Safety feature....

here is something I've been thinking about, heard of it then actually seeing it. I nose of the plane comes off, engine still running, and projectile. The cause? Poor contruction, Pilot crash, Airplane collides with something ( spectator, judge, flight box, you get the idea).

I started thinking. Combat guys wire their engines in, why don't we? So I was going to do this:

Take a piece of old flying line, loop both ends. Secure one end to the motor mount, with a screw. Make a noose with the other end by passing the excess line through the loop, then placing that large loop over the cylinder and pulling it tight. Of course, you would take off the muffler first.

Then I realized that would not work because the whole nose breaks off. So what I had planned was, a way to tie it to the control lines. Here's my thinking....

engine is connected to the harness, the harness is connected to the bellcrank, the bellcrank is connected to the leadouts, the leadouts are connected to the lines, the lines go to the handle, the handle has the safety thong.

So....

Even if the nose comes off it is not going to become a projectile, blades spinning and all. Your plane may get trashed, but I think that is better than possible injury.

What I was going to do was either use one on the pre-drilled holes in the bellcrank that doesn't get used or make one. Obviously, it will have to be in an area where it won't bind on the push rod or the lead-outs.

Anyway, I just wanted to put that thought out there.

The Combat Regs require the tether be connected to the bellcrank mounting bolt, be made of .027"+ cable, and a snug noose around the cylinder or attached to a hole drilled in the engine (webs, lugs, etc). Steve

Right and those are connected differently from our stunt ships.

LAST EDITED ON Feb-14-04 AT 07:31 PM (CDT)
 
True, some stunt models use a pivot pin instead of a BC Bolt. Otherwise, everything's the same, unless I'm missing your meaning. I don't think the nose falling off is a common problem with stunt models, at least it's one I've yet to see. Steve

I just had a vision of a lanyard from Michael Jackson's ear to the tip of his nose.

Well' there is a possibility that both might just go flying off somewhere!! Maybe the lanyard should be attached to the glove.

LAST EDITED ON Feb-14-04 AT 09:13 PM (CDT)
 
> ... I don't think the nose falling off is a common problem with stunt models,
>at least it's one I've yet to see.
>
> Steve
>
Actually, I have seen it happen to three Noblers (hmm, better see a new P.S.), the second & third of which were built as per the green box kit, which had balsa nose doublers that ended at the wing LE. One of these was comparatively new, but built by someone with limited experience. He claimed he used epoxy, but it looked like Ambroid to me. That was the one that came closest to really hitting anyone (myself and a friend).

The nose came totally off in flight, and proceeded more or less on a tangent to its flight path until it contacted the ground, or in the case of the first such I got to see, a chain link fence.
>
P.S. It may have been two Noblers and one something else. I saw the incident involving the fence from a distance and on that occasion didn't get to examine the remains before the unfortunate owner picked up, rolled up, and disappeared. It had sorta looked like a Nobler, perhaps with reshaped wingtips and empennage.

.

Kiwi

I saw an engine fly off at VSC once, and the airplane was landed fairly well! I think it had stainless steel mounting bolts that had work-hardened and became brittle. I've seen the nose come off of several ships, but it is rare. A couple were very well used profile stunters and one was a combat ship that had seen a few hard "landings".

One of my first contests a gentlemen started his wing over, pulled out inverted a little too late. braaaapt, engine and nose went skipping across the tarmac through the next circle.

I contacted a guy looking to sell a plane, convinced him to come flying instead. He starts doing some loops, it become quite evident he doesn't quite know what he's doing. During the forth one, the engine flies out of the plane, which continues its path downward, into the earth. Me and my buddy look at each other and say " Never seen that happen before!!"

Another guy had a Cardinal converted into a Stuka, we were out flying; his canopy looked a little loose. He told me the plane was a little old and it was okay. A few month later brought it to a contest. Basically, the whole thing disintegrated in the air.

Then there was the judge that wasn't watching where he was walking and got hit with the outboard wing of a plane.

Thinking back at these occurances is what prompted me to write what I did.

Do what you like with your own airplane, but we don't need people thinking up new SAFETY rules to apply to everyone.

I agree. Just think if Paul Walker had to hard wire Four engines.....

BTW Three years ago I was hit by an engine after the plane met it's doom. The engine skiped acrossed the circle and hit me in the leg. I don't thing safety wire would for helped.

scott

Scott, why wouldn't an engine tether have helped? Seems like a tether would have stopped the engine from hitting you. Was it a stunt plane? Did it come apart due to structural failure, or after hitting the ground? Just trying to understand your reasoning. Steve

Only problem is AMA is doing just that as we type!