19 Year old kid killed by RC Heli today (Sept 5th, 2013)

[chrisansilver]

Didn't see this link posted here..

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/201...&obref=obinsite

[stevehof]

Originally Posted by Iceberg86300

Team members and close friends have asked though. This thread started and stayed on track with condolences and memories and then began to get muddied.

It's common freaking sense. Would you walk into his wake and say some of the rather horrible things posted here (just a few of these)? Or start saying he always flew unsafely and he died because of it and now all you're worried about are regulations?

Just because this is the Internet and is impersonal doesn't mean you shouldn't afford the same respect you would in a personal setting.

There are a ton of other threads out there where you can debate your heart out on this subject.

Regards,

Steve

Sent from Tapatalk using my Inspire 4g through ATT (meaning it's a wonder you can see this!)

We will have to agree to disagree. There are not a ton of other threads. I see one in the safety forum. This is a good place to talk about safety and it can be done with respect to Roman's family. I believe that Roman's father would want us all to be having a discussion about safety here and everywhere else on Helifreak.

[Iceberg86300]

Deleted - no mas

[trainwreck]

Originally Posted by stevehof

We will have to agree to disagree. There are not a ton of other threads. I see one in the safety forum. This is a good place to talk about safety and it can be done with respect to Roman's family. I believe that Roman's father would want us all to be having a discussion about safety here and everywhere else on Helifreak.

You don't need a Ton of other threads with ppl cross posting about the same Topic. Here's one for you in the main forum that's received a fair share of action. https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=562115

[Furias15x]

I am new to Helis but not aero modeling in general. The discipline I come from has instituted some safety restrictions over the years and they have taken hold over our community as a whole and people simply don't do the things the way the older guys used to.

I come from control line aerobatics. The model is tethered and never further than 70' away. The IC motors are started at full song and are usually .65-.75 sized motors. Two examples of safety regs that have taken hold are the safety thong and the starting stick.

A safety thong is a strap on my handle that connects to my wrist. If the handle comes out of my hand, and it has happened, the thong pulls tight and the plane is dumped and wont get away and into anyone standing close by, judges/spectators.

On my way up the ladder I NEVR EVER EVER EVER practiced with a safety thong. It was always a pain in the ass to use and too much hassle. It was uncomfortable. I just used one in competition. One evening I was flying with my brother and his son. For some odd reason I had a thong on. I guess I was getting ready for the up coming competition. I was at the end of the flight waiting for the shut down and land procedure. I was about 6' off the deck as normal. The model is still in full speed flight, about 60 mph real speed. This is a 65" wing span on a Saito 72 with a 15" carbon prop. A dove sitting on the edge of the circle took off just as a flew over and it stuck my control lines sending an oscillation up the lines and jerked the handle from my hand. The thong pulled tight and the plane dumped in about 10' from my nephew. If I had not been wearing the thong it would have hit him. I will never fly again without one. My kids will always wear them as well. Now if I have to go without one for some reason, training others etc I am extremely aware and very nervous. As the years have gone by the newer guys coming into the sport dont even know you can fly without one. Its just a given or you will be asked to not fly do to safety regulations.

Another example is the starting stick. I fly larger motors in my discipline and but an electric starter is not the way to go. Hand starting is more consistent. The old guys just stick their fingers in there and go, even on the 15" carbon props. NOT SMART! But when I went to the larger motors about 10-12 years ago I started using a piece of heater hose as my chicken stick.. I am so used to it I start my .15 sized motors with it. It's force of habit. Its not a regulation by any known group but one I have on myself that i adhere too. I also see alot of up and comers doing the same thing. They just dont hand start like the old days. Fingers over the prop are not smart and its a good thing people are getting away from that in our sport.

I feel that if competition and funfly demos would put a hard deck and a distance regulation and enforce it with a "one warning then you are out" policy the pilots would then need to practice routines and flying at the new prescribed regulations. After a while close in flying would not be such a normal occurrence and when it did happen it would be very easy to see just how dangerous it really is. It would be self regulating after a while and the newer guys coming up would already practice at the new regulations and wouldn't know any better. . It would become a normal way or operation in no time.

Are the organizers really ready to handle this?? It only takes one brave organizer to blaze the trail of safety. I promise you it wont deter the interest in the hobby one bit, but might actually enhance it.

