Hints and tips from your safety Officer:
The 12 Meter safety line is there to mark the closest any take off, flying or landing is permitted. On take off give yourself space beyond this line to allow for any deviation, especially with a maiden flight as you dont know how the model will behave.
Rule 37: All models must be suitably restrained.
Rule 40: All flying, including take-off and landing must take place beyond the 12 metre safety line.
Rule 43: After landing, models may be taxied up to the 12 metre safety line, where motors must be stopped and then models retrieved. Models must not be taxied back over the 12 metre safety line.
General Advice.
If you do not have the members handbook you can either download it from the club rules and handbook page or ask a committee member for a copy.
Any incidents occurring at the flying field should be recorded in the incidents book kept in the portacabin
If the first aid box needs attention, please report to a committee member.
A reminder from page 33 of the BMFA handbook of the need to restrain all models (Club Rule 37: ‘All models must be suitably restrained’):
With electric models
(i) The first and most important principle of electric flight ground safety is to understand that the instant you start to plug in the flight battery, the model you are holding may transform itself from a dead airframe into one with its motor running at full revs and all controls moving. No matter how good your other safety checks, you must be prepared for this to happen every single time you start to connect the flight battery. If a separate Rx battery is fitted then you have the opportunity to check the operation of the radio equipment before the flight battery is plugged in.
(ii) Since plugging in the flight battery is nearly always a two-handed job you must give serious thought to how your model will be restrained BEFORE it does something you don’t expect. When plugging in, positive restraint, either by a helper holding the model or by some other method, and staying completely clear of the propeller must always be part of your regular routine.
(iii) Electric motors have very different power and torque characteristics to normal IC model engines. You must take very great care when setting up their control systems and handling them as an accident, such as the propeller hitting your hand, which would stall a glow engine, might just make an electric motor turn even harder
