BAD mishap (injury) with prop on electric foamie.

[xviper]

First, it wasn't me. :sick:
Today, I was informed that moments after I left the flying field yesterday, a flying buddy had a terrible mishap with his large Carbon Z Cub. He's not an inexperienced RC pilot. He's been flying large planes, large helicopters for quite some time and now FPV racing quads. He did what he's always done without incident. He was pushing his Cub by the tail down a small hill to the take off area. One of the wheels got caught in a gopher hole. He went around the lift the plane out of the hole. The plane was energized and somehow, he forgot to activate the throttle cut. Then he stumbled, bumped into the throttle stick and fell into the plane's prop. He took off 3 finger tips at the nail cuticle. The fingers could not be found but the surgeon said it would have been pointless to try to re-attach them anyway.
So, just a reminder to everyone that these so called, toy foam airplanes can be extremely dangerous. Electric motors have tremendous torque. Even a small one can do some damage. Learn to use your throttle lock and only disengage it when you are away from the plane and about to take off.
My buddy will be OK. He's semi-retired and the injuries shouldn't affect his work when he heals up. He's also a thumb flyer, so his hobby should also remain "doable" since his thumbs were untouched.
BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

[Alpha]

Safety, safety, safety, first, first, first. I'm glad his injuries weren't worse, send him my regards for a quick and comprehensive recovery!

[rc-eflyer]

YEEEOWCH, I'm still cringinging :sick:. I've had two "incidents :rolleyes:" and :angel:both were with my FW P-51 for some reason. Both entirely my fault but I was lucky. If you let your guard down for a second you can get hurt. These stories need to be told to keep us all vigilant and wary of those spinning flesh eaters!!!

Steve

[OV10]

Oh that makes me wince and never a more compelling story to ratify the practice of using a preflight list with Tx throttle cut near or at the top of the list.
Best regards for a speedy heal.

[Wisconsin John]

My very first plane was a Dynam PBY Catalina RTF (I was using the transmitter supplied with the plane). My first build in this hobby. I just finished the assembly, hooked up the battery and started checking the surface alignments with the props on (BIG NOOBIE MISTAKE). I was looking straight down the plane when I bumped the throttle. I got my hand up just in time to stop it from hitting my face. Next thing I see is blood all over. I look at my hand and one of the prop blades is sticking about an inch deep in my right hand. Fortunately it was in the meat, just below the thumb tenden. No permanent damage except my pride and six stitches. I was lucky. I learned the hard way,but I have not had any accidents since (3 years ago). So much for RTF transmitters, The next day I ordered a Spektrum DX6 with throttle cut. And believe me, that is the first thing I address when setting up a new plane. I wish your friend a speedy recovery and I hope all you noobies go to school on our hard lessons learned.
Wisconsin John

[doctormike]

That does it!...Throttle cut on all my planes. Doc

[XF-15DCC]

As a newbie, can someone explain the "Throttle cut" to me. I might have it done but call it something different.

My fingers thank you.

Kevin

[fhhuber]

As a newbie, can someone explain the "Throttle cut" to me. I might have it done but call it something different.

My fingers thank you.

Kevin

Throttle cut is a switch programmed to prevent the throttle stick from energizing the motor on the aircraft.
Its a crutch... to help make up for bad memories and slips of the fingers.

The best thing is to ALWAYS treat the aircraft as if the prop is out to eat your hands, feet, legs, arms... or face.

We now have electric power systems that spin some large props at high rpm...
A 1/2 hp circular saw turning a 10 inch blade appx 3500 rpm is used to cut up wood for building houses.
We commonly turn 10 inch props in excess of 10,000 rpm.

[OV10]

Hello XF,
Throttle cut is a programmed in function on the newer transmitters whereas as certain defined switch disables(electrically) the throttle stick.
Now a lot of 'newbies' get into the sport using a RTF entry level transmitter due to the affordability rationale but whereas none of which have this capability which the industry needs to stop this practice. I am not familiar with the new generation Futaba's but do have multiple Spektrums so I can talk about them. The throttle cut switch is physically located on the top right hand side and is denoted as the mix/hold switch or H switch. None of the Spektrums below 6 channels have this capability.
Personally I would like to see Spektrum just do away with the 6i in favor of the feature rich 6 and reduce it's retail price like say to $150 which is close to splitting the difference in retail cost of $130(DX6i) and $200(DX6). The primary reason for going straight to the DX6 is because of voice alerts seconded by auto timer starting and lastly because of model storage capacity(250 vs 15). Those three reasons are the ones I hear of all the time in justifications for upgrading from the 6i to the 6 in just a short amount of time of ownership. Hope I've helped you understand.
Best regards,

[XF-15DCC]

Thanks All,
Looking at my Tatic 850 I think I can find a way to assign a switch for the throttle and make my own safe switch. Might be wrong but it will be fun looking and trying. If not I normally try and place the transmitter far enough away so I won't trip or hit it but close enough to grab if something goes wrong.

[xviper]

For those who don't have "throttle cut" on their TXs, this is what I do. I stretch a strong rubber band around from the TX handle, around back, under the base and hook it around the throttle stick.

[XF-15DCC]

We now have electric power systems that spin some large props at high rpm...
A 1/2 hp circular saw turning a 10 inch blade appx 3500 rpm is used to cut up wood for building houses.
We commonly turn 10 inch props in excess of 10,000 rpm.

