solentlife
Second Officer
Flight distance : 1087530 ft
Russia
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Wellsi Posted at 2018-8-19 13:55
My comments were about the Phantom, not the inspire, which has far larger props and far more powerful motors. The phantom props will not cut your fingers like the horror videos you seem to spend too much time watching! As for killing... really?
The issue of hand catching comes up every so often. You have those that don't want to do it for fear of injury, and those that have done it for years, myself included, and never hurt themselves once. It's like using a kitchen knife. Grab it wrong and it hurts! But no one is forcing anyone to do this.....
Sorry but you may have been lucky in all your catches and not witnessed what a 10" prop can do.
Let me give you an example of the force and capability of such.
I was sorting a new prop / motor combo for one of my planes. It was an 8x6 APC (smaller but similar strength / rigidity to a Phantom prop, just smaller) and a moderate small motor.
All was clamped securely in my Workmate bench. Running up the motor - at about 50% throttle (this would be about similar to level flight o a Phantom in power / rpm) - a blade sheered and sliced into the bench edge. That blade was stuck HALF blade width buried into the 1.5" hard plywood edge and had to be cut out ... To this day - I am so glad that blade hit the wood bench and not me.
Believe me - the Phantom props are perfectly capable of serious injury and in fact could kill. It only needs it to slice an artery and you're history ...
As to hand catching ... I know a guy who used to do it often ... even when not necessary. A few months ago - he went to do as usual - his hand was just a touch higher on the leg and index finger was clipped by the prop where it was up the side of the AC arm ... Luckily it just grazed the tip but tore the nail ... Guess what ... he rarely hand catches now !!
Paul - close friend of mine in UK .. hand launching a WOT4 model ... put his hand into a 9x5 nylon composite prop. We rushed him to hospital to save his fingers.
For about 3 months his index finger - he could not bend. He kept returning to hospital and they could not see why, x-rays etc. nothing. After that 3 months he noticed a dark mark under the skin where that finger had been sliced ... on pressing a small sliver of prop shard came out ... his finger then apart from needing sorting again was back to full function.
WHY hand catch if there is suitable landing out area ? I carry a square of carpet which is cut to fit the backpack and lays on top of the AC when zipped up. I can lay that down on long grass / scrub ... or use the backpack itself .. There are actually very few real instances hand catching is required.
"Wellsi" - its your choice what you do - but if you ever get to see what even a small nylon flexi prop can do .. I am sure you will change your mind. Having seen the damage such can do - I can assure you I will never change my view on it.
Nigel |
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