Safety Comes First
P.O. Box 33094, Pensacola FL 32508-3094
When I started writing this column several years ago, I told the editor that I'd do my best to make "safety" a subject that was both factual and informative, yet fun to read. A tall order, unless you look at the diversity of what we do and ponder the relationship of safety and activities we sometimes take for granted.
I've found several new facets over the years, most recently when I visited a local SAM (Society of Antique Modelers) National Championships in Pensacola, Florida. While watching Free Flight models cruise effortlessly above, I couldn't help but notice a variety of ATVs and mopeds cruising by to retrieve those models that had already come back to Earth.
Although new for me to see at an event, I was told that use of recreational vehicles for retrieval is not at all new to Free Flight. Models often climb to great altitudes and cover large distances if winds and/or thermals keep them aloft, and no one likes to walk a mile to get a model! As I watched the models do circles above, a loud clunk to my right caught my attention.
Next to a parked van off in the distance was a rather large model that had drifted in from the other end of the field. After several minutes, an individual on a small motorcycle picked up the model and headed back to the other side of the contest area, at least a quarter-mile away.
Where did the noise come from? I wondered. Being more than a little curious, I decided to walk over to where the model landed and check the van to see if it had been hit.
The minivan had a large dent in the side, and the owner (a modeler and contestant, I suspect) was nowhere to be found. The modeler whose aircraft caused the damage was also nowhere to be seen. Since my kids were waiting in the car, and I originally intended to stay for just a few minutes, I wrote a note to the vehicle owner describing what I had seen and left my name and number for future reference.
Wanting to get some pictures of the event — and the damage caused by the model — I dropped the kids off at home and came back an hour later with a camera in hand. Although the van was gone, conversations with several of the contestants indicated that during large events such as this one, it can be common to have vehicles hit by models floating down from their free flight.
One individual pointed to a large dent in the gas tank of his motorcycle and another pointed out a chip and crack in the shell of his pickup truck. Although individuals are rarely hit, what annoyed the modelers I talked to were the people who knew their models caused damage but elected to say nothing about it.
The modeler who picked up his aircraft had to suspect it hit something — it was lying on the ground beneath the door of the van when he retrieved it. What's the point in all of this? It's obvious: if your model damages someone else's property, take responsibility for it and try to locate the owner. It's much better than being hunted down by an irate individual intent on being less than "nice" at that point!
ARF Kits (Blessings or Burdens?)
In my December 1996 column, I included a letter forwarded to me by veteran flier Art Grabow, of Everett, Washington, in which he described Almost Ready-to-Fly (ARF) quality control issues discovered when he recovered a model purchased from a "no-name" manufacturer.
After stripping the covering off his ARF, he found ribs, spars, and leading edges that were only partially glued; weak joints; no fiberglass on wing centers; missing fuselage wood; a broken-but-repaired fuselage; and generally poor workmanship.
I've received numerous letters that supported Art's suggestion — that AMA consider developing ways to review ARFs for quality in order to discourage substandard manufacturing practices.
More recently, a letter arrived from modeler Edward Lidgard (AMA 808), which also supported a review program:
"I'm an old FF modeler who, since he can't chase anymore, is getting into RC. When I visit excellent flying sites I always stop at the trash barrels since they generally are more for ARF crash victims and are where I generally salvage various goodies.
"It's easy to do since they fall apart with a few tugs here or there. The ARF manufacturers generally have some good lots — some none. A lot of people spend a lot of money on these kits, some of which are darn costly. I can visualize no corrective process except word of mouth, which is a slow one. I know good builders who buy RC ARF kits for the time-saving factor. It's sort of like buying one knowing you'll need another one soon."
One solution would be for AMA to approve good ARFs so they could carry a label of approval on the carton and in ads. Buying Ready-to-Fly airplanes is practiced by a lot of Pattern competitors, I read, and these cost thousands of dollars. I don't believe these customers suffer from quality considerations. Years ago I bought an Electric Free Flight ready-built model. It took six months, but I finally got a one-minute flight out of it.
Looking back at the dozen or so letters I've received on this subject, they all say basically the same thing: a program should exist that gives the modeling community assurance that an ARF or Ready-to-Fly model is airworthy and worth the money. I believe there are several ways to get the job done without making AMA solely responsible for it.
Although it would be nice if AMA, as a supporting organization, could help develop education and/or inspection, I believe the program would work best if supported by and/or conducted by clubs or hobby shops. If the modeling community would support such a program, sticker certification or something comparable might become feasible.
As in all industries, product improvement requires analysis to see where processes are out of control. Are we seeing injuries caused by ARF or RTF models in the first place? An insurance analysis of injuries caused by models might be in order to determine if an inspection program is warranted. If not injuries, then how about a database identifying equipment and/or dollar loss attributed to poorly manufactured ARF/RTFs?
Normally, education, correction of manufacturing defects, and making the public aware of these problems would be a first step. Only your input to AMA will encourage a review of available data.
If you're a concerned modeler, I suggest you:
- Ask AMA for a review of ARF/RTF quality and safety.
- Share your thoughts with elected representatives and your club.
- Encourage AMA's Safety Committee to look into the issue.
If nothing else, enough requests to headquarters might encourage AMA to act — it's your organization and it represents you in a number of areas. Until AMA takes the topic on as an issue, it's still prudent to be careful when you buy and to inspect before you fly.
That's it for this month. Hope the weather lets you fly, and the wings stay level!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