I think I will use this example at the next club meeting. Thanks for the example fhhuber!

[fhhuber]

I've been comparing our props to the circular saw for over 20 years... A .46 glow can put out a bit over 1.2 hp peak and spin a 10X6 around 14,000 rpm. If the saw blade could take the RPM (they can't) the .46 could do a faster job than the circular saw.

[Lon]

Hello XF,
Throttle cut is a programmed in function on the newer transmitters whereas as certain defined switch disables(electrically) the throttle stick.
Now a lot of 'newbies' get into the sport using a RTF entry level transmitter due to the affordability rationale but whereas none of which have this capability which the industry needs to stop this practice. I am not familiar with the new generation Futaba's but do have multiple Spektrums so I can talk about them. The throttle cut switch is physically located on the top right hand side and is denoted as the mix/hold switch or H switch. None of the Spektrums below 6 channels have this capability.
Personally I would like to see Spektrum just do away with the 6i in favor of the feature rich 6 and reduce it's retail price like say to $150 which is close to splitting the difference in retail cost of $130(DX6i) and $200(DX6). The primary reason for going straight to the DX6 is because of voice alerts seconded by auto timer starting and lastly because of model storage capacity(250 vs 15). Those three reasons are the ones I hear of all the time in justifications for upgrading from the 6i to the 6 in just a short amount of time of ownership. Hope I've helped you understand.
Best regards,

Dittos OV10!
As I'm sure most of the pilots here know, I had a incident a year ago. Newbies...spend the few dollars more for a transmitter with a throttle cut designated switch capabilities. My medical bills exceeded $18,000.
This picture only shows HALF the damage.

[Grossman56]

Good thought Viper, in a pinch that would do the trick.
I was telling Lon that all my planes are programed to the bottom right hand switch on my DX8 for throttle cut, you just go into the menu and find throttle cut and assign it to that switch. While I'm holding the transmitter, if the switch is down (as in 'on the ground') the throttle is cut, when the switch is up (as in 'up in the air') then the throttle is active. Its a tough way to learn, but lets hope that by having this incident and posting about it, Lon prevents more people from doing the same thing.

We are all tinkerers, it could have, just as easily, been me, I just love getting inside my planes and adjusting this and checking that, how many times have we wanted to check the L/G, so everything is plugged in? That prop is a knife just ready to shred so if you don't have a switch, remove the prop. I have mine switched off and I check it right after the ESC beeps to make sure that the throttle is nonfunctional, then I sit the radio far away from me. That way, if I'm checking gear for instance, I have to walk over to the radio to cycle it. In the field with the FMS Mustangs, I always cycle the gear before takeoff, one of the many preflight checks I do. In that case, I remove the canopy and grab the plane by the top of the fuselage, right by the battery, standing behind the plane. I can hold it up and see them retract or get someone to watch from a safe distance, all this with the throttle cut confirmed as active.
Need a reminder, Copy and Paste that picture and print it out. Hang it in plain view of your workspace.

Thanks again Lon for the reminder, sometimes that's what we need from time to time.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

BTW, anyone with a DX8 who is not sure how to do this, let me know, I'll guide you through

Grossman56

[doctormike]

I believe on my DX6 I can assign any switch I like to throttle cut. Doc

[OV10]

Good thought Viper, in a pinch that would do the trick.
I was telling Lon that all my planes are programed to the bottom right hand switch on my DX8 for throttle cut, you just go into the menu and find throttle cut and assign it to that switch.

Hey Gman,
Am guessing that the switch you are actually referring to is the mix/hold? Taking literally what you had said and you find there are no switches on the bottom of the Tx case. The mix/hold is exactly what I programmed on my DX8 and the same switch(location) on my DX9 which is known as the H switch. Might want to add this logic to the positioning of the switch for on/off. Mine is set so that the cut-on you click the switch towards you and cut-off is pushed away. The rationale is that the switch can be so very easily toggled towards you inadvertently and that is exactly what you don't want happening for taking the throttle cut off. Just a thought for you pilots to consider in your programing of the switch.

[boomer108]

Thanks All,
Looking at my Tatic 850 I think I can find a way to assign a switch for the throttle and make my own safe switch. Might be wrong but it will be fun looking and trying. If not I normally try and place the transmitter far enough away so I won't trip or hit it but close enough to grab if something goes wrong.

Hey XF!

I have the Tactic 650 and I use the switch on the top right as my cut off switch, I'm sure the 850 has the same ability just look in the menu for throttle trigger function.

[fhhuber]

I don't think the older DX8 has the feature built in (older DX-18 does not)

For any computer radio that doesn't have the feature, you just start with mixing throttle to throttle at -100% assigned to a switch

Test (with prop removed) Adjust the mix rate PAST where you can't make the throttle stick cause the motor to run.
Some you may have to use more than one programmable mix.

An alternative is to assign throttle to the switch and then mix the stick to that... (from my Polks Tracker III) This wastes a channel because you can't plug into the normal throttle channel.

There is a way to make it work for any radio with user programmable mixes. Some of the ways may not be obvious.

****

All kinds of fun making things work the way you want such as my assigning the wing sweep for my F-14 to the "trainer button" then mixing it into the flight mode function so flaps can't be down with wing swept.