Blade Strike owww! Check the pics

[twoturnspin]

Hi Guys,
Well, I've got the hang of nose in, nose out, facing right ... but not facing left.
I was happy hovering this morning when my bird turned hard 90 degrees so it was heading left. Now for some reason my brain just doesn't get the concept of this orientation and things didn't go well. It was quite steady but then it started heading towards me, at the same time my five year old son had come out of the garage and was standing next to me asking a five year old type question. A convergence of two events that weren't good.
At this point panic set in as the bird was heading towards my boy. I pushed the cyclic hard - the wrong way - and immediately knew it was going to hit. Put my leg out in front of my son and got hit on the thigh. Man! I was wearing trousers but you can see from the pics that it still hit pretty hard. Still I'm grateful that it didn't hit my son, would have been much worse.

So lessons here:
1. Remind kids (again) to stay back when the roter is turning, immediately land if one of them strays too close.
2. Find out why bird turned 90 degrees. Not sure about that one and it wouldn't turn back other than slowly.
3. Hit throttle Hold, brain hasn't got this programmed yet either, I need more time on the sim to practice this move.

Very little damage to the bird, I think my leg absorbed most of the impact. Annoyingly one of HS-56 seems to be dead. I've pulled apart and found that when powered up the little metal wheel that runs down into the servo motor just keeps running. Anyone know if this means it's dead or can it be resurrected?

[AP-Rambo]

:dontknow ouch cuz, why you no get out of way?

[Rick Rotorhead]

Yeowser, that'l learn ya. These things sure can bite....... Its good you forsaw the impending disaster and protected your boy - its so easy for accidents to happen.

[halfcab1981]

Jeez twoturnspin, those bruises look painful.

You are absolutely right about the throttle hold thing. If the blades weren't driven I reckon the damage to your leg would be a lot less.

I augered in this morning - I was just about to try to go inverted too for the first time - and my throttle hold instinct kicked in. Fast forward flight - dumb thumbs and the front of the rotor disk went into the dirt.

Only one blade broken, thats it! no stripped gear bent flybar or anything. I have to check the feathering shaft and main shaft when I get home but I was amazed at the speed and lack of damage of the crash. I think throttle hold seriously reduces the energy of an impact though.

By the way, your son owes you big time for taking that bullet for him. Well done!

Cheers

[carlo_the_wonder_frog]

Ive been hit in the arm before, but got the heli down and landed with no damage to it, just some nice cuts. Hurts don't it? That was a while back and I haven't gotten into a predicament like that again.

I tell all my kids that the heli will cut them real bad if they ever get too close, so theyre kind of scare of them. Maybe fear is not the right answer, but when your 5, 5, 7, and 10 fear works really good. My oldest boy will learn to respect it next summer when he starts flying his own.

[twoturnspin]

AP-Rambo. I was pretty out of the way by the time it was about to hit but something more precious to me was going to be hit unless I got in the way.
I dread to think where it would hit and what damage it would have done if it had hit my son.

[xStatiCa]

Nice job putting yourself in the way to take the damage. I assume you were using wood blades or I would have expected more damage.

[twoturnspin]

Thanks and yep, 315 pro wood blades, I would hate to see the impact that CF would do.
Forgot to mention that my trousers aren't much good anymore either!!

[WayneBrown]

good job protecting your son!
There's a fine line between watching something happen and taking action to limit the damage. You are on the right path, a few more hours on the sim should get your instincts a little more finely tuned.
:thumbup:

[AP-Rambo]

AP-Rambo. I was pretty out of the way by the time it was about to hit but something more precious to me was going to be hit unless I got in the way.
I dread to think where it would hit and what damage it would have done if it had hit my son.

no way bro, dont ever fly around anyone you care about. Electronics mess up more than humans. At least have them in a protected area watching.

Hope u heal well and is back in the air soon.
And yes , safe practice on throttle hold is vital.

[spacin]

yup....I took a boom strike Sunday because I was practicing nose in.
It veered straight towards my knees. I just yanked it downwards and Spork yelled "OW" as it crunched into the ground.

But...no servos or my leg was damaged, Only the boom, (brand new) stabilizers, and teh blades were damaged.

I will no longer fly this around my son. As a matter of fact, I feel uncomfortable if anyone near isn't paying attention to what's going on. We have a little gang together in Mountain View and I have felt a bit nervous more than once. These suckers are correctly described as lawn mowers without the protective covers.

[Finless]

FYI... I am leaving this hear as a mirror but this really belongs in the SAFETY forum so all can see that a Trex450 can be dangerous.

Bob

[AP-Rambo]

Check out this dude. pain. Think about it.

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2264

[MicroMan]

I think jumping in front of a heli is a no brainer when it comes to that type of situation, I know I would have done it personally. Have you thought about painting your throttle hold switch red so it'll stick out. Im glad to see that the only one hurt was you and not your son.

[Hummingbird3D]

It was better to take it in the leg than getting it from your wife later.LOL

Good thing your boy is ok...

[aramsdell]

I was at an AP job this AM. House pics for RE agent. My AP ship ended up with a cheapie RCE 500 gyro( it was my sport ship) because I had damage to the regular Heli(that has a 401 gyro). The RCE 500 is a mini gyro like the Align miniHH gyro. It requires lots of subtrim adjusting each flight. WEEEELLLLLL. There I was still on the ground thinking I was adjusting the subtrim on ch 4 only to find out I was still on ch1. Heli rolled sideways as I cut throttle and the blade tips hit tip of my rt. sneaker. Hole in sneaker size of a quarter and a sore toe....... That was just inrtia, throttle was OFF.

[toxic-trip]

i had the same problem but it smacked into the garage door. i cant do left either and my tail went 90 degrees and i could not control it so i kind of feel your mentally.

[toptechny]

arent you glad it didnt cliup your nuts :arggg:

[windisevil!!]

arent you glad it didnt cliup your nuts :arggg:

losing your nuts or losing your son? :thumbdown:

you decide :shock:

[papafoster]

Twoturnspin

Man are you lucky a bit higher an you will sweek, it's good that your protective instinks kicked in , if those blades hit your son the damage would have been worse depending how tall he is a chest , neck ,or worse in the head. Hard lesson to learn but im sure you won't let it happen again. Those bruises look rather nasty if they came out straight after the hit they are extreamly deep. You need to go to your doctor or local clinic to have them looked at. Deep bruises like that can cause a blood clot, belive me I have seen many in the emergency dept that were not as bad as your's that ended up forming blood clots. A quick visit to the doctor will put your mind at rest. Make an appointment today !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! better safe that sorry.

Good job with the situation, and good luck with the Dr. Allan

[Carbon Copter]

Twoturnspin

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! better safe that sorry.

Good job with the situation, and good luck with the Dr. Allan

Good advice but a little late, this happened 1 year ago! Hopefully he has fully recoverd by now.