[Airworks]

having a disscusion , and being disrespectful due to the circumstances are 2 wayyy different things. keep this in mind people.

[JohnTC02]

It's sad to see all these comments about whether or not these are toys, the cause of the accident, the way hew flew and if his flying style was his downfall.

This is not the time nor the correct thread for these types of comments.

I never new Roman or his family but I feel sorry for them in two ways, their loss and the unneeded comments on the thread.

I'm an admin on a few sites and if this happened on any of mine I would be knocking some heads together.

RIP Roman, my condolences to his family. And I hope they don't see this thread.

All the above is just my personal opinion.

[ReadyToCrash]

[zadaw]

Originally Posted by HorizonHobbyFreak

Bert Kammerer, one of the best pilots, about a foot and a half away from his spotter, and about equal with his own body:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...UAFmYODEU#t=12

This is the scariest Tareq Alsaadi video I have seen so far, being done at a public place and at night as well. He is not invincible either and I have seen videos of him crashing.

[{}{steve}{}]

Originally Posted by HorizonHobbyFreak

I fully agree, but everyone wants answers now, so I was trying to put things together. No matter how it happened, it is a tragedy.

Who cares if people want answers now. Speculation doesn't give them answers, it gives them nothing but speculation. People that want answers want the truth...not speculation.

[AFjetmech]

Originally Posted by {}{steve}{}

Who cares if people want answers now. Speculation doesn't give them answers, it gives them nothing but speculation. People that want answers want the truth...not speculation.

I agree. The truth about what happened (with out graphic details) is what's going to help prevent something like this from happening again. If he was flying to close, then so be it. That was his choice and it's fine, so long as no one else was put in danger. People participate in extreme sports all the time that put themselves in danger. Look at the recent death of the guy who bounced himself off a mountain side while skimming the surface in a wing suit. Extreme sport with extreme danger. Now if what I've read elsewhere is true and this young man had a GoPro running, I think the vid should be released (obviously stopped a moment before impact) to let everyone see exactly what happened. If the heli folded or some other mechanical problem can be seen before it hit him, then we'll know. If he just flew it into himself, then let if be shown so others thinking about that flying style can think twice about it. Especially the younger, more impressionable kids who are attending flyins. His death is absolutely tragic and my heart goes out to his family, but I certainly hope the cause of it is not sugar coated when a very valuable lesson could be learned from it.

[billmjam]

Originally Posted by TheBum

I'd like to know why the news articles are bandying about this 6-pound figure for a T-Rex 700. The only way a T-Rex 700 is going to be anywhere close to 6 pounds is sans batteries, and it appears from the photos of him and his heli that it was an electric. The heli that hit him was likely 10-12 pounds.

My initial thought when I heard about this incident was that he was flying too close to himself when a mechanical failure happened. It's something I worry about every time I see a pilot flying like that. Whether or not that's an accurate assessment in this case, I'm hoping this incident will get those pilots to back off a little for their own safety as well as the safety of their spotter and onlookers, but I fear it won't. The AMA safety rules set a minimum distance of 25 feet, but too many people ignore that.

Amen to that! It's just not worth the "thrill" to have these buzz-saws fly at you, or so close to you. Like has been said in previous posts, it really doesn't matter at this point who's fault is was, the pilots, or the helicopters. The fact of the matter is that this type of flying goes on in competition after competition and honestly we are darn lucky that this sort of thing doesn't happen more often. I think if anything the sanctioned events should require a minimum safe distance of the helicopters and the pilots/spotters. And the maneuvers that bring the helicopter straight at you at high speeds should be banned. There is simply no time to react, other than flinch, when a helicopter is moving fast toward you and you either loose control or something breaks in the Heli. Let's all fly safe and respect the machine for what it is and prevent this type of accident. Close proximity is not "cool". It's dangerous and obviously can get you killed! Fly safe!

[Steve Graham]

In all of this has anyone seen anything written by, spoken with or heard in ANY way from any of the top level pro pilots? I've heard Todd Benett speak out against this type of flying. I think it was he who told me of a competition a few years back where one of the judges, perhaps Jason Krause?, stopped the proceedings long enough to hold a safety stand down. Lately I've heard nothing from any of our "supposed" industry leaders. Has anyone else wondered where they are?

