sounds like a good idea to me

In my trips through the archives I came across a comment that I thought would be good to repeat. When flying by yourself, walking from the launching stooge to the handle, carry only the "down" line in your hand. If the stooge accidently releases the only cost is a new prop... I've always wiped both lines with a rag on my way out to the handle. I think I'll adopt this "down line" only technique in the future.

Many of us stake the down line at the handle during set-up. Actually I have used the safety thong for this as it should be attached to the down side of the handle.

And...ALWAYS WALK TO THE HANDLE BEHIND THE LINES!!!

Curt, I stake my safety thong also. It is also a good idea to stake the safety thong as a pivot point when moving the model back to your takeoff area, so you can keep the lines tight, and not dragging them on the tarmac or through the grass.

LAST EDITED ON Aug-19-04 AT 11:30 AM (CDT)
 
Curt,

Great minds think alike. Recently I started putting a stake in the handle leash for exactly this reason. I always wipe down the lines (or at least run them out) prior to starting the engine and don't touch them going out to the handle. Just paranoid, I suppose.

Don,

Great idea on staking the leash after a flight to keep the lines tight going back to take off area. I hadn't thought of that.

FWIW, after starting the engine, I always walk behind the aircraft and behind the lines. This way, should the stooge or live helper fail, I won't get chopped up or become entangled.
Derek Moran

I think it's been stated before, but what the heck, if your stooge lets go and you have hold of the lines, get rid of those suckers before the wire cuts you to the bone. If you have a higher powered PAMPA ship, there is some serious pull on the plane immeadiatly and the calbe will cut real purty like.

From somewhere near Parkville, Mo
William Crane
AMA 6733

I had a fellow co-worker years ago was cut by control lines, slicing the tendon in his ring finger. The docs had to go into his arm to pickup the tendon and reattach it. I don't think his finger ever competely straighted out. I remember him using a splint to try and get it straight by stretching the tendon after it healed. Bad news to get cut by a flying line!!!

For a Stooge line, I use colored Chalk line. The color I have right now is a bright orange line that I got At Wal - Mart. In the past, I have used fishing line, and old surplus control lines, which are all but invisible in grass. With the large diameter, colored chalk line, there is not much chance of accidently walking on your stooge line and prematurely releasing your airplane. By the way, I got the idea of staking my safety lanyard as a pivot point to keep the lines out of the grass when walking the airplane back to the pit area from Tim McTigue.

I have been using yellow STREN 50# spinning line on an old fishing reel for some time now. I suppose regular blue STREN will work as well.