Well, I've read about it last month(a few weeks before Karlton put the starting message on the list) in at least two (maybe three) British R/C Magazines. I'm at my work now, but I'll look it up this evening and give more specifics. Stefan. > > >Ok, this may be out of line, but this 'report' has all of the markings > of an > >urban legend. There are no specifics beyond the country of origin. The > >victim was not known by anyone, and it was not reported sooner? It > occured > >at a sanctioned event and the organizers didn't even know they > victim's > >name? While I feel the lesson learned is a good one, the story appears > to be > >fake. I am sorry if I am mistaken, and I humbly appologize in advance > if I > >have made light of this tragedy. But I must question it, as there is a > >movement to go to one man tows, and an accident such as this might > just > >further someone's political agenda. > > > >Aaron...I'm not paranoid..I swear!;) > > > I have to agree with you,Aaron, > > For the stake to hit a tower in the head, the acceleration vector of the > > stake had to be much higher than the pulley that he was pulling. This > means > that the line of action between the stake and the pulley had to be > pointed > over his head, i.e. the towers were pulling within4feet of the stake > when > it happened(or the towers were more than 8 feet tall). > At those angles, there must not have been much force on the airplane! > Unless someone can explain the physics better, I have my doubts too. > > -Fritz > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 23:15:05 -0500 > From: "David A. Enete" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [RCSE] Chutes > Message-ID: <v04210102b6560f12d084@[216.78.37.145]> > > >Slipped spikes are a problem. Chutes may serve to make a nice flapping > noise > >so that I guess the victim will at least have heard what hit him. I > don't > >think that they are real solution to the problem. > > > We're missing a possible benefit here. If that flapping noise is > your clue, you can really save yourself some damage. My first > experience with a hi-start in my early teens was with a really good > RC pilot. He said that if you ever hear a wooshing sound while > pulling the hi-start back, you should get out of the way. Better > yet, short circuit the acceleration of the device. When the stake > breaks lose, it has to accelerate to speed in order to do significant > damage to the old body. If you hear it early enough, and let go of > the other end (that you are holding in your hand), the acceleration > will happen from both ends of the stretched rubber...focused at the > center of the rubber tubing. On the other hand, if you keep the line > in your hand, the stake will continue to accelerate toward the fixed > end of the hi-start (that part in your hand). > > From my rock climbing days I'd say just put together a dual anchor > system. Very easy to do with minimal equipment. Just takes two > stakes and three carbiners or other connecting devices. Stress will > be distributed equally between the two anchor points no matter what > direction (within reason) the airplane pulls. > > - David > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 20:57:03 -0800 > From: Scott Hewett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: RCSE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Airtronic's Service > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Airtronic's Service...They do it again and again, year after year. > They repair and replace radio gear that I've "tortured" through > incapacity, neglect, or a disregard for common sense. Thank goodness > that most of their customers aren't like me or they'd be broke. > I sent in three (3) receivers that had been through a gauntlet of > crashes through the years. One of them had been baptized in the salt > waters of Southern Oregon a few years back, and despite my efforts > with distilled/de ionized water and Tanquerey "cleansing fluid", was > finally starting to show the effects of ~green death~. > They replaced the cases and antenna's on two receivers, aligned them > both. (do broken cases and severed antennas indicate abuse, or > what?). Then, the kicker....They apologized that they could not > repair the micro 4 channel receiver which had "green death", but would > sell me a new 7 channel micro receiver at 50% off. > In TEN days time, I'm ~out the door~ with 2 rebuilt receivers, 1 new > receiver, and a lot of piece of mind for seventy bucks! That, > gentlemen, is hard to beat. And yet, they do it year after year > after year. > Scott Hewett > Capitola, CA > Thank you Airtronics, I'll try to be easier on you (and my quiver) > next year. DS be damned! > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 15:18:57 +1000 > From: Brian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: RCSE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: Towing accident and urban legend > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Whether this happened or didn't, it has certainly promoted discussion > and urged all of us to look at how we go about what we do. > > I've been on this forum for about 3 yrs and I have noticed in that time > the shift towards stronger lighter moulded models and the subsequent > real decrease in price, meaning, more and more of us "average flyers" > have very good, very strong models. How many however are still using > the > same launch system they had when they launched floaters? > > Technology has given us much better toys, fairly cheap but strong mono > that really stores a lot of energy, winches that will pull a tractor > out > of a bog and on this exchange there has been a lot of info about how to > get the most out of each. However there hasn't been too much about > turnarounds and field safety. At our club after a couple of incidents > we > now ask for a restraint to be attached to any turnaround at our field > and the turnaround is checked every time the chute is retrieved. ( We > don't use mechanised retrievers) > > Some good ideas and some navel gazing have come out of this episode > that > can be applied to winch, handtow, bungee, catapult etc. This is why I > still subscribe to RCSE. Oh well back to sorting through the chaff. > > -- > Brian Ford > Brisbane "The Moreton Region Sports Soaring Association Web Site"! > Queensland http://www.bit.net.au/~mrssa > Australia and "The Large PSS Site"! > AUS 55723 http://www.users.bigpond.com/bananaman > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 16:00:18 +1030 > From: Paul Ferguson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: 'Brian' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, RCSE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Retreivers - Was RE: [RCSE] Re: Towing accident and urban > legend > Message-ID: > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Hi All > > A while ago at our club one of our members (namely Mike O'Reilly) used > a > RC Volkwaggon Bug powered by a Zenoah 23 (with nobbly tyres)to pull > back > the winch lines on a Fun-Fly day. All we needed was one person at the > turn-arounds hooking the lines onto the back of the car. > > The driver of the car had fun, and so did we especially when the car > did > 6 end over end rolls when it hit a pot-hole on the way down to the > turn-arounds > at full throttle! > > It definitely was better than walking 200 metres to get the chute. > > Paul Ferguson > Adelaide, Australia > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Brian [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 3:49 PM > > To: RCSE > > Subject: [RCSE] Re: Towing accident and urban legend > > > > > > Whether this happened or didn't, it has certainly promoted discussion > > and urged all of us to look at how we go about what we do. > > > > I've been on this forum for about 3 yrs and I have noticed in > > that time > > the shift towards stronger lighter moulded models and the subsequent > > real decrease in price, meaning, more and more of us "average flyers" > > have very good, very strong models. How many however are > > still using the > > same launch system they had when they launched floaters? > > > > Technology has given us much better toys, fairly cheap but strong > mono > > that really stores a lot of energy, winches that will pull a > > tractor out > > of a bog and on this exchange there has been a lot of info > > about how to > > get the most out of each. However there hasn't been too much about > > turnarounds and field safety. At our club after a couple of > > incidents we > > now ask for a restraint to be attached to any turnaround at our field > > and the turnaround is checked every time the chute is retrieved. ( We > > don't use mechanised retrievers) > > > > Some good ideas and some navel gazing have come out of this > > episode that > > can be applied to winch, handtow, bungee, catapult etc. This is why I > > still subscribe to RCSE. Oh well back to sorting through the chaff. > > > > -- > > Brian Ford > > Brisbane "The Moreton Region Sports Soaring > > Association Web Site"! > > Queensland http://www.bit.net.au/~mrssa > > Australia and "The Large PSS Site"! > > AUS 55723 http://www.users.bigpond.com/bananaman > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send > > "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > ------------------------------ > > End of Soaring V1 #1989 > *********************** > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" > and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: webmail.tiscalinet.be RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]