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IN THE THIRD article of this safety
series, which was published last month, I wrote about the risks of model
flight operations in terms of where we fly and what we fly. In this
article—the conclusion of this portion of "From the Ground Up"—I will
cover how we fly safely.
This installment will include flight
instruction for the novice pilot and safety standards I derived from my
experience as a flight instructor and club safety officer and from the
AMA Safety Code. This discussion will include techniques and practices
to make our model flying safe and injury free.
I will approach this
discussion for the benefit of the novice pilot. Even if you are an
experienced model flier, please consider the five safety standards for
your flying.
In the last article we left off with your aircraft idling
on the taxiway. Now I'll take you, the novice pilot, out to the runway
and we will fly your airplane and discuss safety concerns as we do so. I
will perform the takeoff. You will control the model aircraft via the
remote buddy box—your transmitter tied to mine—when I hold the switch in
your direction.
Flight Instruction: If you are an inexperienced
model-aircraft pilot, your first consideration should be finding and
joining a flying club that provides flight instruction. I have often
told the story of the 12-second flight. The story rattles around in the
unofficial annals of model aviation history.
There have been many
short-lived models, and among them may have been a 1/4-scale Piper J-3
Cub, a beautiful Pitts biplane, a sport aerobatic model, or a simple
four-channel trainer. The proud owner and prospective aviator took no
action to gain access to a model flight instructor.
How hard could it
be? He knew how full-scale aircraft flew. He believed he could just go
out to the open field and fly his model, so he decided to go it alone.
He took off with the aircraft and climbed it to an altitude he thought
was comfortable and safe before making the first turn. Then he carefully
gave the signal for a 180° turn. The aircraft was headed toward him and
a gust of wind disturbed its heading.
He moved the stick to correct and
the model suddenly entered a spiral dive. In the roughly 12 seconds
since leaving the ground, the airplane hit it with a resounding smack
and shattering of balsa and covering. The new pilot then realized that
the perspective was not the same as that from the cockpit of a
full-scale aircraft. He wished he had found an instructor to give his
aircraft a longer life.
Does this sound familiar? Most flying clubs have
qualified instructors who can help you through the hard spots of
learning to fly radio control. Join one and get help. Since you are
reading this magazine I will assume that you are an AMA member. This
membership provides you with essential insurance coverage that you need
for launching anything including a rubber-powered aircraft.
Section 3 of
the AMA Safety Code for radio-controlled flight reads "I will not fly my
model aircraft in the presence of spectators until I become a proficient
flier, unless I am assisted by an experienced pilot."
This specific
Safety Code item is intended to prevent undue risk to spectators from a
loss of model control caused by an unqualified pilot. Engaging a flight
instructor will accelerate your learning process and you can concentrate
on flying practice rather than building practice.
How We Fly—Flight-Operations
Safety Standards: I have organized this discussion around five
flight-safety standards—A to E—derived from my experience as a
flying-club safety officer and instructor. I will talk you through an
imaginary training flight along the way. These standards include
references to provisions of the AMA Safety Code specific to RC flying
that I have not discussed or that need further discussion.
CL flying and
FF operations have a few additional particular safety requirements
related to clearing the overflight area and preflight testing of the
equipment, but I will not discuss those here.
If you don't know what the
specific requirements for RC models are, find the 2006 AMA Safety Code
in this issue and read them now. Come back when you finish and we will
continue.
We do not intend to hurt others or ourselves. That's a good
thing. As fliers who comply with the AMA Safety Code, we intend to
actively prevent accidents. We can do that by applying the five levels
of safety defense appropriate for the risk: the right attitude, prechecks, backups, isolation, and barriers.
We use the first three to
prevent an accident from occurring. If an accident occurs that is beyond
our control, we plan ahead and use the last two to minimize the risk of
anyone being hurt or any property being damaged.
The flight-safety
standards are as follows.
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