Followup - Trimming Small Planes (Jr. Lightning Streak)

I flew it again Sunday, and it was much better.
Thanks again for all the advice.

I made the following changes:

1) Added 1/4 oz. weight in the wingtip.
2) Moved the center of gravity to 1 1/8" aft of the leading edge.
3) Used an 8x5 prop cut to 7"
4) Used Wildcat super 1/2A fuel, 25% nitro, with extra
castor oil added.
5) Used 49' .012 lines.

Had no line tension problems and good power from the
engine. Now all I need to do is find a 2 oz. uniflow tank
which will fit, I'm using a standard vent tank now.

Saw an "interesting" incident while I was flying. I use the flying field used by the Chicagoland Circle Cutters, one guy from the club cut his finger on a spinning prop, pretty badly. His friends told him to go get stitches, he just said "I've done worse," wrapped his finger & hand with a rag, and continued to fly with this increasingly bloody rag on his hand. And I thought I was a fanatic for flying in January with 8 inches of snow on the ground.

I'm a registered nurse in a surgical ICU. Your acquaintance, to tell the short version, was stupid not to get treated. This is a hobby, not WW II. Take care of yourself and live to enjoy another day.

>I'm a registered nurse in a surgical ICU. Your acquaintance, to
>tell the short version, was stupid not to get treated. This
>is a hobby, not WW II. Take care of yourself and live to
>enjoy another day.

Although sometimes it may seem that the number of days with good weather coinciding with time off from work/chores is far too few in the less temperate parts of the world, infections are still a dangerous hazard. But another surgical nurse once "sewed up" a badly cut finger at a contest, using thin Hot Stuff.

The wife of a modeller, she told us that the original instant glue was from Dupont, and used for repairing veins/arteries in cardiac surgery. Since then, a fresh bottle of that kind of adhesive always stays in my First Aid box.

Incidentally, yesterday wasn't exactly ideal in Houston, with a wind averaging about 15 mph, and gusting to 35 (first tests of a cute wind velocity device I picked up from eBay). My son Jeff and I drove over to fly with Richard Stubblefield and Allan Green, at Scobey field there. Richard was wind-flying a couple of Half-A Combat planes with almost no effort.

It was the first two-in-a-circle practice I've had in over ten years. I'd forgotten how much physical effort it takes just to stay close enough to the other pilot that when your plane looks close to the streamer, it actually is in a position to make a cut!

True, Kiwi, I have done the same myself. Before the CyA got FDA approval, I heard of it being smuggled in from Canada(!) for surgical use. To expand just a touch-my concern is about possible nerve and tendon damage as well as bleeding and infection. If an injury is clearly just skin, that's one thing. But if there is any doubt, get it looked at. It ain't worth losing the use of a digit or a hand. Injuries to the palm side of the hand are especially worrisome because the scarring can cause contractures. Anyway, enough of my grim worries. Let's go fly and be careful and conservative.

I've been to the emergency room twice with engine/prop related hand damage. In both cases it was the first time out after a long layoff. In one case it was stupidity, the other just misjudgment (I'm sure you know the difference between the two.) In any case, if you havn't flown for a while be extra careful. Also be extra careful if the flying situation changes in some way. You can get distracted.

I've noticed that prop cuts seldom get infected. Generally they bleed pretty well, and exhaust oil and fuel might (???) have some antiseptic propeties. I particularly like ### props because they make nice clean cuts that leave almost no scar.

I heard that CyA was used for healing wounds in Viet Nam. I did not know who made it.
The first CyA I encountered was a product called "Eastman 910" from the Eastman Kodak company. It was a very thin CyA used for industrial purposes. This was in the mid 60's.
I guess we should all keep a First Aid kit in our vehicle for those unforseen mishaps.
George

This answer relates my own experiences, and is not to be considered an endorsement or recomendation in liu of competent medical attention.

I keep a bottle of medium cyA in my flight box. It's there for those emergencies when something on the plane breaks.

Some years ago, I caught the tips of three fingers in a rapidly spinning prop. It wasn't a CF prop, but rather one of those black Master Airscrews. It chewed me up pretty bad with multiple cuts on all three fingers.

Remmebering what a buddy of mine once told me, how as a Navy Corpsman in Vietnam, he had used "Super Glue" to close wounds in the field, I decided to try the method myself.

I cleaned the wounds with alcohol I use to clean the planes, then pinched them closed and layed some CyA on top of the cuts. The first one, I tried some kicker to speed the cure, bad Idea, that stuff really gets hot.

After getting all the cuts "sutered" with CyA, the bleeding had stopped. I then layed on several coats of CyA over the entire area.

I'm not a Dr., but these cuts, being sealed, healed without any infection, and almost invisible scars. After a few days the CyA "skin" started to lift, so I removed it and applied another. Two or three days later they were all removed and were healing well.

This is my own experience with using glue as stitches. It worked fine for me, but you'll need to decide for yourself if you should try this or go to the hospital. I would suggest that anytime you can see bones or tendons through the cut, that you should seek immediate medical attention. There could be much worse damage than merely cuts in the flesh.