Terrible Accident

[Doug Smock]

I run 2.4 on all my boats. When the boat goes on it's lid the transmitter goes off. Been doing it for years, never had one run in failsafe.

 

[T.S.Davis]

I had trouble with my Castle speedo spinning up when I turned off the radio. They would spin at like 20% throttle. Only a couple of them did that though. Never really figured out the reason for it. Doesn't matter now since I broke all of those. LOL Wish they would bring back the old Hydra 240......sigh. I leave the radio on and set it down on my table if I need a retrieve. With Lithium ion in the radio I could leave it on all day.

A simple spot to place the radio away from it's owner is a really great idea. Even just a simple table. Guys aren't doing it on purpose. You get to yapping on the drivers stand after a heat and the radio is in your hand and..............then the retrieve guy is yelling at you because you're a jack wagon. This is not a common occurrence BTW. Once is really too many. You're standing there waiting for your boat anyway. Just getting the radio out of your hands should be a zero deal. Not sure a rule is needed. More like the guys that run a race being assertive and directing traffic to the impound.

Another thing we could do collectively. Don't let new.....er guys in the retrieve boat. Most of the time retrieve guys of FE boats know how to handle them and wont put themselves at risk but at our club gigs though, it's not always the same guy. New guys might not have any experience with the row boat, and razor sharp hardware, and plucking a boat, and not running the dead boat over with the row boat, and etc, etc. Picking three dead boats for instance by yourself is an art. It's not a rule but we try not to let new guys retrieve anything. I go out for boats quite often. Stupid but I find it peaceful out there.

We all get lazy at times. Sometimes we take the equipment for granted. I gashed open a thumb putting the propeller on. DOH! Idiot! A little attention to detail will go a long way towards keeping us all safe.

 

[T.S.Davis]

Now that I think about it.

Gas, nitro, or FE...............why would you get any of your extremities any where near the hind end of a race boat? They're like a knife block with all the blades pointed at you back there. The only thing that isn't razor sharp is the trim tabs and maybe an antenna tube.

Makes NO sense to me.

We can all wear respirators to sharpen a prop but we can't avoid the rear end of a boat? We know it's sharp. We sharpened the dang things.

Lets all run with scissors and look directly at the sun too. Sometimes I question how bright we are as hobbyist. haha

 

[Bill Gibson]

One of the biggest contributing factors that ive seen, and have nearly done to my self is at a race regarding a prop strike.....people in WAY too big of a hurry to get a boat started and in the water ESPECIALLY when they are behind on the clock....and unfortunately no mechanical prop guard can protect us from that......once again we have to take responsibility for our own actions....thru the years ive seen too many near misses with prop strikes because people just have to get that boat in the water as fast as they can! SLOW down and enjoy the moment.....if you miss the heat because you ran out of time, there will be more comin!

I did want to add that regardless of the power source we use in our toy boats, the one thing they all have in common is metal props that hurt like hell when we goof up........ive been nailed by model airplane props more than once, both electric and nitro and they're PLASTIC! OUCH!

 

[Andy Greene]

545 am - Do you and Foley EVER sleep-

 

[Bill Gibson]

:lol:! PMed ya!

 

[Andy Greene]

:lol:! PMed ya!

Just jerking your safety loop

Replied

 

[TUNLBOTR]

At least the outboard see can disconnect a can wire.

2008 tunnel champs, herbie never cleared power source after a heat. Five min. later, on the table Zzzzzzzzzz, p tunnel prop grabs banner and proceeds to tear it down...

 

[T.S.Davis]

One of the biggest contributing factors that ive seen, and have nearly done to my self is at a race regarding a prop strike.....people in WAY too big of a hurry to get a boat started and in the water ESPECIALLY when they are behind on the clock....and unfortunately no mechanical prop guard can protect us from that......once again we have to take responsibility for our own actions....

See this is one advantage the electrics have over gas and nitro. Spinning props at the launch. You guys live it so understand and respect it.. Get behind or lose your concentration and bad things happen. That has to hurt on another level BTW. Our props are stationary for the most part. Set the boats gently in the water. Most of the time at least.

For those that don't/won't/can't/whatever do FE but think we should have a safety loop just in case.......cuz those things are dangerous.........that would be like us FE tools telling all the fuel guys to start their boats IN the water because a prop strike is a real risk...........cuz them things are dangerous.

Of course they are. Both are plenty dangerous. Just a different dangerous. I watch you fuel guys launch and cringe. Scares the crap out of me. Probably just because I've not done it. Second nature to you fuel guys. Much like respecting the hind end of an FE is for us. We know the risk and act accordingly.

As long as we're on safety for a bit. Can anyone explain to me how having numbers on your boats provides any safety what so ever? Never going to understand that one. You have say 6 or 8 guys racing in a heat. One boat goes weird and hurts someone. Is that guy going to cut and run? Sure that'll work.

 

[Jeffmaturo]

Glad to see they were alright but it serves as a strong reminder towards safety.

 

[TUNLBOTR]

2008 world tunnel champs.

Herb Stewart (RIP) put his p tunnel on the table, never killed the connection. Started talking.

ZZZZZZZINNNNGGGGG. Wet esc..

It snatched the wind blocking tarp down.

Respect every aspect of little toy boats.

You still got all your toes. You're blessed.