In racing it often took the top drivers stepping up and saying. "Hey guys, we just lost a friend here and not to something we didn't all see coming which is the saddest part of it all. It's time that we as a peer group get together and do something about it. Theres no point looking at the past in an attempt to incriminate. Whats done is done & to one extent or another we've all either been willing participants or complicit in granting our approval through lack of word or action. We need to look to the future and again, as a group, find a way to continue participating in the sport we love while finding a way to mitigate these known risks to the best of our abilities."

To a large extent public culture and behavior starts at the top with those in the public spot light. You guys have a choice. Action or inaction. Either will have an impact going forward. I realize that many of you are still barely more than teenagers, nevertheless, you are for the most part of legal age and in a position of leadership. I ask you what kind of legacy do you want to be remembered for in the years and decades to come? As an absolute nobody in this hobby I issue this challenge to the aforementioned. Time to lead fella's!

[ColinSouthern]

Originally Posted by Steve Graham

In all of this has anyone seen anything written by, spoken with or heard in ANY way from any of the top level pro pilots? I've heard Todd Benett speak out against this type of flying. I think it was he who told me of a competition a few years back where one of the judges, perhaps Jason Krause?, stopped the proceedings long enough to hold a safety stand down. Lately I've heard nothing from any of our "supposed" industry leaders. Has anyone else wondered where they are?

In racing it often took the top drivers stepping up and saying. "Hey guys, we just lost a friend here and not to something we didn't all see coming which is the saddest part of it all. It's time that we as a peer group get together and do something about it. Theres no point looking at the past in an attempt to incriminate. Whats done is done & to one extent or another we've all either been willing participants or complicit in granting our approval through lack of word or action. We need to look to the future and again, as a group, find a way to continue participating in the sport we love while finding a way to mitigate these known risks to the best of our abilities."

To a large extent public culture and behavior starts at the top with those in the public spot light. You guys have a choice. Action or inaction. Either will have an impact going forward. I realize that many of you are still barely more than teenagers, nevertheless, you are for the most part of legal age and in a position of leadership. I ask you what kind of legacy do you want to be remembered for in the years and decades to come? As an absolute nobody in this hobby I issue this challenge to the aforementioned. Time to lead fella's!

+1000.

Well said Steve.

I have to wonder though, when flights by world champions - that are promoted by the manufacturers representatives - contain things like this, is anything ever going to change?

[bradg]

I don't think it's a good thing he died. I do think some good things can happen because of it. I can't make anyone do anything different but there people out there with influence that can. I wouldn't think any less of a pilot's skills if some distance was put between them and a wicked fast hurricane.

Brad G

[PcChip]

To the person who PM'd me saying my post was very distasteful and the picture was removed by a moderator - I did not post anything out of mal-intent - it came straight from a new site!

And to whoever says it's a good thing this happened - what a shitty attitude!

It's terrible news, and I've already posted my condolences on a few of his youtube videos (that I'm sure his family will be watching / seeing)

Very sad news indeed.

[Flyin Bryan]

ive really been thinking about this a lot. I cant even imagine what his father must be going through, having been there, and having to witness it. just devastated.

having seen his videos, he seems like such a good kid, which is becoming a rarity in these times.

badass pilot too. much love brother.

[johnjonfenomenon]

Originally Posted by Flyin Bryan

ive really been thinking about this a lot. I cant even imagine what his father must be going through, having been there, and having to witness it. just devastated.

having seen his videos, he seems like such a good kid, which is becoming a rarity in these times.

badass pilot too. much love brother.

The Media likes to over dramatize the story.. Lets get this clear. The father was not there to witness the accident. He was not at the field. They like to make up stuff to get things to sell. Also there was a video of a so called expert "WheyRoberts" , who indicated that,"looking by the video of him flying i could tell that there was something going on with the heli as there was a lot of oscillation". That video was not of him flying a heli, it was a qav 500 that I helped build and they were maidening. Junior would never attempt to land a trex 700 at a table he was sitting in.

[Windbreaker]

Most importantly, this discussion sheds a light on the potential risks.

Many hobbies have them. And it's good to be aware of them. As with scuba diving, rock climbing and skydivers wing suits, there's a certain amount of danger lurking.

No matter what it is, take the necessary precautions, and don't do anything that puts other people at risk.

[InTheDirt]

For the next few months while this is fresh in the public mind (if they have one) when flying in a public place and someone objects to that dangerous thing, best you smile, make agreeable noises, pack it up and leave.
By Christmas time it will all be forgotten and business as usual.