helmet.

[Paul Taylor]

Peter
Sorry, did not mean to offend. I am all about safety. I'm just saying stooges are not evil. You have to be very safe while using them. They are a tool that is used in our hobby. Along with power tools.
And I do think you should wear a helmet while riding a motor cycle. But I don't like riding one on the road because I don't trust the other guy. 

[Frank Imbriaco]

Back in the "old days", almost no one used a stooge because there was almost always someone at the field flying. Now a days, unless your real lucky, you have to line up someone to help. We all want to improve which requires  one to fly often- hence an increase in the use of stooges.

Just last eve., my wife held a powered aircraft for me for the first time. I had never asked her before but since the  restaurant  we were heading for was on the way to the field, I popped the question. She did a fantastic job holding on to my e-powered ship and now I have someone else to lean on for help. Neither of us had a spot on our clothing.
 I don't think I'll tell her that she did the job of a stooge.

[Will Hinton]

If I don't use a stooge, I don't fly.  I do like Paul, and as soon as the engine has started (with a starter) I make sure the stooge is holding it, then walk behind the ship to remove the battery and set the needle if needed. (Fly PA's and ya don't need that last step often.) 
When I walk out to the plane I walk with the lines in my hands, if it fails I can yank the down line and sacrifice the prop.  You may tell me about lines cutting fingers, etc., but I watch the ship very closely and it won't get more than a couple of feet before it's in the grass nose down.